How to respond to a story

Anyone, from anywhere in the world, is welcome to respond to a story. There are 2 ways to get involved and you can do either of these or both.

  1. Record your story as either as video, text, image or audio recording and upload to this site.
  2. Respond to a story of your choice via stitching, drawing or collaging and upload to this site.

The tutorials below will help you to think about ways in which you can interpret one of the stories uploaded on this site. You can choose which story to interpret or you can work on your own story. The only rule is that the work needs to be approximately A4 so that it can be photographed at high resolution to be included on the 23M high balloon and flown over Thamesmead.

We are encouraging stitch as a way of working and you will find introductions here – so don’t worry if you have never stitched before. If you prefer, there are tutorials on interpreting a story with drawing, painting and collage as well. 

We will be enlarging the designs and so even if your work is very small it will be digitally enlarged and printed onto the balloon. We are not looking for high quality but rather a direct and honest response to a story which you connect with. Most importantly, have fun!

Embroidery part 1 – tutorial by Livia Papiernik

Embroidery part 2 – tutorial by Livia Papiernik

Appliqué techniques – tutorial by Livia Papiernik

Block colour illustration – tutorial by Chloe Rochefort

Mark making – tutorial by Chloe Rochefort

Collage techniques – tutorial by Paige Denham

Mixing colours to form skin tones – tutorial by Chloe Rochefort

Choosing your fabric – tutorial by Livia Papiernik