Project 10 Stage 3

I was looking hard at the image I have been using

and I suddenly saw the design for an i Pad bag with the pink part being a flap over closure.  I worked up a simple pattern with just basic side seams.

Design showing front, back and flap

It would need to be quite robust, so no glass beads but I can see lots of exciting possibilities here.  It would be a challenge to be involved with so much green  and there's lots of work to be done but at last I feel ready to go.

I thought the best way to start would be to look at the textures of the image and try to recreate them in fabric.    I did a couple of different pieces of random applique in shades of green (although the photo doesn't look like it).  My aim was to get a light and a dark piece that felt contrasting.

This is a light green sample

and the dark green one

I have also knitted a sample in moss stitch.  I found it was flexible and I lightly gathered it giving it a lovely texture.  This was 50 stitches and 8 rows on 3.75mm needles.

Making a long thin strip that has to be a given size needs the proportions to be accurate so I set my calculator to work.  My i Pad is 19x24x1  so I worked out that my long thin strip needs to be 60x20.5 including the pink flap and seam allowances.

I've been playing with how I can keep the green interesting for long enough and looked at even closer detail.  I did lots but felt these were the most interesting and it led me to think I should maybe go down the route of a back and a separate front ie two different pieces of work.

If I used this for the front it would mirror the slanting flap

I like the pink in here

Maybe to "solid"

I have made some felt to see if it would provide a good base to work on.  My main reason for chosing to work with felt is it is naturally waterproof.  At the pre felt stage I tried to blend the green and the pink so there is no need for a seam.

Joining the colours

What I found:

I need to buy more merino tops

felt needs to be thicker 

I need to make the felt plenty big enough - I didn't do enough pink and barely enough green for the back

make sure the colour graduations go the right way

joining the pre felt worked well - but I would like a more irregular edge.

Folded along the join may make it vulnerable so reinforcement may be needed.

The green felt (two tones)

The pink (3 tones)

I've done a bit of cutting and pasting and ended up with the basis of a design.  It may need some tweaking and I'm not sure about the pink stripe down the side but I've no doubt there will be an element of exploration as I go on.  I'm thinking of this as a prototype.

The basis of my design

I decided it's time to look what I've got in my stash and was surprised to see I don't really need to buy anything very much.  I tend to buy things when I come across them so I've a good resource.

When I'd made my selection it seemed a good idea to look at proportion at the same time so I did a hybrid between a wrapping and a collage that looked at texture as well.  I didn't use bondaweb but put organza over the top of my pieces because I like the effect of cutting some of it away. That way I can get various textures and colours from one piece of fabric.

Study in colour, texture and proportion

This is the same size as an i-Pad.  I have used some of the felt I made and some pieces of the confetti applique as well.  The colours work well and I'm pleased with them.  I am wondering just how important the colour of the base felt is as perhaps not much of it will show.

I've also been playing with a bag strap/handle.  I went back to the yarns section and decided to make a rope with some acrylic wool of just the right colours.  I was unsure how it would twist so I had a couple of goes.

Top the firmer of my two tries
Bottom is my first try with less wool

I did the lower rope first.  I cut 8m of wool and using 4 strands and twisted it until it was taut.  I allowed it to twist back on itself and the result was passable but I wanted it to be more substantial.

My second try (top) used 16m of wool and I began with just two strands, twistd them, allowed them to twist back and then repeated the process.  This gave me something much firmer and I think it will make a suitable handle for my bag.

Project 10 Stage 2b

I've been feeling a bit out of sorts with my work and as though I'm getting nowhere.  I've some issues around at the moment and I'm sure they are affecting my work.  It's just surprised me how much.

I've decided to change tack a bit and I've re-looked at the watermelon applique I did earlier.  I'm going to look for shapes I can work with.

These are my favourites  (although the frame didn't lie very flat)

On the diagonal - very coastal

Another diagonal

These look very map like

I'm going to try to zoom in a bit further and get more detail.

Perhaps a little minimalist

I love these shapes and colours

Calm and dynamic at the same time I love it

Yin and Yang

This has been a revelation.  I think in the past I've looked at too big an area.  Going small has certainly offered me lots more opportunities.  I think I'll look more closely at the third one because it has movement and texture in bucket loads.

