Sewing with wood

This is some great stuff. A design studio has come up with a way to stitch onto wood, meaning they can sew thin pieces of wood together. Stockholm-based designers Färg & Blanche came up with the idea, and the results are gorgeous.

The studio call the method ‘wood tailoring’, which gives a clue as to how precise the work is. Using an industrial sewing machine, the designers experimented with various materials, such as foam and leather, before turning to wood.

Including highly-visible patterns, the thick and well-spaced stitching contrasts with the thin wood. Plywood can be sawn and shaped to suit the pattern and the shape of the design.

In this case, the result is a beautifully crafted chair, though the designers have also prepared cupboards and shelves. Of course, much is possible, and sewing allows for some flexibility in the product.

It’s important that the wood used is quite thin, as it is actually fed through the sewing machine. The designers comment that they’d had the idea for some time, but that development took quite some time.

The end result bears some resemblance to a tailored suit. In the system, 2D panels are sewn together to form a 3D object, so the wood tailoring has a particularly creative feel about it. It is this craftsmanship that really makes this work stand out.

Combined with smart sawing, this sewn procedure really adds a dimension to working with wood. Check out this video of the stitching in progress.

More info and images are over on the designer’s website.