Self Expression with Thread

Yes, thread. If you are a sewist, you know how the threads and other bits of ephemera collect. I want to share with you a solution for what to do with it all. I like to create minimal waste, doing so challenges my creative side. So, using my threads and fiber scraps is important.

Next to my sewing machine is a canning jar. In that jar I place all lose threads and small bits of fabric that have been cut while sewing. As I sew and collect the thread, I am mulling over issues that are important to me. How can I best visually express my thoughts on these issues. A retired art therapist mind works like that.

By the time the jar is full, I have usually decided how to use the bits of thread and ephemera to create a new piece of "fabric". There are tutorials on the internet and books in the library or on Amazon that can offer instructions and inspiration for surface embellishment projects, and a few on the creation of thread bowls...which is what is focused on here.

I've used a downloadable PDF for basic instructions and embedded it below. The tutorial shows you how to use Sulky, a water soluble stabilizer, to create a freeform machine embroidered vessel.

When contacting the author and Sulky for permission to include their instructions, I found the most wonderful information and a gracious Fiber Artist. Wendy Hill, Author and Fiber Artist, has written a book on Thread Bowls specifically. Below are two images Wendy shared with me.

The ethereal vase was created by by Wendy Hill with photography by Craig Howell, Minnesota.

Wendy Hill took the photo of her own vase in a gallery show. It is a graduated color thread vase. She used silk flowers (deconstructed from the plastic stems) and thread in this molded vase (formed around a glass vase).

To get started on your own thread bowl you will first want to read the instructions from either the quick start guide via the PDF from Sulky and/or Wendy Hills book on Thread Bowls. I recommend both. When considering your own thread vessel or bowl, please add your own imagination and experimentation. Usually after having made something new, or worked with new materials, a feeling of accomplishment or mastery might occur. That feeling of accomplishment may come from the bravery of trying something new. The final project may not be perfect, mine certainly are not. I have found this art experiential to be very forgiving. You will want to make more as threads and fabric scraps continually add up. Consider a theme of what is important to you and add laminated words, images, photo transfer fabrics...etc. You can also just enjoy the interaction of colors and materials. When finished sewing you will drape your machine embroidered thread art around a meaningful form as it takes its final shape. Where does your imagination go?

I have been creating bowls lately. I have placed one on the wall above my sewing machine. Threads in this bowl represent my love of indigo dyeing.

For a close up, please see the image below. Little bits of ephemera are welcome into the freeform embroidery. They help you to make the statement you wish to make.

Remember this when creating:

1. No self judgment

2. There is no right or wrong to this...well the expressive part anyway. The technical part is spelled out for us. We offer thanks to Wendy Hill for that.

3. However it turns out, it is perfect!

You can download the PDF (below) with instructions that are very helpful. The PDF is an excerpt from the book:

Sulky Secrets to Successful Embroidery #900-B15

Per Patti Lee, Vice-President of Consumer Relations with Sulkey of America, this book is out of print but they do have an e-version that will launch sometime in the future.

The following instructions were written by Fiber Artist Wendy Hill and is owned by Sulky.

And the book by Wendy Hill, Fast, Fun & Easy Incredible Thread-A-Bowls: 2 Techniques-5 Projects-Unlimited

If you live in the Kansas City area, you can check out The Sewing Labs https://thesewinglabs.community/. Art Therapist Robert Lackie, MS, ATR-BC, LPC teaches Emotional Confetti, a class that will help your thoughts and feelings be expressed in a unique project using the Sulky Solvy product with a mixture of yarns, fabric scraps, words and more. The Sewing Labs will be offering the class again in November (2021).