Home as Hat: Baby Doe von Stroheim

"Baby Doe von Stroheim" from Home as Hat

EMBROIDERY PATTERNS

"I don't approach fashion. Fashion approaches me!" —Daphne Guinness

For the past few yeas I have been learning how to apply various embroidery patterns to cloth. Not all of these patterns are easy to create on paper but I do enjoy seeing how stiff paper becomes a canvas on which to draw with thread. Basic techniques like the cross stitch, chain stitch, buttonhole, running stitch, stem stitch and satin stitch lend themselves to working on this project and give direction and visual motion to the "hats" I'm constructing.

I'm fascinated by the many decorative motifs and patterns that have evolved worldwide throughout the centuries. Developing out of the necessity of patching and mending precious hand woven fabrics, it was employed as a way to embellish clothing. Embroidery patterns became a mark of wealth as well as rank and social status. Textile workshops evolved to produce high end pieces and gave birth to fashionable masterpieces.

The canvas work I am producing in this series helps to create a dense pattern that almost completely covers the paper, a technique that I think works in this case to build up a color field and a visual play on architecture, space and form.

Just like pulling a rabbit out of a hat,

Julie Green

March 19, 2016