Experiments in stamping and dyeing

A few weeks ago Create in Stitch  offered for sale a set of William Morris stamps and a book of postcards to colour. I bought both with a view to experimenting with stamping on fabric. At the time of writing, the stamp sets have sold out.

This week I found time to have a go.  I dug out cotton bags I bought from Spotlight a while ago for just such a purpose. I have  several bright colours, but chose the ecru one. To provide a firm surface without impacting both sides of the bag I inserted a blocking tile inside. 

To begin the process, I used my Inktense pencils to sketch a large tree on one side of the bag. One side of the tile has no ridges, so becomes the working side. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of the tree. The Inktense pencils are fixed by water, so after drawing the tree I soaked the bag and hung it out to dry. It dried much paler than I had hoped, but as I was going to stamp over it I accepted that.

The stamps come with ink pads in four colours. I began trying to create a scene, but soon gave up and simply stamped wherever I found a space. The result was OK, but not exciting enough for me to do the same on the other side.

The stamps I liked best were the tiny birds. As I was stamping, I recalled songs I knew about birds. That led me to use the pencils to draw a bird on the other side.

Our State emblem is the Piping Shrike, a Magpie, and they are evident at the moment. 

I found a photo and had a go at freehand drawing one on the bag. The challenge was adding the white on the ecru background, but I rather enjoyed the drawing exercise. Of course, I added a bit of advice, prompted partly  by the time of year.

The pencils are fixed on fabric by wetting. I used water to wet the pencils as I drew. The colour gradually spreads. I like it better before it spread, but no matter.

To make sure it was set, I ironed, washed, rinsed it in vinegar, hung it out to dry, then ironed it again. It's a pretty messy spread, but I think this is how the pencils are intended to work.

The stamps survived the process surprisingly well. You can even just see the outline of the tree underneath. The text side would have benefitted from such an underlying layer.

The bag came with a label attached by a self-fabric band, I assume for folding. I will catch it with a couple of stitches to the bottom of the bag, so it can be folded thus to slip in a pocket or bag. 

This an experiment rather than an artistic offering, but maybe someone will be cheered  by it, and use it for everyday shopping. It will,  I think, survive quite a few washes.

I've learnt I can draw a magpie, the stamps work on fabric but are a bit small for a bag, I can't control the bleeding of Inktense pencils and Inktense red is very intense! 

Tea Box

I recently bought two kits of tea boxes with Anna Scott embroidery linens designed to be fitted into the lids once embroidered. 

These were a Create in Stitch  promotion and part of their Barossa Weekend Retreat next May.

When I unpacked the first box, which I intended as a gift to one of my daughters, I was reluctant to cover the lid with embroidery, but my daughter didn't share my scruples, so I proceeded.

I began with the Very Very Berry  design. Ignoring the instruction to mount in an 8" hoop, I opted for a 10" to have the whole design visible and avoid moving the linen while working on it. Tomake this possible I added a strip of linen to the bottom of the linen. While larger hoops are harder to keep tight, I had no trouble with this one. 

I also backed the linen with a piece of cheesecloth to strengthen it. 

For the most part I followed the stitching order suggested, beginning with the bird. When it came to the berries I added in a woven version with an odd number of spokes, enabling an under-over weave.

What looks like a little colour bleeding here is, I think, a little thread shedding and has disappeared with blocking.

The design covers a nice variety of stitches and falls easily into working sections. It's satisfying to be able to complete one section in a sitting.  

The leaves were, perhaps, the most challenging. A couple of the colours are very close . I varied the vein colour in a few instances.

It was a bit strange to finish the leaves and stems while the bird has no legs, so I pushed on to finish.

Before blocking I  added my initials and those of the recipient. It took about 15 hours to dry overnight.

The next challenge was mounting.

I had enough acid-free mounting board, so began by creating a paper template, then cutting the mounting board with my Stanley knife and finding an already cut oval of felt that would pad the embroidery without making the edges too thick. I added a smaller felt oval on top of this one.

It took a while to get it arranged with the design nicely centred. The mounting board is a good consistency for pinning - a very necessary step.

I use waxed thread for lashing. This is a pretty messy effort, but manipulated to seal the corners and to make sure the signature is reasonably straight on the front. 

It fits well, but the corners didn't sit down, so I applied very narrow double-sided tape to the edges.

The corners still popped up, so I applied weights for a few hours. I think it has worked but if it lifts a little a wider tape on the corners might be needed.  

I'm glad I proceeded with the embroidered lid.    It is, indeed, a worthy addition to the beautiful wood, and a joy to stitch.          

