Project 2 Stage 6 Review

Review of Project 2

Although I’ve stitched since I was small I realise now that it was just a mechanical way of using thread. The work I’ve done in this project has introduced me to stitch as way to show both emotion and texture.  In the exercises I’ve sometimes known exactly which stitches I wanted to use and why and by and large these have been the most successful.   I find I am thinking about the mark the stitch makes and in the most recent work the texture as well.  I find that I’m starting to consider materials other than thread and yarn to get the feelings I want.

I feel that I don’t have enough resource material; my sketchbook is not brimming over. However, I have chosen to re-interpret work that I enjoyed doing and has been the most successful (I think).   The Sample was not my finest hour.  My particular choice of sketchbook material was OK but I now think there were better parts of it available to me from the point of view stitch.  For what I thought were very good reasons I chose to omit parts that epitomised what I was trying to show and emphasise others.  I worked on intuition but next time I would certainly make a drawing to see what the changes would mean before I launched into it on fabric.  I chose my first background unwisely as well thinking that “pale” meant anything neutral.  Not so.  My sample is recognisably inspired by my drawing but only some of the areas work (like the fly stitch) as I’d hoped.  As a standalone task I don’t think the embroidery hangs together well; there’s no connection between the elements.  I considered each part separately when I thought about the stitches to use instead of thinking about the work as a whole.  If I was to do this piece again there would be much more thinking and planning involved. This was the most disappointing piece I’ve done; not at all fulfilling my aspirations.  I probably learnt more from it than any other piece I’ve worked on. 

I used what I had learnt for the sample at the end of Stage 6 and I feel much happier about it.  I spent a long time planning and selecting my materials and it certainly made a difference both to my enjoyment and the result.

I really enjoyed working the sampler of textural stitches because I was within my comfort zone.  I’m more comfortable stitching than anything else I’ve done.  This inevitably makes me like it. 

Looking further than my thread box for stitching material was a task I really enjoyed and it opened my eyes to lots of possibilities.  I would like to do more of this particularly from the recycling point of view.  I'm pleased I've found a use for orange nets at last!

Although it isn’t part of this course the gold work I did was interesting but not something I would want to pursue in a big way.  It gives me another technique draw on and great admiration for those people who stitch that way all the time.

The materials I took on holiday with me were just right and I thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the sun with no particular end in mind, no other calls on my time and just stitching away.  I used the time to revise stitches and begin to experiment with thread thickness and stitch size.  I recognised the versatility of fly stitch and the amazing reverse of back stitch.

I found myself quite confused over the requirements for Stage 4 and never resolved the dilemma to my satisfaction.  Was I required to collect samples of materials or work up 6 embroideries?  I ended up doing a mixture of both.  I am trying to understand this confusion in terms of “leaving instructions vague encourages creativity”.

In the event I was generally pleased with what I produced for Stage 4 and found I was incorporating my recent learning into my work.  The black, hard piece taken from a drawing is a case in point.  I really considered the marks and texture in terms of choice of materials and stitches to the extent that I revised my thinking about my drawing.  I think it would be interesting to try this on the machine; not to replicate it but to think about it afresh.

I’ve enjoyed working from drawings and been surprised and sometimes disappointed at the results.  Time is an issue so I’ve not done much work from any other source except for the stitch samples which I loved doing.

Sometimes I have unwittingly blended the Stages into each other.  For example when I looked at Stage 6 I had already worked some of the suggested stitches elsewhere.

I’ve not done enough machine embroidery but I keep having a go in the hope that I’ll get better.  I’d like to be competent enough for it to be part of my repertoire without severe embarrassment.  I’d also like to have experimented with changing fabrics by painting or dyeing them.  I expect as the course goes on I’ll get the chance. 

I’m not confident about changing the backgrounds I’m working on.  I think this is because my source material is usually on pale paper and that is where I stay when it comes to choosing the material for embroidery.  I need to experiment a bit more.

My sketchbook is something I need to try much harder to incorporate into my lifestyle because it is obviously a major starting point for embroidery work.  When I get my first feedback maybe it will help with setting priorities.