Those who tat know that working in black thread can be very
tough on the eyes. Those who stitch know that working on white cloth can be
tough on the eyes. Those who practice in a room with a flickering fluorescent
light knows that can be tough. So, what was I thinking?
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| front |
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| back |
Working on dark cloth with dark thread during winter?
Well, I decided when I signed up for the Elephant class, I should learn to work with silk. I’ve some silk to tat with and also some
other silk to stitch with. When I’m learning a new technique, I tend to dive
into my stash and see what I can do with what’s been leftover. Kinda like a
musician learns just a small part of the piece often at slow tempo or with just
part of the score. This sample is the result of my efforts with the stash. The
white thread is cotton on 14 count cotton Aida, the red threads are silk.
The technique is similar to a style of embroidery called
Blackwork or Redwork. I’m very drawn to the geometric designs. There’s a play
between thread and negative space similar to good tatting designs. This piece
turned out somewhat like I thought it would. Some of the design retreats into
the cloth due to color of thread; some of the design creates lots of space.
Remember my journey weaving in neutrals at this workshop? While I was
stitching, I was laying bits of tatting on top and playing with color and
texture. There will be more to come with this!
Beautifully embroidered! At a glance, it is impossible to distinguish between front and back. Great job 💖
ReplyDeleteThank you! I confess the challenge of the back looking exactly as the front is one of the draws for me to this technique. Another is the negative space being as important as the thread. kinda like tatting designs.
DeleteOooh, working with silk, special. Your experiments sound interesting and fun.
ReplyDeleteI like cotton best, but working with silk is growing on me.
DeleteBlack on black with flickering fluorescent lights. You are a glutton for punishment. But I know where you can find a 25hz electrical system. Then the flickering will give you a headache! Hehe. I hope you are not doing that, actually. Is silk like polyester? Polyester is slippery and tries to untat itself. I never tried silk. Your patterns in the photos are pretty nice.
ReplyDeleteI usually push for changing out fluorescent lights. I've never liked the hum of the b-flat. Especially when there's no such pitch in the key I'm playing in!
DeletePolyester is slippery. Silk tends to latch on to itself, or anything that isn't smooth. So, you have to be careful and take care of your hands, use smooth needles, how you store the thread, etc. etc. etc. I may just run screaming back to cotton!