For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Thanks so much for all your comments on my last post re hooks and eyes, unstable? mothers and OCD. It makes me feel loads better knowing I am not the only irrational woman in the world! Re the hook and eye debate, I tried stitching them so they only peeked out from under the pleat, there is one fatal flaw re that and this particular piece of work though, only one would be hidden as these pleats aren't double as in box pleats. Also, where the hook is concealed, this would mean visible stitching on the surface of the work, ruining the embroidered cotton tape and what with my OCD issues it was never going to work. I know there is still visible stitching this way but I think the hooks and eyes detract from the stitches, the focus is on them and the tape. I also thought (with the concealed method) that perhaps if I just attached them with one stitch, as in running stitch across the pair it would look ok but then I came out in a cold sweat because would one stitch hold them? would they all fall off as soon as I put this work in the shop? So here you have it, not yet finished but two thirds of the way there, and I quite like it. Not long hopefully until it gets attached to the aplique panel.





I got a lovely suprise off my postman yesterday.... a belated birthday gift from Paula. Thanks so much, lovely scraps of vintage cloth all the way from Australia.


They are all beautiful, but this one is my absolute favourite, look at how delicate it is, gorgeous!!



5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Im glad you liked them - that is my favourite too.

shula said...

Paul loves you, girl.

Ruby Hoppen said...

Yes! what a beautiful gift to have sent all that way! re the OCD thing, I think everybody who wants to embroider well should develop it!

Gayle said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous!!! I love the hooks and eyes!

Victoria said...

The hook and eyes look great!!
(And those embroidery scraps are lovely!)