Once more this week has seen me in the studio, trying this and trying that.
I don't know if others find the myriad of decisions along the way of the making intriguing, but it never ceases to amaze me how many choices I often face, and how many decisions I need to make.
This time around the decisions were around machine stitching, which side was up? Did I want the nice stitching on the spine or on the inside? Did I want to trim the ends close or leave some thread dangling?
What size needle to use for some hand stitching? The bottom two sets and the furthest right set on the top row use a slightly smaller needle. I notice it, but do others?
What thread worked best for the hand stitching?
I quite liked the warmer and slightly thicker crochet cotton on these. But then, the needle holes were a bit chunky.
So I needed to check if the slightly thinner and whiter thread worked better - part of the needle question as well. So most of these are the thinner cotton with the bigger needle. The top and bottom far right ones are thinner cotton, smaller needle; then the bottom left is the thicker cotton with the smaller needle. So many combinations!
I laugh and laugh as I realise the minutiae of my making life, but in the end, I think these decisions matter. For me, it is in these decisions that the integrity of the final piece is born. Each decision that is conscious, mindful, and thought through means that the piece holds together in the end, and that everything there has a purpose; nothing more and nothing less than is needed. Or so I hope.
Of course, sometime I forget how to count, and end up with 5 strokes and a cross stroke, and decide I'll turn it up the other way and make it look like a wound that has been stitched!
But I do believe that thoughtful making produces a final piece that may look effortless, and natural and as if it were meant to be just that way, and no other...but many of us know that without these choices and decisions made along the way, the whole thing might just not hang together perfectly in the end.
So I smile and continue with my multiple minor decisions...
And end up with lots and lots of little samples.
I don't know if others find the myriad of decisions along the way of the making intriguing, but it never ceases to amaze me how many choices I often face, and how many decisions I need to make.
This time around the decisions were around machine stitching, which side was up? Did I want the nice stitching on the spine or on the inside? Did I want to trim the ends close or leave some thread dangling?
What size needle to use for some hand stitching? The bottom two sets and the furthest right set on the top row use a slightly smaller needle. I notice it, but do others?
What thread worked best for the hand stitching?
I quite liked the warmer and slightly thicker crochet cotton on these. But then, the needle holes were a bit chunky.
So I needed to check if the slightly thinner and whiter thread worked better - part of the needle question as well. So most of these are the thinner cotton with the bigger needle. The top and bottom far right ones are thinner cotton, smaller needle; then the bottom left is the thicker cotton with the smaller needle. So many combinations!
I laugh and laugh as I realise the minutiae of my making life, but in the end, I think these decisions matter. For me, it is in these decisions that the integrity of the final piece is born. Each decision that is conscious, mindful, and thought through means that the piece holds together in the end, and that everything there has a purpose; nothing more and nothing less than is needed. Or so I hope.
Of course, sometime I forget how to count, and end up with 5 strokes and a cross stroke, and decide I'll turn it up the other way and make it look like a wound that has been stitched!
But I do believe that thoughtful making produces a final piece that may look effortless, and natural and as if it were meant to be just that way, and no other...but many of us know that without these choices and decisions made along the way, the whole thing might just not hang together perfectly in the end.
So I smile and continue with my multiple minor decisions...
And end up with lots and lots of little samples.
I love process posts ... they document your choices for future reference when you are making something similar, but they also serve as inspiration for those who read them. Thank you once again for sharing this way.
ReplyDeleteThanks Liz - I often sit beside myself and think about all the steps and what I'm doing - might as well invite others into my head for a bit too! Go well.
DeleteI don't think this is unusual at all Fiona. I might suggest that I just rattle through things but, in truth, I often think ahead about the small things. I think they show in the final piece of work. I am not disciplined enough to sample like you but I do draw a 'what if' diagram and try to cover all eventualities before I start some things. The size of those stitching holes absolutely matters in the final piece and I know you would not be happy with the outcome unless it was a match to the idea in your head at the outset.
ReplyDeleteI so agree with you Lesley - the little details do show in the final piece, even if you're not aware of them. You plan ahead more than me - I test and do and test and do - can't always envisage what will happen until I start doing it, hence the number of samples. I have found a way through the hole issue I think - will pierce before stitching!
Deletelove your attention to detail Fiona
ReplyDeleteThanks Mo - it is so funny that I do this in my art; I often fail to pay attention to detail in lots of other areas! Go well.
DeleteI like your ponderings - obviously important to you - as it is to many creatives. From the practical side of things, if you are going to do lots and lots of stitching, use the bigger needle to make the pull through easier. As a stitcher myself, and having been exposed to Karen Ruane and her paper work, the direction of the hole becomes important to me - whether you get the paper from the hole coming forward or going back, so smooth or bumpy
ReplyDeleteThank you - I agree about whether the hole pops in or pops out - when I am stitching with the needle, of course one set goes one way and one set goes the other. I am now thinking of piercing the holes first then just running a thinner needle through with the thread. Laugh - such a saga for a set of stitches, I can only smile.
Deleteoh, my do i relate to this ... and think upon it often. each choice lends itself to the next set - especially when we are doing something new. i am a firm believer that making is equal parts right and left brain. the muse doesn't sweep in like the animals in snow white that come in and make it easy and delightful, she lights a spark. we do the grunt work! :0) what ifs are my favorite part of the process... thank you for sharing these process shots. i get very very involved in what fibers to choose for things - texture weight and color all really do matter in the end.
ReplyDeleteThat is such perfect way of thinking about it MJ - the right and left brain. The muse lights a spark and then expects us to do the hard yards after that! At times I can barley believe I am getting so into the detail of each decision; bit in my heart I know each decision matters and ia would not be happy to have slap-dashed something together without thinking...right and left brain forever together.
Deleteit is all ... always in the details...
ReplyDeleteAhh Cat, so very very true. Even if we can't see the details, they are there, and make it the best it can be.
Deletelove these. being paper it is possible to push fibres back into the holes, sometimes if its slightly dampened you can make the fibres 'weld' back together. stitching on paper, we have to learn to embrace holes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Beverley - I got my bone folder out and did press it all back (well mostly). I pierced the paper beforehand and then pushed it back in, so it looks cleaner and better I think. I love stitching on paper - by hand and machine, it is just so lively! Go well.
Delete