My first test was appliqueing the figures. There are some issues to resolve here. First of all the silk is to light as a background fabric, it needs stabilizing and the blue fabric shines through the faces.
I used a regular tension setting on top and the bobbin was still set for a whip stitch. And although this gives a loose, sketchy effect, maybe it will look to messy if it was used for the whole piece?
I like the tonal difference between the background and the faces in the foreground. This happened by accident, I grabbed a piece of black fabric that was next to my machine to stabilize the silk. It gives the background a greyish tone, which makes the faces pop out a bit more.
Overall I am quite happy with this little sample, all the issues can be easily resolved. But the question remains if this will show enough “stitch” to suit the assignment.
My second test was to machine embroider the figures. For this I gave my fab-u-motion (stitch regulator) a trial run.
I still appliqued the figures to create that tonal difference between fore- and background. There are some issues to resolve here as well.
I started by making the darker folds in the fabric and embroidered around them.
I don’t like the effect, I much prefer the loose, sketchy outlines of the first test.
I need to use a finer needle in the machine, this one leaves holes which are very visible on the outer right figure.
I played a bit with the density of the stitch and although I like the lighter feel of the figure on the right, I feel this is not the most suitable for my sketch.
In my sketch the crowd is lined up shoulder to shoulder, like a solid block, quite regimented. To recreate this I think I need solid fills for the clothes.
To outline the figures I used a silk thread, I picked this because it’s a little heavier then the rayon I used for the clothes. I’ll have to up this a notch and go for an even heavier thread, maybe a buttonhole or jeans thread. So the outline won’t disappear into the background.
So what I am going to do? I like the painterly effect of the first sample a lot.
The second sample undoubtedly fits in better with the assignment…decisions, decisions…
For my first sample I need to choose a drawing with strong lines or linear qualities.
This simple statement has been occupying my mind, long before I actually got to this stage. All my usual drawing inhibitions surfaced which led to a number of useless scribbles. This morning, totally out of the blue, I came up with this…..
Well maybe not totally out of the blue, I was angry. I was reading an online newspaper about a proposal to extent freedom of speech in such a way that certain “groups” could be lawfully insulted. Now I am all for freedom of speech, in equal measures for everyone, but I think that we’ve got enough words in our language to make a point without having to result to insults. I was most angry about the unbelievable comments left by other readers all anonymous and all by people who would never have the courage to voice those opinions when you looked them in the face.
“The faceless crowd” can be a force of incredible strength in countries where people can’t voice their opinions. 
Unfortunately over here it’s now a source of hate.
This drawing was literally made in 5 minutes and I hope it has got enough strong lines and linear qualities to serve as a sketch for my first sample.
I have been thinking about how to translate it to textile.
One option would be to applique each person separately to the background.
A benefit of this method would be that this would create additional texture and depth.
Another idea is to just use a piece of background fabric and embroider the whole picture. Maybe this is more in keeping with the assignment?
Hmmm….I think I’ll have to do some samples and then decide.
This weekend I spent some time on machine stitching.First started practicing whip stitch, this stitch has got interesting textural qualities, but I found it hard to control. To get a “cording” type effect I had to go down to my smallest stitch length of 0,5 mm. Free motion it was most interesting in a circular movement, which created a flowery type effect.
Next to the whip stitch I did some free motion work and even though I’ve got a fab-u-motion with my machine I decided that would be cheating…
I discovered I’ve got serious wobbly hands….and there was me thinking I was such a stable person.
Anyway things got better after a while and I guess free motion work just takes lots of practice. I will do some more work with the regulator installed, I haven’t had much chance to practice with it yet and the moving table will definitely make for a smoother movement.
It’s a very busy week at work, so I haven’t had time to sew. But I did manage to rummage through some issues of Workshop on the Web, a quarterly online magazine published by Maggie Grey. I knew there was an article somewhere on machine embroidery and creating a whip stitch.
It’s an article by Ken Smith, a fantastic machine embroiderer from Australia, and shows how different tensions and threads will alter your whip stitch. My hands are itching to give it a go now….
Have you ever thought about drawing in this way before?
