Burnt Letters - presentation

I decided to create a sort of swatch book with the Burnt Letters.

I stitched a bead between each letter on the upper left.

I kind of like the look of the pages swirled round like that. The burnt edges make their own pattern.

Burnt Letters

Second ALAW set for 2014 v-z
At last caught up with the Burnt Letters.

And the Burnt Letters up close...

info about the technique and concept here and here. And now to do the presentation is left. I do have an idea of sorts.

But for now, here are all the Burnt Letters together.

Burnt Letters

Second set for 2014 q-u
Still catching up the Burnt Letters

And the Burnt Letters up close...

 

 

 

 

info about the technique and concept here.

Burnt Letters

Catching up the Burnt Letters m-p

And the Burnt Letters up close...

 

 

 

info about the technique and concept here.

Burnt Letters

Catching up the Burnt Letters i-l

And the Burnt Letters up close...

info about the technique and concept here.

Burnt Letters

Catching up the Burnt Letters e-h

And the Burnt Letters up close...

I trace the letters onto the fabric using my lightbox. If I did this again, I wouldn't cut all the squares of fabric first because sometimes it gets pretty hot when you are burning a section near the edge. Or perhaps if I centred the letter, there would be less problem, but I am considering doing something in the open spaces.
You have to also take into account that the just burnt section of fabric will be HOT. So when you reposition where you are holding it you have to be careful not to touch the section you just did. It cools fast, but you don't want to touch it straight away.

Burnt Letters

I never got around to starting a second set of letters. Partially because I find it hard to jump right in when the first set is finished and also because July and August are very busy months for me. It wasn't because I lacked for ideas, but rather that I couldn't settle on one.

However, the other day I followed up a link in the sidebar here to Fiona's blog where she had used an incense stick to do some burning marks on paper. Funnily enough, I was thinking of doing some more burn mark work with my soldering iron. I use it in a similar way to a wood burning tool.

So, I decided to do the second set using the soldering iron. This time I chose to use calico - actually the back of some calico I used years ago when I was first learning pattern drafting. So, recycling!

The calico takes a bit longer to create a strong mark than silk and needs more heat. For silk or for cutting synthetics, I use my Margaret Beal soldering iron with a curved tip. But for the thick cotton, I use a fine tip soldering iron made by Drapers.

As you see, it isn't as fine as the M.B. one, but I find it gets hotter and so works better on the calico.

So, I am working on catching up. Here are the first 4 letters. These are lower case letters from a Celtic Design book

I am considering presentation options.