Lee Thomson

I had an epiphany the last day of the North Country Studio Workshop, when I was captivated by the work in the print studio, and I came back to the fiber studio and looked at all the stitches we had put on things-that-were-not-fabric – the stitches made a raised surface that looked like it could be printed from.

I feel like I have been broody about this idea for the last three weeks, like a hen all spread out over her nest, protecting the eggs and keeping anyone else from looking at them too closely. Including myself; if I examine an idea in this stage too hard it just evaporates out from under me. Whereas sitting quietly with the tiniest beginnings allows them to grow, to gather steam and become big enough to work on.

These are tests, so they are fairly small (2.5×3.5″) I started with the process I am most comfortable with, using my sewing machine with #8 perle cotton in the bobbin. I worked with the piece upside down, which was helpful in part because that is the way the image will look printed. This is just the first two iterations, and some notes on what I think I want to change for the next iterations.

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Notes:

• the dots of fusible on the interfacing come through
• stitching or not stitching the background does not seem to matter
• the interfacing might not be stiff enough to hold the threads up, proud of the surface, enough for printing without the substrate carrying and transferring ink as well
• wetting the embroidery slightly makes the ink soak into the threads, and provides a bolder print
• except it also makes the ink soak into the substrate more, so there is more background noise

Next Steps:

• find smoother interfacing, without the prominent bumps of fusible
• try drilling holes in a stiffer substrate – chipboard or thin plywood
• what difference does hand sewing make? I could use thicker threads working by hand than with a machine, but the line is not continuous
• does a different type of thread matter? Nylon, rayon, linen are all on hand for testing