Chapter 10: Books

I love making books and have made quite a few over the years...

Fig. 10.1 

Fig. 10.2

Fig. 10.3

Fig. 10.4

Fig. 10.5

... I find them a useful vehicle for stitching samples, to illustrate a poem or a topic that has relevance to me, or just a place to play with a new technique. When you've been stitching for as long as I have you don't have a great deal of wall space left to display your work and a book sits on a shelf and takes up a very small amount of space.

For this chapter we had to make samples of books which we might (or might not) end up using as our final piece of work for this module.

Fig. 10.6

 I began by working some samples of Japanese stab bindings ... and might have got a little carried away!

Fig. 10.7

I know that in theory the binding is supposed to look identical on the back and front (or at least make an equally attractive pattern on the back of the book) and not all of these do that as. There are a couple where I just could not work out how to do the journeys up the binding and back in the same way, and some I think were just a little over-ambitious.

Fig. 10.8

 Fig. 10.8 shows just two examples made up into actual books.

Fig. 10.9

My next little group of books were made to a simple pamphlet design. The one on the left is a single pamphlet with a cover.

Fig. 10.10

The second little book in Fig. 10.9 is made up of 5 pamphlets which were stitched together over ribbons, which were then threaded through slits cut in the cover and the ends glued in place to hold them firm.

Fig. 10.11

The right hand book in Fig. 10.9 has pages of different lengths, which make an attractive little book where you can see glimpses of what is on each page.

Fig. 10.12

This book has pages glued into a concertina'd piece of paper, which was then attached to the back cover.

Fig. 10.13

Fig. 10.13 shows two books where the cover is a longer piece of paper folded to enclose two little pamphlet books. I think this, or a variation of one of them, might be a definite contender for my final piece!

Fig. 10.14

A couple of years ago I went on a two day book-binding workshop at our local art supply shop and this was one of the samples I made there. It is a 'proper' book with board covers and a spine of bookbinders linen.

Fig. 10.15

These are two more samples made at the same workshop. The green one again has board covers with a separate piece of board as a spine covered again in bookbinders linen. The purple book is a concertina with board covers attached.

Fig. 10.16

The book in Fig. 10.16 meanders along, each page is attached to the next with a strip of fabric which has been machine stitched to each pair of pages. A variation on the 'puzzle' books which follow!

Fig. 10.17

Fig. 10.18

Fig. 10.19

Fig. 10.20

Fig. 10.21

Fig. 10.22

Fig. 10.23

The books in Figs. 17-23 were each made from a single sheet of paper which was cut into in various different ways then folded up. I love making these from paper on which I've made random marks as the resulting pages often end with lovely abstract designs which just inspire me to want to stitch.

Fig. 10.24

Fig. 10.25

Fig. 10.26

The tiny book shown in Figs. 10.24-26 is another of these single sheet books to which I then added  the words of a poem which meanders through the pages. I attached a piece of ribbon to fasten it all together. This would be another option for my final piece though I can't immediately see how I could manage to make my own paper to the size required.

Fig. 10.27

Fig. 10.28

Figs. 10.27 and 10.28 show a little concertina book which has some pages folded back into triangles. I attached covered card covers and a hand-dyed tag on each cover to allow it to be held closed.

I suspect that I might have enough samples here to enable me to make a choice for my final piece but I find the whole process of making books so addictive and have several books on the topic, including one which has "100+ binding" so could continue for some time!!

Chapter 9: Edges

For this chapter we were asked to think about how we might edge the pages of our books ...

 Fig. 9.1

In the samples above ...
1. A fabric binding wrapped over the edge of the paper and stitched in place (either by machine or hand; with a straight stitch or a pattern stitch).
2. Buttonhole stitch over the edge
3. The edge here is roughly oversewn, which is particularly suited to an uneven edge like the one here though I can't pretend to like the rough and ready appearance of the stitching.
4. Cross stitches over the page edge
5. Here I couched coloured paperclips in place. This edge has been cut rather than torn but it would work equally well on the naturally uneven edge of a piece of handmade paper and I do rather like this effect.
6. Wooden beads have been attached with a buttonhole stitch along the edge.

Fig. 9.2

Each year I spend a week with my lace tutor in Wales and one year I was making samples of edgings that I might use on my needlelace pieces. I thought I would include these here as they would also work in this context.

Fig. 9.3

There are all the beaded edges that I made during Module 3 of this course and I jotted down a few further ideas thought haven't actually made samples of these.

