Slow stitching.

 

Some people call the sort of embroidery that I do "slow stitching".  Apparently, "slow stitching" is redefining a piece of cloth/material/fabric, and giving it a new meaning by using  hand work, so it can involve kntting, embroidery, patchwork, crochet, lace and patchwork.   It is a new trend which is "sweeping the world" because it forces people to slow down, stop worrying and stop aiming for perfection, with the added benefit of allowing the sewer to create individual pieces of beauty.  What is more, the fact that it forces you to focus on the doing rather than on the outcome is supposed to have the added benefit of developing your spirituality and "inner voice".  Not sure about all that, but I do know that I am very good at imperfection (which is probably why I back off in terror when somebody expects me to follow a pattern exactly) and I always have a piece of  "slow stitiching" on the go, even when I am working on other projects.

I have never really considered myself as an embroiderer, probably because, as a schoolgirl in Trinidad, I can remember my embarrasment in the sewing class when the teacher looked at my embroidery stitches and told me I sewed like a cobbler.  Put me off showing any sewing I did for my dolls for years!  In high school in Melbourne, Australia, I was lucky enough to have a very adventurous art department teaching me.  We tried natural dyeing, Jacobean style embroidery, ceramics, papier mache, weaving and spinning, amongst other arts and crafts, and I gained the courage to mix my techniques.   However, I still didn't ever feel as in control and as "perfect" in what I did as the other girls, plus, I never really stood out in any particular area, so my lack of confidence meant  I focussed on languages and literature at university rather than doing an art course.  In hindsight, I think this was a good thing as I got the chance to try all sorts of different arts and crafts simply out of the love of making things and without the pressure of assessment and comparisons.  Plus, because I didn't initially get taught by a specialist, I never learned to follow rules, and therefore expanded my embroidery on to various types of fabric, paper, cardboard and felt, using different sorts of embroidery materials, and both using a sewing machine and a needle.

In spite of the early humiliation I had as an embroiderer, throughout my life, I have been encouraged by others to extend my skills and gain confidence in what I do.  In my life as "a mum" in Melbourne,  I was a member of a group called Stitch and Bitch, and one friend taught us all lots of embroidery stitches after doing a class in wool embroidery. As a result, I gained a lot more confidence in embroidery. This piece was done after another friend showed me how to paint and draw on fabric, then embroider the result.

Another friend encouraged me to do a patchwork class with her and I learned the basics of quilting.  Still another friend discovered Kaffe Fassett's needlepoints with me and we both drew on canvases and then stitched them encouraged by his work.  She made the most wonderful carpet bag and cushions.  I made cushions and bought old pieces of furniture to upholster with my canvases.

 In Brisbane, other friends taught me how to dye paper using  plants after doing a workshop with Sandra Brown.  Still another taught me how to dye paper with rust and ink.  You have seen the stitching I did on these paper works in earlier blogs.  And, I did classes to learn from other artists, like Sandra Meech and Sandra Pearce.

The result of all this encouragement was that  I gained confidence to produce different types of art, and I gained more confidence when people admired them and asked for gifts of my work.  Without coercion, my mother kept and used my cheeseboards, framed my cartoons and treasured my hand made dolls and teddybears, my father wore my embroidered fishing hats and hand-made bow ties, my son-in-law wears my hand-knitted beanies, my husband wears my hand knitted socks and my best friends frame my paintings, prints and embroidery pieces to display  in their homes.

Some people have even paid money for them!  In Brisbane, I sold my pieces at art exhibitions at the BIA and others have seen my work on line and bought them that way.  

Back to slow stitching.  Here are the three projects that I am currently working on.  As you will see, they are very different from the work above, but they are still fun, still slow stitching, and still delight me. 

The first is a very old piece that I started last year.  First, I photocopied a photograph of a mushroom that I found in Bogong Village on to fabric.  Then,  I backed it with some batting.  I very roughly machine embroidered over the picture using variegated threads and a very loose tension to give the loops and fluffiness.  In the process, I broke the needle in my nail when I kept on working even though I was over-tired  (Warning:  slow stitching can be dangerous).   Now, I am hand embroidering over the whole.  I am not sure whether I will add beads to it later on.  I am developing it as I go along.

My second piece is also on a photocopied picture of one of my photos of one of the streams at Bogong Village backed with batting.  This one is just hand embroidered.   As yet, the image shape is still  very nebulous and this piece in particular is making me realise why they call it slow stitching.  It feels like it is taking forever!

