Interpretive Hand Stitching

Interpretive Hand Stitching

Yesterday I released a new Youtube Video with the same title.

Go check it out!

There are a few other key factors to interpretive hand stitching, improvisational hand stitching, expressionist hand stitching or whatever else you might want to call it.  I think all of these are good descriptors of my process when taking a piece of linen and starting to stitch on it.

The first few stitches

However at a certain point, composition plays a key role in how the piece evolves. It’s not enough to just stitch and hope for the best.  Without a good composition it can look like a bunch of disparate parts, each might be lovely taken on their own, but they aren’t necessarily interacting well with one another.

More stitching added…

Another common issue is that one part can take over, drowning out everything else; this brings its own set of challenges.  Or perhaps the whole thing is stagnant.  There’s not a great deal of movement, so it’s important to know when these things are happening and why.  Without knowing why, it is nearly impossible to remedy.

Once the large X was removed the two half moons in the upper right and again in the lower left began to dominate

The trick then is to resolve the “divas” and figure out how to turn the volume down or remove them.  In this case, I had to remove it.  Between the shape and color it was too much.  Except that when it was removed, I was faced with a new challenge.

Piece without the darker shapes

So that’s where I am right now. I’m sitting with the challenge of having removed three domineering shapes.  Taken on their own, they were fine, but when seen as a whole they were dominating.  Except now the piece isn’t grounded.  It’s lost some of its vigor.  Partly that’s due to the removal of the color, which lended a great deal to the overall piece.  So now I have to figure out how to pull it together, give it some excitement.  And this is how it goes.  There’s a kind of ebb and flow that inevitably happens when working on a piece like this.  Take away some aspect and suddenly there’s a new set of challenges.

The key is to not give in to discouragement.  To keep going no matter what.  To keep trying new things.  Thinking out of the box, pushing the boundaries of what I know how to do, trying something I’ve not tried before, test out other colors or reintroduce a color I’ve removed and see how that shifts the conversation.

This is the process that is interpretive hand stitching.  Where one idea leads to another and another and another and on it goes.

Pain, Grief and Showing up Anyway

Pain, Grief and Showing up Anyway

So here’s the thing…  I feel a whole lot better when I show up even when I feel awful, even when I feel things are rough and I’m tired, even when I don’t want to.  I’ve also learned that showing up anyway is the single best remedy for not continuing to feel that way. Except that it’s also really hard to do.  That’s the thing.  It’s really, really hard and sometimes… sometimes it feels impossible.  I know it technically isn’t, but it sure feels that way.

Marcus Aurelius wrote about pain a great deal.  And in his writings about it he consistently focusses on choice and responding, rather than reacting.  I’m a huge fan of Marcus Aurelius, not just because he was wise, but because this guy was one of the most powerful men in the world and yet he continued to do his best to remain humble, to avoid arrogance, to nurture self awareness and to treat others with respect and kindness.

So yeah, showing up anyway.  Easier said than done, so I have found ways to do so that aren’t quite so laden, that make it a tiny bit easier.  I call it setting myself up to succeed.

Here’s what I do:

  • Thread up a whole bunch of needles with different types and weights of thread.  I use both Chenille needles and Milliners Needles.
  • Grab a needle, any needle, it doesn’t matter which one, and begin stitching.  I have a couple of mindless go-to stitches that don’t require any thought.  They are the meditative stitches like french knots, bullion knots, colonial knots, seed stitch, chain stitch, fly stitch, straight stitch and then I riff on them, which means I start exploring every aspect of that stitch.  How many wraps can I make on a french knot before the whole thing begins to fall apart?  (It turns out a lot more than you might think!). What ways can I stitch a straight stitch to create different patterns?
  • Exploration
  • Investigation
  • And before you know it, I’m playing!

Stitching, more than anything, changes everything, even grief, even pain.

If you’re curious to know how I did this, I made a video about it and you can watch it here:

New: Improvisational Stitching Workshop!

New: Improvisational Stitching Workshop!

I am doing a new 5-day workshop! Improvisational Stitching!

But what does that mean, exactly? Well funny you should ask, because I’ve given it a great deal of thought. Improvisational Stitching is what I call what I do when I begin with a piece of fabric, usually a piece of hand dyed linen, with no preconceived notion of what I’m going to do other than follow the striations in the fabric and begin stitching. I don’t sketch anything out, I just begin stitching.

This is a new piece that I haven’t had time to do much with. Right now it’s just a few stitches, but eventually it will become more.

Over time the piece develops and I begin adding other elements. Sometimes I’ll add other materials, other times that means painting directly onto the fabric and even over the stitching, as I did with my piece, Perseverance.

Do you see how I painted over the green ribbon floss and then covered that area with the hand dyed cheesecloth?

Eventually the piece takes on a life of its own and then it’s up to me to follow as best I can.

Olea began as a 14″ by 16″ piece of olive green hand dyed linen. I started stitching and adding things, like the hand painted t-shirt strips to the left.

Eventually it became this, which I titled, “Olea” but my friend Anna Bates called, “After the Wedding”.

Olea: Hand dyed Linen/Cotton blend with cotton, silk, wool, sheep’s silk threads, ribbon, t-shirt & cheesecloth
This is my latest piece that I haven’t even begun stitching on, but will be soon with hand dyed t-shirt, cheesecloth and tulle.

Improvisational Stitching is so much fun! There are no rules, nothing is forbidden, anything goes. I absolutely love it!! Which leads me to the workshop I’m doing: Improvisational Stitching!

Have you ever wanted to create an improvisational piece, but felt too intimidated to start? This is the workshop for you! 

We begin with a hand dyed piece of linen, loosely woven cotton or wool. I suggest starting with a piece that isn’t too large – say 14” x 16” or smaller.  It can be a square or a rectangle.  Choose a color that you love for the background.  It can be any color, just make sure you LOVE it!  If you want to piece a background together, you can also do that.

This is a “hands on” workshop, in other words, everyone will be working and creating during the workshop with me cheering you on. Using a wide variety of threads, and other materials, we will embellish with no preconceived ideas. I will hold your hand, encourage you to explore and try new things. Each week you will be given a challenge to expand and add to your piece. This is a dive-into-the-deep-end workshop. We will have a blast.  All levels of stitchers are welcome.  You will not be alone. I will be with you every step of the way. 

Workshop Length: 5 Saturdays from 1pm – 4:30pm EDT

Date: April 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th & May 1st

Cost: $500

Until my website is up and running I will be taking reservations through this blog, via my Facebook Page: Ariane Zurcher Stitching Circle and my Youtube Channel: Ariane Zurcher ~ On the Other Hand.