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!