Machine Embroidery - Week 1!

This week I have started machine embroidery. As I haven't done much work on machines before, I spent the week doing lots of small samples to help me get to know how they work and the kind of techniques that can be achieved.

We were inducted into the machines with the number 6 Bernina foot which had a small hole in the centre to couch narrow chords. This is shown in the example below where I have cut away some of the zig zag stitch to reveal the chord.

I did couching on this sample with satin stitch, creating small ovular shapes at intervals along the chord.

I also experimented with this fabric which was easy to manipulate. When it was pulled apart, threads were left behind which also added to the texture. The fabric naturally became 3D, however I stuffed the natural shapes to re-enforce this.

 

Towards the end of the week, I tried to incorporate chromatography with some of my samples.

For this sample, I stitched pieces of cotton onto a base fabric so that they were free standing to create a 3D sample. They also had different heights to create a rippled effect with the fabric, which I then did chromatography on top of. I liked how vibrant the colours ended up, and I also like the 3D aspect of the sample so I would like to develop this further.

I also wanted to see how lots of line stitch would be effected by chromatography. I used one continuous thread as I wanted to see how the colour would travel. I placed the ink on the left hand side (where there is a high concentration of purple) and as you can see, the colour travelled all over the sample due to the linking threads behind the sample.

Throughout the next week I would like to develop my chromatography with machine stitch, to create some bigger samples.