This Valentine's idea from Brooklyn Bride is both high-tech and handmade, quick-to-read and oh-soooo-slow to make.... Check out the tutorial on how to make your own cross stitch QR code Valentine. Heh.
And speaking of embroidery... CRAFT just linked to an interesting post about what it's like inside a DMC embroidery floss factory. It's always interesting to see how things are made. And pretty amazing to see so much thread in one place! Read more here.
A little last minute.... but tonight is the Vancouver launch for HOOPLA!
At 400 full-colour pages Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery is a spectacular subversive embroidery opus. The book contains interviews, profiles, history, technique and over 28 innovative patterns for readers to create.
Ursa Minor by Shannon Henry. The stars are 3mm white LEDs and illuminate via a coin cell battery on the back of the embroidery. The design is a prototype for a new series of sewable circuit kits by Polymath Design Lab. [via]
I've never seen this technique before and I think it looks pretty cool.... Fourteen Countess embroidered French knots on cloth of the same colour to create a subtle but savvy monogram.
Very patient work! But pretty great results.
Read more about the project on Fourteen Countess' blog.
Vancouver textile artist Kirsten Chursinoff has a new exhibit opening this week. If you've ever walked along the beach at low tide, and crouched over a small pool to see what's living there, you're going to enjoy this show...
Entitled 'Low Tide', this collection is inspired by the amazing creatures living along the shores of British Columbia: anemones, birds, starfish, and more.
Low Tide
The exhibit celebrates the details of tide pools and treasures of beach combing with the traditional and contemporary techniques of embroidery and quilting. By layering and combining materials such as cotton, silk and wool, the artist uses the natural texture and unique surfaces of thread and cloth to their full potential.
Do you create unusual embroidery?
Leanne Prain, who co-authored the subversive knitting book Yarn Bombing: The Art of Crochet and Knit Graffiti, is turning her attention from yarn to floss.
Her new book, Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery, is due out in Fall 2011, and Leanne is looking for needlework designers to contribute projects.
Do you design unusual or unexpected pieces of needlepoint? If so, you should design a pattern for Hoopla, The Art of Unexpected Embroidery, to be published by Arsenal Pulp Press in fall 2011.
Hoopla: The Art of Unexpected Embroidery rebels against the traditional notions of quaint embroidery with motifs of flowers and songbirds. The book will feature unusual stitch work on a variety of surfaces and textures. With off-beat patterns including subway maps, feminist Girl Guide badges, and metal band letterforms; Hoopla will demonstrate that modern embroidery artists are as sharp as the needles that they work with. If you describe your stitch-work as arresting, subversive, quirky, or conceptual, Hoopla should feature your design work.
On a related note, the Drawing in Thread exhibit at Mount Ida College in Massachusetts looks awesome. You can see some photos of the show here and here.I was happy to see Toronto Craft Alert's recent interview with Takashi Iwasaki. I love his embroidered artwork, which is all done by hand. It reminds me of kids' drawings (which is a compliment) - and the combination of the bright colours with fun shapes and embroidery floss just makes me smile.
Torihatanobori (2007)
Can you tell me about the process of your embroidered work? Do you have a plan for each piece, how much time goes into each embroidery?
I usually sketch out the outlines on paper, then transfer that sketch to fabric. At that point most of the colors aren't determined yet. The choice of colors is sort of kept undetermined for my joy of selecting colors as I embroider. If everything was determined in the beginning, art making would be rather a mission to complete than an enjoyable activity. I always want to feel joy for what I do. That attitude is carried through any of the mediums I choose to make art with as well as my lifestyle. That's one of the reasons why I call myself an "Art Enjoyer," which is also written as my title on my business card. A typical embroidery piece is completed in between 5 hours to 20 hours depending on the size I'm working with.
Sanhurst (2006)In your work you utilize many different mediums - from painting to collage to print-making, and, of course, your embroidery work. What draws you to all these very different mediums? Do specific ideas influence the medium?
