Days 4/5... Using Techniques to Complete Projects.

29th July 2017

Back in Richmond after an amazing week with a lovely group of like minded, talented people. Angie Hughes is such a good tutor.....

....Hot Spots on Kunin felt....

....iron onto the felt under baking parchment, peel off paper when cooled and tiny drops of glue are left on the fabric....

....iron on foil and this is the effect...

....quick blast with a heat gun....

....lacy effect!

I have heard of Hot Spots but never used them, quite versatile as they can be stencilled onto fabric and cut out in any shape.

>>>>

I have seen this in books and on Pinterest but didn't know how to produce the effect. I placed some hemp fabric from my stash in a hoop, cut 2 sides of a square, removed the threads, stitched around the edges with zigzag to prevent further fraying...

....use a wide zig zag to join the strands.

>>>>>

This piece has progressed over the week, printing with the block of my embroidered tree, I wish I had left the organza layer on the bottom half of the piece, need to make another tree, really pleased with the 3D effect.

>>>>>>

I wanted to make a sample piece to incorporate all I have learned this week....

....Painted Tyvek, heated with an iron, added more metallic acrylic paint, embossing powder then zapped with a heat gun...

....using the same paints I painted Bondaweb, when dry ironed onto a backing of Kunin felt and gently heated with the gun...

....added stitch, made cords...

...embellished the Tyvek structure with scrim...

....made fern leaves using soluble on organza and free machining which gives a very delicate texture, only attached on one part of the leaf for added texture...

....I want to add hand stitching to this piece but didn't have time yesterday!

>>>>>>

INSPIRATION FROM ANGIE HUGHES AND REST OF THE GROUP

 Thread painting using variegated threads on soluble film...

...stitched leaf on foiled organza...

....stencil, metallic paint on Kunin then zapped with gun...

....painted Bondaweb cut into strips (could be any shape) ironed on black velvet, covered with black organza and free machined in assorted threads...

....one of my favourite samples of Angie's work, beautiful free machining in metallic threads....

....different ideas using the techniques from this course...

...lovely colour palette..

...stitching brings the print to 'life'...

.....texture using Kunin, painted Bondaweb, puff product, embossing powder and heat gun...

...printing, over printing, foil, resist...

...my friend Jo Moxham produced this beautiful piece of work, even made her own ivy stencil!

...ivy leaves in Tyvek and Kunin...

....fern wooden block used for printing on Kunin and stitched, wonderful textures in this woodland piece!

I have lots of samples to finish to put in my sketchbook using machine/hand embroidery.

Will post as I complete!!

Day 3 .. Heat Gun, Iron, Tyvek and Kunin Felt....

26th July 2017

Another busy day learning and playing....

....painted Bondaweb using slightly diluted acrylic paint...

...cut into strips and ironed onto black cotton velvet....

....this will be covered in black organza and stitched, the organza is to prevent the stitches 'getting lost' in the fabric....

.....Bondaweb ironed onto Kunin Felt, remember the baking parchment, then zapped with a heat gun...

....Bondaweb, Kunin Felt with Xpander Paste spread over with a brush then zapped with a heat gun. The paste puffs up to give a lovely texture, this is white and can have acrylic paint added for more colour.

>>>>>>>

Painted Tyvek....

...heated in a sandwich of baking paper using an iron, keep checking for amount of shrinkage, I added  a little Xpander paste, heated, covered with gold metallic acrylic and sprinkled embossing powder over the newly applied paint then a very quick blast with the heat gun. I love the texture in this piece.

>>>>>>>>

My ongoing piece of work from the 1st day, stitched around the leaves, trimmed the top layer of organza, then free machined to define the trunk...

....cable stitch, thick thread in the bobbin, and work from the back around the stitching of the trunk...

....am enjoying building up layers of texture....

....more work on this tomorrow!

Angie Hughes is a super teacher and I have learnt so much in the last 3 days.

This work has been inspired by Angie Hughes, Alison Holt, Gwen Hedley, Lynda Monk. 

We have their books in the studio, so inspiring!

Day 2.. Free Machining on Soluble Film

25th July 2017

Another great day with Angie Hughes, but first photos from the resist work that I forgot to photograph yesterday!

I really love the overprinting and effects of masking, both positive/negative, will definitely use this technique again.

>>>>>>>

Working on soluble film today, actually using quite a thick film over organza...

....it was difficult to see the markings on the film and follow the lines because the machine plate was visible, so made a small hole in a piece of paper which was placed under the foot and taped in place, this made the free machining so much easier to do.

Traced leaf shapes with a biro onto the film/organza, and stitched around using a variety of threads. I didn't have to worry about making all the stitches overlap as the organza made a fabric base....

...cut out, soaked in water to remove the film and placed on kitchen paper to dry, another really useful technique. Might make autumn leaves using various shades of background organza.

>>>>>>>>>

This is a print from my machine stitched tree printed onto the therma pad, over printed with metallic copper acrylic leaf stencil....

....this was covered in a layer of green organza, then gold....

....leaf shapes then stitched around using metallic green thread...

.....more work on this piece tomorrow....

....watch this space!

LOVING THIS COURSE!!

First Day at Oxford Summer School.....

24th July 2017

A brilliant first day with Angie Hughes....

.....started with a demonstration, coffee then printing....

....a thermo block was heated with an iron over baking parchment then it was pressed very firmly over a leaf (vein side up).....

...acrylic paint was dabbed on using a sponge....

....prints were made on calico...

....this was then overprinted with metallic gold...

....a different leaf....

...looks like a tree when printed....

....I am using these as samples for my sketchbook so  trying different methods on my sample...

.....a piece of Bondaweb cut to the block size was ironed on....

....foil was ironed onto the Bondaweb after the backing was removed, peeled off when cool...

...not too sure about the results!

A freezer paper resist was placed over another print...

SO SORRY I HAVE FORGOTTEN TO PHOTOGRAPH THE RESULTS!!!

Will try to remember tomorrow.

Next came the method for free machining a tree shape, calico was placed in a hoop then a circle was cut out of the fabric, using straight stitch a fan shape was stitched across the hole....

...I used variegated thread, the stitch was changed to zig-zag and the threads were joined at the base for the tree trunk then threads were joined with the zig-zag stitch to make the branches. I really want need to practice this skill...

...the tree is cut away from the calico...

....and made into a printing block...

......for a background.

This will have a stencilled leaf design, machine/hand stitching to create more colour and texture.

I already have a cushion design in mind to make after the course.

So looking forward to tomorrow.....

Knitting and Crochet

23rd July 2017

Sorry for my lack creative posts but my life has changed and I don't have access to a craft area or my machine at the moment!

I have, however, been quite busy spending precious time with my granddaughter who is now one!
She is such a joy to be around and is always busy, I always sleep well after spending a day with her!!

I have also been quite active on Pinterest, so many brilliant ideas and talented people 'out there'.

When I started yarn bombing in the park I began to crochet as it was easier and much quicker to make strips. The last few weeks I have been learning how to crochet flowers using my oddments of yarn.....

.....I particularly like Sophie Digard's creations and would love to make a throw with fine wool in one of her designs! 

Not sure what these flowers will be used for yet but I enjoyed learning how to make them and am beginning to understand a simple crochet pattern. Progress.

Also been knitting for Alba, often adding my own twist on a basic pattern...

.....knitted in cotton/bamboo yarn with a moss stitch 'rib' and crochet neck band. So easy to slip on when the weather turns cool.

Today I am off to Oxford Summer School for the week with a friend on a course run by Angie Hughes, so hope to learn lots of new techniques with fabrics and heat!!

Watch this space as I record my playing......