Drop by and see what I'm working on at the moment!
It's alive!
Hmm, came across these I stored in a drawer a few months ago. Must have got a bit excited with my free-form sewing foot and ’sketched’ out a couple of sea creatures on some crisp, white Irish linen from my stash. Must do some more of this - I love the fact that the foot allows you to doodle and scribble with your sewing machine, so liberating.
I used some of that dissolvable tracing stuff and a Sharpie to sketch out the design first (has to be insoluble ink or it’ll end up over the fabric when you wash it away) … handy hint if you’re trying it at home: stretch the fabric over a largeish embroidery hoop before you start (with the hoop upside down if you see what I mean) otherwise the foot will pucker up the fabric. You might need to remove the foot first to get the hoop underneath.
Grumpy lobster
Nice as they are, I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with them … any suggestions (be nice)? Toying with the idea of a quilt again at the moment so might do a few more and use them as patches.
A Cross Heron
Our lovely friends Ged & Wendy have just moved to an old rambling farmhouse in Devon, acquiring 2 kittens, a pig and a couple of hens along the way (much to the delight of their own brood). Ged’s an artist and film art director and Wendy lectures and researches in sexual and social history, so between them they have this great ability to collect and compile unusual things. Their latest is a bunch of heron drawings, created by friends and relatives and it’s completely intriguing - so many different styles and different interpretations, it’s an off the wall and absorbing collection.
I’ve thrown in my contribution with this machine sewed chappie on duck canvas, but he ended up looking a bit grumpy - wouldn’t want to meet him on a dark night.
vintage cushions
I made some cushions out of a floral vintage pelmet (finished off with some old, small pearl buttons), which ‘Le Magasin’, the stylish antique/coffee shop in Cliffe High Street are proudly displaying in their windows. Rather nicely set off by a bit of rural gothic draped over the back of the chair, although the fur in question doesn’t look too chuffed about it.
Vintage craft books
I’m adding to my vintage craft book collection and it’s such a joy to go through the pages I thought I’d share some of them here.
I feel such a geek listing them … erm, some justification was meant to finish this sentence but I can’t find one, I am a geek.
They exude an enthusiasm which I feel around again at the moment in the craft revival and I think they’re apt for right now. Many of them are from the war or just post-war period so they were a necessity - how to use your scraps, how to make do and mend, and the Government issued leaflets along similar lines. Just think, not only was craft seen as a great and useful hobby, it was of national importance!
They include:
- ‘Pins & Needles: Treasure of Family Needlework’ (2nd ed 1953)
- ‘Modern Knitting Illustrated’ (1st ed, approx 1945)
- ‘Wooden Toymaking Step by Step’ (2nd ed, 1963)
- ‘Practical Knitting Illustrated’ (1st ed, approx 1940)
- ‘Encyclopedia of Needlework’ by Therese de Dillmont (1st ed, 1897)
- ‘Gifts You Can Make Yourself’ (1st ed, c.1940s)
I think we’re at a time when recycling and cutting back are high on our agenda at the moment so I can only think the craft renaissance will continue. Materials can be so expensive now - if you look at the knitting books on the shop shelves you’d be forgiven for thinking that there are only about 3 wool manufacturers worth buying wool from, and that a size 12 jumper will cost a minimum of £45 to knit up. It’s about time we saw some cheaper alternatives coming to the fore, but I think that will only happen when knitters develop the confidence to experiment a bit more, to read their wool bands, do their tension squares and think ‘hmm, this will knit up the same as that Rowan wool for half the price’. I’ve been a sucker for that myself in the past but no more, I’m going to do some more research and find out some good quality alternatives.
It’s time there was a bit of a backlash against the expensive brands - in these times of fiscal need, craft should be a more satisfying and fulfilling way of saving a bit of wedge here and there.
