Category: FybreSpace the shop

Posted in Collision: the work begins, embrilting, in progress, Naturally dyed threads

part 2, of many

Posted on by arlee

Not going to show you the aborted and horrifying first attempt for the euc leaf on the second section 🙂 I decided to keep that part simple instead and embroider on the section itself.

Just as well, because the text would be problematic to do over the edges of an applied piece. I’m not necessarily for taking the easy way out, but i think i made the right choice here. I’m also not sure i need to add the text at all. Or maybe i add it elsewhere on the piece as a whole. Or at the very least, part of it could become the name of the piece!

I did learn two new stitches though!

The walnut thread is the Pekinese stitch, something i’d love to do as a massed line/shape, and with my anchor stitches smaller. The paler colours (osage and sandalwood) are a woven cross stitch. That second one should be done with a heavier thread to show the effect, but i’m also convinced that it’s just easier to do it as a small weaving if you want more “legs” than the basic stitch has, rather than the awkwardness of trying to go through the same holes and lay threads flat enough to give the shape to it! The basic tute is on Sharon B’s Pintangle, though i went from my stitch bible, Jacqueline Enthoven’s “The Stitches of Creative Embroidery”. You can’t see the extra legs i did though because the silk thread is so fine. Nice lustre, but no definition!

The Pekinese stitch is good for the leaf, though in its new incarnation. Textural, and with the walnut thread and judicious use of paler earth tones, a good almost bas-relief translation of the original sketch. I’ll blend in the lighter threads so they are not so “liney” :), and finish filling in the diamonds as well. The whole when attached to the backing, won’t be as pointy either!

 

 

 

Posted in Collision: the work begins, embrilting, in progress, Natural Dyes, Naturally dyed threads

don’t set it in stone

Posted on by arlee

I’m not sure who snuck into my studio the day i pieced this section and made it a different shape than “the plan”.  Doesn’t matter though, a plan is just a piece of paper, the work is what counts.

As i worked this, i also wondered if i had made myself extra work by piecing it first: does it matter that it’s many sections? Could i have done it as one piece which would have necessitated more marking, so maybe the same or more work to begin with anyways? From a distance, the diamonds don’t register as separate chunks. Would i feel as gratified if i had used one larger piece, that might have been closer to the original shape?

Does it make any difference in the end? If i had left the diamond shapes obvious around the edges, as i did this piece, maybe. Something to consider for future work. Should square pegs be forced into round holes? Reminds me of some ecoprint work that is COVERED in embroidery–well, now you can’t see the ecoprint, so wtf was the point of using it? Work with something, not against or despite it.

I could do this again, with smaller pieces and see if the rougher edges work. Mock up first, before i commit.

PS My quebracho rojo threads ran out, so i also used madder post modified with iron, dark cochineal, and a qr overdyed on bad lichen ( 🙂 )

Posted in embrilting, journal: lessons to learn, Naturally dyed threads, Stitches

first stitches, mixing it up

Posted on by arlee

I continue to study the embroidery stitches used on Central Asian textiles, but the other day while consulting Dr Google, i found this:

(Source, sold item on eBay) This is actually Swedish Huck “weaving”, a form of counted thread embroidery primarily used on household linens. Some of it looks very intricate, but is actually wonderful combinations of colour and simple line. (TIP: search huck weaving, rather than huck stitch.) Since the primary reason for looking at the CA embroideries was to learn new stitches, and new approaches, this still ties in nicely with expanding the repertoire.

I found it best to attempt it by first marking out some lines on my diamonds, because there are no threads visible for counting spaces, as there is on linen and other fabrics with this type of weave. You can see from this stitch diagram, that the lines and counting are spaced very evenly, but offset so there’s a “brick” patterning in that area.

Too, the long floats of the cotton thread used traditionally are a bit heavier, resulting in those lovely curves.

