Its all about texture...

These pictures all come in pairs - front then back

I got a bit obsessed with textures ...

1 and 2 - this is still a work in progress. The larger threads are 3 step cable stitch, with various stitch lengthes of whip stitch going diagonally.



















3 and 4 - this thread is too thick and bobbly to go through the bobbin so it is couched on with random loops added. These could be left or cut and left as loose thread ends



















5 and 6 - lots of whip stitch of various lengthes and widths in zig zag stitch



















7 and 8 - layers and layers of zig zag whip stitch, varying lengths, varying combinations of top and bottom threads



















9 and 10 - this is another work in progress. The spaces become raised so I want to work on this a bit more and modify the tone



















11 and 12 - pure texture no added colour. Thick thread is couched onto the reverse creating a subtle black surface


















13 and 14 - lines of straight stitch, with the bobbin tension set very loose. The white threads are building up a sort of ikat type pattern. The black raised sections between add texture. I also really like the subtle effect on the reverse of the looped black threads so may develop this in another sample




















15 and 16 - truly crazy, lots of tight circles with the bobbin tension very loose - its actually even more textured than the picture seems to show



















17 and 18 - simple black circles on black cloth, with a very loose bobbin tension



















19 - a very restrained one in comparison!

odds and ends

I decided to do a bit more machine stitching and used some of the threads that were too thick or too 'bobbly' to go through the bobbin. I especially like the raised effect on the reverse.
























The result of the arashi shibori from the previous posting and two further pieces. The first piece had one pice of string wrapped in a regular pattern. The other two were wrapped with two pieces of string and in a more random way. I rather like these although they would be more useful for projects based on bamboo or zebras.

Handpainted with Marabu textil plus pen:















Monoprinted cloth. I think the squggly one is the most successful. I re-used the same pattern 3 times on the same piece - it looks like a lot snakes have escaped and squirmed all over the cloth.














I sewed zig zags of running stitch across this fabric, pulled it really tight then painted across the top of the exposed folds. It resulted in this interesting sparse pattern.












This is the front, first with the sewn spirals still in place, then after the paint has dried and they have been removed.

This is the reverse of the fabric, first with the stitching still in place, then after it has dried and the stitches have been removed

The following three are pre-printed fabrics with further dyeing added