Exhibitions, exhibitions, exhibitions...!

My very first exhibition is up and running!! Having worked right down to wire (its no fun any other way... right?) we took my hard work up to Kingston on Sunday and spent the day arranging, (re-arranging) and fixing it to the walls of the cafe, ready for opening. A big thanks needs to go to all my family who have helped so much in getting things ready, (Mum, your plaiting skills, I think are well practiced now!) and helping on the day with power drills, hammers and trusty blue tack!

I am very pleased with the finished exhibition and invite everyone who is interested to go and view it over the next month at 'Cafe Bernado' - 42, Richmond Road, Kingston-upon-Thames, KT2 5EE. I will be there again on Saturday early evening, and am looking forward to seeing everyone who has already said they are coming then and any more that feel so inclined are most welcome!

So I am now surrounded by a very messy studio and 2 empty looms. Having taken a couple of days to recover, I guess its now out with the hoover and then finding more inspiration again!

A quick sales plug to finish! Please remember I do accept commissions, for other colours/sizes of clothing and rugs (I will even accept your own rags!).
Plus if you have a special person you would like to have a doll made for, I am willing to work from photographs to create look'a'likes and, or, work with fabrics/old clothes you would like to have made into a keep-sake!

Never a wasted moment!

We were visiting my husbands family in Yorkshire this weekend, and with a 7 hour (each way) train journey ahead of me I eagerly started planning craft activities to keep me busy... Even I was impressed when we returned home and I had almost completely finished a cloth doll for my exhibition which should be happening from the 15th April!

We had a lovely weekend seeing the family, and it is always pleasing when you have made such progress. I did get some very funny looks on the train however!! This doll is certainly my most well travelled...!

Sneak Preview!

I am very excitedly working towards my first ever exhibition! It is to be located in Kingston, and will feature a range of my work for one month.

I set a kind of theme for myself which is based around recycling but with a bit of magic thrown in... I am creating cloth dolls which have an edgy appearance, based on traditional fairy stories but with more attitude, and obvious elements of recycling.

I will have a number of my woven items also on display including rugs/wall hangings, as well as clothing... I just have to work out how to display everything using only a vertical plain!

So I thought I would upload a sneak preview of some of the things I have created so far... but please go down and see my exhibition.. exact dates and details of location to follow!

Cinderella raggedy rug......

My latest creation has been something of a breath of fresh air. I wanted to weave something different as my first project for 2012 and am really pleased with the results! I used a yarn for the warp which was given to me as someone was throwing it out... and the weft I made entirely by cutting up old clothes into rag yarn! I love the block weaving technique which produced the vertical stripes down the weave, I have never seen a rag rug with this design and I think it works exceptionally well.
Plus I have been able to explain to everyone who has seen it what clothes went into making the rag which is great fun... "that was my t-shirt and over there is mum's t-shirt.....!" I have mixed cotton and jersey fibres but tried to weave so that there was one of each being woven alternately to maintain somewhat an average tension which worked well, and of course the rug has a lovely springy feel to it which helps it come to life.
I would suggest for people who would like one made that providing your own rags/clothes, gives you an exact say over the colours you would like and an immense sentimental hold over the rug as you can choose fabrics that really mean something to you...!
I was going to sew in the warp ends to leave a neat selvedges at either end but once I had finished it I decided to plait the warp threads which I think gives it a more raggedy fun feel.

Patches, patches, patches...

Whilst on holiday last August in Wales, I came across a tiny upholstery fabric shop in the most unlikely village, called Harlech, I made my family visit to buy some of their famous cheese, its yummy!

Anyway, outside the shop in an unlikely looking basket were fabric scraps priced at 5p each for charity, I of course immediately delved in and bought a massive bag full with the idea of creating a patchwork lounge chair based on one I had seen in a shop with my husband in Guildford.

Of course on returning home with my scraps we had to set to and find a chair! This proved to be a task and a half but finally in a tiny shop in Petersfield we found two!! A little more than we bargained for admittedly but we fell in love with them both immediately!

So the renovation commenced, we set ourselves the task of completing at least one of the chairs by Christmas (which we achieved - just)!!

So here are some pics of the seat pad finished, more pics of the completed chair to follow... I decided to use a muted 'driftwood' colour satin paint for the woodwork, and a bright denim fabric to make the piping to edge the busy patchwork. I was delighted with the results!!

shhhh..... there are fairies in the garden...!

My second xmas make this year I have been waiting to do since september... I saw these cloth dolls at the Knitting and Stitching show in Alexandra palace, London and instantly had to buy a how-to book. I have to say my mum was lucky she even got given the doll, I fell in love with her so much!

I copied one of the patterns from the book I brought at the show and developed my own ideas on the theme with her colourings and clothes... My favourite part of her creation had to be doing her face, albeit the most nerve racking part as well! I bought special micron pigmy pens from bay to do the outlining and used watercolour pencils for the shading. I was amazed and so relived when her face turned out so well... she really came to life!

I added more detailing than is shown in the pictures, in the form of tiny free machine embroidered flowers and leaves to form a corset and a sprinkling over her skirt layers.

For me Christmas is always about the haste and excitement in the days leading up to the main event whilst I scrabble to get my chosen makes completed, and this year was no different, I finished my fairy at 11 o'clock christmas eve!

But I think you'll agree every stitch was worth it...

xmas makes!

With all recipients having had first peek at their gifts I feel its safe to post some pics online... I have always loved making Christmas presents for special people, last year I made a waistcoat (handwoven) for my husband, but this year I decided to have some fun and create knitted reindeer hats for my nephews! I found the pattern in a magazine and set forth.

Of course I made the first hat well in advance and then.... had to rush the second hat which I left to the last minute! Still they were fun to knit and the knitted noses added the final touch...