This piece of textile art was inspired by a stitch challenge set via TextileArtist.org by Anne Kelly. The challenge was to cut out flowers, stems and a vase from existing fabrics, arrange them in a typical folk art arrangement and then either handstitch the background in Kantha style or machine stitch all over in a type of netting pattern.
I had originally planned to use vintage linen and traditional style fabrics but when I went hunting for fabrics I found the black and white sprigged flower background, a couple of really bright vintage handkerchiefs and old child's sundress with modern flowers. These inspired the colour scheme and modern vibe.
To get the layout right I searched images of traditional fold art and liked the Polish kind. I noticed that many of the designs were in a diamond layout so that inspired me to set the pink handkerchief on the diagonal with the blue and white one inside to provide more of a neutral background.
Then I started carefully cutting out various flowers, stems and other elements to build up the design.
To make the birds I drew a circle on card and then drew the bird inside it. I could then draw round the template and flip it to make a pair of matching birds. I did the same with the wings and tail feathers.
Once I had settled on the design of the central panel I have to fix all the pieces down using Bondaweb. Although this was very fiddly because I effectively had to cut all the pieces out again to cut off the excess glue webbing, I thought it would be the only way to ensure I could do the overstitching on the machine without the pieces shifting around.
I then focused on the background and corner designs and how I might finish the piece off.
I found these triangular sections on some African fabric that I thought would add interest without detracting from the central panel. In the final assembly I added some additional plain fabric behind the triangles in bright colours to make these stand out further from the background.
Finally I found some black crochet edging to frame the central panel. In this photo it is just pinned on to check the effect.
Next came the important decision about how to complete the overstitching. Advice from the stitch community on TextileArtist.org was to make a sample and try out various stitches and colours of thread.
I used scraps of fabrics from the piece to make a sample. This was backed with thick calico as I intended to back my main piece with the same to ensure it did not pucker under so much machine stitching.
First I experimented with various stitches on my machine at the bottom to get the width and length right. I ended up choosing a box stitch in length 2 and width 5.
I tried out white, cream, pale grey, pale blue and pale pink. I decided to use pale pink as a good compromise colour in the central panel and cream on the white corner sections to add bit of warmth.
Once I had assembled the final piece with the calico backing I started the overstitching on the corner sections to get my eye in. My machine started making a loud noise quite soon so I had to dismantle it and clean any lint out. I did this every time I had to wind a new bobbin and didn't have any more problems.
This photo shows the overstitching started on the lower half of the central panel. It was quite hard to sew on the diagonal - you had to look at the previous row of stitching and use the edge of the presser foot as a guide rather than the fabric.
To complete it I added the black crochet lace trim with a narrow pink ribbon threaded through.
Finally I added bead and sequin embellishments in the centre of the flowers, on the butterflies and on the birds, including their legs.
I loved making this piece. I think it was the colour scheme and it just seemed to work from the start.
I had originally planned to use vintage linen and traditional style fabrics but when I went hunting for fabrics I found the black and white sprigged flower background, a couple of really bright vintage handkerchiefs and old child's sundress with modern flowers. These inspired the colour scheme and modern vibe.
To get the layout right I searched images of traditional fold art and liked the Polish kind. I noticed that many of the designs were in a diamond layout so that inspired me to set the pink handkerchief on the diagonal with the blue and white one inside to provide more of a neutral background.
Then I started carefully cutting out various flowers, stems and other elements to build up the design.
To make the birds I drew a circle on card and then drew the bird inside it. I could then draw round the template and flip it to make a pair of matching birds. I did the same with the wings and tail feathers.
Once I had settled on the design of the central panel I have to fix all the pieces down using Bondaweb. Although this was very fiddly because I effectively had to cut all the pieces out again to cut off the excess glue webbing, I thought it would be the only way to ensure I could do the overstitching on the machine without the pieces shifting around.
I then focused on the background and corner designs and how I might finish the piece off.
I found these triangular sections on some African fabric that I thought would add interest without detracting from the central panel. In the final assembly I added some additional plain fabric behind the triangles in bright colours to make these stand out further from the background.
Finally I found some black crochet edging to frame the central panel. In this photo it is just pinned on to check the effect.
I used scraps of fabrics from the piece to make a sample. This was backed with thick calico as I intended to back my main piece with the same to ensure it did not pucker under so much machine stitching.
First I experimented with various stitches on my machine at the bottom to get the width and length right. I ended up choosing a box stitch in length 2 and width 5.
I tried out white, cream, pale grey, pale blue and pale pink. I decided to use pale pink as a good compromise colour in the central panel and cream on the white corner sections to add bit of warmth.
Once I had assembled the final piece with the calico backing I started the overstitching on the corner sections to get my eye in. My machine started making a loud noise quite soon so I had to dismantle it and clean any lint out. I did this every time I had to wind a new bobbin and didn't have any more problems.This photo shows the overstitching started on the lower half of the central panel. It was quite hard to sew on the diagonal - you had to look at the previous row of stitching and use the edge of the presser foot as a guide rather than the fabric.
To complete it I added the black crochet lace trim with a narrow pink ribbon threaded through.
Finally I added bead and sequin embellishments in the centre of the flowers, on the butterflies and on the birds, including their legs.
I loved making this piece. I think it was the colour scheme and it just seemed to work from the start.
