Tailor Tack and Blind Hem Feet

T W O  F E E T  I N  O N E  T U T O R I A L

This week we have learnt two more new feet which was quite exciting as I have never used any more specialist feet. I had no idea of what was going to be produced and so I was relatively shocked at how many different things the sewing machine could produce depending on what you do with it. Starting on the left hand side, these stitches were produced using the Tailor Tack foot. This foot creates loops in the thread and can produce anything from scraggly loose loops which almost look like messy handwriting, to perfect packed lines of loops and even seeding by taking either the spool or top thread out. 

On the right hand side second and third lines in are produced using the blind hem foot. This foot is completely different and very neat, however some of the same outcomes can be produced using both feet. For this foot to work correctly you stitch on the fold and then by opening the fold afterwards you can produce lovely outcomes. 

Machine embroidery

T H E  F I R S T  W E E K

This week I have switched over from hand embroidery to machine. To begin this half of the sampling unit we were inducted onto the sewing machines in the art school and we got shown how to use the embroidery foot. (no.6) 

In the first few days I took the opportunity to experiment with the machines a lot and get to know how to use them properly, I have found that they are very different from a normal domestic machine and it took me a little while to feel completely confident with what I was doing. 

The image below is of one of the first machine samples I produced for my technical file. I tried and tested different stitch lengths, widths and styles and also couched some yarns underneath to see what would happen

Ironing Candles

C A N D L E S  &  P A P E R

After my first candle experiments, I wanted to look into more artists. For my data I am looking at collections, and when using these birthday candles it reminded me of how Becky Adams looks at memories and things from the past. To me one of my greatest memories was always birthdays and the smell of candles being blown out. This then links into my collections data as Becky Adams collects and uses snippets of information relating to memories. 

Using this inspiration I then decided to iron candles onto a combination of fabric and newspaper print. I used this because I have found that after looking at her work she uses text and I thought id like to try this too in my own way. 

I think these samples are quite successful because I find them interesting to look, mainly because of how the wax sets on different surfaces. On the fabric it looks opaque but on the newspaper its almost transparent.

This image is of the back of the fabric, I really like the way the wax blobs. 

Birthday Candles

M U L T I P L E S  E X P E R I M E N T S

For the next stage in hand embroidery we had a bit of a 'wild card' brief. The brief was to produce new things using multiples of something. For this task I chose to use birthday candles, mainly because it meant I got to work in colour. We were given a list of verbs to apply to our objects. The verbs I based my ideas on were as follows :

To fire

To disarrange

To join 

To flow

After thinking about this more I chose to use heat (to fire) and iron my candles over a shear fabric originally, however the outcome on the fabric samples shown below is actually from the backing fabric which was underneath the shear fabric when they were melted. It was a complete happy accident. The colours on the fabric are lovely and pale.

After melting several designs I then decided to stitch french knots and granny knots into my samples which proved a little tricky considering I was using a firm backing fabric and wax. 

I highlighted some of the flowing areas of the wax by using running stitch along some of the edges of colour

I also used some seeding to give texture. 

Hand Embroidery

S A M P L E S

Our brief this week was to produce twenty samples related to our data. At first I panicked a little because I didn't think I was quick enough at hand stitching to produce that amount of samples. However, when it came to it I managed the work load okay. Here I have selected my three favourite samples.

For the sample below, I used the waxed tea bags and hand stitched them on to a base fabric using running stitch. I then decorated the gaps with a thick embroidery thread and used chain stitch. 

This second sample actually has two layers. The top layer is a very lightweight and has a loose knit and so you can see through to the bottom heavier fabric. On the top layer I have disarranged a wool fabric to create texture and relate to my data as it reminds me of the way my tea bags began to break down and holes appeared. The bottom fabric is occupied with white french knots which you can see through the top fabric.  

The last sample was created by using the same woollen fabric and tearing it to create the same effect as above, but a new design. For this one I used bondina to hold the top fabric in place and then satin stitched along the edges and put a chain stitch through the middle. 

I made most of my hand samples relatively simple because at the time I was worried I would not be able to produce twenty. If I were to do them again, I would have liked to be more creative and produce more detailed samples. 

Hand embroidery

F I R S T  &  S E C O N D  T U T O R I A L S

In our first hand embroidery tutorial we learnt 6 different stitches. From left to right are french knots, running stitch, satin stitch, chain stitch, blanket stitch, herringbone and fagotting ( same technique but are used in different ways). 

In the following tutorial we then got to learn more techniques and these included couching and shisha. 

Couching

This sample below demonstrates couching. This is where you couch something down onto another fabric, here I have used a think yarn and couched over it using satin stitch. 

 Shisha

In order to shisha you have to use a base so here I have used a penny and a circle of card. First you secure the circle and loop around using the inside square. I really liked this technique although it took a lot longer than the other techniques we learnt. 

Looking at samples

P A S T  W O R K

Today we had our first real embroidery session and during the day we got to look at samples from people who had previously done embroidery. I chose to put these images on here as I found them particularly inspiring. 

In the sample below, small french knots and seeding have been used to create a larger image which I thought was really clever and creative. From a distance the knots created a picture on the fabric. 

I also liked the sample in the images below because the stitches were so small and I loved the colours used.