ARTIST weaves stories

Why does ARTIST embroider their clothes?

In essence, embroidery is a decorative art which consists of adding a flat or raised pattern to a fabric, using different threads and stitches. Its presence, its originality, its quality give a high added value to the clothing and accessories signed ARTIST.

Closely linked to the concept of wearable art, it is a vector, a language to tell you more about the chosen work, to enhance its details, to highlight its contours. Not only does it embellish and embellish a model but it also enriches the romance, embellishes and enhances the artistic message.

Once upon a time...

At the house of ARTIST, embroidery is virtuoso work. Brigitte and François chose to stay in Burgundy, very close to an embroiderer who excels in this field. Mari Gautier has the art and technique, and they know it!  Long appointed embroidery designer of Aventures des Toiles, it is natural that all three continue their collaboration on custom projectsARTIST.One thing leads to another, a professional bond forged by years of knowledge and mastery associates to the taste and creative sensitivity of each person. They understand each other, trust each other, complement each other: period, that’s all!

How is this unfolding?

Mari receives Brigitte's stylistic file: work, drawings and sketches, debrief, instructions, orientations, specifications. After the impregnation and appropriation phase, Mari reinterprets and there it is the profession that speaks. From programming to prototyping, we are talking about a precision technique here. All phases require specific skills which she has acquired. In her workshop, she elaborates, looks for how to border, finds a beautiful texture. As a craftswoman, and for ARTIST, she festoons with finesse, zigzags with precision, chooses a cross stitch, invents fancy stitches, new stitches...

Programming

No satisfactory result without an excellent embroidery program! It all starts from there. From an initial image, it involves creating an embroidery program or file. After saving to the embroidery machine software, it is read and executed.

Not so simple, just one click! By hand, with her graphic stylus, she redoes all the contours. She does all the fillings. It defines the order of passage of colors, the changes of needles, when the yellow will be covered by the purple... Virtually, the embroidery process is visualized on the machine. This methodical preparation makes it possible to simplify, modify and adapt in anticipation of industrial production. Approach the most judicious approach for the best result, preservation of the base fabric, time savings, good gestures…

 

The Single or Multi-head embroidery machine

In industrial mechanical embroidery, there are single-head embroidery machines which embroider a single piece at a time or multi-head (up to 12 for series) and multi-needle (up to 15 per head).

Everything is ready, the program is launched. The machine starts up, stitching begins. First sequence, first color of thread, the needles lower and raise at a rate of up to more than 1000 stitches per minute. The number of embroidery stitches will vary depending on the size and complexity of the visual. It will therefore determine the completion time and cost of an embroidery. Even if the embroidery is not done by hand, the presence of the operator is still essential.

The cut out yoke of the garment is positioned on the machine using a frame so that it is completely held in place. It must not move at the risk of deforming the embroidery or damaging the fabric.

 

The threads, the color 

The finer the thread used, the more precise the embroidery, with countless composition possibilities: linen, cotton, silk, wool or polyester. Depending on the colors you want to reproduce, you will need to place the reels on the machine. 

The number of needles allows you to thread threads of different colors on each of them. Their size and shine sometimes contribute to variations in metallic effects, shades, or other...

The advantage is to be able to combine colored yarns according to existing ranges developed after dyeing by professional spinners.

Matte, iridescent, multi-coloured, classic, the palette is enriched with gold, silver and copper reflections, to create real constellations as you wish.

 The tests and the prototypes

In Mari's laboratory, tests multiply. She is full of ideas, suggests and therefore submits a profusion of tests, juggling all the combinations. The exchanges with Brigitte are incessant, with the model maker, the prototypist sometimes. The time comes for double checks The requirements specific to embroidery sometimes require certain modifications. The team is working hard because we have to come up with a solution to adorn ever more varied creations, of course, but the technical file must actually be usable in industry. Final validation follows. The prototypes ARTIST are then embroidered in Burgundy, by Mari, piece by piece. LThe production workshops will then take over to manufacture the pre-ordered and co-produced embroidered items, as you know so well.

 

Tête-à-tête with Mari Gautier

In the universe so colorfulARTIST, what is more complex?

Adjustments: Do and redo, get back to work until excellence. Perfectly follow the rounded side of a cardigan, embroider around a ribbon on a sleeve or at the edge of a piped pocket.

What do you like the most?

Freedom of interpretation, the element of the unknown in each theme. I do not get enough. Transform the image into threads, into singular stitches. Go from broken lines to stretched wire. Compose the language of threads, textures and colors.

(*) Mari Gautier

Esmod School in Paris, textile/computer graphics option, embroidery specialization in 1989.
Embroidery designer, applied art teacher and founder of the brand “Chambre 12” embroidered household linen - www.chambre12.net - Instagram: mari_chambre12