Module 6 chapter 8

Use of plastic materials.

In this chpater I have experimented with bonding different types of plastic bags and food packaging together, using an iron, a hot gun and a soldering iron.

6/8/1

In this first sample I used a supermarket carrier bag and fused some pink strips to it from a different wieght bag. I then made holes in the piece with a soldering iron and threaded strips of the original bag through them. Lasly I embellished the sample with hand and machine stitch.

6/8/2

This is a sandwich of bubble wrap with Madeira Glissen Gloss trapped between the layers. Holes were also put into this sample and dyed string was threaded through.

6/8/3

This was a mixture of lots of different plastics, the supporting pieces were made with strips of plastic bag with pieces of pasta bag bonded to them which made them roll to from rods.

6/8/4

This is a very thin clear plastic BG with a heavier weight plastic bag cut into discs, welded to it and then the handle cut-outs from another bag welded on. Some discs were then stitched and the whole piece was printed with a string stamp and white acrylic.

6/8/5

The above sample is another sandwich, this time 2 sheets of thin plastic with a layer of hand made paper and some motifs from another bag trapped in the middle. The handle shapes of the bag have been used again and some of the paper layer is revealed and accented with running stitch, which has been pulled up to distort the sample, like a Kantha stitch.

This chapter required a resolved sample which would relate to an earlier design theme. I had some sketches of strapwork in my sketchbook and started to play with ideas of interlocking strips. I chose the carrier bag used for the first sample and combined it with strips of silver wrapping paper to give it an Elizabethan glitz. Also the round designs in the pattern reminded me of Elizabethan collars.

6/8/6

6/8/7

To the basic start in 6/8/6 I added some strips of the baking parchment print offs that I liked and couched them down after wetting them and scrunching them up. I used couching to attach them to the BG, using hand dyed silk threads. I also applied fine gathered strips of nylon organza. Once all the decrative stitching was complete I distressed the sample with a heat gun, particularly in the areas of the circular discs, to allow just a hint of the pattern to show through.
Finally I welded 2 more blue strips to the top and bottom of the sample.

The last sample was done as I was very pleased with the print off of the blue stripes when I was doing the first sample, so I decided to see if it would make a resolved sample.

6/8/8

All the strips were arranged and then stiched with the sewing machine to a backing of scrunched blue silk organza, this was then laid on a piece of Mulberry paper for the photograph.

6/8/9

This is how it looks against the light, which is how I think it would work best.