Paper, Paint, Stitch and More ... Lesson 1

Overview

The difficulty for me in organizing this course, was not what I wanted to share with you, but how to edit what I wanted to share.  I have been exploring and experimenting with my two loves, paper and stitch for a while now, trying to find what appeals most to me, where my creative bent lies.  I’m coming to think I have a rather split personality in that regard.

I’m attracted to very precise stitching on paper, geometric and linear as well as a very random and almost raw or organic stitching. I find white on white appealing and Zen-like while appreciating the shock value of a single vivid colour on white.  There is beauty and soul in a limited, muted colour palette.  Manipulation of paper can add dimension as well as texture to a stitched piece giving complexity versus simplicity.  Adding metal opens up new areas to explore.  There are no boundaries.  I am only now beginning to narrow down some of the elements that strongly appeal to me.

What I am hoping to do in this six week class  is show you some of the paths I’ve travelled; expose you to techniques I’ve come across in my journey (and wherever possible provide you with references and video links to those techniques) and show you some of the work of the artists who’ve inspired me.

Not every technique will be of interest to every person and not every style will appeal.  I’m hoping that you will take what appeals and follow that path.  Every creative journey is unique and meanders in its own way.  It’s my hope that over the next six lessons you will discover some interesting paper/textile artists and add to your own repertoire of skills.

Lesson 1

Lesson 1 Presentation Video

My Samples

You can look at stitching on paper from a couple of perspectives: hand stitching, machine stitching, and a combination of the two

Points to consider when Hand stitching

• ·     Paper is not forgiving – when you make a hole to stitch through, it’s permanent – there is no unpicking your work.  The only thing you can do it live with it or cover it up with more paper.

• ·     The thicker the paper, the harder it is to sew through but the more stable the surface

• ·     The more layers you have, the harder it is to sew through

• ·     The thicker the thread, the larger the needle eye, therefore the larger the hole required

• ·      When you have thick paper or a lot of layers of paper, it is hard to be spontaneous with your stitches because the holes for stitching usually need to be pre-punched for sewing

• ·     When pre-punching holes, do so on a soft surface – a layer of foam or several newspapers (something that has a bit of give to it)

Create Circle templates

Tools for Stitching Paper: A Flashback to the Past

Beginners Hand Stitching for Paper Crafts - YouTube

Simple Geometric Stitching on Cards - YouTube

Points to consider when machine stitching

• ·      Use a longer than normal stitch length – stitches that are too close together will simply perforate the paper making it easy to tear along the stitch line

• ·      Dedicate one needle to working on paper – paper will eventually dull the needle and you won’t want to use it on fabric.  (mark it with a bit of marker or nail polish so you can tell which one is for paper use)

• ·      Free motion embroidery is possible on paper – making an outline of an image or adding text on multiple layers or backed with thin muslin

• ·      Tension is not always the same for paper as for fabric so test on a scrap (standard procedure)

 

Fundamental tips for machine sewing into paper - YouTube

Free machine embroidery....on paper?! - YouTube     10 min  starts the actual construction of the collage to be stitched.

Artist Links 

Donna Menses Cunha

Emily Barletta

Emily Barletta instagram

Karen Ruane

Karin Lundstrom instagram

Lars Christensen   gallery link

Reiko Koga

Sharon Etgar

Zen Threads Studio instagram

Shawn Kardinal instagram

Shawn Kardinal

Fiona Dempster

Izzy Moore

Izzy and Gina -- In Stitches podcast series

Amanda Hislop

Shellie Holden

Kirsty Whitlock

 Bits and Pieces  -- looking at ephemera that we can make for our pieces

 

Books

A Look at Books

Mixed Media Master Class with Sherrill Kahn  (50+ Surface Design Techniques for Fabric and Paper)

Cut, Shape, Stitch: Working Creatively with Cutting Machines by Maggie Grey, Samantha Packer and Paula Watkins

