Textile art and some more experiments

I have not completed a lot of art to share with you lately. My husband and I are trying to simplify our lives a little before his retirement and it is a very complicated process. We are almost done now and I will get back to regular art breaks soon. In the meantime I have completed a textile piece for an upcoming art exhibition. It is similar to another textile I did earlier this year but it is more detailed.

There is some machine stitching and some hand embroidery. I like the way it turned out and sort of hope it doesn't sell so I can keep it.

This side view shows some of the textures better. 

Recently I joined the Workshop on the web program. It is a textile based program run by Maggie Grey in England but available on the web. You get 7 lessons in PDF format. They are very detailed and have lots of photos so it is easy to follow along.

The technique I used for this piece was one of those lessons. It is machine embroidery with a wool or silk background and should be fine fabrics for the collage. I misread the instructions so I used cotton fabrics instead. I think the color would blend together better if I had used organza as instructed. Next time I will do it the right way but I still like the finished picture anyway. I am doing all these textile experiments the same size so I can make them into a book later in the year. It will be a fabric art journal.

Pebeo paints

This past couple of weeks I have been experimenting with a new art supply. I was introduced to Pebeo fantasy Prisme paints and their cousin the fantasy Moon paints. Both of them create amazing effects as they dry. They are oil based (maybe) and have quite a strong smell so need to be used with caution in a well ventilated place. They clean up with white spirits so could easily ruin paint brushes if you are not careful. They are touch dry in about 6 -8 hours but take 72 hours at least to dry completely depending on heat and humidity.

 I bought one sample set of each type of paint so I didn't need to worry about choosing colors. Although the pots are small there is a fair amount of paint in each because it goes a really long way and you probably wouldn't want to use a lot in any one project.

 The paint is very thin and needs to be continuously stirred to make sure you pick up the metallic pigment in the bottle. For the samples I did I used toothpicks and kebab sticks to stir and also to apply the paint. You can drop blobs of paint directly from the sticks so you don't need to worry about cleaning paintbrushes later on. Pebeo has a lot of good videos on their website if you want to see fine art applications. I also tried using a variety of 3D line making paints. The Viva brand liner was 3D until it dried but it went flat so didn't really hold the paint in place.

 The paint needs to be on a surface that doesn't absorb them before they have a chance to work so they don't work on paper. I used glossy card for the pear and square samples at the top of the photo. I worked well. How thickly you apply the paint determines how big the dots are in the Prisme paint.

 
 This is a closeup of the pear that was outlined with the Viva gold paint. It was then painted with gold Moon paint and a bit of white Prisme. The Moon paint has made the prisme sink to the bottom so they don't really mix together at all.

 The hearts were done with the Viva outline and Moon paints but the viva gave way and paint ran everywhere. They were tried on some Tyvek in the hope that I would be able to stitch through them later. The tyvek buckled like paper so that was another reason the paint ran everywhere. I won't try the tyvek again.
 

 

 I did some pears when I was trying the tyvek fabric and although the paint went everywhere I was able to cut out the shapes of the pears and use them in this textile art piece. I had left them to dry for at least a week so I could easily sew through them with my machine.

I still wanted a thin surface that would be stitchable so next I tried some clear cellophane. I taped it to a piece of card to hold it flat and it has worked. This was a cellophane packaging bag that a birthday card had been in. I cut it up and used it here.

 I had some Scribbles fabric paints that are dimensional so I tried them for the outlines. They worked really well when I let them dry first but it meant I could draw any shape I wanted. The christmas ornaments were those silver stickers you see at craft shows that are meant for cards. Although they worked it was fiddly work and I won't use them again.

 I tried gift wrap cellophane too but it has buckled, especially the thicker paint so I won't use that again. Maybe the cellophane packaging was actually thin acetate? I will cut out all of these objects when they are dry and make another textile piece with them.

My final experiment was to use the packaging bag again and a bought stencil. I used a permanent marker to trace the stencil onto the packaging that I had taped to the back of a green cutting mat (it was the closest thing to me at the time, lol). I then outlined the design with the black Scribbles paint. When it was dry I filled in each section with the Prisme and Moon paints. I didn't want the paints running into each other like before so I did areas that were not touching first and let them dry before filling in the rest. I am now waiting for this to dry so I can use it somehow. 

I have had a blast trying new things with these paints. We all love learning new things don't we? It really sparks my imagination in a hundred different directions. Although meant for canvas paintings these paints will surely inspire many mixed media artists too.              

A textile experiment...

I wanted to take a small stitching project with me when I was traveling with my hubby so I came up with this small idea that fits in with the circle theme my textile group is doing.

