For the last two weeks I have been taking an on-line course called Drawing for Textiles D4T by the wonderful textile artist Dionne Swift. In the first week I had fun drawing some small objects , really enlarged , using a variety of techniques.
My objects ( some family heirlooms here) and examples of the large crazy drawings I made are below. 
I say crazy , because of the fun drawing techniques and because they felt to have little connection with the objects by the time I had finished – I think that was the idea really.
We then had to seek out gems in the masses of lines. I found quite a few I liked and cut them out, making a little book for future reference.
Then came the textile part. Using sewing and embellishing to make textile lines , in order to repaint the gems. Great fun even though I don’t have an embellisher and had to hand needle . For me there were eureka moments here too. Ideas of thread combinations to use on my sewing machine. How come I never knew you could put two threads through the top needle ? Thick threads on the bottom spool. I did know this but had never tried it. Two sides to every piece. Of course I knew this , but I had always approached my pieces by sewing , from the top. Starting on the reverse gives a whole set of new effects.
Mostly I made samples , but here is a completed piece .
The course was great , Dionne videos were informative , relaxed and professional. I also liked the idea of a sail ly delivery for two weeks of information and the private FB page the students from all round the world who could then share our work in progress and ideas. Great course I would really recommend it.