Lots of options to choose from now though!!

Chapters 7 and 8: Stitching on embedded fabric grids

These two chapters required us to embed some of our fabric grids into paper and then to stitch into them.

 

Fig. 7.1

 

 Fig. 7.2

I began by taking two cheap metal bracelets and filling one with some needlewoven bars (Fig. 7.1) and the other with some random needlelace stitches (Fig. 7.2). I then embedded these into some paper pulp. The darker blue pulp was quite thick and the bracelet embedded well but by the time I did the paler blue sheet the pulp was almost exhausted and the paper, though beautifully delicate and aged in appearance actually proved to be too fragile to support the metal bracelet successfully.

 Fig. 7.3

The paper in Fig. 7.3 actually has cotton threads embedded within it, though this is not showing up at all clearly on this photograph.

 Fig. 7.4

One of the pieces of dyed linen grids is embedded in the paper in Fig. 7.4. I moved the pulp away from the centre of the sheet before leaving it to dry to ensure that the grid was visible and accessible for stitching.

 Fig. 7.5

Fig. 7.5 was more a case of laying paper pulp onto this piece of canvas grid. I like the way some of the threads in the canvas have distorted with being wet in the pulp - a more organic effect and again a rather aged appearance in the way the pulp has attached itself to the fabric.

 Fig. 7.6

Fig. 7.6 is another piece of the dyed linen fabric with bands of warp threads removed.

 Fig. 7.7

Fig. 7.7 is another piece of canvas grid laid on top of two colours of paper pulp.

So now to the stitching! I tried to link each piece to one of the lettering examples during an earlier chapter, some more successfully than others I think.

 

 Fig. 8.1

 My first example was one the metal bracelet shown above in Fig. 7.2 (7.1 having proved too fragile to stitch further into). Inspired by sample 3 of the lettering patterns made using my iPad app, I edged the bracelet (not visible through the pulp) with large buttonhole stitches topped with a chain stitch. This made sure that the bracelet was firmly held in place. I think this piece makes a good 'porthole' for looking through, which has distinct possibilities for a book with pages that allow you glimpses of later pages.

Fig. 8.2

 My second sample has a border of 3-stage zig-zag machine stitching used to echo Sample 9 of the print samples produced on my i-Pad. This sheet of paper has a fine vegetable net embedded inside the pulp though the sheet has still torn away from the stitching in some places. I rather like the fragility that this gives to the sample.

Fig. 8.3

 I decided to use the reverse of sample 3, where I had used a variegated thread on the spool, as it reminded me of fading ink. It is based on the sample of writing in two different directions, shown in the small box at the top of the page. The paper is quite thin and rather fragile for putting through the machine but again I like the aged appearance this gives the piece. (There's definitely a pattern developing here!)

Fig. 8.4

This piece of canvas with paper pulp added  (Fig. 7.5 above) was used to make loosely looped stitches through to mimic the beautiful cursive script letters shown at the top of the page.

Fig. 8.5

 The canvas piece from Fig. 7.7 above was turned over and cross stitches were placed randomly through the canvas and the surrounding paper. (Kisses on the bottom of a love letter perhaps?)

Fig. 8.6

The lettering sample I did using the edge of a piece of card dipped in ink inspired me to make this sample. There is no fabric involved in this piece at all but the holes I punched (different sizes) could be said to form a kind of grid (artistic licence!). I was not at all sure about this when I began but actually quite like the effect of the long straight stitches in the end.

Fig. 8.7

The Arabic lettering example reminded me of buttonhole stitches and french knots so I stitched these in 'word-length' groups on the piece of paper with cotton threads embedded into it.

Fig. 8.8

The random groups of straight, fly and running stitch in sample 8 were intended to mimic lines of writing.

Although I have stitched on paper before, the paper has always been purchased, never made by me, and I found this a rather different experience due to the varying thickness of the paper I had made. Some sheets were thin and fragile, others thick and difficult to pierce. As a result I feel some of these samples are definitely more successful than others but they have given me ideas for how I might incorporate some of the methods into my final piece.

Chapter 6: Stitching on grids

For this chapter we had to form more grids on fabric and then stitch and weave into them. I began with a pulled thread sampler. Rows of threads were withdrawn in one direction and the remaining warp threads woven through with a variety of yarns and ribbons. The withdrawn weft threads were rewoven into the fabric.