My third project is a quilt that is only very roughly pieced together - the squares don't quite match up.  There is no apparent pattern to the quilt.  The stitiches range from fly stitch to satin stitch, to French knots, to made up.  The purists in the quilting and embroidery world would not approve.  It is meant to a memory piece of my travels around the bush in Australia.  As I explained before, the fabrics are sourced from fabrics that I have created from printing on, painting on, transferring photos on  and dyeing cotton.  Then, I am embroidering on the fabric to create, in the end, a united whole.  Here are some new additions to the slowly developing work:

 

I think slow stitching is good for the soul.  It slows me down but makes me feel like I am not wasting time, since, even when I am listening to a talking book or watching television, I am creating something beautiful.  I slow stitch even while talking with friends and I feel it makes my homew feel like a home.

Home made clays, embroidery, greeting cards, collage and sandcastles. 2015 augers well for variety.

 

January started with a bang, creatively.  And, once again, I have being dabbling in different types of art and craft.

Firstly, I have been experimenting with different types of home-made doughs to find a good method of making gift tags.

My first experiment, made with the help of a 9 year old friend, was making salt dough.  We mixed 1 cup salt, 1 cup warm water and 2 cups of plain flour together and kneaded it well. 

 Then, we rolled it flat with a rolling pin and used various cookie cutters to cut out shapes. 

 We used a plastic straw to cut  hanging holes in the ornaments and stamps to add interest.  After cutting, we put the shapes on greaseproof paper on baking paper lined trays.  The recipe advised to bake at 250 degrees for 2 hours but we found the temperature was too high and we needed to bake the dough for a much shorter time because it was singed.

We also discovered that the dough had to be well kneaded or it separated into layers or bubbled up.  Still, my friend was pleased with her results and took them back home to paint with acrylic paints.  In the past, I have used varnish to seal them and give them a nice shine.  I think glitter would also look great.  I wasn't particularly keen on the texture of the dough, but I thought it was a great dough for kids.

Our second experiment with dough was cold porcelain.  I used a pot I use for craft projects and mixed 1 cup cornstarch, 2 cup bicarbonate of soda and 1 1/2 cups water and heated and stirred the mixture until it pulled away from the sides of the pot.  Once again, I kneaded the mixture

 then used cookie cutters and stamps to make tags, but I also tried a few sculptures.  A little bowl turned out quite well. The recipe called for baking for an hour at 170 degrees, turning half way through cooking.  Once again, the temperature was too warm and the time was overly long.  However, I really liked the clay like appearance of the dough and the fact that it could be sanded for a smooth finish. 

 

 

 I think I'll use this method again.

The third experiment was with air dried porcelain.  This recipe called for 3 cups of PVA glue, 3 cups of cornflour, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, 1 tablespoon of glycerine and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. 

 

I mixed the ingredients in my pot and heated it for about 15 minutes.  It takes a lot of muscle to stir this and the mixture did burn a little meaning that the pot was very difficult to clean afterwards.  After cooking, I kneaded the dough well, constantly coating my hands in olive oil to stop the dough sticking,and then put it into a sealed container for 24 hours.  After that, I rolled out some of  the dough on greaseproof paper and cut more tags

 

and made  little sculpted birds ( see the first photo). 

 I divided the other half into three balls of dough, which I dyed by kneading food dye into each ball.  I made tags and birds with these too. 

The resulting pieces took a few days to dry and resulted in a finish not unlike resin.  I think this method has the most potential for jewellery, little sculptures and tags. It takes longer and is harder to make, but I found it the most satisfying.

  

My other experiment was with making greeting cards.  I bought blank cards and then cut strips from some of my old gardening magazines.  I wove these strips and then used PVA glue to paste the woven strips on to the cards.  Next, I trimmed the weaving to fit the cards.  These will be nice gift cards for gardeners.

I have also been embroidering on my new quilt using variegated cottons.  Here are some of the motifs in my work.  As you can see, I am using images from nature and varying the stitiches.

And, I have been continuing my experiments with junk mail art:

 

 

As well as doing my own work, I went to the Frankston sand sculpture exhibition with some of my grandchildren.  The exhibition was rather expensive and neither the children or I were overly interested in the sculptures, although they were very clever.    

We preferred our subsequent trip to the beach at Seaford, playing and swimming under the shade of the pier