There are many influences that inspire me to stitch and I love whimsical stitching, The kind of hand sewing that I can almost day dream with, my ‘go to’ stitching when I want some quiet time on my comfy couch watching a movie with a cuppa. I enjoy the mindfulness of hand stitching and the gentle flow of bringing fabric shapes together in an unplanned way and watching where they end up in the design.
As a visual artist I like to incorporate a palette of color, prints and patterning and to do this I use a variety of printed fabrics, applique and simple stitching techniques and most of my work incorporates the use of some preloved/repurposed fabrics along with the new. I do not see myself as an appliqué purist therefore I feel its okay to ‘break rules’ and not waste precious creative time fault finding. To the contrary I believe flaws bring personality and creative interest to the work at hand.
I am inspired by both traditional and contemporary patchwork and appliqué design and find myself immersed when working with colours and floral themes in particular. I have come to appreciate the essence of appliqué and how cutting up tiny pieces of fabric and sewing them back together again layer up layer can be an addictive pastime. However unlike traditional work of this nature, I rarely use patterns, preferring the slow process of piecing and constructing simple sections as I go. Not one for mass production or working for the sake of consumer demand, each project I start finds a way to evolve in its own time in a meditative spirit and over time Ive adapted traditional techniques to suit the way I like to work. I love it even more when Ive finished an item and it includes an artistic element, such as a piece of painted fabric and includes a great story.
My favorite applique technique is raw-edge, however I enjoy needle turn and paper piecing when I want something a little more precise. I have a weird fetish for hexagons at the moment ……... who doesn’t? Although I have a keen eye for perspective and composition, I couldn’t sew a straight line if I tried, so I prefer to hand stitch to gain better control. I love the use of applique as I can cover up all manner of stitching sins and in the process form unexpected texture and dimension to my work. The three embroidery stitches that I use often are continuous line tacking, blanket stitch and chain stitch. They are simple and effective and lend themselves nicely to the naïve patchwork look I like so much.
