06/20/2015
pages
I've started, started ''composing'' pages for the artist books I have been mentioning. This is the very beginning, the collecting, the gathering, the composition of pages, done this morning, killing time (in a pleasurable way) before I tackle the mammoth task later today which is gathering all my stuff together for Glastonbury.
So far we have doodles on pages, snippets of doodles cut from paper, snippets of postcards and tiny Suffolk puffs. This was actually a very lovely way to spend an hour or so...I can recommend it, you should try it.
These pages measure 5 x 5 inches, they are tiny.
06/19/2015
three pockets in hoops...
In various stages of progress, three pockets. One is almost finished, one is half way finished, the third is only pinned...Two of these have pockets on the surface, pockets on pockets. This is what we are up to in class, I'm cracking the whip.
The white only one was put together earlier this week. There is an absence of doodling on that one. I have yet to decide whether I will actually put any patterning on there. I'm thinking about it. I will stitch it a little first and see what it has to say for itself once it's been titivated a little.
06/18/2015
ledger planning
Yes, I know. My images are all different sizes, little, big.... thing is they are all stolen from my old blog when I had even less knowledge about saving and cropping and pixels and layers than I do now. I did try to resize them but they went all blurry....... never mind, it makes for an interesting scroll down the page...guess the image size.....
Why the old images? Because I have been asked for more of these books so I am revisiting, considering options, thinking about cutting paper, thinking about page sizes, page content, how many pages....that kind of thing. This afternoon I am going to cut some paper in preparation. It's quite exciting. Please don't hold your breath for anything even nearly finished though.....it may take some time.
These were all sold. Did you buy one? I would love to know what you did with them. Did you use them to mop up spillages? To wrap potato peelings up? Did anyone actually doodle in one of these?
06/17/2015
playing with composition
I was gathering bits this morning, little pieces of stitching, samples, offcuts, some torn paper pieces. These tiny scraps have been carefully stored, kept for this reason, to play with, to move around and arrange into complimentary groupings, to create mini design sheets. It's a refresher, a warm up, a little like doodling. One stitch here laid next to another piece with a different surface can spark an idea, prompt a direction.
None of these are stuck down, the little pieces are put away safely again now. All that's needed to remember these is a few minutes looking through my image files....something else I do a lot of.
06/16/2015
graph paper and a label
I got distracted by some graph paper I saw online. What can I say, it's a curse. It's an excuse for another finger limbering up ten minutes though in the tiny 4 x 3 inch ledger. Print graph paper, stick it in a book, get some lettering stencils, a black fine liner, a needle and thread and a fabric label and the world is your oyster!!
(the world is your oyster
06/15/2015
mix and match....
What's new on this piece? The cotton strip with doodles has more embellishment..........new. There are web stitches and running stitch edged petals.....it's delicate, it's pretty, it's colourful. I wanted to see how it looked against ''old'' work, how it lived with ''old'' design sheets. Why oh why did I do that? I now have a million ways to take this forward, a million new ideas because I have nothing else to do right? I guess I'll just have to make copious amounts of notes instead.
06/14/2015
more desk pad doodling....
Desk pad c. Marks and Spencer.
Remember this? I'm adding to it. I'm going to keep it going as an ever present warm up exercise, a finger limbering up task. Five minutes here and there will soon add up to a full page of doodles. Each five minutes of effort may not look like much on its own but after a few weeks? Who knows.
You can doodle while you are watching TV, while you're in bed, while you're waiting for the kettle to boil. Do it on a scrap of paper. Do it on a newspaper. Do it on anything, a tissue box, a pasta packet.
I can't recommend doodling highly enough and that's from someone who had a phobia of pens and pencils up until quite recently. (I'm still working on my phobia of paints) You can't conquer everything in one go!
Go forth and doodle.....
06/13/2015
A new ledger
Book c. Ulf Stark Silke Leffler
My new ledger, the first page, the second attempt. The first attempt just didn't cut it. This is how I'm deciding on pattern in the pocket class. This is the most charming children's book you could see, bought in Sweden last December. The illustrations are so pretty it's hard not to spoil them by laying my efforts over them even if they are very considered and carefully created efforts.......
Up to now there are fabric swatches, text, doodling and a little thread. I am hoping it evolves into so much more.
06/12/2015
a human sized pocket
I never tire of this piece and it's very appropriate that I continue to work on it during the current pocket class. This, the body bag, this is going to be a human sized pocket....appropriate. Despite the fact that it is getting very regular attention at the moment there is still a long way to go. More silk panels require embellishment, more muslin needs to be pleated, more tabs need to be made and embroidered. There will be applique petals, applique circles, patches, bumpy bits, bullion knots, French knots, cross stitch.....a long,, long list........
