Hard edge appliqué
p 53. Basis of pieces for hard edge appliqué
I used an African fabric and some interesting other fabrics to make this piece. The shapes were traced onto Bondaweb and ironed onto a selection of different fabrics to create three layers in the design.
The pieces were bonded in layers and hard edge stitched using a variety of stitch styles and widths. A small piece of pink fabric was used as a focal point to draw the eye in and around. Apart from this area, black thread was used in the bobbin and in some areas the tension was altered to add interest to the edges.
The initial proposed design, un-bonded
p 57. The finished piece, bonded and stitched - apologies for the different orientation
Automatic stitches were used in some areas to add texture and interest. I am please with this sample.
Raised and free-standing motifs.
p 57. Sample incorporating designed fabric, Hard, Raised and free-standing appliqué
I created the fabric on cotton using masking tape resist and spray paint then discharging with bleach on a made heart shaped block. The heart shape was also used as the bird's 'face' which was padded. The nest was made with little strips of felt, stitched down with an automatic pattern. Three of the egg shapes were hard appliquéd and one raised.
The base layer of 'wings' was hard appliquéd, the second raised and the third free-standing and stitched at the centre.
Resolved sample
Notes of how to proceed were made in my small notebook
The fabric was created by tie dyeing a piece of cotton which had been pre-waxed with nest and egg shapes. Walnut ink was used to dye the fabric. The wax was ironed and washed out.
I had mis-read the instructions and used hard, raised, free-standing and soft appliqué for the piece.
The nest shaped block was used to print random areas of the fabric and eggs shapes tightly printed at the foot of the piece.
The 'feeling' of a tree had been created by the tie-dye and I followed this with soft appliqué of dyed scrim torn into rough lengths and attached with differing widths of zig-zag stitch to try to create shape on the tree. Threads were left deliberately hanging to look like small twigs.
A nest was made from felt stitched down as soft appliqué and three eggs were added, all free-standing, one from metal, the 'golden' egg.
A bird was added, in flight, the face hearts shaped and previously embellished with an automatic stitch. "Wings' were added, hard and raised, the raised wings previously over-stitched with an automatic feather pattern and padded with small pieces of left over felt. The padded wings were caught to the piece with a few stitches. Bleach was used to discharge a 'moon' shape in the top right-hand area.
Resist and discharge elements
Resist and discharge areas and some glimpses of the bird and nest
The random printed nests and eggs (bottom right)
p 58. The finished piece.
Detail of the tree
I am quite pleased with this piece and hope that although I didn't quite follow the brief, that I have completed the elements expected from the chapter.
The bird's face is not lovely - the piece with fallen eggs and falling nests are perhaps previous attempts to hatch a brood. Let's hope that she has more success with these eggs!