First I did some sun painting with leaves and my Golden brand fluid acrylics. I did a yellow & pink layer first. When that had dried I did another layer with green and let it dry. The Golden paints are so bright that I only used a tiny amount and the fabric remained very soft when dry. I forgot to take a photo of the finished fabric before I cut the circles out but you can still see the results.

 I thought I had explained sun painting before but I can't see it anywhere on this blog so I will do a detailed tutorial in my next post. It is unpredictable but fun.

 After I cut out the shape I wanted I machine stitched it to stiffened felt so it would hang flat against the wall. I then scanned it and printed a copy with my computer. There is a little less detail in my printed image but it will still work as a design tool.

 I took the printed fabric and doodled stitching lines and patterns onto it. I tried to work out thread colors as well so I could use the diagram as a stitching pattern.

 While we were away I stitched the design. I didn't stick exactly to my original doodle but it helped a lot when I was trying to figure out where to stitch. I really enjoyed this freeform style of embroidery and will probably do it again.

This is another one of the circles for the textile group. I saw a tutorial in Quilting Arts Issue 48 (August 2012) by Diane Savona about embedding objects into your quilts that I wanted to try. I started with a stiffened felt layer then placed on top all the objects I wanted to embed. I chose buttons, doilies and scrapbook items like flowers, swirls and letters. Although the scrapbook items are supposed to be acid free I expect they will darken the fabric where it touches them after several years. I then laid a piece of hand dyed linen on top with the grain running diagonally so it will stretch more.

I stitched around each object to secure the top layer and then got out my colored threads to stitch the decorative bits. After I did all the fancy stitching I wanted I used a pink thread to stitch lines across the rest of the background. Lastly I used a fabric crayon in white to go very lightly over some of the raised items so they stand out more. The crayon is barely noticeable but you can see it most on the word. I enjoyed this experiment and will probably do another one with a different theme.

Glue resist on fabric

I have been sorting out my textile magazines and have come across a few different techniques I want to try out. One of the techniques I have seen a few times is a glue resist on fabric so I decided to experiment with it.

Each article I read was a little different but the basic technique is to use washable glue to draw a design on fabric and then add color over it when it is dry. Later on the glue is washed away to reveal the design, looking a lot like batik without using hot wax. In almost all of the articles they mentioned using the blue Elmers washable gel glue. I was unable to get that here (unless I ordered online) so I decided to try a few different glues that were available to me in the local shops.

 Basically I chose any of the washable glues that I could find. The two Elmers products were on clearance so I doubt I will be able to get them again. Some of the bottles had large nozzles that were hard to control so I put those glues into small squeeze bottles that I had. That was the Crayola, the Mont Marte and the J Burrows glues. In fact the J Burrows glue bottle is so hard that I could barely squeeze it at all.

I also decided to experiment with the colors I was going to use to see the different effects I would get. Some instructions said to use paint and others mentioned dyes.

      I used some scraps of synthetic material to do my experiments on but you can use natural fibres too. This first sample was on unwashed fabric.  I wrote the name of the glue so I could find them later on. I also tried to draw small flowers with some of them but the glue spread too much. I painted over the right side of the fabric and used dye on the left.When it was dry I soaked the fabric for about an hour to soften the glue then hand washed it. The paints are very bright on the synthetic, the dye is quite muted.
     The two glues that worked the best were the Elmers white glue and the Kids glue by Portacraft (from a $2 shop). The other glues worked on the painted areas but not very well with the dye because they didn't penetrate the fibres as much. The metallic gold Dala fabric paint didn't really work at all (it is the green looking paint in the middle). It seemed to stick to the glue and not come off. At the very bottom I used a white Uniball Signo pen just to see what would happen. To my surprise it did work a little.

 This is after I threw the fabric in the washing machine to see what would happen. The crayola glue that didn't wash out properly by hand did wash away this time. Some of the white areas have become brighter too. 

This sample was done the same way but it is on washed fabric. I don't think there is much difference to the unwashed fabric. I also used the smaller bottles on this one to see if I had better control of the glues. I was able to take more care to get thinner lines.

After machine washing some of the fabric paint washed away but it is barely noticeable.

