Auditioning - Deep Space

Further auditioning going on here in the studio. I thought I would do a series of shots for you to see the process. I have left some bits out, like slight adjustments to positioning, but for the most part this shows the process. It really helps to look at the step in the camera, and then see what wants changing. At the end, I can keep it as a reference when I go to sew it all together.

It looks a bit like dominoes, but it isn't!

In the first 3 I was working out sizes. I didn't use the fabric, but coloured paper that was similar in colour. The green wanted smaller and the yellow larger... and a bit of repositioning once that was settled.
In the next 2 I tried to see if that cotton fabric would work somewhere. It is still paper, but I used a reddish one. It decided to be a ring of moons round the purpley one. The pink at the top really needed a bit of blue so it would be more like the real fabric. I also had a deep purple with very dark spot I hoped to use for sunspots, so I darkened a scrap of the purple paper and played with it.

Now I was happy with the layout so far, so the last 3 shows I fused and cut the circles in the main fabric. Looking good, but a bit static, so I used an extra red circle which was a bit more orange off in top right corner. It helped to give space some depth. You can't see so well, but I couldn't decide on the position of the green...it has some darker spots that remind you of continents...did I want Europe with not quite Africa or the Americas? Okay, maybe no one else will spot it, but it is one of those things that helps it work when you look close. So, I decided Europe.

The layout was fine now, but the sun had lost the focus. So, a bit more playing and Voila! I may move the flares around a bit, but that can happen on the actual fuse stage. I have to take them all off now, fuse, and sew. I will refer to this photo to get it right, but use intuition as well.

The scary thing is... the background. It is from a sequined dress from a charity shop. A couple of us bought it when doing city and guilds fashion part 2 so we could do our sequined fabric samples! It has been in the cupboard since then. So, do I fuse over the sequins on the background or remove them? Okay, I know the answer, but it takes time and they are chain or tambour stitched on, so I have to be careful not to lose them all!

And now I know why I enjoyed doing the 6 x 12 in size. I actually had to contain my enthusiasm and get things done.