SUSAN HENSEL PROJECTS: BODIES OF WORK, WORKS OF THE BODY
  • HOME
  • Artwork 1
  • Artwork 2
  • Artwork 3
  • About
  • Support

What I learned today

5/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
There was a lot of stitching today.  When I stitched with only one layer of stabilizer, the thread shredded and broke over and over again.  It took hours to complete the first test! Lesson learned: use 2 layers of stabilzer.
Picture
I did not notice that the hoop had gotten out of alignment.  The stitching was going along smoothly.  I had switched to a nice strong polyester thread and had 2 layers of stabilizer.  All of a sudden, there was a an awful noise...the needle hit the hoop and broke.  The hoop was out of alignment and remained so until I restarted everything.  It is a computer, afterall.  When in doubt, restart it.  So lesson learned: always check that the hoop is in alignment before you stitch.
Picture
The curved text stitched out more smoothly in polyester on 2 layers of stabilizer.  However, it became clear that the curving of the text line degraded the quality of the letters. Lesson learned: letters can degrade when their alignment is shifted
Picture
This one was stitched in rayon.  The advantage to rayon is that I can overdye it if I wish.  However, I experienced what I can only call an explosion on this one.  The bobbin was getting low.  Suddenly the upper thread wrapped loop after loop around the bobbin stem and brought the machine to a screeching halt and popped the fabric out of the hoop!  So, from this experiment I learned that I need to mark the vertical and horizontal axis on each piece with fabric marker so I can re-hoop with some expectation of success. Lesson learned:  mark your centers!



0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    WEARING MY AGE

    I have received a grant from the Jerome Foundation to work on a project that I have called "Wearing My Age."

    The premises that I am working with are that our clothes communicate and they communicate somewhat differently depending on age and gender. You might think of it as "fashion as self-publishing."

    The key area I am curious about surrounds the uniforms that women wear in the work place. Indeed, I will be making a uniform body of work, comprised of near identical 3 piece work outfits comprised of: a jacket, a dress, a petticoat.

    Each piece represents of body of language/meaning which I will make manifest with digitized machine embroidery typography and design.

    The Jacket represents the public self: what you are trying to say, how you wish to be identified, how you want to feel in the market place.

    The Dress represents a more personal statement: this is closer to the real me, Within the constraints of the market place I can be creative here, This is the part of me I am generally willing to reveal

    The Petticoat represents the secret self: Here lies the true language of self, these are the secrets I do not share, This is what I really think about myself, This is how I feel deep down.

    Archives

    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Draping
    Embroidery
    Indigo
    Jerome Foundation
    Sewing
    Susan Hensel
    TruEmbroidery

    RSS Feed

                        Susan Hensel • susanhensel@yahoo.com  
Susan Hensel Art Blog • Susan Hensel Design • Susan Hensel Gallery 
​all work and images  © 2014 Susan Hensel Design, LLC.   
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • HOME
  • Artwork 1
  • Artwork 2
  • Artwork 3
  • About
  • Support