For a long time I have been fascinated by multi media art that uses fabric. When I attended the Alnmouth Arts Festival in the summer I was inspired by so many of the artists, including Deb Cooper who does some amazing work dying fabric using tea and rust as well as the stitching. I had lots of encouraging conversations with artists and felt affirmed as an artist.
A couple of weeks ago I was drawn to a challenge which was producing a stitch sampler using several different fabrics and threads then dying it with tea and including some rusty metal. I was delighted to see that it was by Deb Cooper. It makes a difference that I have seen her work in person rather than just on screen.
Here’s my sampler once I had finished the stitching and before adding rusty items and dying.
I had collected some free scraps of fabric from a local shop of a lady who makes curtains. She keeps a bin by the door and anyone can help themselves. Although doing the challenge gave me access to an online library of stitches, I decided I would rather consult my mother’s old encyclopaedia of needlework.
My mother was brilliant at all sorts of needlework – dressmaking and tailoring, embroidery, knitting, tatting and lacemaking. So doing this is a lovely connection with her. She died in 1993, so I am unable to share this with her. Here she is knitting what looks like a baby cardigan.
And here I am wearing a Fair Isle jumper she knitted for me.
Back to my sampler – it is similar to something I made on retreat last year and I have been meaning to do some stitching in an abstract modern way ever since.
The only other sampler I have done is the cross stitch one I did in 1997-2002.
At the time of doing the cross stitch I enjoyed designing the various images to reflect my life.
Now, over 20 years later, I enjoy stitching with the freedom of it not mattering whether it is neat or ‘correct’. Very relaxing, especially while watching TV in the evening with my husband.
Once the stitching was done, I had to find some rusty objects to place upon it, roll it up and leave it in strong black tea for two days. Then it had to be left to dry naturally – another couple of days. An exercise in patience! And one I failed in. I unwrapped it before it was dry to see what effect the rusty objects and tea had. Here it is. If you look carefully you will see a couple of nails, a washer and a triangle.
And here it is with the objects removed. The tags off the tea bags didn’t survive on the strings, which doesn’t surprise me. When dried, I rinsed it in cold water. The finished work:
If you want to see Deb’s work, her website is: www.debcoopertextileart.com
I have started to make a fabric cover for my next home made journal. But I won’t be dying it.
Elizabeth Jones' Diary 