Workshop & Instructor Information

Carol Shinn

Freestyle Machine Embroidery

April 16 - 19, 2009

All Levels / Experienced with a Sewing Machine

Participants of all levels will explore the use of the sewing machine for imagery and surface design with free-style stitching. A variety of techniques will be introduced, but the emphasis will be on saturating the fabric surface with layers of thread to create shading and rich color mixing. Techniques using heat- transfer with fabric will be covered. Pieces will be stitched by lowering the feed dogs of the machine and moving the fabric freely while sewing. Computerized machine-controlled patterns will not be covered.

On the first day we will use heavy cotton canvas and work on adjusting machine tension, creating color gradations, and begin a small image with paint and stitching. The second day that small image will be completed and a collage with dissolvable films introduced. On the third day we will work on heat-transfer images using broadcloth bonded to canvas.

Bring a sewing machine that is in good working order. The machine should be able to lower its feed dogs and needs a darning or a free-style embroidery foot.

Skill level: All levels (know how to operate your machine).

Carol Shinn is a studio artist from Fort Collins, CO known internationally for photo-realistic machine-stitched images. She holds a BFA from the University of Colorado and a MFA from Arizona State University. She has taught many classes and workshops across the United States as well as teaching at Arizona State University and at Mesa Community College in Arizona. Her work is in numerous public and private collections and has been featured in many magazines and in books, including The Nature of Craft and the Penland Experience; Discovery: Fifty Years of Craft Experience at Haystack Mt. School of Crafts; Color and Composition by Katie Pasquini Masopust and Brett Barker; Celebrating the Stitch by Barbara Smith and Fiberarts Design Book Six and Seven. More information is available at www.carolshinn.com.