Saturday 10 November 2012

Last assessment

Just got the red bag back from my tutor. She wrote a lovely assessment and suggested a few things before I hand in all my course work to the final course assessment. I really hope my parasol turns up again soon (missing since three weeks) so that I can hand it in too. My tutor had to work with the picture on here only. Not great really! However I might consider making a new one. Different colours maybe and a different design? 

I'm not sure what to do next. I would love to do more course work but I also would really like to go further with the textile artwork I'm doing already. I need to think really hard for a while! However I will continue posting some of my work here, especially the experimental and exciting things!

Just straight to follow then my very first felt picture I ever made. I entered it in this Christmas Exhibition at an art gallery here in Aberdeen. They called for A4 sized 2D artwork with the theme 'grotto'.

'Nymphaeum'

Wednesday 7 November 2012

End of course project VI- Finished!



The very last step was to add the swirly top to give it a bit of fairy tale. I hand felted the light blue Austral Merino wool with the white Netherlands wool and then shaped the swirl. I dried the swirl stitched in place. Once the wool was dry I roved the stitches and sewed the swirl unto the umbrella and the frame. Et voila! 




Tuesday 6 November 2012

End of course Project V


The next step was to attach the canvas to the frame and decide how to treat the outer rim. When I took the original parasol apart I was very carefully inspecting their method and wanted to re-create this again. Firstly it mad a small hole in the middle of the canvas which was marked from the very first step. This hole was put over the small spiky pole which can be seen in the picture. I then cut very fine strips of double sided sticky tape and put a 2'' strip on each umbrella branch near the wooly part. After removing the safety layer I stretched canvas a stuck the fabric on each branch singly. I repeated this procedure further down near the rim underneath the canvas. Another row of sticky tapes went around the very end so that there was around 1/2'' on the underside of each branch too. I then took some really strong yarn and strung it around the parasol rim. A loop around each branch end and then quite tight to the next, all held together by the sticky tape. I then cut back the fabric to about 1 1/2'' and folded it over several times. This fold stuck to each branch and was then hand stitched all around to create an even and neat finish. Remember with umbrellas that you can see the underside too. To work best I popped the parasol in a big vase, put it on a table and worked standing up.

Monday 5 November 2012

End of course project IV


After drying I ironed the canvas. The next step was the block printing. Again to have this porcelain effect I decided to not use many different colours, not even shades. However I deliberately chose to not be too careful with the colour distribution to have a bit of fading. The motifs I have chosen are meant to pick up the inner 'flower' as well as the idea of many dancing umbrellas. In order to make the repetitive motif more organic I added the small swirly branch which should be found as well in the lace border. Altogether I was quite satisfied with the canvas so far. After 24 hours of drying I had to iron the canvas again to stabilise the fabric paint.
The planning of the next step of getting it on the frame was a bit uncertain because even though I planned to use double sided sticky tape on each umbrella branch, it was difficult to determine if the wool would stick, if the tape would show, especially at the lace part and if the tape was strong enough to hold the fabric together.

Sunday 4 November 2012

End of Course project III


The next step was the lace. I planned the whole umbrella thoroughly but I decided to 'go with the flow' in regards of the different stitches for the lace. Just as well because once I overlaid the muslin with the water-soluble fabric, stitched it on and cut away the muslin, I realised how much I have to sew to create  stitches dense enough to build a lace. Oh my! I worked many hours on the stitching and used the many, many stitches my computerised sewing machine offered. I think I sat about 18 hours on the lace alone. I deliberately was not too careful to create the same density everywhere. Just like the antiques I wanted to have the occasional hole or weak part. After all the sewing I soaked the muslin in cold water to remove the water-soluble fabric. On the picture you can see the muslin just after the bath drying on a white towel. 

Saturday 3 November 2012

End of course project II


The next step was to Nuno felt the silk piece unto the muslin but before that I decided to tea dye the muslin to get a softer shade of white or even a more antique look as some of the inspiration came from antique blue and white ware. I tea dyed the muslin for about 10 minutes, rinsed in cold water and let it dry to determine the colour. I was aware that the felting process might work like a strong wash and could remove some of the dye. This did happen so that the dyed shade is quite subtle.
In order to nuno felt the silk piece on the muslin square I layered some white Netherlands wool on the muslin, covered with the silk and then laid out fine strands of light blue Austral Merino wool while the underside of the muslin got another layer of Netherlands wool. This was all carefully hand felted until it was merged together. On purpose I decided to not fully felt the fibres in order to preserve some softness and avoid the shrinking. On the picture the fabric is still wet so you can see very well the different shades of wool used inside the baubles.

Friday 2 November 2012

End of course project I

First stage of my project was choosing and ordering the right umbrella/parasol. I decided I wanted zone made of natural materials, with a short handle and with a knob handle and no metal spike. After lots of research I went for an Asian wedding dance umbrella made from bamboo. It got send from Malaysia. 
I removed the original fabric and the plastic cap on the top so I was only left with the bamboo frame. The umbrella has a quite flat shape and many branches.



I then started with the felting part which would be the inner middle of the parasol. I took a sky blue silk and made baubles with felting wool in corn flower blue, light blue and turquoise and a white Netherlands wool. The reason for that was that the wool fibres would felt through and make the baubles look more organic with the different shapes. Once I bound the wools in the silk I nuno felted the piece of silk so that the fibres merged with the silk and the cotton string to bind the silk could be removed. Please note the really cool back side of the silk piece which will vanish later.