| « Previous: Assignment 7: Final Project Proposal | Next: Assignment 9: Final Project » |
Knit, weave, embroider or print a novel textile. Create a page that documents your project and add your project link to this page. Your page should contain pictures and a paragraph or two that describes your project and discusses how it was made.
Sample work is presented courtesy of the students and used with permission.
| « Previous: student work sample | Next: student work sample » |
By Anonymous MIT student
The embroidered image of our home.
I was fascinated with the embroidery machine when I saw it in action; not only was I mesmerized by the speed of the needle moving through and across the fabric, but I was also amazed by the resolution of the images it could create. With my dad’s birthday and Mother’s Day around the corner, I decided to embroider the image of our home in California and to make a small pillow out of it. (I considered knitting the design, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to get the same image resolution at the scale I wanted with knitting as I would with embroidery.)
Process for drawing the design
In order to produce a relatively accurate drawing of my house, I copied the Google street view image of my house and “traced” it in vector format using the free SVG graphics editing software Inkscape.
Deriving a vector drawing of the house. (Original photo © Google. All rights reserved. This content is excluded from our Creative Commons license. For more information, see http://ocw.mit.edu/fairuse)
Clearly, I had to draw some parts from memory! Once the vector drawing was complete, I saved it as a .pdf file, opened the pdf in CorelDraw, and saved it as an .ai file. To prepare a file appropriate for the embroidery machine, I opened the .ai file in the DRAWings software, in which I spent some time customizing the stitching patterns/styles. For example, I specified a “serial” stitch instead of the default “running” stitch for the columns in front of the house. I also experimented with different stitch patterns in the software to make the bushes look as bush-like as possible!
I used two sheets of the stiffening fabric behind the fabric to be embroidered on. It took about 21 minutes to embroider the drawing of the house. I had so much fun watching it happen! I wish that I used a solid color for the fabric, but that’s a minor detail.
| « Previous: student work sample | Next: student work sample » |
| « Previous: Return to Assignment 8 description | Next: student work sample » |
By Rizal Muslimin
Workflow from RhinoScript to DRAWings to the Bernina embroidery machine.
I’m interested in exploring how algorithmic geometry can be generated in Bernina’s embroidery machine. I learned that although it’s fun to play with the embroidery software, I need to get more sense of how the scales and the pattern’s complexity will be converted.
Blossom algorithm animation.
I wrote this ‘blossom’ code in Rhinoscript as an extension of Trees Patterns. While the Fractal Trees creates branch and twig, my code creates algorithmic leaves and flowers. The way it works is similar: IF you find a line THEN turn it into leaf’s shape. Do that recursively so that every branch and twig will blossom. Also, randomly draws small petals to create flowers.
After the iteration, I can directly convert the pattern into *.ai files from rhino.
This software is so addictive but unreasonably expensive. I almost spent an hour just playing with different stitch and fills patterns to improve my original blossoming patterns. Satin’s style is my favorites. It can create small yarns’ dunes in the fabrics. The total line requires about 9000 stitches and 17 minutes.
Blossom on the Bernina embroidery machine.
As expected, I made mistakes. First, the scaling issues. It turns out what you see on the screens is not always what you get in Bernina. All the fine lines on DRAWings4 became way much bolder or thinner. I guess, it would have been nice to have a sort of textile palettes next to your screen when working with DRAWings. So you can instantly get a sense of how your design on the screen will be generated in the machine. Additionally, you can change the background and line color on the screen to fit your palettes. Second, the Simplicity issues. My algorithmic pattern has too many overlapping lines, and somehow it creates unexpected patterns (listen to the strange noises from the video). For this, I don’t have many options to test different colors since it would just make the pattern more complex. Third, is about preparation. In the middle of stitching process, the machine was running out of beads. So I need to change the bead which is also tricky. So, be prepared.
After the pattern was converted to *.AI files, all the algorithmic logic is also gone. As a result, the machine stitches the patterns following the way Illustrator converts the file from Rhino. It would be super interesting if Bernina can generate the original logic.
Blossoms as produced on the Bernina machine.
| « Previous: Return to Assignment 8 description | Next: student work sample » |
| « Previous: student work sample | Next: Return to Assignment 8 description » |
I didn’t think I’d have such a romance with the embroidery machine. Unable to shake the kitsch, great-aunt image throbbing in my head, it seemed the only solution was to employ just the opposite attitude. Sass, if you will.
Click on the first image to continue…
