Last week I went to the Oxford Summer School for the Arts to do the above course. I had a wonderful time and felt truly inspired. The first thing we made was this little book of sample techniques. All pages covered with a diluted wash of acrylic paint. Page 1 – Acrylic paint on a...
Chapter 5 – a tassel
I found a beautiful pine cone whilst in France in June. It must have been lying there for some time as most of the scales had fallen off leaving just a few at the base and exposing the empty husks swirling around the cone. I needed to use a fairly open pattern otherwise the stitching...
silk and lace – work done during a week with Val Holmes
I spent last week in Luçon in France doing a week long workshp with Val Holmes entitled Silk and Lace. This was originally one piece which I subsequently separated into two pieces using the embellisher, rather than tearing or using scissors, to produce a textured edge. The paper is made using gummy silk cocoon strippings, ...
Chapter 4 Cable stitch
Cable stitch with the presser foot on. Straight stitch, zigzag and automatic patterns. Cable stitch with free embroidery. I love the effect you can get by layering different threads as in the top piece where I added some metallic thread. I know I haven’t done a lot of samples, but I just wanted to get...
Chapter 3 – stitches
I’ve decided to take the advice of a friend and make covers for my sketchbooks. So here are the first two: Strips of sari silk stitched with automatic patterns on to transfer painted pelmet vilene. Lettering done with zigzag and the poppy seedheads filled with granite stitch. Hand dyed cotton sheeting with a piece of...