06/11/2015
with added buttons.....
Pocket number two, another keeper. It has buttons on the inside, the new owner demanded those...(that would be me) it's also got buttons on the back. The lining of this one has been doodled too. Basically.......since class began I doodle on everything. Whatever you do don't stand still in my house or you are liable to have a very fetching doodle somewhere upon your person when you leave.
How many pockets, pouches, thingies does one woman need? I now have a ton of them, I kid you not, but never fear, when the world wide shortage of pockets arrives I'm your woman for supplies!
06/10/2015
two applique flowers....
This piece has moved on quite a bit since this. Two large applique flowers have been added...(it needs a third) The French knots begun in the video have been added and hand stitch is being applied to the first doodled panel.
I love the images today, the light. How do they look to you? It's sunny here but not the full sun of midday, it's late morning sunshine. I have titivated them a little in Photoshop...I think it's the colour of the thread against the white of the Broderie Anglaise which stands out.
Anyway, I digress......Tomorrow you will see finished pocket number two. It's similar to this one but trust me, it's not the same.....
06/09/2015
doolding on a desk pad
Doodle Pad c. Marks and Spencer.
Five minutes of doodling. Five minutes of the most basic doodling, the beginning of a page, the start of a full page of doodles. Five minutes in a crazy mad day of appointments and the need to always be somewhere else. A creative limbering up exercise.
Enjoy....
06/08/2015
the first pocket from class
I promised you two finished pockets from ''embroidered pockets'' this week, here is the first. It is lined with a lace edged piece of cotton cloth. There are fastenings at the lower edge. There is applique, doodling, chain stitch and French knots. The top edge has been embroidered with buttonhole lace and both sides are finished with running stitch.
The second pocket is finished. You will see that on Thursday when class has seen it on Wednesday.
Last night I began to add applique to this, it's evolving..........
06/07/2015
five lemon French knots
I'm stitching away, constantly, in a happy place, creating, making knots, joining seams, playing with thread, playing with cloth.......only thing is there is nothing substantially different to show for it yet......yet. Later this week I will have not one but two finished pockets. Can you bear the excitement? Meantime I am making progress with this, a happy pocket, a titivated pocket. The seams are almost complete, next on the list...applique....so how's about I stitch five lemon French knots with you? A relaxing Sunday pastime.....
06/06/2015
torn paper and a page
Another page, a video, working with scraps and saved bits and bobs, I keep everything. I won't type much here, I talk enough in the video......
A reminder....embroidered pockets, human cloth, a fly on the wall, a dip into my day, watch everything I do, paper, cloth, stitch, collage, ledgers, sketchbooks, pattern, doodle, everything.....access forever, no prerequisites. We are in our second week...it's not too late to join us.
06/05/2015
a bullion loop seam and lemon running stitch
This piece is quite wide, fourteen inch seams width ways.....that's a lot of bullion knots. I was about to start beating myself up about the lack of embroidery added to this since you last saw it but I feel so much better since I measured it and realised how wide it was. One seam down,two to go or maybe one and a half because I have stitched tiny lemon running stitches along another.
Surface ''adornment'' wise there's still some way to go. More padded applique flowers and something else??? Don't ask, I don't know yet.
06/04/2015
Cloth, books, buttons and beads.
Did you know I have a ''thing'' for antique buttons? Maybe not, why would you. I especially love the glass ones. There are a few of them in these pictures. I do have more and in my next life when I will be super organised I intend to keep them all in the same place. The beads in the top image by the way, they are Amber beads which belonged to my Great Grandmother, the Great Grandmother whose nightdress fragment I mention in this post. Her name was Florence, she was a midwife who received a Royal medal after the second World War for delivering babies during bombing raids at risk to her life. I have some memory of her as I was around 6 years old when she passed away. Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a trip through my family tree.
These are random images form my week. The drawer in the chest the books are piled on has a glass front. I only just noticed that you can see through that....good thing I don't keep my smalls in there.
06/03/2015
bright white. like porcelain.
New Broderie Anglaise, so white, such a beautiful surface pieced with doodled cotton. I put this together yesterday afternoon like I promised. Last night I began to work on it, securing the seams first using stab stitch with plans to add loops and knots to those this evening.
Then there are padded flowers, bumpy bits, appliqued doodles with chain stitch edges. I was late to bed last night, engrossed in this piece. The temptation now is to buy more of this cloth just in case I can never get hold of it again. Until I have decided I'm not telling you where I bought it in case you buy it all!!
