Playing with those cotton reels

 I have managed to take some steps into making - at least the initial play and explore phase, which is at least something.

I had been pondering what to wrap around the cotton reels that could unfurl. I searched online for Vintage muslin, for vintage linen, for vintage table cloths and runners. I hummed and I hahed.

And then in a spark in my head came a couple of old teatowels we have here.  I oftentimes take the linen sheets we are finished with for sleeping, and cut them down into tea towels, and further down into serviettes.  I also have this old wheat coloured tea towel that has some stains on it, but which is made of firmer linen and I thought I could re-use it possibly. 

So it got washed, I sat quietly and unpicked the hems and then measured the cotton reels. The strips ended up being quite thin - maximum of 3cm with the narrowest being 1.5cm. I pull a thread at the measured mark and then used snips to cut along that line. I thought I would simply tear it; but it was too tough for that!

I wrapped the length (the width of the tea towel about 53cm) around one cotton reel and played with it.

And then I wrapped all the cotton reels with their bits and thought maybe I have something, maybe.

These three show the 3cm, the 2cm and the 1.5cm widths.

The play continued as I thought about hanging them, and one of the things I had to hand was a coat hanger, so here are a few iterations with the reels at different distances from each other.

I am not sure how you would describe this part of this process. It is definitely in the exploration and testing phase. It is almost a proof of concept and it is definitely about pursuing ideas and not deciding too early what they will be or how they will be.

I oftentimes can rush to a conclusion - my brain sees the whole thing finished before I have even sorted out if any of it is possible; so I am trying to slow down and follow this path and that, keeping an open mind.

Must admit I like the look of the reels on the coat hangers! They would of course need to be threaded on somehow and held apart by something if I didn't want them slip sliding all over the place, but visually I am quite happy with this beginning.

Taking a deep breath and beginning

 One of the main pieces for Scotland involves seven bobbins with seven hand stitched scrolls. As ever, a lot of preparation has happened to get to this point where a needle goes near fabric.

Firstly I had to try and find seven wooden bobbins. We were lucky to come across a stash in a nearby antique shop so we snaffled them and brought them home. I was trying to work out the descending measurements and B kindly cut the bobbins that needed reduction, and we glued them back together so there are now 3 pairs of different sizes, and one large central bobbin.

Another step involved having seven sort of matching rusty tins, so I painstakingly went through my rusty tin stash and tried to pull together seven tins that were siblings and might be able to go together. 

I learned how to hand stitch run and fell seams to create the seven scrolls (after all the fussing that went into measuring and choosing fabric).

I bought a bunch of embroidery threads that I thought might suit the work, and which complemented my own threads which I had chosen.

I had created a very long list of words - a bit like a shopping list but different - and then transferred some of them onto the fine fabric.

And started stitching.

I am very conscious that there is a lot of stitching to do, and I am still strangely anxious about overdoing it and damaging my hand again, so I am going slowly.

But the first scroll is done!

Cautiously, and slowly, onwards.

Hand stitching lengths of fabric

 One of the pieces of work for Scotland involves joining quite a few lengths of fabric to create seven scrolls, which will drift down some plinths Barry has been making for me.

I decided to join the different lengths by doing hand-stitched run and fell seams, which of course, I dreamt about how to do at night but then ended up watching a YouTube clip to put me right. So glad I did, as I learnt many a good little tip. The woman there hand stitches historical clothes so she is more of a perfectionist than I needed to be, but I digress.

First up, I wanted to stitch the scrolls with some of the flax thread I had been gifted by the gorgeous folk at Gongcrafts, the natural dyers of wool who live in a nearby village to us in Scotland.  I have shared some of my struggles with unwinding and re-winding the flax thread here, but I hoped that the hard part was done and that I could now simply merrily stitch my fabrics together.

As you can see from the photos, the thread still wanted to stick to itself as I drew it through the needle, and the needle through the fabric, and then tear, and I gave up after half a dozen stitches. I was sadly disappointed, but will keep working out ways to use the thread!

I then turned to some crochet cotton thread I had dyed using the Devil's Bit Scabiosus flowers from Scotland and you can see they stitched very nicely in comparison.

Not that I stitched so very nicely, but after watching the You Tube I learned to draw a stitching line if I really wanted to do straight stitches.

I did the fell part with a tiny diagonal stitch and this is how the seam looked from the back.

And this is how it looked from the front, so I thought yep we are on to something.

And away I went. I have cut down all the fabric I need, and now have seven lengths to create - from 2.0m down to 1.7m; some involve joining three lengths, others involve joining seven. So I at least got to practise hand stitching run and fell seams!

With loads of notes to self and calculations...

They are now all joined and looking pretty OK and tidy.

Now to hand stitch onto about a metre length for each scroll - a fair mountain of work awaits!

Taking fabrics and threads further

 Work is progressing and whilst things are a little bit here and there still at this time of year, it feels good to be back and moving things along.

