Sketching with Stitches

Today I was determined to get one of my sketches into a stitched form. I tend to hold on to my ideas and not execute them, for fear of doing a bad job and being disappointed in the results.

Enough of that! My new approach is to make mistakes and learn from them and, besides, how can you make a mistake in art anyway?

I jumped right in, making a sketch directly on to some linen fabric backed with white flannel, using a Pilot 'Frixion' pen. This pen erases with friction or heat, so as soon as you apply an iron to it, it disappears! Great for embroidery! How many times have I used a purple or blue "disappearing ink" pen, only to have the marks show up again after removing them. With this pen, the marks could reappear if the piece is left in extreme cold, but, no problem - I usually don't put my embroidery in the freezer!

I machine stitched with regular black thread over the lines of the sketch, at times changing things as I went along.

Here is the back of the piece with threads pulled to the back. I had fused white flannel to the back to hide threads and make the fabric more stable. I've been doing this for a while and find that it works well.

Here we are with all threads pulled to the back, pen lines removed by ironing, and a few extra hand stitches here and there to finish it off.

I'm beginning a series of stitched sketches of women. I usually sketch from imagination, or may use a real person or magazine photo for inspiration, but I try not to directly copy any image. This one was totally free form. I love drawing people and am working on sharpening my skills. I love the irregularities of the human face. Most people have one eye larger than or higher than the other, and no one's face is absolutely symmetrical. I also like strong features. And, I must admit, I'm strongly influenced by the line drawings of Henri Matisse. They are so fluid and effortless - really gorgeous!

Well, thanks for visiting and

I hope you're having a very good day!