Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Piecing











Yesterday I showed you this lettering and complained that it was inconsistant and therefore badly designed in terms of appearance.

Today I'm going to show you how it was pieced and complain about that too.

The U is put together from 9 pieces. It is fairly simple but it does have some potential problems.
I'm concerned about the possibility of misalignment if the sewing is less than perfectly precise.






However, if the U were pieced this way, then any misalignment would not be as noticeable.
The S is divided horizontally into 6 strips and then the strips are divided into pieces. The result is 20 pieces.
Not all the pieces are necessary. The center of the S could be sewn from 3 pieces instead of 8. The extra pieces make extra work and create alignment problems.
If the S were divided vertically into 2 strips, then the strips could be divided as shown. There would be only 12 pieces and the chances of misalignment greatly reduced.
The A is put together from 12 pieces. The number of pieces is not a concern here.
However, I am concerned about the possibility of misalignment.

If the A were pieced like this, then misalignment is no longer as great a concern.








THE MORAL:
Designing pieced lettering is not just about creating letters that look good. Designing includes deciding how best to sew the letters. It means, among other things, avoiding wherever possible the potential for misalignment and avoiding creating unnecessary seams.


Should you wish to criticize my lettering, you can find examples by going to My Posts by Subject in the sidebar on the right and clicking on Lettering.

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