06/02/2015
a tiny page
I played a little on camera this morning, adding a snippet of cloth to a page along with a few doodles. Off camera I am up to my ears in pockets for class, a very good place to be.
Later today I am going to piece another one for you, a non secret pocket. I will show you that tomorrow....how does that sound?
06/01/2015
looking back
Silk, mirrors, French knots and scrim
Embroidered buttons and a wrapping cloth with an edge of embroidered prairie points
A stack of 'little books of colour' that I made.Mounted samples, hand embroidery.
Painting, a design sheet. The little sweets are ''rainbow drops''.
A wrapping cloth for Helen.
White puffs on a ledger page.
Pleated silk, mirrors and scrim.
Bullion knots, silk, cutwork, scrim.
One of the first pockets I ever made. The pink printed cloth is a scrap from my Great Grandmothers nightdress.
The
embroidery on the cover of this book, the flower with different
petals.....that is my work. I do not have any work inside this book, I
do have a credit for the cover image. That will do for me....
I visited my old blog on Sunday. The person who very kindly bought this mentioned that she had purchased another piece of mine some time ago so I went in search of images of that piece. Sadly the images of that piece are quite poor. (I actually cannot believe how poor some of my early images were) I can't show you those but I did want to share these.
Half of my life is on my old blog, so many memories, so many identifiable chapters of my online life. I loved browsing over there, I stayed for hours. I scrolled back through months, years of work, of happenings, I loved it........
I hope you enjoy seeing these pieces again as much as I have.
05/31/2015
earlier this week
Class started last Monday, we've already started making pockets, doodling on cloth, stitching pocket fronts and designing all manner of pocket related things...(yes we have....I hope you were all paying attention) There are two images here from our first post, a little doodling on cloth, creating pattern in a simple way and a glimpse at my ledger which I have to say is at a very early stage and not yet ready to set the world alight.
The top image is of two pouches/pockets which were in the early stages of completion at the beginning of this week. They are both backed but unlined here. One of them is finished now, you saw it yesterday and someone has bought that already...thank you!! The other has yet to be lined and finished....we are doing it in class. They are waiting for me to get my act together and bring all the plans I have for this one together....that's what I will be doing this afternoon.
05/30/2015
pink, green and Broderie Anglaise
It has a green lining and a row of green puffs to complete the surface embellishment. It also has two pink puffs on the inside...finishing touches. This is quite a bit different to my white, far removed from the subtlety of white. I have worked in colour before, gingham, spots, stripes yet this is more ''out there'', more funky maybe, brighter...I love it. It's happy, it's sunny, it's cheerful. It's now in the shop.
This morning I ticked off some chores.....mostly duster flicking and a little trip with the hoover. That means I have time to play with cloth later. I began by gathering Brodrie Anglaise, assessing what I have and doing a lot of folding....there is something very relaxing about folding cloth. You can see some of that here.....Now I'm off to fold it all again and put it away...
05/29/2015
petals and gimp
White, white white....I love white. A white pocket in progress. More gimp and a partial flower worked in cutwork with lace cloth filling the cut away areas. I trailed some gimp across it, I couldn't help myself.
I'm running late today. Don't ask why because I don't know. I haven't even been to Flickr yet. Don't worry, I will be over soon. I think it's going to be one of those days when everything happens in slow motion........
05/28/2015
one piece damp stretched, one piece lined
Damp stretched, lined and pinned, that's this piece, the back of which you can see in the second image. Damp stretched, not yet lined and not yet pinned, the other piece in these images. I do like it.....a lot. That piece will be backed, pinned lined and titivated starting today. The other piece will be finished with the girls in ''embroidered pockets''. I started that process this morning, on camera...there's still a long way to go.
All I need to decide now is what to back the pink and white piece with, choose my fabric and get on with it. The sewing machine is up as is the ironing board. The pouch which holds the cloth choices for backing is to hand and I have pins, scissors and thread. Should be easy peasy.......
05/27/2015
doodle doo and doodled cloth
Doodle doo, I have missed you. It's made an appearance today because I have been asked about these, can I make some more. Flicking through doodle doo is what I need to get the ideas flowing for more little books, it works so watch this space. (although don't expect anything imminently because I've got beds to change and a car to clean and a casserole to put in the oven and a duster to flick)
The fabric piece here...it's finished! Well, the surface is finished. I have big plans for this, an idea that I hope will enhance. All my fingers are crossed as are my toes.....I will be doing this in class but don't worry, you will get to see it when it's done. I have also decided I am keeping this one for myself.
Remember the queue for the damp stretching board? This will be going on next, yes that one is finished too. I told you I was working hard, that my fingers are dizzy, positively spinning actually.
