I've still got some pics to post from Yorkshire and also from a day out this week but I just had to tell you!!! Woo hoo! I did some Free Machine Embroidery today!!!! Yay! Jumping up and down here in Lincolnshire doing the Happy Dance!!! LOL OK so it's not that big a deal but I've never managed to do it before and my friend and Saturday workshop leader showed me how today at our monthly workshop. Course, it may have helped that I had the correct foot on my sewing machine!
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Right, now don't get too excited, but I'll show you my first effort ever. No, I mean, really, don't get too excited!
It's a bit messy but I was just pleased that I managed to control the machine and move the fabric around and get the feel of the movement. I obviously need lots of practice but at least I've started.
A bit messy again but I wasn't following any lines. Just one question.........how do you get the dot on the "i"?
This morning, before the adventure with the sewing machine, I did some printing from collagraph plates which I have written about previously. I took prints onto cartridge paper, newsprint and cotton fabric. Now that I have made a start with FME I can try some stitching on the fabric prints.
Sample printing block above.
This is my messy work area with the inked block and a cotton fabric laid on top.
These prints were all on fabric, I think.
These prints were done onto newsprint and cotton fabric.
None of these prints is wonderful but I had a lot of fun and they can be added to with colour washes. Look out! Portions may be appearing on an ATC near you!
You may be wondering what materials I used to make the printing blocks. I used all sorts of things, nappy liner torn in strips, string, elastic(rubber) bands, wallpaper, pieces of plastic store cards, doillies, punchinella, polystyrene strips, tissue paper, coarse pumice texture paste, sliced cork, clingfilm (saran wrap), corrugated cardboard............ I particularly liked the texture given by the torn nappy liner and the pumice paste, and also by the polystyrene strips on the piece that looks vaguely like a seascape (well, that was the idea anyway!) :)
By the way.........I cheated with the FME...........the fossil shape was pre-printed on the fabric. I just had to follow the shape. Mwahahaha!
6 comments:
SO beautiful it is hard for me to understand exaclty what you do and HOW you do it, but it is lovely
Great stuff, give yourself a pat on the back, it gets easier each time you do it.Honestly. And it's definitely not cheating to follow lines when fme'ing, you are still controlling the machine and the fabric, aren't you? Personally I find it much harder to follow lines than not so give yourself another pat on the back, and when you have finished with the physio treatment carry on practising:} If you must dot your i, stop sewing, move to the dot place and stitch on the spot, then cut of the linking thread.
Yes Im with Anne about this, well done. Practice makes perfect, it really does. To dot the i I would do the same as Anne, again, or maybe even put a couple of stitches in the same place to finish and secure. Cut the threads, and then start again in the new place. It doesn't make much difference unless you're doing loads and want to do your ends as you go along. Some of my stuff gets so heavy with stitch and I go over things, that if I didn't cut and start again, I'd get myself in a bit of a pickle! Also my top tip for neatness is always to let the needle go through the thread on the first stitch and pull up the bobbin thread to the top. It's not necessary if you sew, say, 3 stitches in the same place to start, but it improves the appearance no end, and helps prevent the threads getting in a pickle, aiding tension control.
oops, I should read through stuff more carefully before pushing that publish button! "...always to let the needle go through the FABRIC" not thread.
These prints are wonderfully organic. Would you write about the collograph technique? I would love to try it. Love the photos of the moors to - so atmospheric. Thanx for your blog
Hi Julie
Printmaking is the only official art class I have ever taken... but the process still fascinates me. These are great... and as you say, they can be added to... just a glaze of another colour really makes the prints pop out. you've given me some new ideas of materials to try out on print plates! Thanks! namaste Elis.
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