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







Monday, May 2, 2011

the third one...white on white

The third piece, white on white. Not yet finished, this one is about a third complete but was damp stretched last night to give me a sense of the overall embellishment. I must first point out though that the white lace at the top of the work is not my creation. That is lace I bought from Liberty. The ruched silk with french knots however is mine, applied to ''quiten'' down the lace and to add something of me to that section. After all, I can't claim to be an aspiring designer if all I do is sew bits of other peoples cloth together can I?


I have attached the lace to a piece of vintage cotton with buttonhole stitch, three rows, to create a delicate lacy edge. I have done the same to attach the vintage cotton to another piece of ''found'' cloth. The small circular embellishments are all my own work. I don't have a name for them, they will now become ''thingys''. Lovely little ''thingys'' they are too, in real life a little like tiny cups...I am going to have to be extra careful with this one...don't want to squash them!

In other news...I haven't done any sorting out or organising yet...I am waiting for the kids to go back to school. O.K. I know I don't have any kids in that sense but still, they are noisy outside whilst they are playing and it's distracting....that's my excuse anyway. A major breakthrough was made in the London pictures saga...I found my disc!! You know.... I live in the smallest house you have ever seen...why then can I never find anything??? Anyway, find it I did and those pictures are now here so go have a look. There is a treat for you with pictures of one particular shop that will make you drool...promise. The magazine I hear you cry......I HAVEN'T GOT IT YET!!!! My postman will be taking out a restraining order against me any time now...stalked he is poor man.









16 comments:

deanna7trees said...

beautiful combination of lace and stitch. i so enjoyed your pictures from London. and that shop looks divine.

Jane said...

What beautiful lace. It msy not be yours, but you have used it in your own wonderful way.

connie said...

This piece is beautiful. I love the combination. If you are like me Karen, I currently live in the smallest house I have ever lived in and I too can not find things. I think we feel we have to find a place for things right away and then promptly forget that great place we put them. Glad you found your disc. I am now off to see your photos...

Perpetua said...

Beautiful beautiful!!
(FYI--you have some crazy HTML going on at the very top of your blog. The past three visits I noticed it there.)

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

Your work is magnificent, Karen. And yes - what Perpetua just said. I get it too.
Janice. x

Patchwork Linda said...

Wonderful work,but its what I've come to expect.

Carol Q said...

beautiful Karen. I love the silk that you use. it's such a lovely contract and background for the stitching.

Anonymous said...

This is gorgeous - definitely a true and top flight example of your work. Keep it up!

Dolores said...

Simply elegant.

Elizabeth said...

You have me drooling again. I have no idea who your creative process works but your work never cease to amaze me.

Enjoy a noise free evening.

Joanna said...

I like your thingys and well named too :). Love the lace shop, gorgeous stuff to rummage through but I guess they wouldn't like too much rummaging going on.

dandelion said...

aside from your obviously beautiful sewing, I have looked at your photos and think I may have to visit the shop! I will have to wait until August but I can save all my pennies in the meantime. Thankyou for the congrats

Kate x

Suztats said...

white on white...luscious, and your thingys look cute, like raised cups. I'm going to check out the pics and the shop.......

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Scrump-dilly-icious! I know - I'm behind in commenting again (what else is new!). Sure do like your latest creations!

Tammie Lee said...

I bet my house is smaller than yours... :-}

This is SO gorgeous!

Jackie said...

Lovely lovely. I followed your lead and damp stretched my stitched felt...its lovely and flat where it should be now. I will do it again.
So satisfying.
I was going to ask if you'd stitched all that cord down yourself.