This weekend...

...I will be staying inside out of the gale force winds and working on this.

 

 

 

I have coveted one of Alicia Paulson's embroidered Christmas ornament kits since she first started making them and this year I treated myself. After an agonising wait whilst it made it's way through customs it arrived this week! :) I couldn't wait to get started. I first made the Polar bear, though I haven't yet knitted his scarf poor thing! Now I'm working on the cross stitch design for the Selbu mitten, I don't do a lot of hand embroidery these days and I'm really enjoying doing something that I can snuggle up on the sofa and slowly work away at. I generally like things to be done instantly, I'm quite impatient like that so I think it's good for me to work on something that takes a bit of time and patience.

I think you can still buy these kits here, they're all so lovely I may have to buy one or two more! :)

Finished altar cloth

This week I was sent photos of the embroidery commission I created last summer which has now been sewn onto it's backing and adorns the altar at South Bristol community hospital. It's great to see it all finished and in place! :)

 

 

Wedding dress makeover

Here's another something I've just finished working on. I was given this dress which was something of a blank canvas and instructed to pretty it up a bit. I didn't want to add anything too fussy, just enough to accentuate the simple cut of the dress. 

And so here is the 'After' I added panels of lace to the front of the bodice which I then embellished with sequins and small pearls. I echoed this with more lace around the back dipped neckline which adds elegance and just enough sparkle without being over the top!

Ahoy there!

I've been holed up in the warm today with a constant supply of hot drinks and a pile of fabric - perfect day! I love this snow we're having, it's so beautiful but I do like to stay inside in the warm and cosy! 

 

 Here's something I've been working on today, an applique ship cushion design in printed cotton and tweed which will be for sale at The Emporium in Yeovil in the very near future! :)

Christmas presents; Ship applique!

My lovely boyfriend requested I paint him a picture for Christmas, nice idea, slight issue in that I can't paint. At all. :( So instead I went for something I definitely can do, embroidery! Painting with fabric is so much easier! I decided on a ship design as I knew that would be something he'd like and googled a little for inspiration. I found this vintage embroidery pattern and this  gorgeous design created using it which I was much inspired by.

 

 

 

 

I simplified the design by taking out a lot of the intricate details, doing away with all the detail on the hull and instead opting for a silhouette in lovely textural vintage tweed. I then stretched it onto a frame made (with much help, thanks Dad!) of wood and stapled it in place. I'm pleased to say it was received incredibly well and will be hung in pride of place in our home! :)

New on etsy!

Created with a combination of applique, machine embroidery and hand embellishment, this piece was inspired by traditional Indian textile designs.

 

 

Shining glass beads, sequins and sparkling jewels have been added to this piece to lend it further textural and visual beauty. It's currently hanging on my bedroom wall and it catches the light beautifully. I may have to make a similar one to keep myself!

 

You can buy it HERE!



Hand embroidery

Whilst going through a box of fabric the other day I came across this tablecloth. It belonged to my Grandmother and must have been hand embroidered by her, or perhaps by her mother.

 

 

 

 

My point is, and it's one that I so often think, that it seems crazy now, in the 21st century, the things that people in the past would have done as a routine pastime. It would never occur to me to sit and hand embroider a tablecloth, I just wouldn't consider it as an option, just think of the time it would take, the amount of stitches! And I think the same when I'm in a museum looking at hand made lace, of a giant tapestry, or even frankly a hand sewn garment. Things that most people these days wouldn't attempt or even know how to and yet back in the day it was a necessity and women wouldn't think twice about doing it. As someone who is so determinedly attached to her sewing machine, I have an awful lot of admiration for these things and those women!

New designs

I'm super duperly excited about some new designs I'm currently working on which started out as a personal project but which has developed into pieces to sell on Etsy which hopefully will be ready in the near future...

 

 

 

I find I'm struggling to make definite deadlines on anything at the moment which I think is due mainly to balancing two jobs with personal life, textile design work and recreational sewing. It's all a bit of a juggling act at times but I actually find I enjoy the challenge of it, I like not having a definite routine, I find it allows more room for spontaneity which in turn fuels creativity. A chance meeting in Starbucks on Tuesday morning may lead to an exciting new project, I love things like that. I feel very lucky to be able to live like this at the minute. I'm a very happy girl!