This is one I do recommend!

Vegetable shopping bag

This week I finished the canvas vegetable bag that I bought online as a kit from the Royal School of needlework.

The kit came with a very strong ready-made canvas bag, bundles of thread and a QR code to access instructions. 

A canvas needle was provided. Unfortunately, there was no way that was going to penetrate the canvas. so I worked mostly from my supply of crewel needles from The Crewel Work Company.  

The first job was to organise the threads into usable and convenient lengths.

The instructions use the capsicum to demonstrate the method, so I began there, and moved on to the leek. Although the stitches are basic, they are difficult to execute. The canvas, of course, demands a strong, sharp needle. The designs are marked on the surface of the canvas with a plastic-like coating rather than dyed into the cloth, so the needle needs to penetrate that as well as the canvas.

I had the bag mounted in a seating frame so I could use both hands. I pushed the needle from the top using my nails, which are strong, and from below using a thimble on my ring finger. I also used a brace on both hands to protect my thumb joints.

The corn, which comes up really well textured, was the hardest. working french knots through the dense surface was a challenge.

The rest were easier, but still not relaxed stitching.

  I was pleased to finish this one. It is a strong, attractive bag that will be really useful. I am going to keep it and use it as my greengrocery bag.  

I hadn't anticipated it would take so much effort. The stitches are very simple indeed ( I varied them a bit) but their execution required significant effort.

I quite like that they are not to scale, pumpkin about the same size as a peapod! 

It's going to be a great talking point as I shop for fruit and veg.

Irish Harp by BeAlice

I am trying not to buy more kits, but was recently seduced by an Irish Harp by Be Alice.  Her kits can be ordered as part of an annual subscription or purchased individually. The harp caught my eye and I ordered it. Since finishing the longer knitting projects, I've been ticking off these shorter embroidery projects to avoid adding to my stash.

The design was beautifully printed (maybe bleached?) into the fabric, making it easy to see.The instructions were very clear and would, I think, work for someone with little experience.

I really enjoyed working it.

 

Once finished, I tested out mounting it in a green hoop, but rejected that.  Instead, I found a piece of batik and backed the whole piece, folded in the corners and added a zip to form a bag.

I embroidered over the seams, using fly stitch on the narrow gap and closter blocks on the wider one. I didn't like the look of these, so went over the top of them with fly stitch.

That seemed to work well.

As  final touch, I ordered a shamrock token to make the zip easier to open and close. It arrived today.  

       

It needs another good iron, before being put to good service as a gift bag.

Floe, the happy penguin.

On the cover of Inspirations 123 , Floe, the Fairy Penguin captured me immediately.  I loved the concept, the embroidery, and the felt medium. I also have a friend who loves penguins. I bought the kit. Once my major knitting projects were completed I decided to treat myself to making it. 

Carolyn Stanton, the designer, has an Etsy shop, with lots of felt projects. This one, however is only available through Inspirations.

Cutting out was fairly straightforward. The instructions for transferring the design seemed to me unnecessarily complicated, so I copied the pattern markings by hand, using lead pencil on the white and chalk pencil on the black. I had, of course, to either work fast or keep renewing the pencil marks on felt, but a combination of both worked well.

There is a variety of threads, including several different wools and silks. Getting the right one for each stitch kept me focused.  (Would it matter? Not sure.)

The trickiest part was getting the curves right while stitching it together.  

      

Without a beak and flippers it took on a slightly sinister look which I could only pray would disappear when finished.

The stuffing, however, had to come first.  I decided against the recommended filling of either rice or oven-hardened beans. I figured the chance of a doorstop getting wet was too high, so bought a bag of stones from Bunnings. These went neatly into the base in the kit-included cotton bag. Filling the upper body to make it firm took a significant amount of wool fibre stuffing, but worked the required magic on the shape as I stitched over the back join (not in the recommended colour!)

I am delighted with the result. 

As I had hoped, the beak and flippers turned it immediately into a recognisable penguin. 

Floe emerged in all her splendour, with plenty of personality and anxious to get to her real home.

She didn't  fit into any of the standard Australia Post boxes, but I had one that had already travelled the world and packed her in using bits of bubblewrap, shredding, tissue and paper bags. She travelled overnight and reached her new home this morning.

She is already at home and welcome. My friend refuses to put her on the floor and she has found her new niche at eye level.

I really enjoyed the challenge, both stitching and construction. It isn't a project I would recommend to an embroidery beginner, unless in a class or group with help, but with a bit of experience it is a really satisfying project.

I'm glad I went with the Floe.