Fig. 6.1

Reading from the top row:

1. a fluffy yarn

2. silk ribbon

3. dyed cotton string

4. bunches of warp threads knotted with silk ribbon

5. chain stitch worked over bundles of warp threads

6. wide ric-rac braid

7. broad ribbon

8. hemstitch worked in perle cotton

9. herringbone worked between two bands of withdrawn threads

10. hemstitch worked on both sides of a withdrawn band

11. twisted border.

Fig. 6.2

In sample 2 at the top of this page, small blocks of threads were removed. Some blocks were left unstitched and left with the ends loose on top of the fabric. Others have the withdrawn threads stitched down, while some blocks have hemstitch worked over the remaining threads.

In sample 3, blocks of two threads were withdrawn from both warp and weft and the withdrawn threads were stitched back into the edges of the fabric. The remaining threads in the grid were stitched as follows:

1. (bottom left) - overcast bars

2. diagonal stitches over the intersections worked in two directions.

3. diagonal stitches over the intersections worked in one direction only

4. spiders' web stitches worked around each intersection

5. buttonhole stitch worked in both directions - interlinked on the reverse journey.

Fig. 6.3

Blocks of four threads were removed from both warp and weft with the withdrawn threads being stitched back out of the way. The remaining grid threads were dealt with in the following ways:

1. cross stitch worked over the intersections

2. ghost stitch (interlinked buttonhole stitches) ... a needlelace filling stitch

3. cross stitches worked diagonally in both directions to form a star.

Fig. 6.4

I used various needleweaving fillings on this sample, including, at the very bottom, three dyed coffee stirrers. Jill Nordfors, in her book 'Needlelace and Needleweaving' describes needleweaving thus ...

"Fillings are woven int the warp using simple over-and-under darning and needle-lace stitches, either separately or together. It is similar in construction to some forms of traditional drawn-thread work."

The method is indeed a simple darning movement but some very pretty and interesting effects can be achieved.

Fig. 6.5

This came about by mistake, but the mistake having been made I decided to see what would happen if I went ahead and stitched. I had originally intended to withdraw alternate threads on both warp and weft but caught an extra warp thread with my scissors. This caused the warp to drop to the back of the work part way across the sample, resulting in a rather interesting effect once the threads have been needlewoven together.

Fig. 6.6

This time alternate threads were removed from both warp and weft, which gives two distinct layers for stitching.

Fig. 6.7

Removing alternate threads on the warp only results in three distinct layers for weaving. This is not quite so easy to see in this photograph but it gives a great feeling of depth and 'looking through' in real life.

Fig. 6.8

Removing alternate warp and weft threads with an extra thread removed in the centre of each results in this cross-over effect.

These last four samples have given some very interesting results - though all that needleweaving was very time consuming! It would be interesting to try the same experiments on a finer fabric - but maybe later!!

Fig. 6.9

Random blocks of warp and weft threads were removed then machine stitched with a zig-zag stitch. I love this trellis-like effect, which I'm thinking may reappear in my final piece for this module.

Fig.6.10

This is one of the pieces of linen scrim that I dyed a couple of chapters ago. A large block of weft threads were withdrawn and a machine zig-zag stitch was then worked randomly over the remaining warp threads. This could be very effective embedded in paper with the inner edges neatened with stitch (maybe).

Fig. 6.11

A very open-weave jute scrim was free machined - again very suitable for embedding in paper. This gives a lovely organic effect - like skeleton leaves or decaying stems of a climbing plant.

Fig. 6.12

This is the linen scrim again - beautifully soft fabric! - with rows of machine stitching used to make tucks in the fabric, from which bands of warp threads had been removed. Alternate bundles of the open weft threads were taken to the centre of the sample and hand stitched in place. The remaining bundles on the edges are left loose to form a loose fringe.

Fig. 6.13

I'm afraid this final sample doesn't show up awfully well on the photograph as it is worked white on white. I worked free machine embroidery on a piece of cotton scrim to make a lace background. Scraps of tissue paper were added randomly to add more solid patches. Holes (some naturally occurring, others formed afterwards) have been edged with buttonhole stitch. I couldn't resist adding just a couple of beads to one of the holes!

I've thoroughly enjoyed this chapter and did feel as though I could continue almost indefinitely but decided it was probably time to call a halt. I will end this post with another quote which caught my eye - this time from a 1945 edition of Embroidery and Needlework.

 

"Stitches are a means to an end in needlework, not an end in themselves. They are the words of our needle language; without them we cannot speak."

Rather apt for this particular module I felt.