A woolly textile picture

I recently gave a talk at a lovely knitting group about textile art. Inspired by this I had a go at making a textile piece using my vary limited knitting and crochet skills. I started at the top of the piece because I knew I wanted the sky to appear smooth and it would allow me to set the size of the finished article. I used the tension guide on the blue wool to work out how many stitches I would need to cast on for the size I wanted to make. I knitted a few rows and luckily my tension was the same so I could keep going.

I knitted the sky and the first layer of hills. I changed wool and needles and continued down the background using rib to make the appearance of rows of crops. Some sections were crocheted instead. For each new section of knitting I cast on stitches through the previous layer so the whole thing was all one piece. I used casting on or off here and there to make uneven edges to each block. Some of the wool was textured, like the pale green which is knitted. Later on I used little pieces of wool to stitch the details like trees, sheep, grass and hedges. When it was all finished I blocked it and then put it in this frame I made.

The  way I framed this is easy and something I have used before for textiles. After you have made the frame it is easy to use a few stitches through the canvas layer to hold your textile in place.  You can put your name and signature on the back too. My knitted piece was heavy so it is stitched all around the edge to hold it inside the frame.

 I start with an artist canvas. I turn the canvas over and use the back so I make sure my artwork will fit into the space on the back.  You can use any depth of frame but deep frames will suit bulky work better.

To cover the staples and edges of the canvas on the back and make it look neater I usually glue some thick card over the sides, back and down onto the canvas as there can be a gap between the canvas and the wooden frame. This hides the staples best but if you press hard they will be visible.

Next I like to cover the card with a decorative finish. I used texture paste on this sample. When I use a paste or gel I use it thickly to hide the edge of the cardboard on the canvas and the staples. Sometimes I use the paste all over the canvas layer too if it will be visible. When it is dry the whole frame can then be painted with acrylics in any colors you wish.

Another choice of finish is to cover the thick card with torn pieces of tissue paper. Like the texture paste this can be painted when dry or if you use colored tissue you wouldn't need to paint it. I don't usually put the tissue over texture paste (it's a waste!) like this sample where I changed my mind on the finish I wanted. 

Both the texture paste and tissue paper finish can be highlighted using metallic waxes like rub'n'buff or Viva Inka Gold.

On the frame above, I didn't use the card and just covered the edge of the frame with glued fabric. I glued the fabric to the sides and then covered the back and tucked it into the gap between the canvas and wood. 

This frame was covered with coarse texture gel or sand gel and painted black. It has been sprayed with green mica spray when dry. I painted the inside of the frame white to make a border between the black frame and the black textile. From a distance it gives the appearance of a matted picture.

 This is an old artwork where I used a deep frame for my mixed media work. I glued on chipboard scrolls from the scrapbooking industry and then painted the whole frame with a thick coat of gesso. Before the gesso dried I used a heat gun to make bubbles in it. It was later painted with metallic paints and wax.

The whole piece.

This is the first time I used the back of a frame for my artwork. It was simply covered with book paper and then tissue paper. You can still see the staples and folds of the canvas so that is why I started covering them up with card. Sometimes you may want to leave them exposed. The choice is yours.

Amazing Angelina film

Over the last couple of years I have been going through my stash of things I bought at craft fairs and trying to use a lot of it. I have moved my sewing studio twice so I keep seeing these experimental materials. Late last year I found my pile of Angelina film.

It is a coloured film that is sometimes cut up into shreds and sold as Angelina fibre. I prefer the effects of the film so I decided to experiment with ways to use it.

Angelina when heated will stick to itself. You can heat it with an iron or a heat gun for different effects. I like to set my iron to silk as any hotter makes the film melt too much and go a copper colour all over. If ironing use baking paper or a craft sheet to protect your iron or it will stick. If using a heat gun take it outside or make sure you use a mask to protect your lungs. I usually double it over so it is a little thicker and easier to stitch with a machine. This sample was first heated with a heat gun to make holes then ironed flat.

The heat gun makes the film bubble and shrink as in the sample on the right (single layer). It also concentrates the colour. The sample on the left is the same film but only folded in two and ironed.

You can also layer different colours and iron them together. It will all melt into one large piece of film. On the right you can see the bubbles formed when this sheet is then heated with a heat gun.

