Packaging Paper as a Substrate

Woven packaging material used as a substrate on needle made lace

In the above project strips of various packaging materials were cut into random strips and then joined by placing one on top of the other (to create a flat seam) and machine stitched to create long strips. Be sure to clean the packaging material well before you commence.

These strips were then woven together (over one, under one) to create a background. The edges of the weaving were pinned together and a sheer overlay from a recycled skirt was placed over the top and some cotton fabric placed underneath for stability. This sandwich was then free machine quilted in a cobblestone pattern.

The Queen Anne’s Lace was created with free machine embroidery on water soluble fabric. Once the water soluble had been washed away just the lace remained and this was slightly padded under the flower heads and appliqued to the quilt top

I used random packaging but a more coordinated effect could be achieved by colour selection of the packaging material, In the finished quilt it is quite difficult to identify individual packaging but I know there were hand wash soft packaging, camembert cheese. coffee and egg paper from a tray of eggs to name a few.

A Little Project From Kitchen Scrap

Pohutukawa bloom from an onion bag

This little project was an early trial at using other discards (not tea bags) to create art. The red itself is from a plastic onion bag arranged so that there is a variance in thickness to create the spikiness of the blooms. This is just couched to the substrate. I added some French knots at the top of each thicker piece. I did use 6 strands of embroidery thread to encase the end of the onion bag to create a stem. The leaves are very simple and are made from using a green plastic bag cut into strips. The whole is mounted on a scrap of synthetic linen and bound onto a metal ring. I use these rings to create a range of art ideas,

Burnt Teabag Leaves

A delicate 3 D bowl made from stitching and then charring leaves stitched onto teabags

To create this bowl the individual teabag leaves were stitched onto water soluble fabric using a cotton thread as polyester thread will melt during the burning process. I drew the leaf shapes with veins onto the water soluble and then placed the teabags as I sewed. You could draw the leaves onto paper and then tack the teabags to the paper and remove the paper once the basic stitching is completed, I used a sewing machine and a small zigzag stitch to enhance the vein lines but hand stitch would also work for this stage. The pattern can be quite simple. Once the leaves are completely stitched, (carefully tear off the paper if you used this method) place them in warm water to dissolve the water soluble material. Spread out and allow to dry. Now you can burn the edges with either a soldering iron or a joss stick. Make some holes in between the veins as well to get lacey leaves.

I placed some plastic over a bowl (upside down) and then painted the leaves with gel medium (diluted PVA would also work). The leaves were laid out over the bowl, on top of the plastic and allowed to dry. Viola, the plastic allows easy removal from the bowl and there you have a lacey 3D construct

A Tree of Life

I am preloading this post because tomorrow morning I am having surgery to correct the stigmatism in my left eye. a bit scary for a textile artist but hopefully it will give me much better sight.

Again the base of this is teabags and they have been sandwiched under net and free machine quilted using a leaf design. This time I have introduced textured yarn and momigami paper - (paper that has been significantly crumpled to break up the fibres and allow the paper to be more like fabric). The colours you can see are basically this paper. In addition I have soaked some teabags toward the bottom of the tree in iron sulphate solution to create the darker teabag colours. The branches of the tree exhibit a range of textured yarn that provided definition from the teabag substrate

There is also some stamping in this piece which didn’t come off so well. It was largely an experimental piece to see where the different ideas would take me

The Separation of Ranginui and Papatuanuku

Separation of Rangi and Papa - the Maori Creation Story

I had been thinking about creating the story of the Separation of Ranginui (the Sky God) and Papatuanuku (the Earth Mother) for some time. When I created the coffee foil substrate at the top of this picture, originally intended for another project, it seemed it was perfect for the sky part of this.

Rangi and Papa had lain in each other’s embrace together for eons. Their children were confined in the limited space between them. Tane decided to separate his parents. As he strained to separate his parents and replace the darkness with light, Tawhiri, the god of wind and storms rushed into the heavens to remain with his father.

When Tane (God of the Forest) saw his mother lying naked on the ground he covered her with forests. This is often referred to as the Maori creation story.

In my piece, the sky area is made from foil coffee packets under organza with textured strips of left over sequin waste sandwiched in between. The middle section is a scrap of black fabric that was discharge treated and then thermofaxed over to get the white imprint as the light was introduced. Papatuanuku’s area is teabags again, with Tane’s hair being created from dyed cheesecloth. A synopsis of the Maori legend is printed at the base. The whole is covered in net and free machine stitched using different motifs for each section of the piece.

Tane’s body is made from some scraps of batik fabric collaged to create the effect of muscles and plains of the body.

Teabags as a Substrate

Going Green - Denpasar

My daughter imports from Indonesia and each year one of us goes over to keep the relationship with the suppliers alive. At the end of the street where our agent lives is a refuge station. All day hand pulled carts bring the detritus from the streets of Denpasar and this young lady sits there day after day sorting the rubbish into recyclable bags.

When I made this quilt I decided that everything except the free machined image of the young woman should be made from recycled pieces. The background is teabags fused to an old cotton sheet and free machine quilted. The rubbish pile that threatens to overwhelm her is eco dyed from an old woollen blanket, the rubbish in the foreground is various packaging materials, the flowers at the top are hydrangea flowers encased in organza and the leaves are silk leaves that have become detached from shop displays and were headed to the rubbish.

