Posts Tagged ‘samples evaluation’

Browsing With Pinterest, As You Do

Thursday, May 13th, 2021

My regular readers know I browse with Pinterest probably weekly, and most times upload a few pins. Particular things that inspire me, and when they do, I pin them, not to copy but be some kind of reminder of something that struck me. I might save something for example on my ‘Holes’ board, but it doesn’t mean the image is necessarily one of actual holes, just that it made me think of holes of some kind, and set me thinking about what I could do in fabric and stitch with this idea.

I’m also trying to establish the habit of doing something, a small sample or a quick diagram aide de memoire, creative but quick, every day before I do other things in the studio. So here are several more:

  • The iron was a bit hot even using the teflon sheet, so both nylon fabrics wrinkled.
  • Pressing hard did not smoothe anything out and set wrinkles around the stitching in the orange.
  • So was this a failure? Definitely not – I’ve learned more about how this material handles, and there’s interesting potential in that.
  • A number of the presentations I’ve saved on my pinterest board are some style of 3D fabric form, and in the Clarissa Calleson workshop in Stitch Club last year, I was reminded of how stitch texture can be added to them.
  • These 3 small rolls ~8cm to which I added a little stitchery, were enough to tell me the stuffing needs to be much firmer so that the shape doesn’t collapse.
  • The non-fray edge is nice to work with – but frayed edges are interesting, too …
  • Rolled fine leather shapes might be good to try.

And the third for this week is an exploration of an interesting texture I pinned, of what I think is a paper+stitch work, by mixed media artist Takahiko Hayashi:

Parts of the stitchery suggest vertical rows of fly stitches, but now I’ve done this next sample, I’m not so sur. I am sure the thread wasn’t polyester, from the way it’s sitting, but I feel ironing it would flatten it down.
Upper – fly stitched, very loose. Lower – very loose straight stitches formed wefts across which I stitched, knotting at each one, a technique I haven’t used for ages, and never that loose.

Continuing Miniature Landscapes

Monday, March 2nd, 2020

My work always references landscape in the process of change, and the landscape of much of my native Australia has recently suffered the onslaught of ravaging bushfires. I have some things to say, which have begun to appear in my recent work.

My next work will incorporate miniature landscapes, following on from those about which I recently posted, https://www.alisonschwabe.com/weblog/?p=5480

Miniature landscape samples c. 2014.

A few years ago I was thinking about these again, took photos of course, but for various reasons I was sidetracked from this idea. The 2014 samples (above) were very quick, totally improvisational, and worked directly from the scrap bag! as there is no ‘pattern’ for this kind of thing. Without being backed (stabilised) they were pinned onto the fabric and sewn down, so are not very robust samples. I think of them as sketches, and therefore very important, as a little fabric piece is the most powerful aide memoire of all. So then we come to this week’s samples:

Mini landscape samples, March 2020. 6-7cm longest measurement.

From these three the following notes are important to me:

  • On the left, the black backing (with misty fuse showing) has yet to be trimmed away like the other two.
  • Considering the size, it seems unnecessary to form the more distant landscape elements of miniature patchwork – see the difference in the 2014 samples. At this size, simplify to clarify.
  • The skies in the right pair are a bit too much for that scale of landscape, perhaps even not abstract enough. I realise I prefer a simpler, plainer neutral sky, not necessarily blue, either, just ‘light’.
  • Foregrounds – I will need to be much more selective of the fabric here: the middle one in particular is far too big a print for that role.
  • My next move must be to go through my scrap bags again, selecting only plains, subtle textures, hand dyeds and hand dyed look alikes in Australian landscape colours, and light coloured neutrals.
  • This means most of what is already out on my table can be bagged up and put away out of sight, less overwhelming.
  • These take very little fabric.
  • Consider gold, silver, pewter, black or red for the ‘framing’ of these pieces …

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