Page 79 - The Digital Cloth - Issue 5

The embellisher machine has five needles

which don’t need threading, and these will
punch two or more fabrics together to
create a felted effect. By using a mix of wool
and fabric scraps and layering these over
each other it’s possible to create a textural
background for each picture which is totally
unique each time. Once I have my
background sorted, its time to create the
main body of my picture. Using the photo
that I printed off earlier I will sketch or trace
the larger parts of the composition to get

my basic pattern pieces.
Once this is done the fun part really begins!
Choosing fabrics! Luckily, I have an
enormous stock of fabrics to choose from
which have been collected over the years
from shops, vintage markets and donations
from friends and family. I choose each fabric
carefully to fit with the relevant part of my
photo. This may mean that I try to match

a colour within the picture or replicate a
texture to create a more realistic three-D
effect. Sometimes I will use a patterned
fabric to add another dimension to my work
although this still needs to be within the
colour/texture range of the original picture.
It can take a little while for me to find the
fabrics that I’m happy with to create the
best effect, but the overall end result is
definitely worth it!
Once selected, I will iron a sticky backing

onto my chosen fabric, (a bit like Bonda
web) cut around my template and position
onto my background piece. This stage can
be quite fiddley depending on the picture
however, I don’t worry too much if it’s not
exactly as the photo because, after all, this is
my textile interpretation of my photo!
With the larger basic pieces held in place by
ironing, I start to stitch the outlines and any

details within those pieces. This continues
with the smaller details of my picture,
layering up each piece and stitching as I go,
until I’m happy with the overall effect.