     These samples are a different variation of this technique. You place a stencil on the plain fabric first then use a silk screen ( I used a home made screen http://www.quiltingdaily.com/blog/how-to-use-an-embroidery-hoop-to-screen-print) to spread the glue across the fabric. Immediately wash your screen and stencil so they don't get ruined. Then when the glue is dry paint or dye on top and leave to dry before washing out the glue.
       I used the J Burrows glue at the bottom and the Mont Marte glue gel (cheap store) at the top. Again I dyed the left side and painted the right. The left fabric is unwashed and the right washed.  I did heat set these fabrics in the microwave by placing in a microwavable bag and zapping for about 30 secs. The dye is a bit darker than the previous samples. I pressed too hard when screen printing the glue so the pattern is a bit blurred but the basic idea works. With a bit more practice I should get a clear image. The glue doesn't resist as well with this technique so the white is not as bright. 

After machine washing the fabric is as soft as it was originally, even the painted side. I think this would be a great way to make some pretty fabric of your own to use in your textile projects. You could probably do more stencils and colors on top of these for a multi-layered look. The possibilities are endless.

Colour me positive week 2

I have fallen behind with my colour me positive challenge already. I think I have been distracted by textile experiments and am unsure whether I will continue or not. In the meantime here is a step by step of my week 2 page.

The quote for this one was "She took the leap and built her wings on the way down"

I decided to sketch a leaping person. It took a while to get it to look right but finally I was happy with the sketch. I used a journal page that was already painted pink with watercolor. 

I used some stencils and acrylic paint to add patterns to the page. I sprayed on some dye ink while the page was still wet to make the paint bleed a bit. 

I wanted to make it a bit more orange so I added a few more stencils and paint.

I couldn't stop myself from having fun and added even more paint because I thought the red stood out too much. I was not unhappy with the finished look but I could have stopped after the first step. 

Next I painted the hessian (or burlap in some countries) white and stamped that onto the page for a different texture. I liked it and added a bit more here and there. I also did the same stamping with green paint and bubblewrap.

 I painted on the leaping figure and used a white pen to add some lines. I added some white dots with a flick of the paint brush. I wrote the quote with a pitt pen and thought that the page was finished.

A couple of days later I decided I wanted to add a little pattern to the green paint of the silhouette so used a stencil and some copper paint to go over the girls dress. Now it is definitely finished.

An experimental textile piece

This year my textile group ATASDA has asked us to make circles for the display at the craft fair in August. There are no restrictions and they can be any medium and any colour. I decided I was going to try out some of the techniques I have been reading about in my magazines. 

The first technique is from a textile artist called Margaret M Roberts. She was featured in Quilting Arts magazine Issue 4 (winter 01) and on the cover. Unfortunately there were no instructions, just images of her work and a brief description but I was intrigued so I gave it a go in my own way.

I dyed my own cotton fabrics and some synthetics but I only used the cottons in the end because they were the colors I liked. I frayed some of the fabrics or used the edge that was already frayed. Most of the work is machine stitched with a little hand embroidery.  I did include some of those novelty yarns that are around now. The grass in the foreground is actually a scrap of dyed mohair fabric that was left over from making a teddy. It didn't match as much as I wanted so I painted some acrylic paint over the fur and when dry embroidered the flowers to make it go with the rest of the fabrics. Initially I intended to make the colors darker but somehow I ended up with this bright piece. It should look good on the black display boards at the craft fair.

I want to try another one and make it more Australian in design. That will happen in the next couple of months. Meantime I have several other things on the go that I will share soon.

Experimenting again with fabric paper.

I forgot to share the fabric paper experiments I made when I was testing the technique so here they are...

This first one has the wrapping paper underneath but I turned some of it over to the plain white side to make a checkerboard pattern. I did more machine stitching on this sample. I used a different tissue here and you can see some of it tore when it was wet. If you are going to paint over it later on that probably wouldn't matter, or it could be just the look you are trying to achieve.  Experiment with small samples of what you have before you start a big project.

 In these samples I used different paints on top to see how they would cover the design underneath. The gold is Lumiere paint and the other two samples are Golden artist acrylic. I put them on thinly so there was still some transparency.

This sample is the same paper as above but I used Silks acrylic glaze by Dreaming Color on top. It is more opaque than I thought it would be but is metallic so very shiny. It is an interesting effect. I also tested some Viva Inka-gold paint along one edge. 

So what can you do with all this fabric paper?  I made a grid style collage.

I used the fabric paper as the background and for some of the individual rectangles. I was testing out some ideas for my textile group's current challenge using recycled materials. Can you spot the pull tabs that have been embossed near the bottom left? I also have a bread tag on there, an old ice cream stick and an old bluebird earring that has lost it's mate. I raided my stash for a few extra embellishments and charms. I added beads, sequins, machine and hand stitching.  I like the way it turned out so I am going to do something similar for my challenge piece.

I did it as two journal pages so I can make a fabric art journal because I have run out of wall space to put all my art now. I will be adding pages throughout the year.