Both of these works are for a solo exhibition I have in Scotland toward the end of the year, and they form part of 6 relatively major works I am doing for the show. I have sorted out two pieces; I have these two underway and have no idea about other two yet - so am waiting for inspiration to arrive...

Nevertheless, we progress.

The fabric I was prepping back here has taken the next steps. I have measured lengths of differing widths as I will need seven pieces of different widths (well, one at 14.5cm, 2 @12.5cm, 2 @ 9cm and 2 @ 7.5cm wide) and different lengths, ranging from 1.7m up to 2m long, so quite a few lengths really. There has been a lot of measuring and calculating.

I spent some time this weekend tearing the fabric into widths and then calculating lengths and how to create the right length from a variety of fabrics. My brain did get quite mushy towards the end of it all, but here is how the piles are looking in preparation.

The next steps will be joining the different fabrics to create the right lengths, and then I begin stitching into them; once I have designed the stitching that is. As ever, my work is slow...

In between times I have been taking the work with the pegs further. I have found the frame I want to work with and have trimmed some paper to size to do my trial. I have selected the paper for the final piece after comparing three different ones for strength, weight and colour. 

Here I am checking that the pegs won't be proud of the frame when I have attached them to the paper and the canvas. A very hi tech approach - the eyeball.

I have worked out the layout, the direction of the pegs, the distance between the two columns of pegs and the distance between each peg in the column. I have worked out which way the thread will unfurl from each peg and think I have come down on the side of attaching the labels to the paper slightly underneath the peg (above the peg seemed to distract bit too much, although that is not yet completely resolved). 

I have played around with how the threads will come across from each column and intersect, what colours those threads might be and just how I might stitch them.

I have also selected the colours and the sequence of threads for the stitching , and also how I will attach the pegs to the paper; and then to the canvas. I still have to purchase some thin silver-copper wire for that. Each peg will be held in three places, so I will be piercing 6 holes per peg; and then piercing stitching lines across the page as well.

I intend to do a template-test-trial first just to make sure my ideas pan out; then I will have to do the final.

So, it is good to have started early with this one too!

Harum scarum

 Helter skelter isn't quite right, but neither is hither and yon, but there is something about scrambling around doing bits of this and that I need a better description for! I've gone with harum scarum for now.

Life is full and pulling me this way and that. My making is partly trying to happen to a schedule with deliverables all looming closely; as well as trying to get ahead with heaps of work due next year. 

So yet again, things are progressing on multiple fronts, with nothing yet being able to be ticked off the To Do list as completed. 

Nevertheless, the simplest things give me pleasure. I recently purchased this stack of remnants from the beautiful Ink and Spindle in Melbourne, with the idea of making gift bags from the scraps.  

I felt very bold as I moved away from my usual neutral remnants to warm remnants... some beautiful screenprinted Australian designs on this lovely linen (and cotton).

So far, my plan is not what you'd describe as progressing quickly, but the enormous satisfaction I got from making this double drawstring bag is incalculable!

Meanwhile over in the workshop, I have some metalwork to get done for a piece in an exhibition next year.  Lucky for me I have Barry to guide me in the intricacies and alchemy of smelting and pouring metal. I am however, not yet particularly good at it and I think we may end up re-melting this first effort and trying again. I overshot the mould by a long way and the molten metal just splattered everywhere...

Sigh.

Next time!

And just for the heck of it in amongst it all, we had some weather. It has been stinking hot and steamy here, which has produced afternoon and evening thunderstorms which have been pretty wild. Friends have been without power for over 24 hours, and we got away with simply several large branches down.

This is how we walk to the workshop from our place. Not so much nowadays!

The fence didn't fare all that well.

Our nearby neighbour was lucky that this fence took the brunt of the branches - his roof is covered in debris, but no branches did any damage.

Who knows what the rest of the week will reveal?? There is certainly never a dull moment.

Prepping fabrics

 I have two exhibitions next year and they each involve a lot of work, so I am starting as early as I can on both of them. I am trying to push each piece forward a bit at a time so I feel as if I haven't forgotten any single piece. At some point that will change and I will be head down, bum up finishing specific works, but for now, I am a bit of this and a bit of that and a bit more of that over there.

This week was all about prepping fabrics for use in a large piece. I combed through my back catalogue of fabrics and found a bunch that worked well together.

I need a number of long lengths so thought I might also need to dye/stain a few more. Out came some pins.

I folded up the fabric with the pins in, and popped it in a brew of strong black tea.

Which stained it well and the metal made some interesting marks.

It might have been toooo strong a brew so I went again with a slighter weaker mix and random pin placement. Even tho of course it was random in quite an orderly fashion.

 

And here it is hanging in the sunshine in the peace magnolia tree

I started to measure and tear the lengths I might need for the work. And this is how our lounge looks for the time being.

Each one measured and labelled!

I will need to stitch lengths together so that part will be fun.