Monday 25 February 2013

Embellish, Stitch and Knit

Just to answer comments first. Heather: thanks for the lovely comments about WoW. I liked the collagraphs on your blog. The paint makes so much difference and I have found that it does not work at all well with runny acrylics. The extender is really useful as the paint dries out too quickly otherwise.

I am very grateful to you all for the comments on the embellisher machine. They are such fun but I think they are most useful when combined with stitching. I am also keen to make a finer fabric as the embellisher can be a bit chunky.


So I am using silk chiffon as a base, with applied silk fibres and fine stitching. I do plan to make a jacket, Lynne, maybe more than one. My tailoring skills are not great so it will be a very simple pattern. Also quite hooked on the idea of using knitting on a finer embellished surface. Chunky knitting to give a contrast. Sara Shinton has an article in the March Workshop on the Web on making and using strips knitting and I'm hooked - see below.




Not very sharp pics as I am using the tablet for this post but you get the idea. It's all such fun and is taking up so much time but I haven't had a big project on the go for a while so it's good.

We have a paranoid sparrow in the garden. He started by attacking his reflection in the car wing mirror (not to be encouraged) and moved on to the sitting room window. I was watching this pantomime unfold from the comfort of my chair. He disappeared, only to return almost at once for a repeat performance. By now, of course, someone else was on the case, and his third attack revealed a huge cat face on the other side of the glass. Haven't seen him since.






5 comments:

Heather said...

I have had to put aside the collagraphing for a while and get on with some course work before my tutor has to nag me! But I am looking forward to making some better ones using the extender.
I have tried embellishing knitting and achieved quite nice firm backgrounds. I added wisps of wool and silk tops to make my sample into a landscape, adding a machine embroidered tree worked on soluble fabric, plus more texture in the foreground. Your fine work sounds beautiful - I'd be scared of pulverising it!

LynneP said...

I can't wait to see your results of using the embellisher to make fabric which you will use in a jacket...sounds so wonderful to me!

Loved the knitted strips as well.

Maggi said...

I like the idea of your fine work. I always use my embellished pieces to stitch into because I feel there is something missing if I don't. Looking forward to seeing the next WOW although slightly frustrated as I will be at a class all day! Those knitted strips look great. I bet the sparrow became even more paranoid when he saw Smudge, probably gone off to attack the neighbours car/windows

Heather said...

By the way, is extender the same thing as Acrylic Flow Improver?

liniecat said...

LOLOL love that bird tale
I have done quite abit of embellishing on machine washed felted woollies with great results.
And one or two bits of my knitting that I cudnt be bothered to pull right back.......I chopped them into odd shapes and 'bellished them in to the felt too.....added great texture.