It was my turn to set the Grasby challenge this month. I wanted something different that could be interpreted / tackled in lots of different ways. On giving previous work some thought I remembered using clear plastic DVD’s at the start of my colour spinner experimentation when I was at college.
This was a possibility, I had enough, they came on the top of the blank DVD’s that Colin uses to copy things from the Humax that he wants to keep. On having a search in his room the only ones I could find were either clear ones with stickers on that wouldn’t peel off easily and left a horrible sticky area, and one broke as I was trying to get the sticker off, or black ones that felt a bit less brittle and slightly more flexible.
The black ones were duly packaged up with the brief to use the DVD either in the process somehow or in the finished piece, and posted out to the group. I thought this gave them all plenty of scope.
I then had to decide what to do with my own. Possibilities were using it to felt around, a 3D vessel; as a stencil to draw round; sticking things on it to print with; as a base for something, pin cushion or vessel, perhaps; as a backing mount for a circular piece…..
I also wondered about breaking it and using the pieces as templates for crazy patchwork, to make a design by drawing round the pieces or to do a piece based on the Japanese kintsugi idea of repairing pottery visibly with gold.
When I found out that one had arrived broken, I offered to send another but the recipient said it was OK and she’d work with what she’d got, so I decided I’d go with the kintsugi idea. It turned out that they had all arrived broken!
I decided to use the burgundy background fabric from the reversible stained glass quilt I finished in 2010. It was patterned but not a noticeable repeat and I wanted to use the same fabric for both pieces, and join them back together with gold thread.
I cut round both broken pieces of DVD leaving about 1cm of seam allowance all the way round. I did a strong anchor point at the beginning, then did little running stitches to be able to gather the excess on the semi-circle.
Both pieces were laced on the back, and joined together on the back.
I then used the fine gold thread to make visible stitches on the front, but they didn’t show up enough.
What would make a visible, but subtle stitch to join them together? I then remembered the herring bone my nanna used to do hems on the dressing making I did as a teenager. I didn’t enjoy doing the hem, so would make a dress during the week, get nanna to pin the hem up for me, and then finish it off for me. I don’t think I have ever done herring bone before, but really enjoyed it.
The back is anything but subtle, a gold lame that frays horrible, but has a lovely, shining finish. So a bigger seam allowance to gather up over another DVD, then laced before joining with ladder stitch to the front.
A cord was made of the two thick threads, which was stitched around the join of the back and front, leaving a tassel at the bottom and a loop to hang it from at the top.
The other work for Grasby lockdown challenge #4 can be seen on the Grasby Embroiderers Facebook page. Great response, as usual all very different. Thanks to everyone.
debbidipity 