Saturday, March 03, 2007

T.A.S.T. - Fly Stitch

The T.A.S.T. challenge for week 8 was Fly Stitch.
Very quick and easy to do.

For my fibre on fibre sample I bonded tissue paper to scrim using PVA glue.

This is the tissue paper side…

…and this is the scrim side.


Strips were cut about ¼” wide to stitch with. It was very hard going. Holes were made in the fabric first otherwise the ‘thread’ kept splitting.


When finished a wash of Iron Gall ink was applied. I recently bought some new inks and I have been desperate to try them. The Iron Gall ink is made to an old medieval recipe. The description says “…you will find sepia looking sections. It is not sepia but probably rust from bits of undissolved iron!”. I couldn’t resist it!



When the ink was dry another ink called ‘Dragons Breath’ was painted on in places. This colour is an amazing yellowy orange. Painting over the top of the Iron Gall dulls it down considerably.



Bleach was then put on in places. I was after a sort of rusty look.





For this sample thick and thin cotton threads were used and worked on the tissue paper side of the fabric. The piece was covered in Brilliant Green Pelikan fountain pen ink.


Pelikan Brilliant Red ink was then painted over the top. What I was hoping to do was paint one colour ink on top of the other then bleach through leaving the layer beneath showing. I should have used red first then green because as it is the red does not show up.


Bleach was applied on top.



Once the bleach was dry, red ink was once again flooded on top.






Then, just to finish off, out came the Treasure Gold.



This last piece has been worked on the scrim side of the fabric. Same threads as before, thick and thin cotton. Wild Viola Violet and Sunflower Yellow Ziller ink was painted on. The instructions for this ink tell you to clean your brushes in a small amount of ammonia. I therefore assumed that bleach would lift out the ink, but nothing happened even though it was put on quite thickly.


This sample has now been covered with gesso and sprinkled with sea salt. Once dry I will paint it over with acrylic inks to see what effect I can achieve.

15 comments:

Terri Stegmiller said...

Lovely examples Lynda. My favorite is the one you applied treasure gold to.

Doreen G said...

Wow you sure went wild this time I love them all Lynda.
I just love to see what you do each time.

Pat said...

"Very quick and easy to do" very quickly became fasicating, I would have been happy with about step 2, I went Oh no! at the Green and then was entranced by the following steps. Can't wait to see what happens next.

neki desu said...

oh boy!talk about having fun!
these are wonderful.i just want to have a little time to try some of these.question. have you tried discharge paste instead of bleach. or thiourea or hydrosulphite?
just curious.

neki desu

Micki said...

What exciting samples. You do the neatest techniques and all those different inks, etc. Fun, fun!

Sarah said...

you have some wonderful samples there! wow, great experimentation!

Nancilyn (Fiberdabbler) said...

Missy Purple, you are just doing wonderful, magical things. I love all the different effects you are achieving and am dying to try some of these myself. Where do you find your inks? Do you paint them on? Diluted?
Thank you for sharing your experiments with us.

Unknown said...

Argh, I need some of these inks, just the name Iron Gall Ink makes me drool, where did you get them please, please, please.
Fantastic samples as always.

Digitalgran said...

Lynda, you have such inpiring ideas it just wants to make me go and try some of them out immediately. Those inks are wonderful. I like that rich yellow!

Anonymous said...

Very inspiring! I made a piece of tissue/scrim paper a while ago and never took it any further. I had been thinking about free machine stitching it...but maybe it could become a future TAST project.

bookwraps by suz.com said...

ooohhhh, I love all your "experiments" ... each step is fascinating ... thanks for sharing ...

Leigh said...

Oh! This is so fascinating! What a creative use of the fly stitch.

Thank you for visiting my blog and commenting. Sadly I no longer keep angoras. Our living situation at present isn't in their best interests. I do miss them however. I reckon I'll always be a Bunny Mom at heart.

Margaret S said...

What stunning colours and effects, you obviously had so much fun!

gunnelsvensson said...

What a lovley experiment you are doingwith the stitch and colour!
Thanks for comment on my blog :-)
Gunnel

Vivian said...

I love your stepwise information. You certainly make what they call 'complex cloth'. I do watercolours and the pigments used for all type of paints are basic metals. They then have something added that makes them adhere. The term 'gall' may be a reference to gall bladder which would produce a protein that could be what mixed with the iron to 'fix' it to the fabric. One caution - some of those old paints and inks had metals that are quite toxic. You should wear a mask and rubber gloves.