Chapter 11: Further Design Exercises leading to Fabric Samples

The following samples show a number of ways of arranging different paper strips.

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

A selection of the boldest patterns showing gradations of tone.  In Sample 1 the darker tones are interspersed with lighter ones, whilst in Samples 2-4 the tones move from dark to lighter.

Sample 5

Above, in Sample 5, narrow dark strip with deeper bands of pale tones.

Below, in Sample 6, strips of a narrow range of tones

Sample 6

Sample 7

More Design Exercises

Wedge-shaped tonal strips.

Sample A

Sample B

Sample C

Sample D

More complex designs.

Sample E

Sample F

Sample G

Sample H

Sample I

Sample J

Stack and Wack

Sample K

Lines of Machine Stitching on Bleached and Monoprinted Fabrics

It was really pleasurable to return to bleaching and monoprinting, and then use a range of threads with the machine to develop the surface further.  I then went on to embroider some of the bought fabrics and these appear in the stitched fabric samples.

Fabric Sample 1

Fabric Sample 2

Fabric Sample 3

Fabric Sample 4

Fabric Sample 5

Stitched Fabric Samples based on Earlier Designs:Stage A

 Translating some of the paper samples into fabric.  It's interesting to see how the embroidery and monoprinting interplays with the underlying fabric pattern and the design shapes.

Sample 1

Sample 2

Sample 3

Sample 4

Samples 3 and 4 show the right and wrong sides of the same sample.
Samples 5 and 6 again use some of the dark bleached and embroidered fabrics.  The effect is rich, almost velvety, but the effect is not overly clear on the scan.

Sample 5

Sample 6

Stage B

I was pleased with the way the tonal fabrics came together.  I tried to use the Fibonacci Series for each cut, though I must confess it became progressively more and more impossible in the third section.  I also seemed to be cutting mostly in one direction resulting in that section becoming more and more distorted.  Looking at that section now I probably need to do more cutting.  However, it is interesting to see the lines of text appearing amongst the assorted patterns.

Waiting for Magic

I had written a longer piece than the one you're reading now.  I felt the need to churn around why I wasn't making faster progress.  Too much introspection is not always a good thing, hence the shorter version.  The upshot of my thinking and some reading too is that I can read and write reasonably well and that it's taken years of practice to achieve that.  Why not apply that thought to Module 2?  It is easy to feel that you're falling behind, or falling short: aren't we always our harshest critic?  To find a way of moving forward is the thing.  And so to my reading .... Bridget Riley talks about encountering her ignorance and feeling that she needs to remove some "obscuring veil".  Her approach is slow and methodical.  There's some comfort in that.  In "The Art of Looking Sideways", a wonderfully quirky book, I came across a quotation about creativity, calling it "a leap across a chasm".  Isn't that just how it seems?  And so wonderful when it happens.  My conclusion then is that while I'm waiting for the next magic moment  I must just keep working away.  Now did it take all that thinking to come to such a lame conclusion?

From Paper into Fabric

After receiving Sian's feedback  and reading the useful comments posted on my blog, I made a list of ideas to follow up. As the design was developed and refined some were incorporated, others discarded.

I started by dyeing the silk organza.  The left side of the image is wet folded organza, the right a machine grid gathered up, both then have black dye applied.

Sample 1: light and darker Shibori on Silk Organza

Both sides in this image show the largest fin shape cut and joined with a tuck half-way along the inside edge.  Already I could see that the fabric and Shibori designs might preclude some of the ideas on my list, for example machine embroidery along the seams -- too busy!

Sample 2 : Inserts and Invisible Thread Seaming

When the paper design was translated into fabric it seemed to lose its sculptural quality.  I therefore decided to insert a narrow fin between two wide ones, which brought back a sense of depth and movement  especially when it was overlapped at the neck edge. The extra seams increased the surface texture.

Thinking further about overlapping the narrow fin at the neck edge: should this be a seam turned in on itself and secured by a couple of stitches just at the top?

Sample 3 : Embroidery along Tuck and Edge Detail

I used invisible thread so that there is no distraction from the Shibori lines.  This was successful.  Stitch backwards towards the outside edge holding the threads to secure, then complete the seam and cut the thread.  This will be hidden in the binding.

The seam edges are a concern: handling can make the fabric fray which might be attractive if it could be done in some intended way.  Sadly, being a natural fabric it's not possible to treat the edge and leave it sharp.  I will need to cut the shapes very cleanly and handle them as little as possible if I'm going for this option.

I also tried to fix the tuck with embroidered words, far from successful -- the words are too bold and illegible.  They are also too long and as a result flatten the collar out again.  Perhaps sticking to an un-decorated tuck is best, or try a dart.

A further thought I had was to embroider parts of the fins with Blackwork.  I liked the idea of making a design based on small diamonds which gradually disintegrate.  After some experiments with different thicknesses of thread I came to the conclusion that the Shibori was creating that effect already. Blackwork relies on precision and it was not possible to achieve this, even though I had marked the needle insertion points on the organza.  The embroidered lines didn't always coincide or work in parallel with the Shibori lines, and rather than one enhance the other they seemed at odds.

So where have I got to?  Certainly a conclusion that less is more. The dyed fabric is interesting enough without further embellishment and works well the way the collar is constructed.

I have done a little market research amongst friends and the conclusion seems to be that the darker collar works best on the black cardigan.  Though it has to be said I am tempted by the thought of making printed frayed-edge labels by putting organza through the printer and stitching one of these inside and along the length of the narrow fin, but this would only work in the lighter collar.

 The problem of how the collar will finish at the centre front? -- a narrow fin on each side, overlapped at the top.

I'm also clear about how many fins I need to make the complete collar, and have the fabric dyed and ready.