BLOG 412

Blog 412

 I have been sewing at Suzette’s this week so I used it as a golden opportunity to catch up on my textile luggage labels. When I first thought of this long term project, the idea was to make a label a week: I felt the small size was do-able!  How wrong was I?! To work in small scale is quite difficult and intense and often requires more time and effort than working full scale. So the idea got shelved and I stopped doing them for a while.

Then it occurred to me that I might be approaching this project from the wrong angle. I was going through a collection of half-finished projects I had in storage: experimental pieces, trial techniques and the like. They were never good enough to use for anything or even worth completing, but they were a vital part of my textile journey. So rather than make a specific label in a specific way, I decided to make labels from these existing pieces. I completed 16 in the time I was at Suzette’s! Result! Here they are with information about the techniques used. (NB they still need the final edging of a larger, closer zig zag in variegated thread to complete them)

 

             1 Free motion stitching on a prepared synthetic background with soldering iron mark making

 

 

            2 Painted background with infill surface stitching done on the WS

 

 

            3 Painted Lutrador with machine and free motion stitches

 

 

         4 Stitch on sheer fabrics with soldering

 

 

 

            5 Fused Angelina fibre surface placed on a floral rubbing with fabric crayons

 

 

          6 Stitched sampler on a dyed background

 

          7 Fabric swatch given to me by an American folk singer/quilter touring the UK

 

 

            8 Stitch and texture on felt surface

 

 

 

          9 Sample section taken from a piece created at an experimental textile workshop

 

 

          

           10 Metallic threads and sheers on wadding

 

 

 

          11Thread detail on cut-out sheers inspired by pebble pavements

 

 

 

           12 Stylised tree in free motion stitch

 

           13 Sample section cut out from a larger ‘thread painted’ picture

 

  

           

           14 Felt wool background over-laid with a layer of cut-out sheer

 

 

 

         15 Selection of yarns under stitch

 

 

             16 Traditional stained glass panel drawn and coloured in thread