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Tag Archives: thread painting

Chickadees for Liz

10 Wednesday May 2023

Posted by supalmer in creativity, embroidery, Random

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embroidery artists, learning embroidery, thread painting

Thread painting — using embroidery thread to create images — is a thing I’ve been trying the last three years. I’m starting to get the hang of it.

The chickadees are DMC cotton thread on linen fabric dyed using Derwent Inktense pencils.

To see the genius artists of this genre, check My Modern Met’s collection of examples from 2016.

A couple of other stunning eartists: Charles & Elin and Ana Teresa Barbosa.

Fun thing about a project like this is it helps you identify areas that need more learning and practice. Coordinating colors is much more difficult that I had understood. Also dyeing fabric is an art that probably takes years to master.

Elements of design

03 Tuesday Jan 2023

Posted by supalmer in embroidery, Random

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Tags

hand embroidery, image design, thread painting

Hand embroiderers call this thread painting. I’ve been playing around with it for a couple of years. While I’ve done some experimenting with my own designs, there are some amazing embroiderers out there who sell designs, even kits including fabric and thread. I’ve done a few of those and quite enjoyed them, but there’s a kind of paint-by-numbers feeling to them, so this year I’ll play with my own designs. This is my first project of 2023 (begun in December). I started by looking at many photos of chickadees and a particular image of the bird, body facing the camera but head turned, caught my eye.

Here’s what I learned doing this project:

  • There’s a reason the professional artists use as many as 30 or 40 colors even for something simple like this. I started this project with just 10 colors and had to go back and add in more tans and grays.
  • Adding in colors after the piece is finished makes the surface lumpy. The colors need to be worked in during the work because the threads are snugged so close together.
  • Good lighting is essential. The light I used made it hard to see my guide marks and the thread direction suffered.
  • Drawing on fabric has some challenges. I’ve tried different pencils and pens with ink that washes out and am still trying to find a good balance between a fine line and a temporary one.
  • Pencil graphite smudges the white thread, but it does wash out.
  • Organizing thread during the project is essential.
  • Mary Corbet’s web site is a life saver. I’ve become a patreon, because she deserves support.
  • Long and short stitching is deceptive. You watch a few how-to videos or step-by-step instructions and you think easy-peasy. But no.

I thought this would be a one-and-done and I’d move on to a different project. But this turned out to be a study. I’ll do another chickadee and incorporate what I learned.

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