Photographs of further samples for Project 1 Joining exercises are in separate posts headed for the different exercises.
For exercise 1 I began with paper and card joining the edges with washi tape of differing lengths. Following on from this I began to use thread to join paper and then paper to card.
I like the rag paper stitched with linen thread because first I like to handstitch and particularly like the effect the stitches given on top of the edge. I think the size of the stitches are right for the piece. Ay smaller and I think the look I wanted would be lost. Any larger and the stitches would dominate too much.
Exercise 2 joining straight edges with a gap. The two pieces of canvas joined by linen thread were successful. The top part of the sample worked particularly well as the gap between the stitching lines make the loose threads in the middle more flexible and I think more interesting.
Paper joined to canvas with wire. I found this a difficult piece to work as the wire although quite easy to bend seem to get a life of its own and was hard to control when threading through the canvas and paper. However, I think that the contrast between the three materials, paper, canvas and wire make an attractive sample and show how very different materials and surfaces can be combined. Looking at it now I think maybe shorter pieces of wire so that the gap is not so wide may bring the piece together as a whole more.
I particularly like the piece below because I like the paper I made. It is tissue paper applied to Tyvek then painted. I liked how it turned out so much I was very reluctant to cut it into pieces for joining! The brads work well because although they are small they pick out some of the colour on the paper and the thread adds a sharp contrast. It reminds me of lacing shoes, laced corsets and winding the thread around the brads reminds me of lacing my ice skates. I like how memories or something that is done regularly in our lives (I skate every other day) can have an influence on our work.
I had dried some leaves and wondered how I could join them to something. I cut a square from canvas and attached the leaf in the middle by sewing with fine cotton thread at four edges of the leaf. I think this works quite well as the leaf is actually quite stable within the gap of the canvas. I worked some stitches into one of the sides of the canvas to try to bring together the piece. I don't think this was needed and I like the smallness of the leaf against the wide sides of the canvas because the sides make the leaf and stitching even more delicate.
Exercise 3 Joining curved edges was an exercise I found quite difficult to do. The tissue paper joined either side of the silk paper with washi tape was unsuccessful. I tape looks cumbersome and perhaps thinner strips would have added more to the delicacy of the tissue and silk paper.
The corrugated card joined by thread with a gap worked quite well. The lined texture of the card is a sharp contrast to the insertion stitching with the fine thread. Again maybe I like this because I like handstitching and stitching into card makes the thread react in a different way to working with fabric. I think this is because the cardboard is not as flexible as some fabrics.
I dried some orange slices and then knotted them together at all the joining edges with wool yarn. I like the pattern and the texture of the slices and the loose thread ends of the knots add a softness to their crispness. I wondered whether I could make a more 3D shape with them so cut the slices in half and stacked them together joining them by sewing through the edges. I chose a thread colour that was a nice contrast to the burnt orange of the orange peel so that the thread would stand out. I had been looking at Japanese Samurai armour and the way the pieces of armour are joined together. This reminded me of the way pieces of the leather armour are joined by braid.
Exercise 4 Overlapping edges gave me more success in my samples. I particularly like the fabric pieces, the felt and silk noil, that I joined by stitching. The running stitch piece is best I think because it is simple and gives more of a texture by gathering the fabrics as the stitches are worked.
The circular piece of card with pleated card joined by stitching through punched holes is not a success. The card was not easy to manipulate around the edges of the disc. One one side of the disc I tightened the stitches and this made the pleated piece stand up so that the edges had a better join and the piece bent around the circle.
I cut card that I had had underneath fabric I was painting and as the paint seeped through I think it made lovely patterns and colour combinations. I cut the card into semi circles and overlapped them by machine stitching in a fan shape. I like the machine threads on the card because they give a sharp tightness to the pieces and does not detract from the colour of the card.
This piece is painted tissue paper overlapped onto a smaller piece of silk paper. I snipped holes in two rows through the materials and then to join threaded small pieces of dried lavender sticks that I had collected from my garden. This is my favourite piece from this exercise. I like the colour combination of the blues and browns, the smooth texture of the painted tissue paper against the smooth but softer texture of the silk paper and the contrast of the sharp lavender sticks against the other two materials. I think the lavender sticks are the right length and the holes are a nice distance apart adding to the contrast.
For exercise 5 Forming corners and angles I first made a box by scoring and cutting card then joining the edges with washi tape. I quite surprised myself as did not think I could make a box as neat as this. That is how I would describe it as being 'neat' because of the straight lines of the card and tape.
The tissue paper tied at the corners with wool yarn made a softer more rough looking box shape.
Painted and crumpled brown paper was sewn together at two edges with buttonhole stitch. This made a sharp corner that was a form of pocket.
The samples below were made to try and enlarge the scale of my stitching. n the first two samples I used torn fabric to stitch/thread through the fabrics. The second sample worked particularly well as I like the heavy contrast of the torn fabric against the delicate look of the rips of lutrador I had joined together. This sample also allowed me to try and join the lutrador as pieces are joined in Samurai armour.
This is a piece of silk paper with a smaller piece of lutrador overlapped on to it. Large dried lavender plant stalks are used to join the edges and then threaded torn fabric around the stalks on either side. There are a few contrast in this piece that I think work well. The light almost fragile look of the lutrador against the heavier silk paper and the contrast of the colours light against darker. The lavender stalks look fragile and belie the fact that they are joining and holding the pieces together quite sturdily. The torn yarn threaded around the stalks add another texture and a patterned contrast to the straight lines of the other materials. I think this makes the piece interesting and attractive.
