Embroidery Project

This embroidery sampler from my second semester (last spring) fulfilled the project criteria that it must be a 'narrative of self, include text, and a date'.
I thought it would be interesting to delve into my educational past for this project. I wasn't a very focused student, but I  had a social agenda back in elementary and high school, which is well documented in my report cards.
I extracted some of my teachers' comments from my report cards and created this little handbook, which I thought could be a very useful guide for the younger generation of girls in my family.

Spring Inspired Tapestry

 I'm working on my final project for weaving, a tapestry inspired by the springtime. I wanted to capture the look of the sunlight as it appears through the foliage; I like all of the shadows created by the layering of leaves.

 

 

Paper Pursuits

I combined shibori techniques with indigo dyeing and origami for these three projects for Surface Design.

I'm exploring more tesselation patterns for my final project; their potential for interiors is astounding!

 

 

 

Tapestry

This small tapestry that I made last year is based on the Inukshuk at English Bay in Vancouver.

Sculptural Projects

The requirement of this project was to create a 3D sculpture using 100 or more things ~ no restrictions on what those things could be. I used approximately 2500 toothpicks to complete this piece.

Sculptural Projects

Here is a sampling of small sculptural projects I've done while in the Textile Program at Capilano University.

The first sculpture shown below was completed using basketmaking techniques. The materials used for this project are raffia, jute, alpaca wool and linen.

Silkscreening a Pattern in Weaving

This past summer I was absolutely enchanted by a weaving pattern that resulted from using the cornucopia tool in Weavemaker, a program used to design weaving patterns. Cornucopia can be used anywhere within the pattern: on the treadling, the threading, the colours or the tie-up and the results can range from awful to fabulous! I warped up with the Perwinkle pattern from A Handweaver's Pattern Book and used the cornucopia tool in the treadling section until I got the awesome pattern shown below.

For my final project in Surface Design I used the print out of the pattern, which appears as a  geometric rendering of the weaving structure, and transferred the three resulting images to silkscreens using Photoshop and a scanner.

I screenprinted the yardage in an ombré colour palette that began with burnt umber and transitions through burnt sienna, raw sienna and ended with yellow ochre.

The reason that I love this pattern so much is that the repeat structure is deceptive. At first glance it appears to be a simple, diamond-shaped repeat structure of two motifs, but there are actually eight unique diamond repeats within this structure that are randomized within the pattern to create sixteen different repeats.

The image above was taken after heatsetting the yardage first in the dryer for 2 hours and then with a heat press.

Unfortunately, I was inconsistent with the heat pressing, despite my thinking that I was being so methodical, and after I washed the fabric there are some pretty obvious areas of wash out. Luckily, part of the criteria of this project was to layer silkscreening and embellisment techniques, so I have begun to cover the washed out areas with a four-sided embroidery stitch that makes the mistakes look like intentional design components....sort of.

Tablecloth - Fall Leaves Kaleidoscope

The inspiration for this surface design project was the gorgeous leaves of fall in their brilliant hues of red, maroon, orange and yellow. I took dozens of photographs of assorted maple trees...

 

...and finally created a kaleidoscopic image in Photoshop of a worm's eye view of the maple in front of my brother's house.

The image was then burned onto photo emulsion screens in two separate layers and screen printed on Sante Fe cotton/linen fabric that I dyed with Procion MX in a very pale shade of golden yellow.

Here's the final product...its not intended for a table of this size. The measurements are 54" x 54" which is suited for a small 30" square table.

Weaving Project - 'Colour & Weave' pillows

Here are some pictures of my second project in weaving this semester. The colour and weave sample I did previously helped me to design the fabric for these pillows.

Sewing is not my strong suit, and I was lucky to have my classmate, Patty, help me to sew up the interior pillow casings at the last minute (the morning that they were due). 

My instructor in Surface Design, noticed me stuffing the pillows with wool the night before and suggested that it would be so easy to make casings, but did I listen? No, because I don't like that it takes me so long to sew; its painful! Instead, I just went right on stuffing them until they were good and plump...and lumpy, so after a night of contemplation I had to admit that they did indeed need casings.

Warping up...

I love how the back of the loom looks when it is all warped up!

 

Weaving a colour gamp sample

This is my first experiment with weaving a colour gamp sample. Traditionally a gamp would serve as a reference tool for weavers to test out colour combinations for a project they are planning. (This is also my first time weaving on a floor loom!~very exciting!)

For this sample I chose four colours (turquoise, gold, brown, and rust) in 8/2 cotton with the warp sett at 20 epi and woven in a balanced plain weave.