Hello!

I love to dye fabric, make thread pictures and quilt. I live in the Yukon on an acreage with my husband, 2 dogs and 34 fish. It's the 'good' life.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

New Thread Painting Design

My first love is dyeing fabric and my second is thread painted pictures. I usually make 6x4 sizes and they can take as long as a traditional wall hanging. 


I am teaching this technique this fall and wanted a northern scene to do to add to my portfolio, even though this is not what they will be doing. None of my pictures thrilled me, so I scoured the internet for an appropriate photo. I found this:

The photographer, Sue Thomas, told me that this picture was taken at Snag, Yukon in 1998. It was a special place for her father because he had worked in Snag during the 50's. Several years ago after he passed, the family went beck to scatter his ashes. Fall in the Yukon is beautiful and I loved this photo for that reason. After hearing the special story around this photo, I feel emotionally connected now and I will always associate Snag with Sue's family. 
  
Sue sent me additional photos that I may use in some fashion in the future. I am honoured that she is allowing me to use her photo for my piece. 

The first thing I need to do is manipulate the image so that it prints out clean and sharp. I make a copy of the image as a RAW file choice (even if the original is a jpg). I then increase the saturation of the photo because fabric will absorb more ink than paper. I may also adjust the brightness if the picture needs it. 

I always print out a test piece of fabric with my manipulated settings to see if I need to adjust anything. But to be real, I just use the photo to lay down the outline of the elements in the picture so I can sew over them. 

Here is the photo printed on fabric. It's hard to tell, but the white edge is the white fabric I printed the photo on. The extra edge allows me to manipulate the photo under the sewing machine easier. I will fuse a stabilizer to the piece. Sometimes a use a hoop, but prefer to use CANVAS fabric with no stabilizer or COTTON with a stabilizer. 

Ready to go!


No comments:

Post a Comment