Exploring with Stitching Portrait

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Using the sewing machine

I found the sewing process a little stressful due to my lack of experience. Using the sewing machine to stitch through paper and acetate was quite tricky as the thread kept snagging and getting caught. However, I found that this distressed look created by overworking an area with gathered thread worked really well with my photo, adding to the raw emotion of the sitter.

      





Below is my finished stitched trial portrait. I was playing around with the sizing of the zigzag stitch pattern, making it smaller in some areas and larger in others. The photo size is A3 and I think if I downscaled the size of the image the stitch would look more impactful when making the stitch pattern bigger and smaller.

As my portraits are black and white I wanted to pick a bold colour for the stitch. Choosing red represents danger, warning, blood and when something isn't right. I also followed the stitch off of the portrait so it was just on the bear acetate. I felt this added to the distressed look.




I thought it would be a good idea to change the background of my piece by adding some yellow. I feel it works well and adds some texture but I still want to explore setting the piece in front of different backgrounds. I definitely know I don't like it set on a white background as it looks flat.

 
 

To change the background of my piece I stuck it on the window. I liked the sun shining through the torn segments as my first thought was ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ and hope. I want to explore using light and the view from our studio windows more for the background. Using this background gave a subtle texture unlike the bold colour of yellow that I previously used.

 

Next, I'm going to tear up my portraits that are on photographic paper but have them printed on a smaller scale to stitch on.
















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