Midnight Rose!

I am proud to announce the opening of my online etsy shop Midnight Rose where you can buy beautifully embroidered textile home and fashion accessories! Currently in my shop I have a range of framed embroideries inspired by traditional art and textiles from around the world. Please go and take a peek and let me know what you think! :)

(More items will be up by the end of the week!)

Creative surge

I have been feeling particularly creative the past few days, and have enjoyed allowing myself to play around with drawing and stitch without any particular outcome in mind. It's refreshing for me and resulted in some lovely ideas and designs.

Commission finished! (Part 2)

 

 

 

...And so, here is the second of my altar cloth panels finally finished. I had a kerfuffle with some missing beads and had to order some more, hence the delay with this panel. But now it is finally completed and I can relax (for a moment or two) :)

 

 



Commission finished! (part 1)

 

 

So here it is, the first of two embroidered panels I've been working on for my first ever commission. They will become part of an altar cloth to be on display at The Sanctuary at South Bristol Community Hospital. This is the first one which is will be displayed at Easter. I am so pleased that it's come out exactly as planned. I'm really excited to see it completed and in place!

 

 

 

 

Please excuse the slightly poor quality of these photos, I meant to wait for a bright day with good light but I think I could be waiting a long time in the current British climate so here they are anyway! :)

 

 



Etsy

I'm incredibly excited about the official opening of my Etsy shop! I have been working hard on products and logos and setting everything up. 

Here is a peek at the first of my line of framed embroideries that you will be able to find on Etsy very soon. I'll keep you posted! :)

Commission update

Getting started...

...on my commission work. I spent the last two days working on it and I'm so pleased with how it's coming on. It's working mainly with applique which I haven't done extensively before and I wondered whether that was a bit of a brave (foolish?) decision on my part, but as soon as I got going the little experience I did have of it came flooding back.

 

I started off with the background, and appliqued overlapping rectangles of voile onto the base fabric and then began to embellish by machine over the top. I'm really pleased with how it's shaping up and actually, it's coming together much quicker than I thought, the two week deadline I set for myself may well be more realistic than I'd first imagined! :)

I miss university!!

I've been sorting through some of my old work this morning, predominantly digital stitch pieces. I fear that the lack of digital stitch capabilities is going to be the worst thing about being a graduate. Obviously a digital embroidery machine is on my ultimate wishlist but I think it may be a while down the line until I own one. Still, I have some options that i'm considering in the mean time :)

I found these pieces from a project before christmas. I really want to do something with them but have yet to decide what, like my other designs, I don't want to rush to cut or sew them and then regret it, they are after all the only copies of each design that exist so I shall continue to consider :)

Framed

After a very long time deliberating what to do with my final designs from my degree show I have finally found a solution, I didn't really want to cut or sew them at all but it seems a shame for them to be put away in a box in the attic never to see the light of day.

So I now have three of my favourite designs framed and hung on my bedroom wall where they match beautifully the soft Blossom Pink walls and Laura Ashley wallpaper. It's nice to be able to look at them everyday and feel pride in my work.

I'm contemplating framing a few more and putting them up for sale in my Etsy shop. I'm not quite sure how I'd feel about parting with them but on the other hand, I'd much rather someone else have them on their own wall and enjoy them, I don't have room for all 30 of them myself!

Final designs

Here are some photos of my finished final designs that I took to put onto my business cards. I still have SO much work to do but I'm happy so far with the way things are turning out :)

Stitching in circles

Today I learnt something ridiculously simple but at the same time really brilliant, and that is how to sew a perfect circle on a sewing machine with some masking tape and a pin.

 

I already have hundreds of ideas of how I could use this, unfortunately I fear this could really be something that distracts me from my uni work within the next few weeks!

Works in progress

The last couple of weeks have been frantic! Work has been started on the final designs for my degree show collection (Eeek! Scary!)

Some work in progress digital stitching

Now, these pieces have just to be finished, that is to say, all stray threads cut, backing paper removed and the majority are to have hand stitched beading added, which I am forseeing as a rather painstaking business but luckily I have a great deal of patience for that kind of thing! :)

Completely unrelated but very lovely, blossom trees photographed on my way through Bute Park this morning :)