'If you make happiness your goal, then you're not going to get to it… The goal should be an interesting life."

Dorothy Rowe

Tuesday, 22 January 2008

Why should an embroiderer make books?

For each piece we make for C&G we have to write an action plan, keep a diary, show the design process and write an evaluation. Of course I could just shove all that in plastic pockets in a ring binder but where's the fun in that?



Some people work directly into a sketch book but I can't draw and my writing is illegible - so I have developed the habit of making my own books to put everything in.




This is the book for the Kandinsky wall hanging. The cover is yet another left-over [I dyed a lot more fabric and thread than I needed]. I spray mounted it to pelmet Vilene and then machine embroidered and lined it. I have used card in the past but you can't sew into it, so you have to lace the fabric over the covers which is lumpier and more work.



I inserted the pages and bound them all together with a sort of Japanese stab stitch in embroidery thread [more left overs].

This is a page from the book, showing some of my design ideas for the different pieces of the wall hanging and a section from the diary.







2 comments:

Carol said...

You struck a chord with me Celia. I can't draw, and unlike you I can't even paint, so I like to turn everything I do into a book of some kind and try to express myself that way. Thank goodness for the camera. I really liked the colours and designs in your Kandinsky book.

Cda00uk said...

I can't paint either! The samples in the Kandinsky book started off as big sheets of paper which I painted with Brusho and a big brush.[Brusho is a powder paint used in schools - comes in lovley bright colours, which you dilute to taste.]

Then I cut out the circles and squares and stamped them with stamps made from funky foam, and acrylic paint.