Final piece

I decided to put this piece up as my final piece. I felt like it shows how much I have learnt and also the most finished piece I have. I think it was quite an experimental think to knit through the scrim and it worked very effectively as the dye held more in the wool thread than the scrim material, making the textures stand out more.

Dye Workshop

We were told to make pieces of felt using white wool and thread to take to the dye lab. I decided I wanted to put different pieces of knitting in with my felt to create a patterned texture. I also thought instead of just creating a piece of knitting why not try knitting through a piece of material I could dye. This worked very well, I learnt that I needed to knit on both sides of the fabric for it all to stay attached. I found that when placed in a dark dye the knitted pieces I made didn't stay that textured so I decided to manipulate these in different ways with stitching later. I found that dye doesn't apply itself the same to all threads and materials so this gives a nice effect when using different types together. Before dying I decided to place my felt pieces over a light to show all the different textures in them, this worked very effectively, it looked like an x-ray.

I chose the colours to dye my pieces from this photo. 

Conclusion to felt workshop

I chose this photo to work from as I like the marks, layers and different colours.

I made this expressive drawing with masking tape and oil pastels. I like the movement my marks have created, I also like the slight texture the masking tape has created. I then did rubbings of the masking tape with graphite, I like the marks this created.

I wanted to recreate the colours and marks from the photo using felt and machine stitching. I think the marks have worked effectively with the machine stitching as it is so layered and heavy giving it many dimensions. But I am unhappy with the felt as the colours look too heavy. 

These are small samples using a mixture of different threads and materials. I think these worked more effectively, a few were taken from another sample which I cut up as it wasn't effective at all.

Trapping

Through what I had learnt with my felting workshop, I had liked the idea of trapping and layering and how things could become trapped in rock. I had a few attempts at trapping things through plastic but these weren't very successful as the plastic wasn't effected much by the heat I applied to it. While doing these experiments I found that melting plastic bags with an iron gave a scaly rough texture. I wanted to see what would happen by painting this and then layering it up to reveal different colours under the layers of plastic. I thought this worked quite effectively, especially with the machine stitching on top, creating more texture.

I think the back is just as interesting as the front because of the layering of coloured stitching. The texture looks rough like rock especially because of the puncture marks from the needle.

I then decided to cut wavy strips out of the piece to see how it would change the dimensions, but I don't think it worked that well as it looks too structured compared to the rough textured feel of the piece. I then used these cut out strips to create a rock formation, it reminds me of armour or a protective shell for an animal such as an insect or armadillo. I was happy with the outcome of this.