threads of time - 6
this project seems to have taken over my life at the moment, i find it hard to think of anything else - but at least it is providing a reason to experiment
i've started to think about surfaces - i am very drawn to the parchment, it has been used for centuries in europe, paper came along later, when printing started to take over from handwritten documents and literacy spread further into society cheaper and more quickly produced materials were needed for books and other documents - until recently i had never seen, let alone handled parchment - i was surprised that we were not expected to wear gloves, but apparently current thinking is that gloves are not necessary, so a visit to the archive can really be a hands-on experience now
stitching on parchement is not really an option for me so i have been trying different combinations of paper, fabric, acrylic wax and fuseFX (finer than bondaweb and affects handle less) to produce a variety of surfaces with different properties - using sheer fabrics and tissue papers gives surfaces which are translucent but strong enough to take stitch, adding acrylic wax gives a surface with a parchment-like feel
some combinations can be put through the printer before stitching, before coating with acrylic wax - this way i can incorporate digitized images of the archive documents, but i can also transfer images by more traditional means like tracing
decorative scrollwork traced from a document,and stitched onto waxed organza & tissue sandwich - tissue was pre-printed with script from an account scroll
i would like the stitching to be viewable from both sides of the surface so had to experiment with how to achieve a neat but fine result - i tried split stitch but couldn't keep it even and regular enough - whipped running stitch seems to do the trick, it's easy to stitch, thread ends can be worked in, also it can be worked on both sides of the surface if necessary - i've used two shades of variegated fine silk, it gives a lovely uneven colour which echoes the subtle variations on the original documents - it's been really good to get back to doing some hand-stitching, i've missed it, also it makes a nice change to be stitching in a more controlled, regular rhythm than i usually do
i've started to think about surfaces - i am very drawn to the parchment, it has been used for centuries in europe, paper came along later, when printing started to take over from handwritten documents and literacy spread further into society cheaper and more quickly produced materials were needed for books and other documents - until recently i had never seen, let alone handled parchment - i was surprised that we were not expected to wear gloves, but apparently current thinking is that gloves are not necessary, so a visit to the archive can really be a hands-on experience now
stitching on parchement is not really an option for me so i have been trying different combinations of paper, fabric, acrylic wax and fuseFX (finer than bondaweb and affects handle less) to produce a variety of surfaces with different properties - using sheer fabrics and tissue papers gives surfaces which are translucent but strong enough to take stitch, adding acrylic wax gives a surface with a parchment-like feel
some combinations can be put through the printer before stitching, before coating with acrylic wax - this way i can incorporate digitized images of the archive documents, but i can also transfer images by more traditional means like tracing
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| sample of some lettering from a scroll, enlarged and traced onto an uncoated surface and stitched |
decorative scrollwork traced from a document,and stitched onto waxed organza & tissue sandwich - tissue was pre-printed with script from an account scroll
i would like the stitching to be viewable from both sides of the surface so had to experiment with how to achieve a neat but fine result - i tried split stitch but couldn't keep it even and regular enough - whipped running stitch seems to do the trick, it's easy to stitch, thread ends can be worked in, also it can be worked on both sides of the surface if necessary - i've used two shades of variegated fine silk, it gives a lovely uneven colour which echoes the subtle variations on the original documents - it's been really good to get back to doing some hand-stitching, i've missed it, also it makes a nice change to be stitching in a more controlled, regular rhythm than i usually do
Comments
http://itscrowtime.wordpress.com/2013/11/24/leather-and-lace/
it's very stiff and prone too warping in damp conditions but it is worth getting hold of some to play with!