I added the branch of greenery as a symbol of hope. This young lady had all the wants of any young person and yet her days were filled with rubbish. I wonder if she appreciated the significance of her small contribution to the major rubbish problem that many large cities face.

Teabags as WearableArt

Women’s Life (Roles) - a corset made from teabag fabric with a multilayered meaning

This began as a multi layered comment on a woman’s life. I chose an intimate garment that is often displayed as risque and attempted to create it so it was more refined. The use of teabags is a comment on how many women’s lives and friendship centre on a cup of tea (or coffee) and the secret exchanges that includes. It also celebrates the changing roles and conflict of angel and whore.

The basic shape of the corset is made in a size 16. Most of us would love to be a perfect size 10 but not many of us achieve that and the corset has a dual meaning of trying to look smaller or for those that are not a perfect size10 and sexy garment to show off their bodies to perfection for those that achieve the media perfection.

The neutral colour palette enhances the messages and is relieved by the embellishment of hydrangea flowers encased in organza with wired beads and silk leaves that came adrift from displays at work. The teabags have been mistry fused to a vintage cotton base and net places over the top before being free machine quilted. The black guipure lace was an addition of elegance from my scrap bin.

The back of the corset has terms for women - both complimentary and demeaning printed under the net

Teabags on Net

Angel Wings - Covid Protection Teabags on net

When we went into extended lockdown with Covid I joined up with textile.org.uk Stitchclub and in 2020 Merill Comeau presented an online workshop using net as a base. A lot of Merill’s work is very large installations and using net as a base keeps the weight of the project down. It was a process I was keen to try.

The concepts for this piece was angel wings spreading over us. The top centre features a Covid mask and gloves (which at that time were mandatory out in public). Beneath that is some alpaca “paper” that is not perfect - it has some holes in it representing those that fell through the protective wings and succumbed to Covid.

The Teabags were applied directly onto net and free machine quilted with a variegated thread.

When I looked out my kitchen window during this time the Japanese anemones were flowering like a spark of hope. The 3 D flowers were made from an old shirt and the leaves are actual leaves off the plant sandwiched in organza before applying. When I looked up the meaning of white Japanese Anemones I discovered they symbolize sincerity and fragility which seemed very appropriate for the time we were living in.

The piece is so light that to hang it in this exhibition we had to use small bull dog clips at each side to stop the piece folding in on itself.

Dying Teabags

A small quilt using procion dyed teabags that were then stencilled with Autumn gingko leaves sandwiched between organza applied

Teabags dye well. In the example above I dyed the teabags deep blue first and then applied them to a cotton backing using Mistyfuse. I then stencilled gingko type images over the applied teabags and free machine quilted around the stencils. The rest of the quilt was free machine quilted.

The gingko leaves were sandwiched between layer of organza and handstitched before trimming the organza and appliqueing them to the base. I have found that fresh leaves treated in this manner last for many years without losing their colour

A Standard Set Quilt From Teabags

This quilt was inspired from some NZ stencils a friend and work colleague gave me one Christmas. I decided to see how stencilling on the teabags would work. This time I used misty fuse and applied it to squares a bit bigger than the finished requirement. I then stencilled the images and added some machine details. The squares were then trimmed to size

When it came to joining the squares I decided to create the sashing from the foil side of coffee packets. I cut the coffee packets into strips and added some textured thread and net. Then I free machined down the strips to fix all layers together. I had used this technique in other projects on a smaller scale

Assembly of the quilt was quite traditional but it gave me another aspect of working with discarded materials Finally I quilted around the images and used a pebble free machine stitch to complete the quilt. I called it “Tea or Coffee, Jane”

Laminating Teabags to Fabric

So here started a long journey. The first teabag fabric was laboriously laminated to a backing cotton teabag by teabag using gel medium. I decided to add stamps of the word smile and the camera image. And then a layer of gel medium was spread over the top so that the finished effect was of aged leather

I had been granted permission to use Steve McCurry’s portraits as long as I acknowledged the source so I decided to use the portraits in oval portholes with a photo of Steve in the middle. The quilt is called Through the lens of Steve McCurry. Steve is an acclaimed photojournalist how has done a lot of work in Asia for National Geographic so I was delighted to be granted permission to use his portraits. I have to admit I also learnt a lot about photography and choosing a subject in the process

My rule for using the teabags was that they were all naturally used teabags. I collected them, dried them, then opened them and removed the tealeaf residue. It is quite a time consuming job but these days I always have a container on hand for the next teabag project.

Teabags - The Beginning

My fascination with using teabags as an art medium began with Judy Coates Perez, image on the cover of a Quilting Arts magazine. My own use of teabags developed in a different way and years later when I met Judy and saw her original piece I realised how different my art had become and how small that original tea bag piece of hers was - It was just 30 cm (12 inches) square.

I constantly push the envelope looking for ideas to extend the use of the medium in different directions. My posts will start with my teabag adventures but because that lead into using a whole range of recycled items, this blog will extend to that. To me it is strange how the status quo has moved more and more into using recycled materials as it was a natural progression for me. I have always had a sense of thrift from years of “making do” so being able to extend my art into materials that were basically throw aways came very naturally. The only problem with this system is that one side of my studio now looks like a hoarders den with plastic containers labelled with things like teabag, foil coffee bags, tissue and paper napkin, lace finds, sheers, cord, old maps and music scores, packaging materials in general and texture makers