Stitch and Structure E-Book

Jean Draper

• Herausgeber: Batsford
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022

Seitenzahl: 100

Beschreibung

An essential book for any textile artist looking to expand their repertoire into two- and three-dimensional work. Leading textile artist, teacher and examiner Jean Draper takes you through the entire process from designing through construction to embellishment with mixed media.This beautiful and very practical book includes diagrams, detailed drawings and stitch information to guide the reader through the techniques, which include hand and machine embroidery. It covers: Design, including recording information for translation into stitch (with lots of drawing tips); Choice of Threads, including some unusual threads and customizing them; Constructing with Thread, everything from knotted forms, with decorative threads, grids and stacks, and coiled structures; Stitches in Thin Air, constructing with stitch alone using moulds and soluble fabric; Using Mixed Media in Stitched Structures, such as paper, sticks, wire and plastics; Adding Structure to an Existing Fabric; Three-Dimensional Fabric Structures.Working in two and three-dimensions is a growing genre of textile art and this incorporates a fresh approach and great design advice. 

Leseprobe

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1DISCOVERING STRUCTURE AS A SOURCE FOR DESIGN

CHAPTER 2AN APPROACH TO MAKING EXPERIMENTAL STITCHED TEXTILES

CHAPTER 3MORE THAN THREAD

CHAPTER 4CONSTRUCTING WITH THREADS AND LINEAR STRUCTURES

CHAPTER 5STITCHES IN THIN AIR

CHAPTER 6CONSTRUCTING WITH STITCH

CHAPTER 7STRUCTURES USING STITCHED FABRIC

INTRODUCTION

This book has grown out of many years of practising, researching and teaching art and stitched textiles. It is solidly based in my continuing work around themes and textile techniques that interest me. While my natural way of working is hand stitching – and this is the way much of the work shown in this book has been made – some pieces are machine stitched. Many of the hand-stitching ideas shown could also be translated as machine embroidery.

In these pages, I aim to explore how structure in the natural and built environment can offer inspiration for the design and construction of stitched textiles. As artists, embroiderers and makers, we can use these structures to shape our vision and to make that vision a reality through the ways in which we work with thread, stitch, cloth and other materials. Through a series of logical exploratory stages (beginning with thread and concluding with fabric) and based on the design concept of structure, I attempt to show how formations we see around us can be interpreted and represented in our chosen materials and methods which, in turn, allows us to create new structures. These can be very varied: different two-dimensional structural surfaces made from stitching, or more complex three-dimensional constructions fashioned either from stitch alone or from stitching, fabric and mixed media combined. Shown here is my progress so far in this immense subject.

The overriding principle during my teaching career has been to encourage creative growth in others, giving them the opportunity to develop their own ideas and personal style of working. I certainly do not want to prescribe the outcomes of your work, but by suggesting starting points and possible additional working experiments you might carry out (under the heading ‘Further Work: You Could…’), my intention is to inspire and encourage you to develop interesting ideas for yourself.

I have chosen only to illustrate and explain those methods that you may not already know or be able to reference easily. I have stated where my ideas begin and how my methods have evolved, in the knowledge that you can easily source basic information about stitches and techniques from the many good specialist books already in existence.

I hope that you will enjoy reading and using this book and that it will help you to make expressive, individual and innovative work of your own.

After the Fire (54 x 38cm). Hand- stitched background in dense vertical lines of raised whip stitch, supporting an arrangement of wrapped sticks, thorns, stitched and painted hand-made paper and loose threads. Constructed from cotton fabric, various threads and mixed media.

DISCOVERING STRUCTURE AS A SOURCE FOR DESIGN

Defining structure. Natural structures. Man-made structures. Increasing awareness of structure in the environment.

Cactus Form 1 (height 58cm). Tall three-dimensional work constructed from heavy cords wrapped with space-dyed cotton threads, based on drawings of dried cacti shown later on 1 and 2. For method of construction see Chapter 5.

Pen and wash drawings investigating organic structure from various sources, including eroded stones, rock, cross-section of bone and cell structures.

ORGANIC OR NATURAL STRUCTURE

‘Structure can be defined in a number of ways, but it is generally accepted that the term refers to the framework or constituent parts or elements making up an object. It also refers to the way in which these parts are put together and connected, determining the particular nature, character and shape of the object.’

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary

There has been a great deal of study into, and writing on, the theory and science of structure which, while interesting, is not essential reading for the purposes of this book. Here we are only beginning to explore structure in a general way as an aid to the creation of stitched textiles. However, more in-depth research might be needed if you wished to develop very complex work, particularly if you are thinking of making large-scale standing structures. Size in relation to the strength and weight of the materials used would need careful consideration. At this stage, however, we are predominately concerned with discovering the visual impact and inspirational qualities of structure in its broader sense. Whatever its form, every living, growing thing around us has some kind of structure that affects its appearance and determines its shape, size, strength and character. The structure of some objects is immediately recognizable, being on the exterior or surface, while less obvious interior structures are hidden and, therefore, are more difficult to discover. Outwardly, for example, the human body seems to be made from muscle and flesh, but our shape, strength and ability to stand and move is largely dependent upon the concealed bony skeleton that supports the muscles and soft tissue and also protects the inner organs. By contrast, some creatures, such as shellfish, turtles and insects, have a bold, protective outer shell or carapace instead of an interior skeleton. You will be able to think of many more examples of both surface and interior structures in the things you see around you.

