Game & Waste: ‘Game & Stitch!’ Book Review Part II

Last month I showed you a bit of Oozu Makoto’s adorable and retro book, ‘Game & Stitch!’.

 

Makato

 

We talked about some vintage games that you may or may not remember since many arcade games never gained a strong following in places other than Japan.

 

Game Over

 

All the same, the style of retro games is unmistakable. On top of the patterns, Makoto-san includes some project ideas and inspiring uses of waste canvas.

 

Coasters

 

Waste canvas is a stiff, removable grid that you stitch your pattern on. When you’re finished, just unravel the ends then use tweezers to gently pull the waste canvas threads out from under your stitches, leaving only an embroidered image.

 

Pillow

 

You can buy waste canvas at craft stores or on Amazon.com, which is where I got mine. Your waste canvas will come with simple instructions.

 

Player1

 

The internet is also full of blogs and articles about how to waste canvas, but be discerning because not everyone uses waste canvas the same way. For example, I’ve read some tutorials saying you stitch through the small holes and some that say you stitch through the large holes. The fabric you’re using will help determine if you need interfacing. Use a hoop, or don’t. You can baste the waste canvas on to your project, just do what works best for you.

 

Instructions

 

If you have the book, ‘Game & Stitch!’ there are photo instructions in the back about how to stitch on waste canvas. I decided to go with a large-hole-with-interfacing-no-hoop-pin-not-baste approach.

 

Ready1

 

The waste canvas that I used felt very stiff so I decided to soak my project in lukewarm water before I tried removing the threads. If you have a stubborn thread, just move to another one and come back to the tough guy later.

 

Ready2

 

Working on waste canvas is liberating because your canvas becomes anything that a needle pokes through.

 

LuluTruck

 

Luna is being a good girl modeling a Pac-Man kerchief in her truck.

Share The Love

Want More of the good stuff?

Hannalie Taute is a South African Mixed-Media artist who depicts fairy tales in rubber and thread, stitching unnerving self-portraits

Read More