HA! because it isn’t a fabric that can have threads counted, oh my. Not quite as elegant as the above example, but i do do do like it, uneven-ness, angles and all. One can’t work perfectly, because only the Gawdz/Gawddessez are allowed perfection 🙂 I want these sections to be less “obvious”, decorated, enhanced, so i chose instead to use a toning thread, quebracho rojo on the madder background, and will switch to deep cochineal when i run out of the qr. (Time for a big dye session again, running low on a few colours!) Even though it’s a silk, which you would think would give sinuous curves to the longer stitches/floats, it’s too fine to give that lay to the thread.

Thank goodness for washable markers, or this would be a horrendous mess 🙂

 

 

Posted in a collusion of ideas, Jam Day, Natural Dyes, Naturally dyed threads

no such thing as imperfect

Posted on by arlee

It’s like gardening. You have to think of what will come up from fertile ground. The roots don’t show at all, there’s no movement of leaves, no budding of branches where birds rest, no twining of tendril or bloom tipping to sun. What colours will stay true, which will devolve/evolve/resolve to basic rainbow?

“And don’t think the garden loses its ecstasy in winter.

It’s quiet, but the roots are down there riotous.”

-Rumi

No more tears or tears.

Posted in Days of Honey, FybreSpace the shop, Moons, Natural Dyes

on a roll

Posted on by arlee

round and round i go, with ideas abundant, colours singing, and natural dyes that sing sing sing

these mini moons are not only an antidote to blue days, SAD and the Black Dog, they are fun to create!

 

Happy Solstice to you all!

 

EDIT: PS:

Sad. I’m sad that someone would email me and tell me i’m obsessing about my little moons. Damn right i am–i’m not depressed, i’m not angry, i look forward to getting up in the morning, i’m loving colour, i’m working in my studio EVERY day, i am doing what i need to. We all need to find what makes us happy, productive, engaged and feeling positive!

So, now i am NOT SAD myself

Posted in embrilting, FybreSpace the shop, in progress, Natural Dyes, Naturally dyed threads, quebracho rojo, Samara

OOOOyeah, and shop update

Posted on by arlee

After auditioning fabrics for the areas behind the wings, i was inspired enough to finish the second one in two days. Admittedly smaller, but the idea of the velvet really got me going! The first one is finished and attached to its backing.

OMG i love this.

Because the velvet itself is so tactile, and the colouring from the osage and quebracho rojo so gorgeous, i decided to keep the stitch there as simple as possible. No point in hiding all that beauty! This velvet, though lush as silk velvet is, was easy enough to do without having to lay any stabilizer to stitch over, but the stitches still had to be solid enough not to sink in, so i stuck to a whipped backstitch–i love the line effect of this on any fabric.

And Borgles. Gotta have Borgles, one of the FrankenStitch mainstays. Picking one out to redo though, and have to add one more small one.

Thought i’d share my results too with the Quebracho Rojo: obviously not a winner for saturation on cotton (cellulose), but it sure is on silk (protein)!  The description on the website is a bit confusing, i think: “Quebracho is suitable for dyeing cellulose fibers and also performs well on silks and wool, and yields a lovely pinkish peach to brown rose color.” It’s obvious that the silk is INCREDIBLE, and look at those distinctly explicitly PINK shades! Wasn’t impressed with the uptake on the wool (first photo left top), but perhaps it was the pomegranate it had been premordanted with…. However, some post modifying, and some overdyeing with osage did give me a wonderful range of colours.

Do i know what i’m doing with natural dyes? I do, confidently, correctly from first step to last.

And i am willing to share the current silk velvet bounty 🙂 Small packs in the shop! You’ll LOVE Making with it, stitching on it, fondling it!

Posted in embrilting, in progress, Natural Dyes, Naturally dyed threads, Samara

wing update

Posted on by arlee

One almost done!

Shooting photos in my studio at dawn makes for moody presentations, but here it is really:

Despite the flurry around the dyepots again this week, i have been stitching as much as i can. That distraction resulted in not a week of stitch, but two, though the second one will take less time due to less surface area! I’m at the point too where i can start thinking about what will be behind the wing. It can’t fight, but it can’t “disappear” either.