Long Diaries, Tall Tales: Making Narrative Textiles by Maggie Grey

Paper, Metal, Stitch by Maggie Grey and Jane Wild

Surface Treatment Workshop: Explore 45 Mixed Media Techniques by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson

Stitched Textiles: Seascapes by Amanda Hislop

Textures from Nature in Textile Art by Marian Jazmik

Stitch, Cloth, Paper and Paint by Angie Hughes

Storytelling with Collage by Roxanne Evans Stout

Paper Quilting: Creative Designs using Paper and Thread  by Bridget Hoff

Templates

The pink and purple card needs three lines of holes.  The top line has 11, the middle line has two groups of 4 and the bottom line has 11.

The second card has five lines of 11 holes each.  A single strand of bright (in this case, it was neon) embroidery thread, is used for each colour. You start with the middle hole at the top to begin the first of the 3 large closed diamond shapes.  You have a video link in your notes that shows you how to make this design.  It is a good lead into the kind of work that Ness Donnelly does.  Laura Bassen, the creator of these cards follows Rachel Parker on Instagram.  She did similar work.

 

This is how you would set up your stitching holes.  Diamond 1 would be stitched in #1 holes, diamond 2 in #2 holes, diamond 3 in #3 holes and diamond 4 is in two parts. It starts open on the top row and crosses over at the center row and crosses back to the bottom row making a small diamond in the centre.  The remainder of the holes simply go from the top of one side to the bottom of the opposite side.  The video gives a complete demonstration.  

 Simple Geometric Stitching on Cards - YouTube

Mathematical (Curve) Stitching: Lesson 1

 Introduction to Mary Everest Boole

Lesson 1 Presentation (video) 

Mary Everest Boole was a self-taught mathematician born on March 11, 1832 in Wickwar, Gloucestershire. Her uncle, George Everest is the surveyor and geographer, after whom Mount Everest is named. Her husband, George Boole, seventeen years her senior, was a fellow mathematician who published work on differential equations and the algebra of logic a forerunner of Boolean logic.

In her own words, “… the needle and thread has many advantages over the implements in more ordinary use for curve drawing. Among them are these: --

It enables the child to get a perfectly uniform line long before he would be able to keep a ruler straight or a pencil sharp; to make a thicker line at pleasure; and to keep parts of a diagram separate by the varying of colour, without the risk of smudging involved in the use of coloured inks of the clumsiness of chalk points.

“ Preface by M.E. Boole, A Rhythmic Approach to Mathematics, Edith L. Somervell, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1975 reprint of 1906 edition.

Mary Everest Boole was a proponent of hands-on, discovery learning at a time when rote learning was the norm.  She thought that a needle and thread  could be useful tools in a child’s discovery of what they would later come to learn were principles of geometry and algebra.  She adapted sewing cards that were a child’s plaything in her youth into teaching and self discovery tools that were used in schools throughout the early 1900’s. 

The first set of cards that young children worked with were simple shapes. The parabola was the first curve that was introduced. 

Children weren’t given instructions about how to stitch through the holes in the cards but rather were encouraged to explore and create patterns.  Eventually they would find that curves could be created using only straight stitches to form a simple parabola shape.

A parabola is defined as a curve where any point is at an equal distance from: 1. a fixed point (the focus), and 2. a fixed straight line (the directrix) 

                         

This could also be done on a right angle   in one corner, opposing corners or all four corners. The stitching could be done with one colour, two colours, or four colours. 

Drawing and Measuring for a Parabola Pattern (video)     

Making the Holes (video)

For our purposes, we are going to use numbers to begin to see the pattern of curve stitching. Using the dotted square pattern you will find below (you may want to make a photocopy in the size you wish), place your pattern over a piece of cardstock, tape lightly in place with removeable masking tape and poke through the holes with a paper piercer (This can be a push pin, needle, awl, or anything that will make a hole large enough for your needle to go through without being too large.) .  You may want to just do two sides for your practice piece.  *Make sure they are connected sides and form a right angle.

