Posts Tagged ‘freeform lace’

Browsing With Pinterest

Thursday, February 22nd, 2018

Every day Pinterest sends images of things it thinks I might like.  Because I can so easily become totally absorbed and lose hours happily wandering through images, following links one after the other, I rarely take time to browse.  It’s worse than Facebook.  So I clicked on a page of enticing images headed ‘stitch’, and found myself looking at a page of pics on which was one work I knew I’d seen before, by Cordula Kagemann and as it turned out, had saved in my own board Lines and Shapes, though I’d never gone to her website.  What magnificent work, collaging with cut paper and some fabric. Textile friends in Australia, note that she will be teaching there in October of this year.  Her cutout paper overlays feature various shaped holes and overlocking rings – my mind asked could you call this paper ‘lace’?

Holes and lace have been part of my inspiration for some time: https://www.alisonschwabe.com/weblog/?p=2620  https://www.alisonschwabe.com/weblog/?p=2620  and I still have this little leather sample on my board after about 10 years  – suede bonded onto unbleached calico/muslin, and to me this is definitely all about the holes… and I’m still thinking about it.

 

Snippets and samples of holes in leather and fabric … ? lace

The surface design snippet below is part of a 12|”x12″ quilt first bought in a SAQA Benefit Auction some years back, of gold leather triangles with holes punched from it sewn to a black background with gold machine stitching forming the grid. This week it was auctioned among a collector’s pieces which were donated to the organisation to benefit SAQA a second time, and I am thrilled to hear an Australian collector it.  I never gave it a title, but with hindsight perhaps I could have called it Black Holes on Gold Triangles …

A question I’ve had in mind before is this – what is the most important part of ‘lace’ – is it the holes, or whatever it is that surrounds the holes?

Edges and Holes 2

Sunday, November 29th, 2015

From Deeper In The Samples Box …

Thursday, March 6th, 2014

holes samples

So at one time you can see I was pretty full on with the leather punch – and a few years ago looked into buying a secondhand laser cutter, but various real considerations and practicalities finally prevailed, and I didn’t go ahead with it.  I think I’d have had to do a lot of trophy engraving to pay for it ….  Well, I like the organic, hand-cut look, anyway 🙂

Holes As Lace Samples

Monday, March 3rd, 2014

DSCN3463 copy

My last post included a little square within a square, with holes.  I found when using the ‘what if?’ principle that the leather punch would go through fabric, a pleasing little thing, and so I did another little square-within-a-square – I bonded it to paper – another pleasing little thing.  It’s io nthe top row – don’t take any notice of the brown next to it, that’s just the benchtop.

DSCN3462 copy

OK this is just a sample, but I am pleased with the landscape texture quality of it.  Bonding and free machine embroidery, cotton, bronze leather and shot nylon organza, and I forgot this when working with it, so the upper blobs are oriented differently to the piece with the cutouts,  and whichever way you look at it the colour is different but related – interesting. Maybe useful some time.

 

Holes, Continued

Sunday, March 2nd, 2014

As I’ve said before, they have been on my mind for years.

holes in leather 2006 samples

This couple of samples was cropped from a pic I took of several samples back in 2006.  Hand cut black leather and punched gold leather – I know I had some big plan for this but the constant use of a leather punch leads to tired hands and arms, and I dropped the plan.    A change of scale, though, and change of material… well there’s a lot of potential for both ideas.

hole and lace

And these sample snippets are from this afternoon’s experiments – grey nylon organza bonded onto the cream canvas – sure, the pic’s a bit dull but I know what it means.  Down in the LH side are some triangular shapes bonded on of course but then hand stitched in various ways with several threads including metallic.  I keep thinking of how people only repair precious objects, and ‘mending’ is a frequently used motif these days in mixed media and textile works – but I hope I can use ‘mending’ in a non cliché way – I’m working on it.

 

square with holes

I don’t think it’s just the bold contrast why I like this little sample- approx. 4cm x 4cm suede leather piece, with a smaller square cut and rotated – those holes are smallest done by the leather punch I have.  There’s no way I could do something  with masses of these squares of leather – oh for a laser cutter here!  But, perhaps another material … this idea has lingered in my mind since 2006, too.

 

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