Chapter 8 Complex Samples 5 and 6

Complex sample 5

Sample 5 Worksheet

The inspiration behind this piece was the furled petal shape of a flower on the initial photographic collage of star shapes. I padded the centre and then bonded it to the finished

piece. I think a second round of petals perhaps of transparent fabric would have been interesting. The eight sided star layer machined on top was completed in a strong fuschia pink but against the yellow looks red!

I enjoyed using a new set of 'dabber' type

tiny stamps to overprint my hand dyed

cotton for this piece. Although I used a specialist metallic thread machine needle, I really struggled with the Madeira metallic thread I machined with. It seemed to split and bunch and I spent along time unpicking and playing with tension to achieve a reasonable

stitch. The centre shape is padded and I've discovered some fabrics lend themselves more easily to this technique.