Heat transfer printing is a revelation. Colours so bright and sparkling, some a little overwhelming, but lots of idea boiling over. This motif seems to have appeared in other guises before, perhaps a them is appearing in my projects at last?
Polyester satin transfer print
Fleece transfer prints, one of them actually made into a usable object.
Voile mache ( thanks Plum!) and colour catchers, transfer print.
Watercolour pencils on calico, stitched with Empress Mills floss
Best friends give you their copies of current magazines – with no pages missing!
Am I sad that a theme of spring makes me think about drying washing outside?
Morley this week was an exploration of transfer dyes, from dry paper and from wet inks inks on to artificial fibres, in this instance, pelmet Vilene. The aspects of changing a flat surface in to a 3D shape challenged my brain as ever, but I did manage to produce a reasonable form.
There was an interesting exchange as individuals described the colours their dyes had produced. Prosaic as ever, I described mine as light green and pink, while a more artistic member of our group described the same colours as pistachio and raspberry. She would evidently be more effective than me at naming paint colours.
My sons’ reaction to the tale was to ask if the other person was hungry when she was in the class. I’ll need to check next week.
In the spirit of food related colours, these fruits and veggies caught my eye in a lovely blue bowl from Dartington Pottery. There’s some stitching inspiration here.
Despite unpredictable weather , we fitted in some art and some outside at half term.
Turf on a taxi
Still water ( and grey skies)
Catkins in the wind
Picturing Science exhibition in Richmond, forgot to get the artist’s name.
Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy
Sunshine at last
Water Gardens in Bushy Park
So, the sewing resolutions were,
Not bad, for two months in to the year.
Experiments with watercolour pencils, stitched non-woven voile and hand-dyed fabric.
On the left, kimono silk, with appliquéd butterfly and overlay of a shirt collar stiffener from a new shirt. On the right, kanzashi flower petals, stitched flat, rather than kept three-dimensional.
Once each academic year, each department at Morley gets the chance to show their students’ work in the display cases at the entrance to the college. For the next two weeks it is the turn of textiles. So, if you are in Lambeth, take a turn by Morley and see our work on display.
Amazing atmosphere in the class last night, as every one got to grips with the felting in their own way. I was on off on the embellisher again, with these two panels, each about 10 inches square: vintage blanket, carpet yarn, felted flowers, chiffon strips……loving all this texture.
Half term next week, how will I cope?
Morley last week was experiments with merino tops on the embellisher and then wet felting the results. I was lost of inspiration, so just did some random circles, and challenged myself to make some pastel mixes and use them. I’m not sure about the results, perhaps en masse they might be impressive.
Before and after wet felting
Before wet felting – the pastels didn’t last long, as you can see.
Then more experiments with nuno. This time on undyed muslin, with undyed wool tops rather than merino. Much harder work, so much so, that I brought this piece home wet, rolled it in a towel, sealed with rubber bands, and then washed it in the washing machine at 60 degrees C. It certainly speeds up the felting, but the edges are hard to control. Still, when an expert talks about cutting off the end bits, this could be a useable technique.