Number the holes just as you see in the diagram in the top right.  The numbers will be on the back of your piece.  Notice how the numbers run around the square. 1 always follows the last number, which means that sometimes you are writing the numbers in what appears to be a reverse order.  This is important. It will make things easier in the beginning if you do this.  Once you are familiar with the pattern you won’t have to number everything.

Stitching the Parabola Curve (video)

To start,

•  bring your thread (I typically use one strand of embroidery floss because I work on 3.5” square pieces) up through hole number 1 from the back and go down through hole number 1 that is on the line perpendicular to it.

• From the back move the short distance to the number 2 hole and come up through it and down through the number 2 hole on the original line.( you can tie off your thread now or use a bit of masking tape temporarily and glue the thread tails down at the end).

• From the back move the short distance to the number 3 hole on the original line and come up through that hole and go to the number 3 hole on the other line.

• You are going to keep going back and forth between the two lines, moving a short distance on the back with the longer stitches on top.

• You will be matching the same numbered holes for your stitches.. Keep going until you reach the end of the line. Your parabola is now done and should look like the diagram above.

• You will probably have to add thread at some point in your design. Attach the thread at the back of the work in whatever way works best for you. A single strand of floss does not leave a big knot but I also use temporary tape and then glue all threads at then end.

  

Try stitching in opposite corners, then try an example stitching in all corners.   Try changing colours, using two colours or four colours.

This cross grid can be used inside the square for four parabolas going from the centre out in one colour, two colours, or multi-coloured.

There are more variations on the square – you may have discovered them for yourself.

This grid can be used to create several designs.  Parabolas can be stitched in the centre corners and outer corners or on either side or the outer edges of the cross.  You will get a different pattern each way.  If you put the crossed lines on the diagonal, you’ll get different patterns again.

 

To keep your designs easy to stitch, you want to have the same number of holes on each side of your parabola.  Keep that in mind when creating your square and dividing it into sections.

Free images from Sparklingbuds.com

Some have been modified

This is two of the above grids overlaying each other at a 45 ̊ angle.  Just imagine the variations you can come up with for this one.

Some Stitched Examples (video)

 Useful Templates to Have

I found the following useful.  I either created them or found them as free templates or graphics on the internet.

The full protractor with proportional scale lines is a very useful tool when figuring out where you want holes in circles of different sizes. You can resize this to be larger or smaller, whatever is most useful for the size you want to work with.

A square with regularly spaced holes is useful for doing parabola work.

  

The following is a link for grid paper for making your own templates.  It can be found here:

Grid Paper

Useful Links

Curves of Pursuit 1 -YouTube  multiple polygon shapes – good video

Mathsand Art Collide = Parabolic curves - Mum In The Madhouse       free parabolic worksheets

Home (maths-pro.com)  many useful worksheets. The graph paper at the end of your handout came from that webpage.

Tutorial– Stitches for prick and stitch cards – Form-A-Lines    stitching tutorials from an embroidered card vendor. Some free patterns available.

 curve stitching - YouTube     great examples of curve stitching

PrintableCircle Divider | Setting Circle Templates (blocklayer.com)     lets you create printable circles in the size you want with the number of increments you want.   Where was this when I was starting out!!!!!****

usasef2018-hexagon.pdf (ams.org)   numbered hexagon

usasef2018-circle.pdf (ams.org)  large 36 point circle

usasef2018-square.pdf (ams.org)  square all sides numbered

usasef2018-parabola-1.pdf (ams.org)  right angle numbered

for pdf (woollythoughts.com)  curve of pursuit knitting spiral     who knew?

