Mary at Hill Country Quilter asked a good question about thread painting and made me realize I probably need to explain just a little more about this. I am not great at drawing or painting, but I do try to sketch. More like scratching with a pencil on paper to give the impression of something, not an exact representation. And these little vignettes just give the impression of what is there---or not there.
Do I draw on the fabric or how do I transfer the sketch to the fabric?
I usually have a photo, a note card, a saved greeting card, or something torn from a magazine that I work from. I will sketch/scratch on my sketch pad a little to get the shape or size that I will work for. I usually just use a few pencil lines on the fabric as an indication of where the horizon is or the shape of the rock or motif I am trying to create. If you need more than a few lines, try using the Saral transfer paper, or dressmaker's transfer paper. It is used like a carbon paper so you can trace over the lines to transfer them to fabric.
Finding a piece of fabric that creates the illusion of sky, water, sun, land or etc. really helps in creating the illusion. That way you are half way there before you begin. And thread....lots of different values of thread. Adding a dark in the foreground will push everything back and create depth. A little bit of light in the mid area and background creates distance.
This little scene is only 5 inches square.
The fabric was from some sun painting last year and just naturally looked like a landscape. I drew lines for the tree placement and a few horizontal lines for the path. I stitched the path first---just straight stitches and 2 shades of brown thread.
Then the illusion of a tree clump in the background using a medium and a light green. I just followed the blend of the color on the fabric as the horizon line.
The small foreground stems and grass where done next in medium and dark green. And then the tree was done with at least 3 shades of brown using a zig zag stitch here because it fills in faster.
The perspective is not perfect, but it gives the illusion of what I was going for. Just squint a little and see where it takes you!
Thanks for the question, Mary.
Happy stitching.
Do I draw on the fabric or how do I transfer the sketch to the fabric?
I usually have a photo, a note card, a saved greeting card, or something torn from a magazine that I work from. I will sketch/scratch on my sketch pad a little to get the shape or size that I will work for. I usually just use a few pencil lines on the fabric as an indication of where the horizon is or the shape of the rock or motif I am trying to create. If you need more than a few lines, try using the Saral transfer paper, or dressmaker's transfer paper. It is used like a carbon paper so you can trace over the lines to transfer them to fabric.
Finding a piece of fabric that creates the illusion of sky, water, sun, land or etc. really helps in creating the illusion. That way you are half way there before you begin. And thread....lots of different values of thread. Adding a dark in the foreground will push everything back and create depth. A little bit of light in the mid area and background creates distance.
This little scene is only 5 inches square.
Then the illusion of a tree clump in the background using a medium and a light green. I just followed the blend of the color on the fabric as the horizon line.
The small foreground stems and grass where done next in medium and dark green. And then the tree was done with at least 3 shades of brown using a zig zag stitch here because it fills in faster.
The perspective is not perfect, but it gives the illusion of what I was going for. Just squint a little and see where it takes you!
Thanks for the question, Mary.
Happy stitching.
4 comments:
That is sooooo cool....
What a great post -- thanks Mary and Debbie!
I love your little sketch - are you going to frame it?
And thank you, Debbie, for giving us more detail! I had no idea how many different colors of thread you use. Your pieces are lovely.
So unique and pretty! I was wondering the same thing: are you going to frame it?
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