Embellishing Printed Fabric: Workshop for Dumfries and District Embroiderers Guild

Fantasy Broccoli: Work in progress
Fabric markers and hand stitch on printed fabric by a member of Dumfries and District Embroiderers Guild

I get lots of workshop bookings and running workshops is one of my favourite parts of my practice. Usually I'm booked up 3-6 months in advance and most bookings come with that kind of notice. Some groups work much further in advance, planning their schedules a year or two ahead so sometimes I take bookings for a couple of years down the line, it always seems so far away when I take the booking but it always comes around sooner than I think! This was the case with a recent workshop for the fabulous Dumfries and District Embroiderers Guild. 

Setting up

Adding colour

Creating individual designs

When I took the booking back in 2016 I was running my 'Embellishing Printed Fabrics' workshop quite often; I find that I tend to run the same workshop several times in a short space of time and then it swaps to a different workshop. It was really good to come back to running this workshop after a bit of a break (I only ran it once last year) as it's a very relaxing workshop and offers a good opportunity to experiment and try out new stitches and colour combinations. 

Artistic license onion!

Choosing threads

Using home made stencils

I developed this workshop as I found that a lot of people wanted to do hand embroidery and stitching but weren't confident drawing or creating designs and this was holding them back. I had some lovely black and white printed fabric from Ikea so I started using fabric markers and pastels to 'colour in' the design and use this as a starting point for stitching. It's a great way to practice stitching and is a lovely mindful activity; it involves colouring in and stitching both of which have proven therapeutic benefits. 

Choosing colours

Work in progress

Work in progress

I always feel a little nervous running workshops for Embroiderers Guild groups; many of the members have far more skill and experience than me and it can be a bit intimidating. What I can offer though is a different way of approaching things and hopefully some new ideas and inspiration, not to mention my impressive printed fabric stash. It was great working with the Dumfries and District Embroiderers Guild, they were so friendly and welcoming and everyone was very positive and enthusiastic. It was lovely working with a group who are so open to new ideas and trying things and who have so much going on. I was asked to join the branch and if it wasn't for the fact that it clashes with my work at The Heathlands Project I'd have definitely taken them up on the offer! 

Work in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

As always when running my workshops one of the most inspiring things is seeing the different ways people interpret the same idea. Everyone did something a bit different and I was pleased that I could provide that starting point and hopefully a bit of creative advice and inspiration along the way. One of the lovely things about hand embroidery is that because it is quite a slow process it allows time for conversations and thoughts to flow, often along quite unexpected lines!

Work in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

I finished the day tired but full of positivity and enthusiasm (and delicious carrot and bean soup from Cafe Hubbub at Gracefield Arts Centre.) The group has an exhibition coming up along with The Dumfries and Galloway Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers and the Solway Quilters. The show is called 'Hanging by a Thread' and runs from 14th April-12th May at Gracefield Arts Centre, I'm looking forward to visiting. 

Work in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

Ready to Fly

Ready to Fly, 2017

I wrote in my last post that my aims for this year included prioritising creativity. To that end I have started the year off with a small submission project. I have taken part in Surface Gallery's International Postcard Show three times before (2013,14 and 15) but didn't take part last year for reasons I can't really recall. I really like this project as it is small enough to fit in around even a busy schedule but there is still the satisfaction of making a piece of work and knowing it will be on show.

Ready to stitch

Layering Fabrics

Last year I really enjoyed working on my feather and textile pieces so I decided to continue working in this way for my postcard. I feel like I'm starting to really develop a personal vocabulary working in this way, with particular colours, stitches and fabrics signifying specific things. It doesn't matter whether or not this vocabulary is understood by other people, it is part of my creative process and way of exploring my ideas.

Detail

Detail

In my recent work birds (and feathers) have become a symbol of transcendence, a belief found in many cultural systems across the world due to their ability to fly into the heavens. In this piece and in other recent pieces the blues represent the sky and freedom, the feather symbolises the soul and the red symbolises life. For me this piece is about spreading your wings and rising up to meet life's challenges.

Detail

Detail

I used a piece of felted wool blanket as a base and layered it up with pieces of silk organza. All the fabrics I used were ones that I'd dyed with indigo. I used a combination of fly stitch, running stitch, seeding stitch and beading to hold the layers together. I love the way the stitches sink into the felted wool, creating another layer of texture. I'm pleased with how this piece has worked out and it has got my new year off to a creative and positive start. If you're in Nottingham the show is on from 14th January to 11th February.

Detail

An unknown collaboration...

Finished embroidery

This week I have been finishing off an embroidery started many years ago by a woman I have never met. The piece is a linen table runner (I think, judging by the shape) and from the pattern printed on it I would guess that it was produced in the 1960's or 70's.

How it looked before I started stitching

Detail

The piece has the same design printed on both ends, one of them has just a couple of lines of stitching the other had quite a lot done. This is the section I have completed and the other section I am going to ask one of the participants on Prism Arts Summer School to complete. The piece will then be used as part of the costume for one of the horse puppets we are creating.

