Back in 2013, for some long-forgotten reason, I compiled a document titled “Here’s all you can do with fabric”, and I’m sure I must have been interrupted and never remembered to return to it, because it’s obviously incomplete 🙂 For example, although I myself have made of works featuring torn fabric edges, and way back in 2008 made several works featuring melted organza, I hadn’t listed them here, and there must be many more.
The list does show, though, that I had already started to research some of them. This was really important to me back then because I was living in a spanish speaking country with less than good language ability, and more accumstomed to accessing libraries and bookstores in english. These days of course there’s even more information available online. I rarely buy new textile books, and don’t subscribe to paper copies of any magazines as their delivery here is very unreliable.
I’ve never been motivated to write a fibreart techniques book, so perhaps I was preparing a workshop, or a powerpoint for a talk to a group which never happened, but anyway, I’ve learned the basics of many of these, become skilled in several, and some I’m sure never interested me at all :
- 3-d and low relief manipulation
- applique for beginners video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vKcyymFkyk
- collage / bonding with veisoflex, steam a seam 2, etc
- basic patchwork, and math for working out basic patchwork
- piecing technique basics
- felting
- surface design techniques
- stencilling – great little step by step tutorial on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOVCDpzdixM
- monoprinting http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajx3d7PTm68 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaO2Ylye6tc
- direct printing / digital printing using home computer- whenever paper is mentioned think fabric. http://www.instructables.com/id/Inkjet-Printing-on-Fabric/step6/Print/ using a home computer and freezer paper with PFD fabric
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl4FnvvcHCk
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYkba6ZHWx0
- 2 parts – home based, sticking paper to fabric for printing in the computer printer; good hints
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwICR-vGp0Y – pretty good too, all in one, faster moving.
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8HO4wtjgy8M good hints not on the above
- Gelli plate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7mAJkcY45M and others by Andy Skinner and other people http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyQvWv0LVWA http://gelliarts.blogspot.com/ fantastic, full of technical help if that’s the way you want to go with surface printing.,
- screen printing
- starter kits are available www.store.cbridge.com
- silk painting
- mixed media layerin http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5ART_W3ZIg
- hand dyeing
- shibori http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/2007/01/03/82/ great looking classes include a $25 online shibori class that looks like great value as an overview and stimulation to explore
- http://www.polkadotbride.com/2013/07/diy-shibori-dye-napkins/ good basic tutorial – napkin sample in simple steps.
- Huge range of shibori techniques on Pinterest
- http://honestlywtf.com/diy/shibori-diy/ excellent basic tutorial
- Excellent video on Quilting Arts YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOVCDpzdixM
- sun printing
- snow dyeing
- tea dyeing
- rust dyeing
- free machine embroidery http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9ADupRXK8Y&list=PL9ETHLzJ7-_LUQpiLhOwN47wi6aFaj0fC
- hand embroidery
- free machine quilting
- hand quilting
I strongly believe that it’s important know a range of techniques from which to choose for an artwork, as such knowledge opens up all kinds of creative possibilities. Techniques learned in workshops by some inspiring teachers have stayed with me for ever; but others faded with little use, and a few emerged again years later as ‘just the thing’ I needed at particular time.
Having not attended a major in-person workshop or symposium since about 2015, in 2019 I decided I’d travel and take a whole week live-in workshop in 2020 or 2021 with a particular UK artist whose fibre art I loved. Of course, the Covid 19 Pandemic put paid to tha idea, and as compensation I signed up as a foundation member of StitchClub, partly because that very teacher was one of the scheduled early S.C. workshop teachers I’d really wanted to study with. Interestingly though after her StitchClub class, I felt all her work has a sameness about it, which over a live-in whole week workshop might have wildly inspired me but also might have been a bit boring 🙂
The excellent StitchClub workshops were weekly (they’re now fortnightly) and some were really special to me, like this one https://www.alisonschwabe.com/weblog/?p=7260. After two or three years, though, I let my StitchClub subscription lapse, as I wanted to focus on creatively using the many fabric and stitch techniques I already know or could quickly look up online. StitchClub really did take quite a bit of time to get the most from it, but then, during the pandemic oldies like yours truly suddenly had heaps and heaps of extra time stuck at home anyway, right? As we became vaccinated and activities resumed, like most people, I needed to spend real face time in company with other people with whom I share other interests, most of whom are not fabric and thread people.
Even after writing this post, I still don’t remember what motivated me to the compile this list!
