Mr Punch Free Machine Sketch

I can't cut wood for a bit as it's far to hot too work in my garage so I have been doodling and preparing ideas for when the weather cools off. I then thought it may be fun to try drawing with my new sewing machine. I broke my ancient Bernina earlier this year and am making do with a very basic Janome. So here is the progress of my first large machine sketch with this new machine.  From this doodle...

I roughed out the drawing in pencil on the fabric, took the foot off the machine as it has no special darning or free machining foot. I dropped the feed dog and put the fabric in a large embroidery hoop.

It took a while to get used to the machine as the hoop kept getting caught somewhere on the machine bed which made the stitched line wiggle but I decided to just keep going and work with the imperfections. 

It looks a bit like the original doodle, now I can't decide whether to make a massive cushion or keep on with the drawing and add some sausages or crocodile. I am most tempted to try a new and more involved picture and improve on this one.

Drawings from Textile Collages

I did a couple of unsuccessful collages, one that even broke my sewing machine. But while waiting for the new machine to arrive I decided to try drawing from the collaged images. I found a new way to stretch my imagination and end up with pictures that I would never have drawn without the inspiration of the fabric. These are my first few attempts.

Automaton of a Knitting Girl

I did this sketch of a girl knitting her hair and making a little friend. She has become the inspiration some knitting automata.

When the crank is wound the needles are designed to slide as the arms rise up and lower. It was quite effective as a homage to the art of knitting. Sadly adding the knitted friend stops the needles sliding so she just raises and lowers the friend.

The next girl knitting a moth

And one just knitting with her wool all in a tangle. 

New Puppet Characters

     Rosie in a 50's print dress

 Daisy with flowers

  Cat boy with flower