Five Tips for Creating Fabric Art with Meaning
At the most basic sense, sewing is a utilitarian skillset. Sewing clothes, home decor and quilts satisfies basic needs. When you sew a dress or handbag, or sew a quilt to keep warm, it automatically feels special because you made it yourself! Making meaningful art starts on a personal level. Making something that means something to YOU is where it all begins.
I started out sewing handbags and bellbottoms, and at the time the pieces I was creating didn’t feel very meaningful. When I sewed my first quilt, I realized that fabric art can take on so many layers of meaning! I mean, sure, you can make things just because you enjoy making them. There is no shame in that; none at all! But when you infuse meaning into a work, it becomes elevated somehow from the other stuff you have created. Suddenly it becomes an heirloom piece. It becomes part of your legacy.
Truly, meaningful art and fabric art can share part of your story. It can also share your opinions and be a way to share about your values. Infusing your works with meaning can ultimately make a difference! You can use your art to spark a conversation, to get your point across…it can become your mouthpiece to say what you want to say.
Here are five tips to infuse your fabric arts with meaning!
Colors tell a story! Colors mean different things in different cultures, and colors have a lot of personal significance. The colors you choose for a work can help get the overall mood across and set the tone for the message behind the work.
Prints and patterns speak volumes. Fabric arts are kind of like collage in visual art, because there are so many different fabrics to choose from. This might sound obvious because seamstresses are used to choosing fabrics for various projects, but the prints you use can either add meaning or make the meaning more challenging to decipher. Let the prints and patterns be part of the storytelling in your fabric art.
Surface design as a design element can add a lot to your toolkit. You don’t have to know every extensive way to add your own mark making to fabric, you just need a way to write and a way to paint. A lot of seamstresses simply print designs onto fabric with their home printer! That alone can add so much meaning if you print a photo or other imagery that means something to you. Printmaking and block printing are two additional ways to get an image on fabric. Let your method be thoughtful to the message you are trying to convey.
Embroidery and stitching can add layers of meaning. I have not ever been a hand stitcher, however if you love stitching by hand, taking the extra time to stitch on your pieces adds so much. Hand stitching is an act of defiance in modern culture, where everything can be purchased with the click of a button. Machines do most of the heavy lifting nowadays, and when you stitch by hand it adds an imperfect, human element to a piece.
Shapes and applique also tell a story! The shapes and applique elements you add to a piece can completely infuse your piece with meaning. Applique is the fastest way to add an element of surprise or to tell the story you are trying to convey visually. If you are trying to express meaning visually without words in fabric art; applique is a simple way to do that!
I hope this sparks some ideas! As a seamstress, I’ve tried a lot of different ways to get my point across in my sewing. And I bet you have some tried and true methods that you absolutely love too! Be open to trying new things and think outside the box the next time you create a fabric piece! When you create fabric art with meaning you will treasure that piece for years to come!
