Ruth Isset

Ruth Issett has been a strong influence in my dying and colour project. I have used her book extensively for inspiration and technical information. I like these hanging pieces which link with my own bunting which involves hanging the fabric, light and movement being part of the way the fabrics are viewed. I intend to develop this idea further.

Swirling Lines and Dots 1 & 2 [250 x 100 cms] 

The inspiration for this piece of work came from the study of a Chinese skirt, its structure, unusual colour and stitched additions. The idea of a person dancing, swinging and whirling in it, made it come alive. These pieces express the joyous feeling of movement, the electricity of colour, the texture and distortion of cut and stitched fabric. This wild untidy movement versus controlled rigidity, maybe the inside and outside of the skirt as it swirls and swings around.

 Ruth's work reflects her passion and excitement for using colour on paper and fabric through dyeing, printing and stitch. Much of her work is about movement and glimpsed observations of environments. Every observation is interpreted into colour, carefully noting the variations achieved through the use of collective media.

 Connected with Colour

Tie dyed samples

Large circle tied with thread. Cerise, purple and tan.

Small circles tied with thread. Raspberry.

Concertina folding. Cerise, purple and tan dye.

Rolled and tied at regular intervals. Buttercup, acid yellow and orange dye.

 Space dyed. Turquoise, buttercup and purple dyes.

Stitched and gathered lines. Buttercup.

Painted stripes on to prepared and dried calico. Charcoal and purple.

Circles tied around lentils with thread. Purple.

Concertina folded and rolled fabric. Purple and charcoal.

Flour paste applied to fabric and design scratched into the surface. Dye painted on when the paste had dried.

 As above

 As above

Rolled fabric tied with elastic bands. Two colours applied.

Calico ready for dying

Dyed and Slashed Fabrics

 This is a selection of fabrics that I dyed.

This is the final piece I made by patchworking squares of the slashed fabrics together. All the designs are based on my observations of the colours and patterns found in shells.

Barbara Poole

I love this bag by Boston felt artist Barbara Poole. Lovely use of colours and textures to create a wearable art piece.

Colour schemes that I like

Turkish Kilm 

Colours - orange scarlet, cerise, navy, charcoal

Ceramic Bowl

Colours - orange scarlet, turquoise, indigo, olive green

Flowers

Colours - raspberry, cerise, acid yellow, lime green

Painted stone

Colours - orange scarlet, turquoise, charcoal, buttercup 

Shells

Colours - cerise, red brown, royal blue, navy, buttercup

Moroccan Tiles

Colours - turquoise, navy

Procion Dye Samples

Dying Fabrics - Artist Research

Liz Hewitt

Currently she uses West African strip cloth to create vibrant heavily stitched cloths. She also enjoys using silk fibres, handmade paper, and experiments with hemp, ramie, bamboo and other unusual fibres to create fabric backgrounds for stitch. When I spoke to her at the Broderers exhibition she recommended viscose satin, silk velvet and viscose as excellent fabrics for dying as you can achieve deep strong colours with them - Brunel Broderers

Jilli Blackwood

Dyes all the fabrics within her wearable art pieces.- Alexandra Palace

Shibori fabrics from China are created using natural indigo dye - Alexandra Palace

Liz Harding uses a variety of hand dyed sheer fabrics attached together by colour stitch in her wall hangings - Brunel Broderers

Machine Stitch Tea Cup

This is my final tea cup piece which is constructed from panels of free machining samples. I have used floral fabrics and silk voile over a heavy calico background. The free machining designs are based on my flower drawings, Mason Ironstone china and the floral fabric designs. The tea cup and tea bag are designed to go together as shown here.

Two views of the tea cup from opposite sides

The saucer which is constructed again from layered fabrics and free machining.

Evaluation of this piece
I like the photographs of this piece of work, but I am less pleased with the actual piece. I found the free machining more difficult to control than I had imagined and so the detail is less finished looking than I had hoped.
My favourite use of machine stitch within the project is the use of dense straight lines used in the tea bags and the curved version seen on the saucer. This is a technique I will use again.
I am really please to have finished this piece and excited about starting my dying and printing project.