Chapter 10: Design into Embroidery / Samples

Hi Sian, here is a record of my sampling... but first here is a photo of  Beachwatch, the Marine Conservation Society's annual beach clean up which I  helped with on a blazing September morning...

Collecting and recording marine litter, North Beach, Lowestoft. I'm in the blue baseball cap

We collected so many tiny bits of paper and lots and lots of sweet wrappings that I began to wonder if there was a way to use some of the rubbish in my samples but first it needed a wash...

A bag of marine rubbish ready for washing

and then a sterilize. I put some Milton tablets in the water...

Rubbish soaking in Milton after a thorough hosing

A reminder of my design

Dyed tissue paper on cellophane

The papers were first rubbed with oil pastel and gold markel over nylon twine collected from the beach. Some were stamped with bits of plastic as in my research drawings. It was these marks and rubbings I wanted to translate.

Sample A uses a V stamp and silver acrylic paint. I used the V stamp in my research drawings. It was inspired by 'V for vegetarian' on some waste packaging collected from the beach during my initial research..

Sample A1: Mousseline bonded to stamped muslin with bonded snippets of rubbish

Sample A2: Detail with added whip and zig-zag stitching

I had thought to cut this into smaller pieces but the end result was too floppy so I didn't take this any further. I realised that rather than translating the papers individually, I would need to sample constructing the shapes on a grid so that I could work out which water soluble fabric to use.

Sample B was an attempt to work directly with the rubbish. I sandwiched pieces between Aquabond and Avalon and then added free machine stitching in straight stitch. I tried to match up the thread to the colour of the rubbings.

Sample B1: Stitched rubbish sandwiched between Aquabond and Avalon

After I had soaked the Aquabond and Avalon away, I dried the pieces then cut some shapes from the rubbish using the tracing paper templates I had made for my paper design. 

Sample B2: Cut shape with free straight stitching

I was intrigued by the light shining through the stitch holes. This piece was quite fragile so I did a few experiments with Acrylic Wax and Bronze Powders to see if I could add strength and muted colour to the shapes.

Sample B3: Experiments with Acrylic Wax and Bronze Powders

The Acrylic Wax made the orange really bright and the bronze powders were muddy so I wasn't enthusiastic about this effect. The plasticized bits of rubbish didn't need any strengthening.

I then sandwiched the individual pieces between Aquabond and Avalon again. I stitched an invisible grid to secure them before dissolving the water soluble fabric.

Sample B4: Marine waste on an invisible grid

To be honest, I thought this looked like exactly what it is, bits of rubbish, and did not go anywhere near translating my initial design or having enough stitch in it. What I did like though were the quirky bits of text, eg the caption on the bear piece says, 'biscuits for out and about'.

So, back to basics and a more literal translation of my design. Here it is again...

Sample C. I traced the centre of the design onto Romeo and stitched a circle round it with an invisible thread grid of 1cm squares inside. I secured the Romeo in a hoop and stitched the grid in stages.

Sample C1: Invisible thread grid on Romeo with design ready for stitching

Next, I gathered a palette of machine embroidery threads to match the colours of the papers and stitched round each shape before filling them with straight stitch, just like colouring-in. 

Sample C2: Coloured-in shapes using free machine straight stitch

The shapes look quite dense in this photo, but actually light filters through the stitching as I was trying to capture some of the delicacy of the tissue paper.

Next I added the marks from the rubbings and the stamps. After a few trials, I discovered that whip stitch worked well when using coloured thread, and straight stitch was better with the silver and gold. Here is my trial sample for working out how to do the lines...I rather like it.

Sample C3: Working out how to stitch the lines and marks with whip stitch and straight stitch

I top-stitched the lines and marks onto the coloured-in shapes using my initial design as a guide. This was pinned to the wall in front of my machine as I stitched.

Sample C4: With added whip and straight stitch

I cut away the surplus Romeo and dissolved the sample in warm water...

Sample C5: Dissolving in warm water

So far so good, a larger piece would need a bath or a paddling pool! 

Next I pinned the sample to dry over layers of blanket protected by plastic and covered with a towel. This made a nice easy surface to pin into and should be easy enough to replicate with a larger piece.

Sample C6: Pinned to dry for 24 hours

The lilac shape to the centre left of the photo, disintegrated a little in the process and some of the stitching lost it's clarity. I liked this effect and rubbed the shapes to purposely distress them as a lot of the bits of rubbish I collected were very worn and faded.

I attached some invisible thread  to the top of the circle and suspended it from my pegs...(not shown)

Sample C7: Suspended sample with cast shadows

Sample C8: Detail showing whip stitch and straight stitch lines and marks and distressed stitching

I was happy with the overall effect but thought the blue and green too dark and overall the sample a little bland... and there was no actual rubbish in the piece. I went back to my quirky bits of text and appliquéd words and phrases on to some of the shapes with gold and silver thread...eg chewy, fruity pops, double lollie, plastic bottle widely recyled etc

Sample C9: Quirky text appliqued to shapes and also showing strong cast shadows

The shapes are a little stiff making it possible to manipulate them...

Sample C10: Detail with 'chewy' and 'double lollie' text and showing manipulated shapes and cast shadows

Ages ago I bought some little turtle beads and couldn't resist! Turtles often get tangled up in all the plastic floating about in the oceans...

Sample C11: With tangled turtle and 'fruity pops' text

So there you have it Sian, my thought at the moment is to go with the above but adjust the green and blue colours to something a little brighter.

I'm mindful of your comment on my original design, '...the bright childlike colours belie the ugly effect they have on the seas'.

I'll wait to hear from you before pressing on...

Thank you as always.

Nicky