Handstitched mend on Levi's 501 jeans.
Embroidery Stitches
Each week I'm working on a different hand embroidery stitch that began by following the guidelines of the “Take a Stitch Tuesday" project created by Sharon Boggon.
I worked on Linked Chain Stitch, Fly Stitch, Italian Border Stitch, Blanket Stitch, Reversed Blanket Bar Stitch, Stem Stitch and Portuguese Stem Stitch.
I'm putting the stitches onto a scroll, continuing my use-it-all-up initiative begun in 2020. Still haven't purchased any new art supplies, although I was gifted a few things I was short on by kind friends.
Linked Chain Stitch
I skipped the standard Chain Stitch since I've done so much of it and Linked Chain Stitch is new to me. I tried it in both Perle Cotton and stranded floss. I think the detail is list with the floss. The beads are an interesting addition with the stitches creating an interesting frame around the beads. I'll definitely be using this one again.
Fly Stitch Variations
I've dabbled with Fly Stitch a bit in the past but haven't really found a place for it in my work. I tried to think of a few different ways it could be used and played around with different patterns. Was a good use of my time. I've already used it in a piece I'm working on now. It wouldn't have occurred to me to use it before this
Italian Border Stitch
Italian Border Stitch is a version of Fly Stitch that es adds a knot at the base. I'm not sure where or why I'd use this, but perhaps it will inspire me as I'm thumbing through the sampler scroll someday in the future.
Blanket Stitch and Reverse Blanket Bar Stitch
I've used Blanket Stitch a lot, so I just did a few quick passes with some of my favorites. Reverse Blanket Bar Stitch was new to me. After working Blanket Stitch you come back through and wrap a thread around the stitches. I included it on a piece I'm working on creating a very effective stripe pattern. Love how it looks worked around a circle of blanket stitches.
Stem Stitch and Portuguese Stem Stitch
I seldom use Stem Stitch because it always feels a bit heavy and splits on curves. I know it's popular for lettering, so I used it for these oversized letters. I still prefer Holbein or Point de Sable Stitch for lettering. The Portuguese Stem Stitch was new to me. It creates smooth curves and an interesting texture, but even stitch length is important.
If you're interested in learning more, or joining in on the Take a Stitch Tuesday project check out Sharon Boggon's page.
Hand-dyed blue thread on coordinating quilter’s cotton
New Mending Thread Color
My indigo vat is having it’s winter hibernation (translation: it’s too cold for either one of us to be outside) which has inspired me to explore coming up with blues using synthetic dyes. Living in an area that is always either in drought or expecting one to come I’ve been looking at the water footprint my dye processes leave. Natural dyeing takes a lot of water. I was able to dye this fat quarter using less than 1/2 a cup of water, versus setting up a short term indigo vat of a few gallons. It’s definitely lacking the nuance I get from the indigo vat, but it’s a pretty qood substitute for small quantities in a hurry.
Decorative Mending
I'm running low on the mending thread. so today, while I'm during up some new colors I pulled this piece out to work on.
I'm using my heavyweight mending thread which is great to work on the many layers of this piece.
There are only a couple of skeins left, but more are coming soon.
New Dyestuff Explorations
Folded and dyed cotton
I’ve added Procion MX dyes to my bag of tricks recently.
It began when I was looking for new shibori techniques in the book “Shibori Designs and Techniques” by Mandy Southan. She gets some interesting results using reactive dyes in conjunction with indigo.
Living in the virtual desert that is Southern California, I’m always conscious of water usage. Ann Johnston, in her book Color By Accident, uses very small amounts of water with reactive dyes.
I tried a traditional shibori folding and dipping pattern on a fat quarter of Kona Cotton and got some interesting color splits on the folds. The process takes a much smaller amount of water than traditional indigo methods and while it will never reproduce or replace indigo in my practice, it’s an interesting augment.
folded and tied
folded
ready for the dye bath
dipped into a small amount of fiber reactive dye
Mixing Media: Encaustic into Pattern Design
This mandala pattern is a product of my study with two women from whom I have learned so much. The original image is from a random photo of my tin of graphite encaustic paint that I let get too hot during one of Caryl St. Ama's RF Paint workshops. The paint was much more interesting to me on my palette than it ever got to be on the painting I was trying to execute. So I snapped a photo.
It's pretty amazing I've got to say. Even today I'm a bit mesmerized, and it's only the photo. And all I did was leave the tin on my palette because I was completely disinterested in using it. And it became fascinating. The photo reminds me of a brain diagram. In-person it had a sort of metallic, shimmery, color-changing, molecular magic. So I snapped a photo.
Once I got home and looked at the photo I uploaded it into Adobe Photoshop and tinkered with it a bit, ending up with this. Which I filed away as an interesting visual, but with no apparent application.
Rescued Half Square Triangles
I came across these 1980’s vintage half square triangles that I'm going to piece together into hats and bags.
Mended Jeans
Found some old kimono scraps to add a few new layers of patches. I've pulled together mending kits which include scraps of cotton cloth and the indigo dyed, poly core thread I use I'm my mending. The thread is very strong, and the natural indigo dye is perfect with denim. I've also made small skeins of the thread available. Contact me if you're interested in larger skeins of thread. I can dye larger quantities to order.
New layers of patching on much-loved jeans