First the computer manipulation simply because I can't resist it and it's quite lovely.

Paint.net - dents

I decided to do a paper collage and selected some papers although in the end I didn't use this many.  The paler green was used only very little and the pale pink spot didn't get used at all.

I used A3 paper and just tried to get the feel of the image.  I think it worked.

From a distance it has the atmosphere of a forest.

Overnight I think I've had a Eureka moment so I'll start another page in the hope it's true.

Project 10 Stage 2a

In this stage I need to look hard at my Theme Book, review what I've done and make some selections.

My tutor has suggested I take another look at my water melon work from earlier in my Theme Book. As I liked this work it certainly won't be a hardship.

Famous last words!  I took this image:

and I simply couldn't get to grips with it at all.

I used a sheet of green acrylic felt and covered it with organza in two colours of green and this gave me a lovely shiny "skin".  I did something fairly similar with the "flesh" and made some marks with my soldering iron.  I was so dissatisfied that I ended up pulling it all apart.

I've thought a lot about why this work was unsuccessful and I think that once again I have been guilty of copying and not having a vision of where I want to go with my work.  To be a bit more positive about it at least I know it was poor work and can reflect on why it should be so.

I set about making a better job of it.  Back to the drawing board thinking of words to describe what I saw in the watermelon picture.  Shiny, mottled, smooth, succulent, juicy are all very evocative.

I made a selection of fabrics and cottons.

And I even managed to re-use some of what I had prepared in my previous effort.  This time I added much more texture to the pink element.  It took quite some doing to change the red felt into succulent, juicy pink.  I achieved it by layering silk, net and some patterned chiffon.  I laid the green on the pink .

and machined the two together in sections.

The "seeds" are long beads made out of bone that I bought in Africa and they are pretty special.  I added some extra marks with the soldering iron.

Considering how unhappy I'd been previously this came together well in the end.  The photos don't do it justice probably because of the reflections on the organza.

In this I used several techniques I've developed in this course; applique, machine embroidery and fusing.

I took the same image again and melted together some carrier bags of the more flimsy variety.  I got the iron just right and the result was good.  The darker bag was green but the iron darkened it considerably so it looks black.

The shapes were lovely but I was uninspired so I just had a play.  I used the lime green on my machine and decided to try a zig zag free machine to embellish the bags.  Because the work was very floppy I placed it on bright pink acrylic felt.

I tipped my scraps from the previous work onto the plastic bags, covered it with the scrappy organza I'd ripped off  and just had some fun.  It bears little resemblance to the original image but it is exciting and made almost entirely of rubbish.


I went back to my watermelon and played with it on the computer and got the most amazing images.

First I changed the orientation and the colours

I stretched things out a bit and continued with my colour changes and effects (Paint.net):

Effects, Dents, scale 50 the rest default

Effects, Tile reflection at default

Effects, Curvature 20 rest default
Orange has virtually disappeared

I put some orange back

Effects, Dents at default

Over the period I've been playing with this programme I have learnt that bold, contrasting colours seem to work best.  The intensity of the colour diminishes as the effects are progressed.  This is exagerated further if you do a bondaweb print onto fabric.

Instead of vibrant the effect is subdued with a lovely sort of haziness about it.


I tried one or two more colour combinations.

Colour change and Dents 88.15

As above x2

Colour change and Dents 88.15

As above x2

For me this works much better with the green.  It provides some contrast.

Although I could carry on like this all day I'm not sure it's getting me anywhere. I feel as though I'm hiding from what I should be doing.  Unusually for me I feel a bit unmotivated.

In the Garden

I spent time in the garden looking at the fruit developing on the medlar tree.  We've never had fruit on it before and it has quite a reputation for being an acquired taste!

I feel I need to practice my watercolours more so that is what I did.

Medlar flower starting to fade

Brown tinged petals

Fruit starting to form

A multitude of medlars

As the fruit forms I'll be adding to this little grouping.  I'll never be a botanical artist but I quite like these and it's given me a bit more experience.