Friday 22 May 2009

What?! She's been sewing?! Never!

Yes really. I have.

Many, many moons ago I was a member of the Embroiderers Guild in Lichfield. I loved the monthly workshops we used to hold with visiting luminaries of the world of embroidery. One such was with Hilary Bower who, at the time, was making highly encrusted, multi-media type bags and panels and 3-D towers. The workshop was to make a small bag and below is the result.



At the time we were very much into green and terracotta so this fitted in our lounge perfectly. I was (and still am) pretty proud of it, not least because it was something I actually finished!!! How many UFOs do I have?

Following on from the workshop I decided to make a second bag at home and work commenced on the Ray of Sunshine bag. (It had a name long before a needle ever touched it.) The probably dates back to the mid/late 1990s and is still not finished!!


Earlier this week I suddenly remembered my little yellow bag and had the urge to finish it and make some others in a similar style. So - SHOCK HORROR - I got out my sketchbook. I doodled and sketched and cut and stuck and doodled some more...


Then out came the fabrics and threads. Little bits of felt and silk and cotton; even the titchiest scraps can be used up.


This is the early stages of the blue one. The background felt has been stiffened with dilute PVA and stitched to give a base texture (running stitch in this case). The scraps have all been tacked in place.

The background of 'colourful' one is felt stiffened in the same way but covered with some hand dyed muslin. Some of the motifs have had a a bit more hand stitching applied. I have now set to work with the machine, blitzing them with free-machine embroidery, and the beads have also started to fly (literally on one occasion!). I'll put some more piccies on in a day or two to show how things are progressing.


*****
And now here's a small meme if you've got nowt better to do over the coming Bank Holiday (let's face it, it will probably rain at some point - or maybe you'll be sitting in the scorchio sun under an umbrolly thinking of your answers). Whatever...
...Let’s Play
Let’s Play rules:
Copy the list, erase my answers, add your own then post the to your blog, Facebook, etc. Use the first letter of your last name to begin the answers to each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names, etc. Nothing made up! Try to think up different answers if your initial is the same as the previous person.
Enjoy!!

1. What is your last name? Smith
2. A 4 Letter Word? Sewn
3. A Boy’s Name? Sam
4. A Girl’s name? Sybil
5. An Occupation? Silversmith
6. A Colour? Scarlet
7. Something you wear? Smalls
8. A Beverage? Shandy
9. A Food? Scallops
10. Something found in the bathroom? Scales
11. A place? Sharkham Point
12. A Reason for being late? Sloth
13. Things you shout? SH*T THE BED! (sorry *sheepish grin)
Thanks to Apryl who I pinched that one from.
Tag. You’re it.
ttfn
xx

9 comments:

Kitty said...

The bags are fabulous - like little heraldry shields. Well done for finding your sewing mojo.

x

Sal said...

Love the bags...and your header pic is such fun!!
Have a good weekend ;-)

JuliaB said...

Fab bags. Must be the sunshine making you feel extra creative! x

Jackie said...

Lovely work. Really vibrant and spontaneous, and sellable.

Lindsey said...

Oooh, you know how to say all the right things - all of you xxx

Selfsewn said...

Hi there!

Can I come and share your cornish hideaway when I'm old too?

Any ideas where I can get swatches from? I've tried CK but they dont seem to have any left!

Clare

Selfsewn said...

Forgot to add that my last name begins with an o, so that might be tricky!

Like your sybil choice, that was the name of my last cat.


plus I love saying sh*t the bed, its rude yet comedic.

Lalabibaby @ Dreaming of The Simple Life said...

UFOs ..... I like that ..... I have a lifetime of them lurking in dark corners of the house!!

Gina said...

The bags are great! That meme is fun and I've saved it for my return to blogging. With a surname beginning with F I have some naughty answers!