Putting horrible vegetables to good use.

Well, I haven't had so much fun since nursery school, experimenting with potato and broccoli shapes tonight and fabric paints.

I'd much rather print with broccoli 'trees' than eat them,  and a little gold emulsion wall paint added a special bit of sparkle to my potato flower petals.  This could be really addictive, but time available is so short at the moment.

Make Do and Create Chair Upholstery

Fabric and Textiles are lots of fun. There are no limits to how we can change our environment with a bit of time and effort.

I found this lovely Sheridan bedding last year.  In blue and white,   Antique French wallpaper was the design inspiration for Bowood, a beautifully hand-painted toile of flowers, foliage and even a pair of songbirds.   I've scanned the fabric and printed images of sections of the design onto photo paper to use in picture frames above my bed.  Instant vintage class for not a lot of money.

Question - what do you do when your tatty old brown chair spoils your lovely new blue bedroom?
Answer - find a staple gun, experiment with a paper pattern and reupholster the chair in matching fabric.  I'm really pleased with the result.  Next time I might try buttoning the upholstery.

A visit to London; The Victoria and Albert and Tate Britain...

Recently I've been to London with my art class to visit the Tate Britain and The V&A, we had great fun exploring the galleries, finding exciting works and historic items. The rooms were nearly as inspiring as the items on display as the mosaic floors, sweeping staircases and dome glass roofs made you feel like you were in a great cathedral/palace at the same time.

The V&A really inspired me and I could have spent all day there looking at our British ancestors' homes and artifacts; there were a huge range of floral items including dresses, fabrics, plates, chairs and wall paintings.

This dress was one of the highlights of my day, as soon as I saw it I wanted to wear it!

I found this veil in the wedding displays, I think the delicate lace flowers and foliage make this a very beautiful piece

Believe it or not this dress was made for a twelve year old to wear, the exquisit fabrics used to make this dress allowed it to shimmer in the candle light. Imagine trying to get through a doorway in it though!

The dress above is from Korea, it reminded me of my work last year on patchquilts and my trousseau boxes. The fan had a similar impact upon me as I am currently doing studies of pansy's.

This piece was in the Iznik section, I loved the flowing shapes and bright coloured flowers.

This is the first work in the Tate Britain that caught my eye, the pastel colours, soft flowers and the floaty shapes of the girls dresses inspired me enough to sit down and draw it for two hours!

When I found this image it instantly amused me because of the fact that the ballerina is in a position completely opposite to what we imagine a ballerina to look like

The detailing on this painting inspired me due to the complexity of the patterns used, the beading, lace ruffle and perfect stitches make you wonder how long someone spent making such a striking dress!

Machine Knitting Masterclass

My first experiment with machine knitting - a lilac cardigan in five parts, 20 minutes to knit each, three days to sew it together - now I need an overlocker......

Thank goodness for my Grandmother and her lifelong wool obsession.

Open Doors: Textile Stores at St Fagans National History Museum

Thursday 6th September, 2pm - 3pm - luckily, after enrolling at school for Year 13 in the morning, I still  an opportunity to visit the Museum's textile storeroom with curator Elen Phillips as part of the Open Doors: European Heritage Day.

Elen took a small group of visitors behind the scenes to look at a selection of the textile artifacts which are held in the museum.  After walking through room after room of racking and containers, we had a chance to discuss a few items in detail. 

Did you know that it's been a welsh tradition to hide shoes and other personal items in chimneys, perhaps thought to bring good luck to the household?  Or that women used to wear large material pockets hidden in their clothing? (Hence the crime of Pocket picking, lots of interesting glimpses into past lives at the Old Bailey Court records see http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/ )

The clothing was amazing, you should see the whale bone and steel corsets and under garments. 

The museum never throws away  any textile - items are passed between different museums, lesser important items may be offered to theatrical costumiers or colleges for study.

The highlight of the tour for me was the opening of a random drawer, to reveal this beautiful eighteenth century dress. with incredible hand embellishment and embroidery.

 

I spent a week in the Glamorgan Archives/Public Records Office in 2010 learning a little about the importance of document and paper conservation and now I've gained a further valuable insight into past times and the work which is in progress to maintain our textile heritage. 

Blue diamonds and cupcakes...

Today I finished a new raglan sleeve cardigan that I started as a distraction from my exam revision 3 months ago. The fronts are decorated with a a diamond lace pattern and its main body is a plain stocking stitch, my favourite part is the cupcake buttons which really make this cardi (I have a thing for cupcakes and they don't even have to be on the plate).

Look out for my next cardigan, heaven knows what buttons i'll come up with!

Braiding in the Rain or "Stop String Being Boring".

Wednesday 15th August - "Braids from The Past: As long as people have made string, they have plied, knotted and braided it to make it longer, stronger or just more decorative! Join this workshop to learn some ancient skills that you can use at home. 2 different sessions.  Braids from prehistory: Ply Stone Age cord, make a Bronze Age plait and braid the leather bracelet found on an Iron Age bog body. 2pm - 4pm: More fun with two: Make a Viking whipcord and an Early Medieval loop braid fit for a queen - but make sure you bring a friend!"

What an invite - well, you never know when a bog body bracelet will be needed, so in pouring summer rain, my grandmother, mother and I wandered off this week to a St Fagan's to find the workshop.

By the time we tracked down Louise Mumford, Conservator, Department of Archaeology (National Museum of Wales), we were drenched, not good as my Mum melts in the rain. The good news was that we had Louise all to ourselves for a master class in braids and textiles.

I was able to make a twisted ply cord from nettle stems and flax and braided a leather bracelet which has loads of possibilities for other textile projects.  Louise gave a fascinating overview of ancient textiles, tablet weaving, fingerloop braids, japanese kumihimo braids, American native indian finger weaving and was also able to show us artifacts used in bronze and iron ages to create textiles.

I'm going to put my name down as a volunteer for the museum and find out how I can help show techniques to visitors in future.