Tag: Textiles

Embroidery

Embroidered Covered Buttons

by Hitomi / 0 Comment
embroidery　刺繍

embroidery　刺繍

It’s been a while since I started embroidery and here are some pictures of work in progress and finished work.

embroidery　刺繍

Cross stitching is fun and making patterns with the technique has a lot more restriction than making print pattern but I enjoy it. The best part is to choose a colour combination of course!

 embroidery　刺繍

This stitch of a flower is inspired by the drawing on the left. 

Embroidery　刺しゅう

Some samplers. Just keep practising :)

Embroidered button　刺繍のくるみボタン

This button above is made from the quick sketch below. I picked the colours and made it into a simple pattern. 

Sketch スケッチEmbroidered button　刺繍のくるみボタン

This one is from a sampler. I like the black. 

Embroidered button　刺繍のくるみボタン

This is an Experiment of “multi-colour stripes within a pattern”. 

Embroidered button　刺繍のくるみボタン   

I like the chunky feel of threads and all the different colours. 

Pin cushion ピンクッション

This is a handmade pin cushion made of lambswool woven sampler I wove years ago and a tin can of French chocolate. If you make a pincushion like this, I heard it’s better to make it with 100% wool because it controls the moisture and prevents needles from getting rusty.  

Print

Block Printing and New Pattern Design

by Hitomi / 3 Comments
pattern design

I’ve been designing new patterns for my shop on Spoonflower and I’m trying a new approach to create patterns – it’s making rubber stamps. It’s a very analogue way to experiment (maybe most of design experiments are pretty analogue?) but works well for me. I just can’t stop experimenting until I realise I need to finish a design or two and make them print-ready. It’s fun and effective to simply repeat basic shapes, and depending on the combination of motifs and repeating type, possibilities are infinite. I like the look of it, it’s simple, nostalgic and rich in texture. So my journey of block printing design seems to continue :)

making of rubber stamps
Drawing for rubber stamps

 

rubber stamps
Preparing for making rubber stamps

 

Carved Rubber Stamp
Carved rubber stamp

 

block printing
Stamping for scanning and digital manipulation

 

desktop
My working desktop

 

pattern design
A new pattern design “Globe Amaranth 4”, made from rubber stamps

 

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Uncategorised

Pattern Design File: MARI

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MARI in Indigo x Ocean Blue

MARI in Indigo x Ocean Blue
Indigo x Ocean Blue

 

MARI in Orange x Custard
Orange x Custard

 

This MARI design was inspired by a shell but it also looks like a traditional Japanese ball TE-MARI so I named the pattern after it.

Type: Surface pattern design
Design: MARI
Technique: Paper cutting to design then hand screen printed at a mill in Kyoto, Japan
Materials: Linen-cotton blend

Knit/Weave

How to Make Yarn Wrappings for Woven Fabric Designing

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Various yarn wrappings

When I weave or knit, the first thing I do is to make yarn wrappings. Because I love this process I usually forget about time and just keep making many of these.

Yarn wrapping is a piece of card with threads wound around. It helps play with different colours and proportions when you design multi-coloured warp or weft. It also works for creating multi-colour stripes on knit fabric. Making this card wind saves you your precious materials and time.

card winds for designing warp and weft
Finished yarn wrappings

Basic method of making this yarn wrapping is obviously easy – you place a strip of double-sided tape along the back of a piece of card which is about 4cm (1.5″) wide.
But I found it tricky when I use an oiled yarn. Because of the grease on the thread, it doesn’t stick to the tape well. So instead, I’ve tried it in my own way and furthermore, you don’t need the double-sided tape (it might be too easy to explain… but I do anyway).

By the way, I wind every thread of yarns I have on a wooden chopstick. So that it’s easier to try as many as yarns on a small table rather than taking out large cones of yarn off the shelf each time I want to try a new yarns. And I like to place those sticks in order and spread them around like I do with coloured pencils.

Colourful yarn chopsticks in order
Yarn chopsticks in order

Yarns wound on chopsticks
Yarns wound on chopsticks

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Weave

Sample Weave: Plain Weave Checks

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Woven sample

Here’s my sample weaving project with rigid heddle loom. I tried to do things systematically and first thing I did was selecting yarns and made several yarn wrappings to find colourways I like. Then I warped the loom with one stripe design and started weaving with seven deferent weft stripe designs.

 

Yarns
From top left: 50% cotton 50% polyester Luminous Pink, 100% lambs wool Persimmon Orange, Tender Shoot Green, Ocean Wave Blue, Hyacinth Violet, From top right: 100% lambs wool Vanilla Ice White, Moon Struck Grey, Gardem Glade Green, Ecru Olive Green, Desert Palm Brown

 

weaving process on rigid heddle loom

woven fabric close-up

woven fabric on rigid heddle loom

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Uncategorised

New Products Now on Sale

by Hitomi / 4 Comments

Senshukai - Futon - SakuraSenshukai - Futon

I worked with a Japanese mail-order company last summer and the product is finally on sale. It’s perfect for a snooze as the weather is getting milder in the Northern hemisphere, but the best thing about this blanket is that you can fold it into a cushion during winter or just when it’s not used. What a good idea! It’s available at BELLE MAISON online shop if you live in Japan.