Essentially, the structure – the way in which the elements relate, conjoin and shape an entity – is entirely practical in order to give strength, flexibility and protection. Its structure enables an object to exist and hold intact against whatever forces and dangers may affect it in its environment.

Organic structures – interior or exterior – although primarily practical, can also be very decorative and intriguing in their form, construction and coloration. Often, exterior decoration serves a practical purpose too, perhaps to attract a mate, or for the benefit of camouflage. The complexity and variety of structures within nature can supply us with almost unlimited information and inspiration, providing compelling scope for interesting design. Some structures, when examined closely, seem impossibly delicate but, in fact, because of the way in which their elements, (often including a framework of lines) are organized, linked and overlapped, together with the way they function in their environment, the fineness and lightness we see belies their strength. Examples of this type of structure are cobwebs and the inner lacy construction of bones. In fact, many fascinating structures, such as cells and other biological organisms, are so minute and fine that they are completely invisible to the naked eye and only become apparent through magnification. Nevertheless, some of these forms provide very beautiful and exciting starting points for stitch.

Three drawings of simply constructed fences showing geometrical strength in man-made structures.

FURTHER WORK: YOU COULD...

Begin by looking around and making yourself aware of organic or natural structures. These could include:

Plant stems (outside and cross sections); trees (the whole branching shape; details of tree bark, roots, etc.); the skin and scales of different animals, e.g. insects, fish and snakes; shells; cell structures; crystals and minerals; nests; webs, fruits and seeds (outside and in cross section), skeletal structures and rocks (surface details and whole formations).

BUILT OR MAN-MADE STRUCTURES

From earliest times, human beings have studied, learned and drawn from the strength and variety in natural structures in order to help them create and develop the kind of practical and robust structures needed for their own use. Initially, the priority was to provide protection and shelter and simply sustain existence but, subsequently, the same principles were applied to both buildings and other structures with more complex and varied functions. In architecture, for example, simple timber frames using trees and branches were used firstly to support soft building materials such as straw, twigs, leaves and mud to make basic shelters. Later, as building became more advanced, timber frames, still reflecting and imitating the original strong growth structure of trees, were used to support hard materials such as stone and fired clay bricks. It is thought that similar structural knowledge of trees was employed in the construction of the pillars and arches supporting mighty cathedrals built entirely from stone.

Many other examples exist that show natural structures inspiring man-made ones.

MAN MADE

By studying how structure works in nature, people have been able to understand how fragile, lightweight structures can have enormous strength and durability. In his book Origins of Form, Christopher Williams has written:

Structure is the way to achieve the most strength from the least material through the most appropriate arrangement of elements within the form for the intended use…

Man-made Structure. Pen, brush and ink drawing illustrating simple geometric forms, seen from above, in Pueblo ruins, Arizona.

He also emphasizes the importance of economy in structure, arguing that you cannot necessarily make something strong by building mass or volume. Birds’ wings are a very good example: without economy in the structure of the wing, the bird could not fly because it would be too heavy. Similarly, the aeroplane, developed originally from the study of flight in birds, uses economy of structure together with increasing structural knowledge of metals, to create strength and lightness relative to size.

SQUARES OR TRIANGLES

We are surrounded by man-made structures, ranging from the simplest to highly sophisticated examples of structural engineering, many of which have their earliest roots in Man’s ability to observe and learn from nature which are the strongest shapes and to understand the way in which the elements in organic forms join and hold together. Christopher Williams points out that man-made structures are often composed of a simplification of the forms found in nature: circles and domes, squares, rectangles and triangles, the most common being the triangle. It is repeated many times in both natural and man-made structures because of its basic stability.

Drawings from shells and rocks showing squares and rectangles in nature.

Drawings from rocks and rock strata showing triangles in nature.

FURTHER WORK: YOU COULD...

Continue to look around and become more aware of man-made structures in the environment. These could include:

Fences (old and new); gates; scaffolding; ladders; wheels; buildings (old and contemporary, inside and outside); architectural features – arches, windows, stairs, etc.; furniture; lamps; lights; chandeliers; baskets; boxes; cartons; contemporary sculpture and ceramics.

Can you see any relationship between these and the natural structures you have found?

Rock Form (height 60cm) Tall structure made from machine-stitched, dyed and painted cotton fabric with external seams. Supported on armature and a slate base.

AN APPROACH TO MAKING EXPERIMENTAL STITCHED TEXTILES

Recording information about structure for translation into stitch. Drawing with a purpose. Compiling your own database of knowledge for informing your work.

Detail of pastel drawing recording dramatic, twisted tree structures remaining after a wild fire.

While the main focus of this book is the exploration of structure through stitch, alongside this I have tried to demonstrate the working process of developing ideas by gathering and simplifying information, translating this information into stitch through sampling, which leads eventually to resolved stitched textiles. I hope that my drawings, extensive sampling of ideas and examples of finished work, will show you that making work is not so much a mystical procedure but a sound practical system that is ongoing and develops gradually over a period of time; a way of working that can be adopted by most dedicated makers. Ideas for work do not have to be separate and distinct but they develop little by little, one from another; sometimes there is only a small step between them. This should be evident by the related nature of some of the work shown here.

My work process could be simplified under the following headings:

• Looking/Recording/Learning

• Experimental Sampling

• Resolved Work.