The colour of the background you place your altered film on changes the way the metallic colours show up. On dark backgrounds you see more of the coppery colour but on light backgrounds you can see the colour of the film.

 You can also trap the fibres between two sheets of film. Simply lay fibres on one piece of film then cover with another and iron or heat gun it.

 You can also trap other items like confetti sequins and glitter.

Here I have trapped a skeleton leaf between two different colours of film. The pink side was an extra layer of film that I crumpled before I ironed it onto the already trapped leaf. I also turned my iron up a little to melt the pink layer a bit more than usual.

 Another way to apply the film is to crumple it before you join it together. If you crumple it a lot you will get the rough texture you see here.

 It is possible to make impressions in the film using rubber stamps or wooden block stamps. In this sample I mage a multi-coloured sheet of film then inked up a rubber stamp. I placed the stamp ink side up on a hard surface and carefully put the film sheet on top. After I covered it all with baking paper I pressed hard with my iron. The ink makes the design stand out more but you don't always have to use ink.

 Here I have used a borrowed wooden block stamp to make the impression. It wasn't clean so some of the paint came off onto the back of the film. It looks very different on the light and dark backgrounds.

 One of my favourite ways to attach the film to fabric is using fusible web. You can get it with a paper backing (usually called Vliesofix, Bondaweb or Fuse-Under) or without. I prefer the paperless fusible as it is usually cheaper and I never use the paper anyway. Simply layer one piece of fabric, one piece of fusible and one piece of film, cover with baking paper then iron. You will end up with a very smooth metallic fabric.

You can stitch your Angelina to fabric before you alter it if you wish. It changes the way it reacts. When heated it shrinks a bit but if stitched down that doesn't always happen.  This sample was layered then stitched together before I ironed it.

In this sample I laid sari silks on my ironing board then placed a piece of fusible web on top. I covered it with one piece of flat film and one piece of crumpled film. When I ironed it all together it became one piece of fabric. The different colours of silk make the film look multi-coloured.

 Some of my more exciting (to me) experiments came later on. This sample was fused to fabric with the iron and fusible web. I then put it through an embossing machine to get quite a well defined embossed metallic fabric. It was bit shiny so I used watered down brown acrylic paint all over it and let it almost dry before wiping it off. This gave a distressed, less shiny look that I really like.

 This piece of fused film was given a coat of crackle medium. When it dried I painted it with white acrylic and again left it to dry. As a final finish I sprayed it with mica spray because it was too bright. Although hard to see in this photo you can see the shiny background through the cracks.

 On another piece of fused film I used a stencil and texture medium to make a pattern. The middle area has the texture medium applied with a palette knife. I also tried a light coat of gesso on the left side that I drew a design in with the end of my paint brush. When dry it was also given a spray to add more colour. All of these medium stuck to the film without any problems so I think you could use any acrylic mediums you fancy.

 After all of these experiments I had a pile of different pieces of film. I stitched them all onto this background and added a lot of detail with hand and machine stitching. It was very difficult to take a photo where you could see the details so I apologise for the bluriness.

 This photo shows how shiny it is.

Mixed media textile

This month I am teaching a mixed media textile to the textile group I belong to. This is an idea of what we are going to do.

 I started with a large piece of medium weight white cotton fabric. It doesn't have to be cotton, that is just what I had.

 Next I used fabric paints, stamps and stencils to add pattern all over the base fabric. I didn't worry about perfect prints from the stamps. I wanted some of it to be lighter in different areas.

 

 After placing the fabric on plastic sheeting, use watered down acrylic paints to paint all over the fabric. I added a lot of water to the paint.

It will stiffen the fabric as it dries. It also tones down the first layer of pattern. Allow to dry completely.

While the paint is drying I gathered the materials I was going to add to my project. I went through my stash and picked out anything that was in the colour range I wanted to use. It is a good idea to choose something to stand out as the focus of the piece. I used the black flowers for my main focus. You could use a printed fabric that you can cut some images from too. I have sheer fabrics, some printed fabric, rusted fabric, lace, felt, sari fabric, plastic bag, ribbon, used dry tea bags and painted tissue paper (an old dress pattern).  You can also use old doilies, antique fabrics and old linens. This is mixed media so anything goes.