ParabolicCurve Art Embroidery : 8 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables  multiple curves of pursuit

Curves of Pursuit 1 -YouTube  multiple polygon shapes – good video

How to Draw Parabolic CurvesUsing Straight Lines | Geometric Tutorial - YouTube  creating advanced parabolic curve designs (you may want to turn the sound off – no commentary but loud music)

How To Draw Square FractalPattern With Parabolic Lines | Geometric Tutorial - YouTube  another design by the same creator

21 Weird Drawing Tricks ForBoring Days - YouTube   only some of the designs will be interesting for mathematical (curve) stitching; some will be more suited to zentangles and some may not relate to anything.

13 Weird Drawing Tricks ForBoring Days - YouTube  again, only some of the designs will be interesting for mathematical stitching.

Free Patterns to Download  site is in Hungarian but can be translated

Segments(xtec.cat)   program lets you look at the effect of changing the length of chords on a circle and changing the multiplier – S and M values in Segments and Circumference ie. creating cardioids,  nephroids, etc.

A Geometric "Love" Story - How to draw hearts with circles  A tutorial on string art hearts that can be adapted to create an embroidered "mathematical" stitched heart for a Valentine's Day card

Heart Curve   interesting information about Heart curves (the math behind the embroidered heart above)

Grid paper for making your own designs.  It can be found here:

Grid Paper Maker

 Videos you might find interesting:

Learnto pin stitch (pin embroidery, paper piercing) part 1 - YouTube

Pinstitch part 2 dealing with squares, free pin stitch patterns we will do overthese tutorials. - YouTube

Pin stitch tutorial part 3 - YouTube

Pinstitch embroidery part 4 - YouTube

Pinstitch tutorial part 5 - YouTube

Pin stitch tutorial part 6 -YouTube

6SINGLE PATTERN DESIGN IN A TRIANGLE | GEOMETRIC DESIGN |RAINBOW ART - YouTube

HOWTO DRAW DESIGN 6 / RAINBOW ART BY RADHAPADA MANNA -YouTube

HOW TODRAW GEOMETRIC DESIGN 5 | RAINBOW ART - YouTube

HOW TO DRAW DESIGN 4/ SIMPLE GEOMETRIC DESIGN/ RAINBOW ART BY RADHAPADA - YouTube 

Fabric Journal: Lesson 1

 Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Now that you know what the course is about and you have your materials list, it's time to make some decisions. These decisions will help you collect the materials you'll need to make the journal that you want to make -- one that is personal to you. 

This video will take you through those decisions:

Design Decisions

You have been sent the instructions for Making a Fabric Journal by email.  If you have misplaced the document, a copy can be found here.

Making a Fabric Journal

Making Your Page Spreads

It is always best to work on pre-washed fabric. This will prevent your fabric from shrinking when you tea stain, dye or in any other way add colour to it.  When you tear or cut your page spreads to the size you would like them to be, it's nice when they stay that size after colour has been applied.  Some fabrics, unbleached cotton being one of them, can shrink significantly when hot water is used when applying colour in the form of tea stain or dye. 

I usually tear my fabric into strips of the page height I want and then tear or cut into the width for the double page spread.  Since I know I am going to be working with raw edges, the torn edge is fine for me.  You can prepare your pages in whatever manner you wish.  Just remember,  if you plan on finishing your edges you will need to adjust for a seam allowance in the dimensions of your page before cutting or tearing.

Prepare enough fabric so that you have enough for a front and back for each double page spread that you want to complete.  That will give you 4 pages. You should always have an even number of pieces of material.  If you want 20 pages for example, that would be 5 double page spreads which would mean 10 fronts and 10 backs that would eventually be fused together. 

Extras

For my Shabby Chic fabric journal I decided that I was going to put my pages into signatures with 4 sheets each.  Since my unbleached cotton muslin was very fine this time and I was not planning to fuse front and backs together but work on a single piece of cloth and let the stitching show through, I decided to give more body to the fabric by coating both sides with white gesso. The coverage would be thin and it didn't have to be complete because I would be adding fabric, paper, lace and other ephemera to the page before the journal was complete. 

Below is a video of the page preparation.

Preparing Shabby Chic Fabric Journal Pages with Gesso