Drawing is definitely not one of my finer qualities. So my drawing never goes past a quick sketch that doesn’t make sense to anyone but me. Which is fine, it’s usually just a reference for an idea I don’t want to forget, so it serves a purpose. At the same time I am a notorious “doodler” so I guess mark making in itself is not alien to me.
Where you able to be inventive about the range of marks you made?
It took me some time to leave some inhibitions behind. I didn’t start to feel inventive until I moved on from the graphite pencils to the paints, crayons and different tools to make marks with.
Where you able to explore a wide range of media?
Yes, I think so. Although there are some other media I would like to try.
I am thinking about the fluidity of inks and the softness of cream pastels.
Are you pleased with what you’ve done? Do you think it will help you to approach drawing more confidently?
Yes, I think I managed to shake off some of my worst inhibitions about drawing and see it as a purpose to a means. This made me loosen up a bit.
I like to work with digital media and often use this as a substitute for drawing.
I feel I can use both now.
Which way of working did you enjoy most?
Making marks with words?
I was doing alright with the making marks with words relating to texture (e.g. soft, hard, etc.) when it came to making marks with regards to emotion I started doubting. Is it the mark that portrays the emotion, or the association with the mark I got in my head, or the colour? I got a bit stuck on this until I decided I was trying to split hairs and just did what felt right.
Making marks in response to an image?
This, for me, was the easiest way of working. Like I mentioned before I love working with digital media. So I work often with pictures.
Although I never worked with a viewing frame before, I felt it’s very similar to the way I work digitally. I always crop or enlarge areas to get a real focus on that part of the picture I really want to use
Making marks in relation to real objects?
I found it harder to focus on the texture of real objects. More difficult to pick up on the light and shade. I actually felt like picking up the camera and taking a picture and working from that.
Did you find each of them very different?
See above.
Which media did you most enjoy working with? And why?
One of the things I most enjoyed was when I unfolded the tissues I had used to stamp paint onto paper and mob up spillages. I love happy accidents and I guess tissue is as close to fabric as I could get with these exercises.
I also really enjoyed the effect of bleach on the tissue paper. The result felt like batik.
Another one that I was really happy with and that needs more exploration is my discovery of oil pastels.
Have I fully explored the possibilities of mark making? If not what else would you like to try?
Can you ever fully explore the possibilities of mark making?
There is definitely a lot more to explore, different materials, mark making in combination with traditional fabrics and the zap-able and dissolvable techno textiles, different threads, paints, inks and a combinations of all of these.
Do you have any ideas about how this work will enrich your textile work in the future?
Well it’s given me new ideas for experimentation; it’s of course hard to predict where it will lead to. But I do feel more confident. I realize now that I don’t have to draw or paint a masterwork, but that it’s just a design-tool. It’s not my drawing that will be on show after all.
The creative bobbin for my Pfaff arrived yesterday.
So today I did a little trial run. I thought I make it give it a proper test run by winding some thick-ish crochet cotton on the bobbin. And it worked very well!
Of course it’s not the brightest idea in the world to start with a circle!
But after some little adjustments to the tension I was actually quite pleased with the result.
Posted by
Agnes Iley
7:14 AM
Time for another experiment. When I was looking for “textural” pictures.
I found this picture of a flower. It left me a little dumbfounded. How would I recreate this texture?
So I figured I needed a little help.
I used my computer software to turn this picture into a sketch.
This gave me a far better idea of how to recreate the 
texture.
I got the oil pastels out and instead of trying to make a precise drawing I just tried to recreate the “blocks” of colour in the picture. The marks I made where quite loose.
Then I got out some cotton buds and dipped them in white spirits. Instead of covering the whole area I gently dragged the buds over the paper in the direction of the petals.
After this I emphasized the petals with some very light pencil markings.
A bit of black oil pastel was added to make the flower pop.
Not a masterwork, but I was very happy with it.
The oil pastels did get my imagination going….
I wonder if similar effects can be achieved on fabric. Cotton might be to absorbent for the white spirits to work, but maybe silks???
Definitely something I need to experiment with!
My first test was appliqueing the figures. 
