Stitched Card for Holiday 2012

 

Let it be re-affirmed that no two stars are alike. Stitched with machine on paper.

Stitched Card -- Tintin and Snowy

Ok, cheating because it is not my artwork.  Stitched around picture of Tintin and Snowy for a thank you card for a friend.  Felt that if I made their eyes and other face details I would mess up...so, they look a little "blank" on the side that has the stitching most prevalent.   Fixed omission on front, didn't put new picture of fix on back....can you tell the difference (quiz appropriate for 5 year old?)?

Used sewing machine, thread, and paper. 

Flower Power Card

Flower stitched on card. It did skid across the card with the sewing machine needle, but grew a fondness for the smudge track it left, so let it be.  Lifted the foot to stitch across the lower half.

Cool Card

A card to thank a sunglass maker for going above and beyond in helping obtain green ear socks!

Savonius Rotor Stitched

Stitched diagram from "Comparative study of the three-bucket Savonius rotor with a combined three bucket Savonius three-bladed Darrieus rotor" paper by R Gupta, A Biscuas, KK Sharma, from SciVerse, Science Direct. Did you know there was a Global Wind Rotor Blade Community? I think you may need to wear the tee shirt on meeting day. (Perhaps that is why I didn't make it too long in Girl Scouts...not too much of a uniform wearer). 

Used sewing machine to stitch diagram (from their paper) on dark grey cotton, then stitched the entire square to tee shirt. 

Solvy Lace Picture

UPDATE: Finished....see post of 5.20.2012.

Using a picture my friend took of Doyle Drive "tear down" in San Francisco, stitching the picture onto Solvy.  The yellow elements in foreground are the bulldozers/wrecking stuff. 

If this all works as I hope, the picture will be done in stitches, with all the Solvy, etc dissolved. So far, enlarged the picture, outlined key elements on Solvy, and have stitched the row of trees in the far ground.

Have had fun with solvy in making camisole, as well stitch of image technique on silk (post somewhere on this blog!), so hopefully the combined processes will give me a new tool to work with on my ideas ahead.

stitched map of musee rodin (on silk treated with rabbit skin glue)

Solvy lace...pre and post soak (water soluble)

View from the window.  Stitched from photograph...thread on paper.

Outline Of A Man

Outline via sewing machine stitch of photograph of "stuffed man" "doll" from childhood. Playing with outlines, continuing with simplicity.

Solvy Lace Camisole

Created this camisole by stitching line over line on Solvy arranged in simple camisole shape. Once the stitching was done, dipped it in water for a few minutes, and the "plastic" dissolves, leaving just the stitching. Yes, a little skimpy, but if/when I have the patience to make another one larger, envision it has "over layer" dress.

How I do it:

a. Cut Solvy to basic shape I'd like to achieve.  You can add on Solvy as you go....for this cami, I started with the front, added the straps, then the back...joining the sides with the same technique. Nothing is really "sewn" it is "webbed" -- stitching very randomly
b. Start stitching on sewing machine....I use cotton/poly thread. (stitch one layer of Solvy at a time)
c. Run the machine all over....loop de loops, etc....keep it "un-broken" in terms of stitch.  Cross over your stitch lines...you are trying to allow the thread to make its web, and it will need the support of the all the threads on your solvy.
d. Fine to start with another color(s)...just keep the webbing idea going with continuous stitch lines.
e. You may be able to tell how dense I am making it...you will need a fair amount of stitching to give it structural integrity...when the above cami is off the body, it resembles a heap of thread...it does have shape, but it won't look like a regular cami ...very airy.
f. Dissolve the Solvy per instructions.

I haven't ever gone back and added more to something using this technique...so make sure you have enough thread on there before you dissolve the Solvy.

I have made garments, pictures, and assorted do-dads with this technique. The pictures are not precise, but believe they could be as desired.  I made a map using this basic technique (used habotai silk treated with rabbit skin glue so it was transparent)...could get it fairly detailed...though it does take time to make all those stitches.

Bolsters

Ok, not really mind blowing, but I did learn something new...super long bolster covers.

Pillow Cases -- from Drawing

Took a drawing that my niece had made, stitched it on pillowcases for her parents.

Solvy Lace

My first attempt at using Solvy this way....need to be brave and dissolve...but, for now I will keep it like this in case I decide to add on....form a garment or whatever. Technique thus far has been multiple over-stitching with the machine...hoping that it is interlinking enough to form lace.

See January 6 2011 post for instructions.

Stitched by Hand, Hand Printed on Silk

Took a print I had made of one of my childhood drawings, and hand stitched "hightlights" on the print. Print was made using gum arabic, printers ink, and water. Basically you make a toner based copy of the artwork (or photograph), apply a gum arabic/water solution, roll on printer's ink, sponge it off to a degree, and run it through the press on silk (or paper). Is washable if you use printer's ink. Don't know what else I would do with this...framing it in flat frame doesn't seem to the be answer. Have stuffed the "merely" printed ones, which you can find on earlier blog entry.

Stitched Drawing

Took drawing from my niece, and stitched on linen. Need to figure out display idea for it..turning it into a pillow is an option, but perhaps that makes her drawing seem less than art, which I don't want to do...the freedom and imagination in it is something to elevate.

Used sewing machine and hand stitching.

Lampshade

Took picture my four year old niece made of unicyclist, traced on silk treated with rabbit skin glue (for stiffness). Stitched on sewing machine, not using any fancy computer program, just my hand and the sewing machine, back and forth and on and on. A few hand french knots for effect, and then put on lamp base that I had spray painted to coordinate. Spray painting on metal 3-d object is an area that I have room to improve. Put the unicyclist on 3 times, so it was a fair amount of effort, but I like it. Need to clean up some of the stitches that show through, particulary evident when lit.

Stitched on felt

Planned to make this a plane to defuse light. In the process of laying thread on the hand felted rectangle, saw how brilliant a single thread could be. When I started stitching them into the felt, they lost a lot of their brilliance, though you could still see parts of them.

I began to equate that to what happens to many -- burdens, obligations, outlooks can take hold, and diminish the glow. Of course, some obligations are pleasant, burdens are commonly necessary, and outlooks often change as we encounter things/thoughts. I remembered something that my friend Candace had said about a mustard seed of hope, that little bit of hope that a person needs sometimes to turn despair or less dour a circumstance into to a more uplifting spirit.

So, in the next section, I stitched in a mustard seed, and surrounded it with some of the threads, stretching to the top, or meandering on offshoots. The next section has the threads un-stitched, to a large degree, allowing their potential to be most free.

All of this is subtle, mainly because I chose very thin threads, and of course conceptually it is a bit obtuse, at least visually. And, yes, positive thought does not always guarantee excellent outcomes, nor is worry or despair useless, avoidable, or whatever. However, uncool or not, hope is my ally, not blind, not unaided by action, but there.