Stitch samples

Continuing on the theme of line, but relaxing the rules slightly to include 'flat stuff' I've been playing with couching.  I very rarely work with black fabric, but the colours on this piece needed it.

As I stitched I became aware that I was taking inspiration from my old life as a plant biochemist.  A world I left many years ago.  Looking back through my archived pieces I was struck by how often my subconscious 'design- guru' takes ideas from that part of my experience.

The couched sample could quite easily be an abstract representation of membrane structures inside plant cells.  The painted lines that I initially roller-printed on to the fabric probably enhances that idea.

A piece I did some time ago, using string, a lot of gold paint and some beads, has the same inspiration, although I'm not sure I realised it at the time.


My tutor's parting advice when I finished my West Dean course was to make work in sets, or series, so I'm going to tackle a set of small embroideries.  Microscope-slide sized pieces on a theme of cell membranes.  Quantum Biology is the in thing at the moment - perhaps a little textile art is what it needs!

Stitch Sample



Single Thread Couching

You use just one strand of a six stranded embroidery thread.  Bring your thread up at the beginning of the line you want to work, take it down, and then back up at the end of the section and couch back to where you started.  As you can see I've used four colours, so I worked the sample in four sections.
Simple enough if the line is straight, but to work curves you have to guess how much thread to leave on the top of the fabric when you take your needle down at the end of a section.  Too little and the stitch becomes tight as you run out of 'slack' before you get back along the curve to your starting point.  Too much and your thread becomes too loose as you move back along it.
I learnt this stitch from James Hunting back in April and I've used it a lot since.