Coffee Sacks
Saw this great Scarecrow Kit on Hen & Hammock and being a dedicated crafter thought I’d try one out for myself. I bought 10 coffee sacks on Ebay for £7 - bargain! I’m pretty sure they’re giving them away out the back of nearby specialist coffee shops, but I had a rotten cold and couldn’t face the mad conversation which was likely to ensue. That’s the beauty of Ebay - anonymity.
Anyways, they arrived in a big box and I hid them away before my husband could raise an eyebrow. They’re actually rather nice things - lovely jute, loose weave, cool prints, and there are millions of them cluttering up landfills so they tick the recycling boxes too. And obviously they smell of luverly rich, dark coffee. Now I’ve got them cluttering up the spare room, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to get round to doing anything scarecrowlike with them anytime soon (what was I thinking? We’ve only got a tiny garden anyway), so I’m thinking of other uses … like upholstering a chair, could be great.
If you feel driven to do the same, use items like Hen & Hammock’s peg bag for inspiration, and Etsy have a heap of cool bags and purses for sale made out of coffee sacks (with varying results). If you can’t be bothered to go to your local coffee outlet, I’d be wary of paying anything over £1 each for these things. Although they’re invaluable to the crafter, there are thousands of them out there and they’re not hard to come by. Another resource is coffee community forums, such as Too Much Coffee, where coffee shop owners are posting questions about what to do with their sacks!
They’re the poor, modern cousins of the mightily expensive vintage linen grain sacks and I can see big things for them.
The lady from Wickle came by into the shop the other day, all flowing and fragrant and threw away some comment like “I think functional things should also always be beautiful” and I went “Oh yes totally, I completely agree” and then came home and looked at all our grotty functional things and sighed. So I embroidered a crazy tiki tiki towel for the kitchen instead of the grotty old green one we had. Then I thought bad things like “but grotty green might be someone’s idea of beautiful” and “aren’t there other things I should be doing?” …
Anyhoo, for anyone who’s interested, towelling is a bugger to embroider onto, best off using tissue paper to transfer your design onto.
Stop stop I hear you cry, not another piece of embroidery gift frippery palmed off on a poor unwitting friend’s child? (well I say friend …) When will this torture stop.
Another birthday, another embroidered present. This time a framed rocket ship to the moon for a friend’s little boy. Stitches are old outlining favourites, split stitch, bit of back stitch and some fillers.
So a carer at Warner Jnr’s nursery left to have a baby and since the class he’s in is called Penguins I took it rather literally and … you guessed it … I sewed up this little jangly penguin for her new monkey, complete with bell inside ‘n’ all. Still loving this felt embroidery stuff, so tactile and shakeable … and now janglable too.
I’ve started making up some cushions for the v.stylish antique shop down the road - they seem to have this never-ending treasure trove of vintage fabric which they sell to discerning customers for soft furnishings generally. Style-de-jour is the loose-woven linen sack material so sought after at the moment, and a customer needed a couple of cushions made up at short notice, so here they are. Three antique French buttons (of course) close the back, and I’ve overlocked the edges to prevent fraying.
I’m using a similar fabric to upholster my chair (on which the cushions are so stylishly modelled ahem) but have only just reached the fabric bit, so it was good to try it out on something smaller first. It’s quite tough and slubby at times, but so hard-wearing and forgiving when it comes to a household full of cats, dogs, 2-year-olds … at least that’s what I’m hoping.
As you can see I’m still totally uninspired when it comes to titles for these posts … I’m starting a new regime of say what you see, no clever trying to be funny business.
So, having discovered the wonderful world of Marimekko fabric (better late than never) swiftly followed by an offcuts spending spree on Ebay, I was left with the small problem of what to actually do with them all. I decided to use scraps as backing on some of my small embroidery projects, including the Jura deer (see entry below), which reminded me that I need to polish my act up when it comes to presentation. So I printed out some small labels using printable fabric sheets (yes I know you can print your own fabric on a laserjet using freezer paper but my attempts have all led to a massive printer jam), gathered up the top with dishwasher cotton and hey presto. Pretty sweet huh? At least my Christmas pressies will look marginally more impressive this year (marginally being the operative word).
