Stitch Club Ideas!

Integral to being a textile designer is the continual production of samples!

These show and demonstrate visual thought processes as well as the maker's interpretation of a technique and, more usually, a combination of techniques.

The ideas may start small, such as this informal piece I made inspired by simply covering a stain on a tablecloth with embroidery that matches a ceramic plate:





Another informal idea, is simply translating photographs into embroideries on small pieces of scrap fabric. The following video shows an old photo of Emma traced on to old linen (by using dressmaker's carbon) and stitched:



The idea of incorporating images of friends and family into textile products is an immediate way of creating emotional durability in a garment or textile. Elena Cochera offers this as a textile service on knitted cushions.

Artist Severija Incirauskaite-Kriauneviciene does something similar in metal!


Once more confident in techniques and ideas, you can translate your ideas into a larger scale, minimum A3 (297mm x 420mm), for presentation purposes.

Here's some satin stitch I'm sewing into recycled transparent plastic (297mm x 420mm) that I printed with gold and pink foils beforehand:




And here's some more freeform satin stitch I'm sewing into recycled transparent plastic that I printed with foils and black flock fibre beforehand:




All these videos were shot on a very basic stills camera with a small travel tripod. I made the credits in iMovie that comes with a mac.

I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say, we look forward to seeing each other's one-minute videos of  making and stitching techniques on your blogs over the coming months!