this is what i made from lots and lots of leftover scraps!

you can use any shape you want including punched circles.  mine are tied onto an embroidery hoop which is hanging flat against  my window frame on a nail.  it could also be hung “in-the-round” by tying 3 strings together at the top of the hoop and hung from a hook in the ceiling (lantern style) with the hanging diamonds tied all the way around the embroidery hoop, instead of just hanging from the bottom portion.

The lanterns you see here were made using paper “fabric” so no backing was used.  I covered the corner seams with paper and added fabric here and there.

Have fun making lanterns.  It’s addictive!

This particular idea is inspired by the wonderful artist Thomas Campbell’s sewn “flowers”.  I first wrote about on DFLA back in 2011.  The particular ones we’ll make are slightly  different than his in that they aren’t shaped like flowers, and they aren’t made from paper “fabric”.   But you can easily adapt this idea to make any kind of pinwheel you like.

I made mine using mostly 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper.  In my opinion, it’s much easier to make these with heavier paper.  But you can use any kind of paper you want and make them any size you want.  You can also vary the size of the triangles to make pinwheels of different sizes.  You could ALSO make needle tracks through the pinwheels by taking the thread out of the needle and “sewing” all over.  This makes tiny pinpricks of light that are so pretty in a window.

Check out these lovely "flags"  Imagine them made with paper!  How cool would that be?

This is 9×12 when opened flat.  You could make lots of little booklets like this in all sizes.  Fill them with watercolor paper to make visual journals, or pattern books.  Use thinner paper inside to use as notebooks or journals or photo books.   Use a combination of pre-painted papers and white watercolor paper.  Anything goes.   Try out lots of different fun ways to stitch the paper to the cover.  Use your imagination.  That’s an order.  Astound me with your brilliance!  I know you will.

I went over and over the strap and covered it with zig zag stitches.

I liked my strap tucked inside.  The paper is nice and thick and it doesn’t slide out.

 

I added thin strips of wallpaper to form a border.

Maybe you’ll want to make an entire collection of sewn paper booklets!  If you took my class FULL TILT BOOGIE, a single row of the Sewn Chains stitch would lend itself perfectly to this booklet.

At the heart of SEWN are patterns – the ones we’ll paint, but also the patterns in the paper we use.  Not to mention the new patterns created when we cut and piece that paper back together!  Start paying attention to patterns in your world.  You can begin with your own nest and branch out from there.  The mosaic above contains patterns I found in a short jaunt around Moss Cottage.  As you can see I am surrounded by pattern.  I seem to gravitate towards dense colorful patterns.  Notice which patterns in your environment you find most appealing.  This will be a good starting point for coming up with your own unique pattern language.

Maybe while you wait for SEWN to begin officially on July 4th, you can begin to  study the patterns around you and take note of which shapes you like most.  Are they organic and curvy or more geometric with straight lines and hard edges?  Maybe both!

Take your camera and photograph some of the patterns in your environment.   Our brains are natural pattern seeking devices.  Constantly looking for connections and associations.  In SEWN we’re going to hone our visual pattern skills.  You can get a jump start by going out into the wider world around you and paying attention to the patterns around you.

In the first week of class we’ll be painting patterns on loose watercolor paper.  We’ll also be constructing a pattern book so we can continue our exploration with patterns.

Go check out the pattern board I started over on PINTEREST just for this class.  Notice the kinds of patterns you gravitate towards there.  Are they  orderly?  painterly?  messy?  tiny?  If you haven’t already done so consider starting a board of your own to collect patterns that attract you.