Agatha Christie Apron...

Here's the pinny that I printed at the Jane McKeating workshop last Saturday at the 2021 Visual Arts Centre.
I didn't know what I wanted to make when I started but after I cut out a magpie-shaped stencil, which was taken from one of my drawings, I decided it was starting to take on a slightly sinister feel.
I then cut cross-shaped stencils and a plan began to hatch...

I'm a huge fan of Miss Marple, especially the Margaret Rutherford films, who is my number one style guru (that lady could sure rock a tweed cape)!!!

I also love printing in a 'painterly (in other words, very messy) way and I wanted to layer, overlap and capture the creases of the fabric.

I've had this pinny for a very long time, I've no idea how old it is but I think that it must have been used by a maid which is how the Agatha Christie vibes started to emerge.

I did also want it to look a little bit like an early 1960's graphic design, as a little nod towards my fashion icon.

Hope you like!

It was such good fun to make, I felt like I was back at art college again!

X

Jane McKeating Workshop...

Last Saturday I attended a workshop by the brilliant textile artist Jane McKeating at the 2021 Visual Arts Centre.
I was so looking forward to it because some of Jane's work is exhibited in the 62 Group's Cntrl Shift Exhibition (that I blogged about a little while ago) and it also gave me the chance to meet up with two of my good friends.

Jane brought a huge selection of examples of her beautiful work which was based on family memories and has been printed and embroidered on old handkerchiefs.

My friend seemed to be wearing the same jumper!

We spent the morning screen printing onto vintage charity-shopped finds.

Jane was so generous with her materials and knowledge and her daughter helped us all so much.

In the afternoon we could add stitch to embellish our designs (I didn't get to sew very much because I was obsessed with the printing!)

Look at my friend's funky dog!

By the end of the workshop we had all produced completely different work, it had been a fantastic day and I really want to do some more screen printing!

I couldn't resist photographing the remnants left on my friend's table!

Thanks so much for such a brilliant day, I loved every minute!

I'll put my piece of work on a separate post because there are already a lot of photos on here!
See you soon!

Party Lurcher!

A few days ago I started stitching one of my favourite designs, (I don't usually repeat a piece of work but I really love stitching this cheery chappie!)

And no matter how hard you may try, every one emerges with their own personality!

At the end of the day though, I knew it wasn't quite right, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

So, after making a cup of tea, I took a photo of it.

Now, I find this little trick really useful when trying to see with 'fresh eyes'.

So the next day I looked at the photo and realised that my Party Lurcher needed a bit of a nip and tuck as his head was a bit too wide.

I overlaid some scraps of the fabric used for the background, I also liked how the pink showed through a little on the right hand side of the eye brow.

I think that when you have a bit of a struggle, either in painting or stitching (or anything creative,) it can add extra layers and textures...

but cups of tea are needed, lots of cups of tea!

You can see how many layers there are on the back!

Hope you didn't mind me sharing my stitching struggles, but I do enjoy a testing creative challenge, 

(and the tea, did I mention the tea!)

x

Care To Dance?

It's been a while since I blogged a step-by-step, I wondered if you'd like to see how my latest machine embroidery developed?

I wasn't too careful when I placed the fabric scraps because I wanted to create a 'sketchy' quality.

Then I thought she looked a bit lonely...

You can see how much I use my trusty post-its!

Time to design some finery!

I think that she would like some lace!

You can see how loosely you can place the fabric pieces before stitching...

His tail was quite tricky to stitch.

'Care to dance?'

Eco Printing Adventures!

On Saturday I had a brilliant day at the eco printing workshop with Joelle Harris, (The Eco Wardrobe Warrior,) at The Steel Rooms in Brigg.

The Steel Rooms has a beautifully light and airy workshop space upstairs and Joelle brought a huge variety of plants, leaves and materials for us to play with.

Joelle showed us her beautiful printed samples before we were let loose!

The beauty of this technique is that you can never really predict what will happen!

It was like Christmas when you unwrapped your bundle!

Soon lots of printed fabrics festooned the workshop space!

Playing with silk...

So exciting!

I found a friend!

Look at Joelle's beautifully printed pinny!

It was amazing to see the variety of colours you could create.

Time for a cup of tea before printing our scarves...

Laying out the leaves and flowers ready for printing... very exciting!

This one was a big bundle!

My friends printed silk scarves...

Ta! Dah!

Look how stunning the print is when the light shines through the silk.

And here's my woollen scarf!

I kept a couple of the hydrangea flowers that were left over.

Thank you so much Joelle and all at The Steel Rooms for such a fabulous day. I can't wait to try this at home.

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