30 days of stitching...Day 16

7/31/2020

Free Form Stitching Machine Embroidery

Today I've been thinking about free motion/form stitching and drawing with thread on my sewing machine. A couple of years ago I did a lot of free motion stitching or what some call machine thread painting.

It has many names:
Free motion embroidery
Free motion thread painting
Free style machine embroidery
Thread sketching
Needle painting
Needle sketching
Thread painting (this usually means by hand)
Google says, "Thread painting, also called needle painting, is an approach that uses a combination of long and short stitches and a variety of colors to produce embroidery that has the same qualities of a painting".

There are probably other names as well. I often just say "free motion stitching" or "stitch art" I really haven't decided on the perfect name for it yet. Mixed Media with Stitch is where I'm at now. That covers all the different materials I use and the stitching. So I guess that is the term I'll be using for these pieces.
When describing how the stitching is done the term "free motion" is used just because you have dropped the feed dogs on your machine so you can freely draw with the needle. Funny thing is some machines do well with the dogs dropped and others not so much. I always test out machines both ways; with the feed dogs dropped and then with them up. But the constant in the situation is you must have your stitch length set to Zero. Give it a try both ways you may be surprised.

Ok enough about that, let's get to todays image. I got the second one stretched today and finished. Here are some pics. This piece will also be in Thursday Shop Update Aug. 6th at 7pm Eastern. I love how the linen looks stretched to canvas. So much more complete. And I love complete.