My box is finally finished. There was a lot more tricky hand-sewing involved than I had thought when I set out, so the amount of work-hours involved was very high, but I think I've covered most of the asked-for techniques. Gathering in the inside of the lid and on the smocked sides. folding and pleating - in the lining of the box body. Tucking I didn't quite manage to include, but as I said, I did make a piped effect around the wooden dowel edging. Quilting - I did a lot of this, both in the box panels and in the 'roof'. Raised shapes - this seems to me to have quite a lot of overlap with shadow quilting, and I think I've used it in stitching around my felt frame in the roof and around the beads in the 'windows'. Before I properly analyse the piece, here are some more photos of it from all angles.
Side view, showing the completed window and smocking.
Roof and reverse.
Reverse and base. Here you can also see the way I folded in the ends of the 'piping'.
Close up on the windows and 'lock' at the front.
The lining in purple satin. Knife pleating in the main body, and thick, decorative hand-gathering in the lid.
Another angle (the flash used in this photo shows up the colour better).
A close-up on the join in the lining.
Finally, lying back with the lid open. I've enjoyed this project, especially the fact that I have taken it a little further and made it into an object with a purpose, which lends even a piece as gaudy as this a little dignity. So, as I've made quite a feature of writing about the techniques I've used by photographing the various stages, I'm going to dive straight into the questions set by the folder.
How does working with fabric in this way compare with working directly with stitch?
If working with stitch refers to the earlier exercises that centred on creating a picture or texture with embroidery, I would most accurately compare the difference between them as the difference between painting and sculpture. Stitching has some 3D elements, like stumpwork and silk shading, as painting does with trompe l'oeil, but you can't really compare a painted object, even the most beautifully shaded and foreshortened one, with the object created in sculpture, because for all intents and purposes, it is the object, plain to be seen, and not attempting to deceive the eye. I find that working out the net, pleating up the fabric, and assembling an object, is a far more satisfying process - though often, when it comes to my own examples, a less skilled one, as the amount of time I can afford to spend on an object like this box would in no way have produced a satisfactory embroidery.
Are you pleased with the shapes and movements that you have created in both appliqué and fabric manipulation? What would you do differently?
I am pleased with the results from both. Off the top of my head, the only faults I could really find with them were that I cut a few corners on my appliqué crow by whip stitching some of the layers together, when they should have been properly stitched in blocks and then carefully attached to a layer larger than them, meaning that only short stitches were used - this would have been a much more elegant effect. And with my box, that I did not leave enough room either side of the lid to allow me to attach further covered rods as I had planned. This meant that the sides were a little flimsy. These two examples are by no means works of art, but they have been executed to my own satisfaction.
How did the pieces work in relation to your drawings? Were the final results very different from the drawings? Did the fabric manipulation technique take over and dictate the final result?
I feel a little uncomfortable answering this question - as I've explained, the raven was far from a thought-through idea, and no sketch of it ever appeared. I merely followed my instincts with it. The box I thought about quite a bit more, and did a page of A3 sketches and ideas. It ended up being quite far from my drawing, as I had imagined lots of ways to include further techniques by making objects for the box to hold. My ideas for the objects will have to wait for another time now, and though I don't think I could describe the techniques as having 'taken over', I certainly developed the idea further in the manufacture.
Was it helpful to work from the drawings in the appliqué exercise? Would you have preferred to play directly with cut shapes and materials?
As I've said, this is a little awkward for me, as I did play directly with shapes and materials. However, as I had never before attempted appliqué, the amount I learnt even in my own way of working means that the exercise held a great deal of merit as a learning experience for me.
How do you feel about working with stitch in general? Is it an area you would like to pursue in more depth? Do you find it limiting in any way?
I'm very happy with it indeed. As yet, I couldn't say I found it limiting either, as the only property that hasn't been exhibited yet in textiles is not one that inherently can have - that of hardiness, of standing on it's own. Whilst making my box, I found that even a fine sliver of wood reinforced a side of the box so well as to improve it's usefulness tenfold! There's nothing to say that textiles cannot be combined with other fields of art and craft, of course, though it does still feel a little... Well, a little like cheating! I know that's ridiculous, of course, as there is as much a limit to art as there is to the imagination. I certainly would like to explore the area more, as up to this point, I haven't enjoyed a project so much as my golden box.
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