News / Art
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May 21, 2013
Atlas Moth…more progress
Read more →The Atlas Moth is really starting to take shape, with the left side almost complete! I’ll let the pictures do the talking, so I can get back to it :) Remember to click on the images for a closer look! And here’s the real thing again for comparison:
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May 14, 2013
Atlas Moth – Last Week’s Progress
Read more →Hello! I’m writing this post in a slight rush to get out the door for work but as I’m off tomorrow and will be doing more embroidery I didn’t want TOO much time to elapse before I shared more WIP pics! As you can see, as usual I am building this design up in stages, finer detail and blocking lines first. This has a dual purpose too, of giving me a line to anchor later satin stitch work to a sold line. If that makes sense! At this point I switched from split stitch to french knots as the wing...
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May 05, 2013
Phase 1: Atlas Moth
Read more →As always, the foundation of a piece like this is all. So this will be a relatively dry post full of boring preparation shots. But, y’know. This stuff matters. First of all, I knew how big the finished, framed size had to be, so I plotted this out on some brown paper, then added in the frame and mount sizes to give the aperture – the embroiderable (?) size. Then I laid out the individual moth patterns I made to get an idea of how they would fit on the piece. I will be embroidering the latin names of the...
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Mar 05, 2013
Stumpwork Willow Branch
Read more →I know I seem to always say this, but I’m really pleased with the way this one turned out. When I had decided on the construction I thought that as it was going to be so simple, it might not be so effective. I also wasn’t sure about how the detached woven picots would behave as willow leaves, and whether they would give that twirly, tendril-like appearance. They are in fact infinitely poseable. I wanted to achieve with this piece that soft, falling, almost ethereal quality that white willows have in the spring. And I’m also really happy that it...
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Dec 31, 2012
Disaster! High Dramas and Heart Warmers
Read more →I’ll just let that one sit with you for a moment. Closer look? Are there words to describe the sheer tear-soaked devastation I felt on receiving my precious, sweated and slaved-over Swans from my framing lady, completely smashed? I mean, can you handle the drama? It’s like Eastenders Xmas Special. Or something. I came home on Tuesday (18th) night to find my framed piece in the kitchen. Nervous and excited me and Mister carefully started to slice open the well-packed and layered parcel. Then I heard it. Like Sleigh bells but more ominous. Tears were shed. Many many tears. The good...
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Nov 22, 2012
VIP Commission…This is an Endurance Sport.
Read more →This is what my desk currently looks like. Tidying up, along with all other non-essential tasks, have ceased to work on the VIP Swans. It’s going well. Better than well, probably my best work. But I am a very bad embroiderer. My mister says it’s the ‘Mad Scientist’ in me. I literally sleep, dream, eat, breathe this piece. Well, I would if I actually ate (or drank) anything during a session of stitching. I’m bad. I get all intense and can’t leave my chair. At night I obsessively think of the next bit and what stitches to use and...
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Nov 16, 2012
VIP Commission…transferring the pattern
Read more →So my pinboard which I usually use for damp-streching my finished work has been taken over by swans (and toadstools). Progressing with the pattern transfer. This was a lesson in trusting one’s instincts versus trusting one’s ruler. It was a draw. Here is my prepared piece; you can see the backing cotton under the doily with tacked centre lines and circular lines attaching both together. On goes the tissue paper pattern and I line up the centre lines. Here’s the start of my problems. Because I had tacked the two fabrics together in a rough circle, it was fooling...
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Nov 15, 2012
VIP: Stage 1
Read more →Stage one of my VIP commission. So we knew we wanted to work on one of my vintage doilies, and chose this large circular Irish linen one. I had initially in mind an oval shape as the composition of two swans will naturally sit landscape, but then I noticed this lovely sort of heart shape motif in the lace cutwork, and I thought it would be so nice as an echo to the swans curving necks. The doily is great quality, there was a tiny little hole which I mended, but other than that nothing but one or two tiny...
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Nov 11, 2012
VIP Commission
Read more →With my Midwinter ’12 collection now launched, I haven’t blogged as much this week as usual; I had thought I would get to ‘upgrading’ a few more designs for jewellery like the Ribcage pendant for a start. Then I was asked to do a VIP commission! It’s a VIP because it’s a very important piece for a very important person to me. This client is an old colleague, mentor and friend and someone with exquisite taste. When she contacted me and we talked about her ideas I got really excited to make this piece for her newly renovated Art Deco...
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Sep 04, 2012
On My Bookshelf...The Patchwork Cat
Read more →A lot of my books are classics, but it’s great to share one that isn’t so well known. This one combines CATS with TEXTILES! WIN. As usual this is/was a fave bedtime story, from 1981. It tells the story of a cat called Tabby. The illustrations are GORGEOUS. Soft and delicate yet incredibly detailed. This person loves cats for sure. And Tabby kind of looks like my Bengals Tulu/Mi-Go. In it we learn how Tabby loves her life and LOVES her patchwork quilt. And loves the Milkman (hope that’s special Cat milk he’s giving her). The mum in the story...