I love having lot of materials to work with and projects on my plate. Why would I limit myself when the sky is the limit, right? Having different options and working with them keep my mentality flexible, sharp and active. I get bored of doing only one thing everyday. You know, you don't want your life to be a mundane - it's basically the same thing for my art making process. Painting, embroidering, collage making, and so on and on - those methods of art making feed off each other and give me more ideas and food for thoughts. I also make wooden sculptures in the similar designs you see in my embroidery and painting works, which I haven't shown to many people yet. I have other long-term projects and goals such as designing my own house and having it built, and designing my own coffee shop and managing it. I've been enjoying designing my house with this program called SketchUp, offered for free from Google. Try it out if you're interested.
Sudeconorosokutaibury (2008)
Nyokinyokinijiirokousen (2008)
Read more...
Embroidery rocks. For proof, witness Architecture in Helsinki's video for "Like It Or Not".
According to the credits page, the video was made by Mathematics, but the artwork looks to me to be the fine stitchin' of Megan Whitmarsh (aka Tiny Industries), who is well-known for her mini embroideries of such natural wonders as yeti and rockstars.
Fecal Face has posted a nice interview with Megan, along with lots more great images of her work.
I am inspired by a desire to be optimistic about the future of humanity. I like to combine the everyday and the junky parts of modern life with the iconography of the supernatural and fantastic and thus transform the mundane into something magical feeling
I first saw Kirsten Chursinoff's beautiful textile artwork at the Craft House Gallery about a year ago, and have been keeping tabs on her work though her Flickr photos ever since.
Based in Vancouver, Kirsten Chursinoff's work is primarily about nature. She takes little scraps of fabric, wool, thread and beads into turns them into miniscule scenes - perfect little glimpses of the natural world. My favourite pieces are her West Coast beach scenes - I love all the details hidden amongst the shells and driftwood:
If you're in Vancouver, you can see Kirsten's work throughout August and July at the Secret Garden Tea Company (5559 W. Boulevard in Kerrisdale).
Read more...
These are some of the nicest, most precisely-made pieces of sushi I've ever seen. Great needlework and good choice of materials, especially the beads.
Lent's just around the corner, so you'd better get rid of your bad habits. Here's how:
1. Gluttony
Turn a whiskey bottle into a computer.
2. Sloth
Turn video games into an alarm clock.
3. Anger
Turn bullets into a chair.
4. Greed
Turn money into origami.
5. Pride
Turn your Mac-is-better-than PC snobbery into a sampler.
6. Lust
Turn Internet porn into latch-hook rugs.
7. Envy
Hmmm. Any ideas?
Bigger is better today here on Magpie & Cake. Or at least more time-consuming.
Joanna Lopianowski-Robert took recreated the Sistine Chapel in cross-stitch. 40" x 80". 628,296 stitches, 1,809 different color combinations. 10 years. Here's a photo of the whole piece (note: large file), plus a book (with instructions) in case you're looking for a hobby for the next 10 years of your life.
Charley Friedman latch-hooked an entire globe that measures 6 feet in diametre. Also worth checking out on this site (even though it's not giant) is Friedman's lobster clock - it really works!
Plus, I am almost done my own supersized craft project. It hasn't taken me 10 years (thank goodness!) but it has swallowed up my bedroom floor (and desk - with occasional sprawl to the kitchen table) for the last few weeks. More on that soon!
It's election day in Canada. In celebration, I present you with a craft that - like the election - combines making X's and Canadian icons: cross-stitched Margaret Atwood!
Now how's that for a thematic tie-in?
I am pretty sure it is impossible to not be in love with Megan Whitmarsh.
Among her other projects, she creates miniature (only 4" x 4"!) embroidered pictures of all your favourite things: yeti, rock and roll, Star Wars, breakdancing... This stuff is adorable, hilarious and completely fantastic. Even the titles are great - "Breakdance forest", "Modern Yetis", "Moonboots dance party" and "Icebergs and boombox" - to name a few. [Link via Things Magazine.]
Flickr is a beautiful thing. This felt sugar skull for the Day of the Dead (one of my favourite days of the year, even though I have yet to really do anything for it) is only one of the great finds available.
Check out these sets:
paper dolls
suitcases
vintage buttons
and also from the homespun_hippie pool (where I found the above skull), look at this amazing dragon lantern in the making!
The good people at Threadymade in the UK are hosting workshops to create portraits in cross-stitch from a Polaroid photo. A few pictures are posted here and a few more are scattered on the events page. So much for instant Polaroid results; this is possibly even more time-consuming than the eye:hand coordination project.
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