Changing the appearance of a weaving sample

How to still sew in the middle of an Aussie heatweave - had to go out and buy a fan for my studio so that I could sew; the heat 45 Celsuis/110 Fahrenheit finally succeeded in draining my energy.  So today I've been able to set up sewing again and stitched this Experimental Weaving onto my Connotations cloth. First I gathered these strips stitching from side to side which helps them twist, then gathered them; then wove them together.

Connotations Experimental Weaving  with gathered fabric threads.

Then I slid the weaving onto a space on my Connotations.  I let the strips fall naturally in different ways as I slid the weaving piece on because then I had two different appearances and two photos to look at.  (Addicted to photographing my work in all stages.)  Once it  had fallen into its new alignment, which makes it look totally different, I used bright orange DMC cotton embroidery thread to stitch it in place, varying my stitch size for a naive look.  My colour scheme for Connotations is blues, greens and orange.  I love this because of the high contrast of the orange, yet using blues and greens for the fabrics and orange for the thread (mostly, not entirely) means I am keeping some consistency.   

Connotations Experimental Weaving after stitching onto cloth

On the left of the weaving you can see an area of threads.  These are from my "waste thread" bag which hangs under my sewing machine table; I stitched these on by hand which is new for me because usually I free-machine thread waste onto fabric.  I'm consciously working a lot more hand stitching nowadays.  I find it very relaxing, the effect is similar to when you are walking in a place of natural beauty.

The fabrics themselves are strips of  hand-dyed, or painted with fabric paint, or plain commercial fabric (that is the blueish maive one.  The colour is exactly in the middle of blue and purple, if you put it against one of those it looks like the other.)

Experimental art as a way of life

Having realised that Connotations is not just about a Recycle Cloth but is about experimenting too, I've started some fabric manipulation on it, and then adding beading to that, to nestle in the folds of the gathers.  The lilac strip I stitched along the length but going from one side to the other, that made it twist naturally.  Then the green organza square, I stitched a rough circle, pulled it up and attached with a few stitches, then sewed the beads in to the folds.  I also keep trying different embroidery stitches but keep coming back to the running stitch - it seems to give my wanted effect better. I'm also leaving all the loose ends on top which gives it a very relaxed look.  I stitch in a naive style (varying the length of the stitches) because it sits with my style of frayed edges and roughly cut and torn shapes.  Yes there is a circle there but it was a leftover from a workshop and needed recycling.  Now that I have started to use Connotations as a piece of experimental art, I don't have to think about a use for it.

Connotations - experimental art with recycling

More on Connotations

Worked on my 3rd piece for "Connotations".    This one I stitched a lot more, mainly running but a bit of chain stitch; also used dyed string couched on top.  This is strong I used when pole-wrapping shibori last year, which of course retained the dyes used so I couldn't chuck it.  So pleased to find a use for it.

I'm wondering if this piece has too little contrast - any ideas?

This is a detail - I actually like it better close up than from a distance, I just don't think it grabs any attention because the tonal values are all the same except for the string.  What can I do?

Connotations

I can’t bring myself to buy any more new fabrics while I have so much already.  My intention is to use up all my stash (4 big drawers full) and now I have a channel for it.

I have been fascinated with Jude Hill and Spirit Cloth lately; her blog has fired my imagination to start my recycle cloth.  My underlying concept is that every piece of cloth I use has a value to me – the significance of its background – why I bought it, the purpose, was it for experimental, for college, for a quilt  – where did I buy it  - charity shop, big fabric store on a day out  – did someone give it to me – is it a recycled piece from family – do I like it, what are my feelings surrounding it and its previous use – affection for it, association with circumstances.

All this leads to the name I have for it “Connotations”, the definition of this word is a meaning in addition to the primary meaning – in other words, for example, my daughter’s old blouse is highly textured fabric that delights me, and that also reminds me of her.

I have thrown out so many scraps of fabric over the years, and in a way this is reclaiming that waste – not literally but symbolically.  Here are photo details of the first two pieces:

Detail of Piece 1, in which I layered my only sheer with text, over the other layers - not really enough stitching on it.

As you see I am using layers of scraps from dye projects in any lightweight fabric, bits of sheers, bits of silk -  I was going to call it Layers of Meaning.  Every piece reminds me of that part of my life, which overlays another part of life ...

In this detail of Piece 2 you can see I have more stitching - and there is a piece of dyed silk with my name on from a college project.

I am finding this stitching is bringing me peaceful feelings that put troubling considerations into perspective.  Is this why so many work with hand-stitching?

I wonder how big is the recycling fabric movement?  Can’t just be me and a few others that I know ...