Work in progress

Stem stitch stems and thorn stitch leaf

I suppose to some people this may seem like an almost sacrilegious thing to do but I prefer to see it as giving something unfinished, and for a long time unloved, a new life. Using this embroidery in a costume means it will be seen by many more people than if it was left languishing in a linen drawer somewhere, brought out only on special occasions (if at all.) The piece belonged to an elderly relative of another of the Prism Artists and has been in our studio for a couple of years, waiting for someone to come along and finish it and give it a new life. I hope that's what we're doing!

My additions

Her stems, my leaves

Using the stitches already used as a guide I completed the section using mostly stem stitch and in stranded cotton, as that is what had been used already. I've never worked from a pattern printed specifically for embroidery before so it was an interesting technical challenge, following the printed design and trying to blend my stitching with that of the previous embroiderer.

Adding leaves

And flowers

It feels slightly odd to finish off someone else's work, but odd in quite a nice way. I found myself thinking about who she was, what she was thinking as she stitched and how come she never finished it. Did she get bored, or become unable to complete it? I know I have a host of unfinished things in my studio and I wonder if anything were to happen to me would somebody finish them off for me. I hope they would, I don't like the idea of it all packed away and forgotten or thrown out. I wonder would they think about me and wonder what I was thinking?

Completed section

This is one of the things that draws me time and again to stitching and textiles in general, that connection with the past and more importantly that connection with people. We all have such an intimate connection to textiles, a familiarity and understanding that I find fascinating. As Olive Schreiner asked "Has the pen or pencil dipped so deep in the blood of the human race as the needle?" I think maybe not...

Quilt Update

Work on 'The Summer'

I wrote in April about the fourth quilt project I am running with my textile group up at The Heathlands Project (a social enterprise supporting adults with disabilities.) The guys are making great progress and the work is coming together really well. The border patches are all finished and I began stitching them together today.

Stitching the border patches together

One of the border patches. Batik and embroidery

The main body of the quilt is also progressing beautifully. Each year I have encouraged the textile group to try something a bit different and this year we have been experimenting with batik and fabric pastels. At the moment the guys are appliquéing organza shapes on top of the patterns they drew with the pastels and embellishing with hand stitch. The group chose the title 'The Summer' for the quilt and as more colours and stitches spread across its surface it is like summer coming into bloom.

Detail of fabric pastel drawing

Pastel and appliqué detail

The quilt project gives the group the chance to enhance and develop the skills they have already learnt as well as being an opportunity to try out new techniques. It also helps build a sense of community as everyone gets involved and we are all working towards a common goal. Knowing that the quilt will be seen by thousands of people (at The Festival of Quilts in August at the N.E.C.) is really exciting for a lot of the group.

Working together

International Postcard Show 2014

Postcard: Drawing, print and stitch

Last year I took part in the International Postcard Show 2013 at Surface Gallery which I really enjoyed so I decided to enter a postcard again for this years show. I like this project because it is small enough that it doesn't feel to intimidating or overwhelming but at the same time it gives me an incentive to stop thinking about doing some work and actually get on and do it.

The original layers; cyanotype, lace print, drawing and stitch

I had some cyanotype prints I'd done last year of lace and buttons so I started off layering these prints up with lace prints I'd done on tracing paper. I also did some continuous line drawings of hands stitching on tracing paper and added one of these as another layer. Having stuck it all together and added some stitching I then decided I didn't like it so I peeled apart the layers, which left some bits stuck to my tracing paper drawings, and layered it on top of a different print made using bubbles. I liked this much better and was pleased with the traces left from the original layering so I added a bit of detached blanket stitch and packaged it up ready to post.

Detail of detached blanket stitch

Detail of drawing

Last year was a very exciting and busy one for me, I got to work on some great projects with some great people and I have been able to expand my freelance work greatly. The slight downside to this is that I haven't had much time for my own practice so as part of trying to get a good balance in my life this year I am hoping to be able to spend some more time creating my own art. I find little projects like this are a good way to kick start the process and help me build up my confidence and enthusiasm.

This weeks Workshops

Banner making with Barnardo's

I've got two sets of textile workshops running at the moment, one with Cumbria Cerebral Palsy and one with Barnardo's Sure Start Children's Centre. There is some beautiful work being made by both groups and as the last couple of weeks of workshops approaches I'm feeling excited about how all the work will come together.

Felt Dog

Felt Parrot

Felt Bag with Felt Beads

Felt Bag with Sequins

The Cumbria Cerebral Palsy group is a pilot run by Prism Arts to see how arts sessions benefit the people who access the service. In my workshops we've been doing some felt making and this week we moved on to embellishing the felt. The small sample pieces from the first week have been embroidered and embellished to look like animals and the 3D felt bags have also been embellished. There is a very positive atmosphere in this group and they pick things up really quickly.

Designs are drawn in fabric pen then embellished with stitch, sequins, buttons and beads

Hand stitching

The Barnardo's group I'm working with consists of mothers and their children and we've been working on embroidered animals and plants. Each person is working on an individual piece and next week we will start joining them all together to create a banner to be carried in Carlisle's pageant in a couple of weeks. You can find out more about the pageant by getting in touch with Impecunious.

Tonal stitching in a flower design

Adding beads