 I used a fabric marking pencil to outline the finished size of my piece so I knew how big an area I had to cover.  I tore everything into smaller pieces and laid them out on my background. I left areas of the background visible. I tried to overlap all the pieces a little.

 I find it helpful to cut a hole in white cardboard the size of the finished piece so I can see my design more clearly. I walk away from the work for a few minutes (coffee break) so when I come back I can see the layout with fresh eyes. When I am happy with the design I use a toothpick to apply a tiny amount of fabric glue to the corners of everything to hold it all in place. You could pin or tack it instead.

Now it is time to stitch the piece together. This can be done by hand or machine or both. I start with machine stitching then add hand work later.  I didn't outline all the objects, nor did I only use straight stitch. Anything goes.

 The finished art piece with a few extra embellishments. I added some beads and metal rings.

I also did a second piece using the exact same materials but doing strips of fabric instead of squares. I also added random short, uneven pieces on top of the joins in places. This breaks up the striped effect a bit. The horizontal stripes are wire that I flattened at the ends.

I also did a third piece using those same materials. I had a long piece of the background material left so I added all the other fabrics to it and glued them down as before. I then turned the piece over and used a rotary cutter to cut it into squares. It is best to do this from the back so you don't choose where to cut and it is truly random.

 I took some time to arrange all the squares into a pattern that was pleasing to my eye. You can see in the finished piece below I still changed things around a bit as I started stitching.

I stitched each square separately. Some are machine stitched and some are hand stitched. I added a lot of beads and some metal pieces. I also used Lumiere paints on three of the squares, just painting right over the top of the fabrics and lace.

I have more ideas for this technique that I will share shortly when I have finished them.

Textured surfaces

It has been a while. Sorry about that but I have had vertigo for a couple of months and was not able to use the computer (it makes the dizziness worse). On the good days I was able to do some textile art so that will slowly appear here.

One of the recent Workshop on the Web classes was about creating textured surfaces with mixed media to use creatively. It was a representation of a forest floor and was a lot of fun. I can't share the actual technique but I can share the results. I did one large piece and then cut it into 3 so I could try different colors.

We used skeleton leaves and other things for the texture. I thought I had a lot of leaves so I started with a big piece but then I couldn't find all the leaves I had so I also added some die cut leaves that looked a bit flat and some cut out felt left over from my scrapbooking hobby. Then exactly one week later I found the missing leaves. Isn't that always the way it goes, lol. I will just have to do another one now! 

 I had trouble with the colors on this one but eventually it turned out ok.

Each colorway has potential to make some great projects. I did all of mine on a fabric base so that I could stitch into them easily because I knew that is what I wanted to do.  I think it would make an interesting canvas art piece too. Instructions are available in the September 2016 edition of the Workshop on the Web program. You can click on the link on the right.

I have cut up some of the red piece and made two journals using denim and my handmade papers. I added some stitching on the plainer leaves to make them fit in better with the skeleton leaves. The stitched borders I added are a stitch that was new to me called Palestrina stitch. I found the instructions in an early edition of Quilting Arts magazine.  I also made a mini photo album cover (lower right).

Techniques from the 2nd Life challenge.

I was going through my photos from this year and found a few that I took when I was making my Second Life textile art piece that I forgot to share. You can see my original post and details about it here: http://artygirl2010.blogspot.com/2016/07/textile-challenge-piece.html

 This photo shows the background fabric paper I made. I put music paper and other pieces under tissue paper and then painted it with several colours of Silks Acrylic Glaze. It was very pretty but most of it ended up being covered.

This photo shows what I did with the cardboard roll. I split it open then used the Cuttlebug embossing machine to emboss the pattern on it. I used the Lumiere paints and then sprayed the brown mica over it. When it was dry I used the ink pad to highlight the texture.  I used it in several places on the finished project. It would also look and feel great stuck onto an art journal page, adding loads of texture. 

This photo shows the pieces of foam I removed from the crown I had. You can also see the printed ribbon and the flannel fabric. I used texture paste through stencils to add texture to all of these objects.

I painted the fabric and ribbon with the same Lumiere paints I used above. I didn't use the brown spray this time so they look a different color. I painted the foam pieces with acrylics in similar colors. I used gold paint to highlight the raised areas then used dimensional glaze over the top. The glaze makes them look like they are resin coated and not glazed.