We have started Christine’s online Poetry of Stitch course, so had our first Zoom tutorial on Friday. One of the group asked about getting stitches straight, and Christine mentioned "auditioning” the thread before stitching it, like this; drawing it out with the top hand to see where you want it to lie
before pinning it to the cloth with your needle in just the place you want the next stitch to be made.
I remember learning this, possibly on a Sophie Long workshop, and realising how helpful it was when stitching regular rows or patterns, as we are here. The first tutorial will be familiar to anyone who has done the Textile Artist Community Stitch Challenge earlier on in lockdown. Use straight stitches to show the same curve drawn repeatedly within a grid of two inch square boxes. I need to define the open edges as well and then it's done
We did the same thing with her as a Zoom tutorial with Sussex Stitchers, so in true Blue Peter style, here’s the one is did earlier - nine boxes rather than four
Yes, it's interesting to see all the different ways you can define the same shape, isn't it. Full of possibilities!
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel, yes, it really makes you think more about stitch. I'm looking forward to this course with Christine. She talks of it as a way of looking at stitches, not in the sense of "oh what stitch should I use here" and making that stitch "properly" but as marks on fabric, an extra layer to add to a piece that already has layers of colour or texture on it. You can get an idea of her work from here, Palimpsest being a particularly good example of how she uses stitch
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