In March I attended a workshop, with the above title, given by a visiting tutor Jo Yeates (see – instagram@made52).
The idea was to hand-stitch a layered fabric collage featuring text which could be stitched, stencilled, stamped, written typed etc. To this we could add stitching, lace, buttons and ephemera to embellish. It could be a favourite word, a person’s name, a special place or a short phrase.
As you will have read many times before, I am incapable of going to a workshop ‘blind’. So having done my research, I decided that for me, who never uses text in her textile work, the perfect word would be ‘FAMILY’. My reasoning….I’ve always wanted to set up a dedicated wall of significant memorable photos and in the near future I will have that opportunity.
What came out of my thinking was that you have a family tree related to ancestry and heritage – yes, I want to include a couple of historical photos on my wall. Additionally, to me, family means the grounded roots and the growth of branches finding their own way….or am I being too philosophical here 🤔
With this in mind, I finessed my research online to explore the various ways one could write the word, that would spark my imagination – thank you to the originators of the text examples I studied and show below.
Once we got going at the workshop, I fiddled with how I would undertake my writing.
Decades ago, I embroidered an initial letter on a piece of fabric by couching some piping cord down and then ‘wrapping’ a variety of beads around the cord. It was very effective. Although I recently found it, I forgot to photograph it and it has once again disappeared into the depths….so I will leave it to your imagination.
I thought about this construction for my ‘F’ but decided that it would be too deep especially as a certain Scandinavian store no longer sells the small, shallow (2.5 deep internally) Ribba frames that we have all loved for so long. the deeper ones yes, but not the shallower ones….😭 Instead I need to find a ‘forgiving’ ordinary frame!
Again, for the beading I had found some inspiring work online, sadly the author was not given – thank you to whomever you are.
An aside….Each time I gather research work for any workshop I file it. Over the years I have gained quite a bulging file to which I refer time and again to trigger inspiration. I’m sure I’m not alone.
Using a piece of our old sofa cover fabric (it keeps coming in useful!) and knowing the size I wanted the finished piece to be (the square of paper) I aligned the fabric pattern to suit my word and started adding the collage pieces before writing.
Stitching completed and the beading commenced it was all too soon the end of the workshop and time for the show and tell. There were many beautiful items produced (below is just a flavour) and I hope they all find a good home.
I had started the beading at the workshop, and you can see how it will, hopefully, look when matted. But, by the time I got home, I wasn’t totally happy, so I unpicked it and eventually started again with a better mix of beads.
I learned that my chosen word is unsurprisingly a popular choice generally (I was the only one in our group) although using it to announce a storyboard of photos seemed unique. There will be fun to come!
The piece is now potentially complete and awaiting stretching (my method using a sewing machine and mountboard), however I am prevaricating for two reasons – 1. I need to locate a suitable 23 x 23cm (9 x 9in) shallow box frame and 2. I think I need to emphasize the ‘amily’ a little more so that it can be seen from a about 1.5m away….
….do let me know your thoughts.