Skill Investigation

Intention

One of my main goals in taking this course was to explore the embroidery techniques, after being introduced to contemporary embroidery artists such as Sarah Benning and Elizabeth Pawle. My main interest lay in embroidery as a more tactile form of illustration, and so for my final project I decided to adapt one of my own illustrations to an embroidered work. Through this, I also wanted to further explore the uses of the hand-stitching methods we covered in class, as well as other methods I've seen online. My main resource during this project was http://www.embroidery.rocksea.org/

Process

For this project I used a 7" embroidery hoop and muslin fabric that was provided in the class, as well as 6 colors of embroidery floss, and one unidentified type of thread (it was somewhat shiny and fell apart when I attempted to divide it into individual threads).

To start, I created a simple illustration for reference. I knew from the beginning I wanted an image that was a mix of line art and solid color fills. I am also a fan of overlaid patterns that don't conform to the figure. To get a sense of how everything would look together, I blocked in some colors and patterns, then, once satisfied, copied the sketch onto muslin.

Next I used a satin stitch to create the coat. The same was used for the block pattern of the pants, backpack, and greens.

 For the lettering, I wanted to try a chain stitch. This didn't work so well due to the small size of the letters and the fact that the stitch was not suitable for sharp curves. I ended up using the chain stitch only for the capital letters, and backstitch for the remainder. Small details such as the hands, feet, and facial features were created with mostly backstitches.

Finished Product:

Reflection

Overall the project was a lot of fun and I would definitely like to continue exploring this medium. This was my first major embroidery project and I am satisfied with the results. For my next project I hope to learn more about how to keep the back of the cloth neat as I embroider, since tangled threads became a bigger obstacle the more I worked. In the future I would like to explore more different kinds of threads, as well as embroidering decorations on clothing.

Sample Book