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







Saturday, February 18, 2012

the second pocket....





The completion of this pocket is more momentous than you would think....I kid you not. The completion of this pocket leaves only two tiny strips required before my next wrapping cloth is complete and I started one of them last night. The girls in my 'embroider, embellish create' class aren't tied to deadlines...they can take years to complete their cloths if they want...me...I have deadlines and sadly I missed them yet again. The last class over ran because of me...this one too. It's a sad fact that I don't do deadlines very well. That statement will most likely cost me work at some point in the future but I never claimed to be super organised, same as I never claimed I was a domestic goddess or knew how to park the car. Our six week online party is technically over...except as I said with regard to me actually finishing my piece. The other party goers are amazing, they are so creative and so beautifully skilled with needle and thread that I urge you to go have a look here at what they have achieved........
My priority? Completing my cloth, and showing the finished cloth to my girls who put me to shame......and then? it's onwards...onwards to the exciting venture which is 'extending embellishment'.
I shall be playing with paper, playing with delicate cloth, fine and fragile cloth. I shall be adding mirrors, mimicking lace, creating grids and pleating fabric. Masses of cloth will be embellished with pattern and then cut up without a care for fraying.....
There will be tradition, there is always tradition. Evident in the choice of stitch, the choice of manipulation, the choice of fold and pleat....tradition is what I do. 
Don't want to? That's fine too....as soon as we are up and running I will give you links where you can view the amazing things I know my next group of girls will create....they never let me down....

8 comments:

Jane said...

You can't rush these things, the end result makes the delays worthwhile.

jan b. said...

I spent an hour savoring your girls' work and only skimmed the surface. Your pocket is quite lovely too.

deanna7trees said...

i just can't wait for the next class. i'm off to see what 'your girls' have accomplished.

Carol Q said...

some gorgeous, interesting and varied work on the flickr group Karen. must be fascinating to see how everyone interprets differently.

Tammie Lee said...

so lovely, pocket and all.
as i read about your deadlines.... i wondered, i believe you have only been teaching for a year or so, if that is true you are still learning about the flow of guiding a class mixed with the unknown that shows up in life.... so gentle with missing deadlines, might be a good approach.

Suztats said...

Kudos the ladies are doing superb work!

Rachel said...

Lovely and crisp, and am I spotting a few stitches I've not seen recently?

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I really wish I could join in the next class, but I don't dare take anything else on until I finish the first cloth. I am totally fickle when it comes to projects and I know I will be seduced by the charms of something new and my current cloth will end up in the UFO pile. Having said that, I haven't ruled out the new class when you offer it again!!