Machine Experiments

Today I've been doing some experiments with my sewing machine on ribboned strips of Calico, mainly working on overstitching. This is all to feed into the handwoven/abstract machine embroidery pieces that I'm working on right now. One of the pieces is finished and mounted and another is close to finished (I am waiting on some threads to arrive), but I am hoping to make some larger scale works using the 10x10 strip 'blocks' almost like a quilt. This will definitely give me some more scope to play with different complementary techniques in different regions of the work(s). The photos of these experiment strips isn't very good, honestly. I will try and take some better ones using proper lighting and my actual camera during the week.

Aside from some relatively simple things, like pleating and gathering, that I wanted to test to see how the starched calico responded (stiffly, in all cases!), I mainly tested out how the fabric responded to overlaying different types and sizes of stitch. I've never really worked with starched fabric before. I usually prefer working with more fluid fabrics. 

But the way the fabric behaved with the added stiffness also gave me some new ideas that I'm keen to try out - namely on pre-sized, pre-stretched canvas. I have piles of canvases at home that I was painting on, and have stripped several frames of their ready-to-paint-on canvases and have ideas to play around with. That will be something to start next week, alongside finishing these handwoven works that are really reigniting something creative inside me. We'll see. I'm also super keen to get started with the first unit of the degree and see where that adventure takes me and my artwork.