Back in March of this year,I started keeping a "stitchionary" file of things that worked when i was first working on my Artist's Body series. These are from my current project "My Heart Has A History", "Mitochrondia: Incubation 1" and "Beautiful Bones"
First of all, this is not rocket science. You just have to forget some of the rules about embroidery we've all strained to achieve when first learning to keep stitches even, fabrics flat and threads untwisted. Fuhgeddaboudit--none of that applies here.
Find yourself a fabric that is mottled in appearance: this can be a hand dye, something previously overlooked as "ugly" or frayed "holes-and-all" scraps. Any of these can be a cotton, rayon, silk or even a shifty synthetic :} You need a "batting"---- i use flannelete, old or new (but washed: sheets, diaper material, old PJ's!) or something of similar hand and weight, as it gives enough body but still has some drape when the whole is complete. Lay your top fabric on this and DON"T worry about straightening or being on grain! Frankenstitch is a way of "leveling the field"---the more bumps and borgles you have, the better. In fact, you can cut your top fabric slightly larger than the batting, pull it in to fit and pin all the edges to hold together. (Use safety pins on the reverse so they don't stick you or snag the working threads.)
You can use any thread that will fit through any needle for this; just be aware of how much friction there is as it goes through your fabric. I use either 6 strands or 3 strands of embroidery floss, depending on the feel of the piece. One strand if using an embroidery floss or fine thread would snap because of the tension used in this technique, but could be effective if the stitches are smaller on a finer fabric. Experiment with perle cotton and any heavy machine thread as well.
I posted this last week on my main blog, but thought i would add it here as well, for you Mettle Maidens :}
Okay, you've made your fabric and thread choices, and may have already started without me. (DO NOT USE A HOOP. This is truly a hands only technique.) On the fabric sample i've been using there are areas that are more defined by the dye---i could choose to use those as the areas to stitch or define them more by framing them with stitch. (This is why i suggested a "mottled" fabric to start your adventure with.) You can build a design from the appearance of the fabric, or add stitch in a pattern of sorts to create a design. I find this technique is more of a background enhancer that an actual image in itself, though with some planning, i suppose that could be as well!
I'm not going to take you through basic stitches in this lesson--i'm assuming you already know how to embroider. If not, do a little research: there are tons of books in the library or look online for detailed photos and instructions.
The piece i used in the video is Beautiful Bones.
When using the backstitch so loosely and in large motions, make sure your tension is not so tight that you squinch the back as well--the stitches should hold the bulges but not flatten them. If you do have this problem, simply flip the piece over and pull gently on the "edges" to raise the front more.
Sometimes you will create more borgles and lumps with this technique than were there initially--this is okay, just use them also---in the end if there are many, start doing smaller stitches on smaller "pinches" of fabric to square up the piece. It's akin to creating darts that are visible to "flatten"! (On a side note, this technique is fabulous for creating 3 dimensional shapes as well as high relief on 2 dimensional projects.)
Now for what i call the "built in" stitch. This is areas that are started by using a large buttonhole or basic needlelace technique over a much wider expanse than normal. It pulls the fabric into valleys and spaces under the stitches. The top buttonholing can be gone over in random directions with other colours, thread weights or densities of the buttonhole, but leave some spaces open. Though fiddly, it is worth the effort and correct mouth position to then add stitches under the buttonholing. Beads and found objects also come into play here. The idea is not to flatten out this area but to allow the depth to happen. Use more of the Frankenstitch, spiderwebs, smaller bits of buttonhole, backstitch, whatever you like, in the dips and grooves. You can also use any other method of "threadwork"--there are bits here of needleweaving, crochet and raised buttonhole bars as well. Sky's the limit , but remember this technique shouldn't overshadow the main focal point!
Clear as mud now? Doing this is easier than explaining it! Breaking things down into steps is the way to learn and teach, but i'm not sure if i haven't just gotten too wordy about a very simple method! All you have to remember is to forget what you learned previously about precision, daintiness and tension! Now go play with it. I'd love to see some samples from you too, please!