Just to say that it's not too late for you to join us in class for ''embroidered pockets''. This one is a marathon, 12 weeks of class with a two week holiday when yours truly goes partying to Glastonbury. I give you holiday??? I'm good aren't I. Read more here.
05/26/2015
gimp and lace
Gimp.....which looks gold here but isn't...honest. In my house it looks cream, off white....anyway, gimp has been added to the white piece from yesterday, on the lace cloth area. Lace cloth cries out for bling when it's in my hands, it took me all my self control not to put glass beads on here last night. AND the lace has been slightly titivated too, still a long way to go on that one. Also, goodness me I was good last night, also I finished surface embroidery on this. In fact I was so productive that I've got a queue for the damp stretching board....that's a first, unheard of.
05/25/2015
White
You saw me put this little piece of white together yesterday, on camera. It's having an easy beginning, buttonhole lace around the edge of the lace cloth, bullion knots securing a seam with another row of bullion knots half extending across the main body of the piece. That row will eventually extend across the whole piece.....I just ran out of time.
I intend to play with the placement of folds for this one before I decide on final surface embellishments just like I was doing here. There is a hankering for buttons building with this....big buttons, white buttons....
I am almost back to normal after a great weekend, disruption but amazing company, disruption of the best kind. Helen goes back this evening....I miss her already.
(if you are registered for ''embroidered pockets, human cloth'' you should have received passwords and things this morning and you should also have received your invitation to our private Flickr group. If you haven't received any of those please let me know)
05/24/2015
plans
Wow......I'm a year older.....allegedly. I feel younger, must be the cake. Thanks so much for all the birthday wishes. I had a lovely day, great gifts, spoilt in fact. I got a new camera, very unexpected. I'm still feeling my way with that as evidenced by the second image today but then again, white is quite hard to photograph so maybe it's not the camera. (the first image was taken with the new camera too, same time, same place)
I still have house guests.....well just my daughter but she is the equivalent of five house guests...a whirlwind of discarded clothing and half drunk glasses of water from one end of the house to the other....but....I am not complaining. I will miss her when she goes back to London tomorrow. There hasn't been much stitching going on so what I'm doing here, on this video, apart from waffling about not very much is putting a small piece of white together and talking about the progression of an old, neglected piece. One of these pieces will have had some embroidery added before I go to bed tonight, I am determined.
05/23/2015
the table....
It all happens on the table.....the table is piled with my stuff from morning until it's time to eat in the evening. Basically our dining room is my studio. I have pretty much taken over the whole house, there is stuff in every room belonging to me and belonging to embroidery. I live with the most patient of people.
I'm not here today. Today is my birthday. I am most likely eating cake.
05/22/2015
stitch chat and a doodle
It's a fact, my fingers don't move as fast as I need or want them to. I have made progress on this but nothing spectacular, nothing that will stop you in your tracks. Because of that I decided to give you a doodling pep talk. I apologise for getting on my soap box.....it's only because I care about you, honest.
05/21/2015
prairie points
phew, fingers crossed here that the addition of prairie points alters this sufficiently for you not to get sick of seeing it. They aren't permanently attached, they're just laid under the folded cloth for now. I actually don't know if I will use them yet, I will decide later.
The strip of white, second picture, between the edge of bullion knots on the left and cross stitch on the right, that strip is finished now embroidery wise. I completed that side last night and began another section. Later today I will doodle on more cloth which I will then cut up and use for applique on the large area of Broderie Anglaise.
I got a new phone today...free.....payment zero...an upgrade which according to them is long overdue. I have been playing with it all morning. I haven't done half the things I intended to do today.....oops. One thing I did do though...if you are registered for ''embroidered pockets, human cloth'' you should have received an e mail from me this morning. If you didn't get that then please let me know. We start Monday, no lateness, no slacking, no talking at the back, get your pencils sharpened!!
05/20/2015
a surface, embellished....
It's evolving, the surface is being added to. It's a slow process but a very pleasant process, applique flower heads, chain stitch, French knots, a bullion loop here and there. The doodled petals are being embroidered in the simplest manner,a curve of chain stitch echoing the drawn line, a tiny cluster of French knots at one end.
I want to keep going with this one. I'm conscious of boring you with this again tomorrow because in truth it may not look much different. What to do........I will shake my brains a little and try and come up with something to accompany this, to make it more interesting.
05/19/2015
three pockets and yesterday captured on camera....
Yesterday, my brain thawed completely. I began to make the videos for ''embroidered pockets'' which starts next Monday and everything fell into place. It's amazing what a little doodling and cloth folding can do to your creative spark. These images are from then, no spoilers, just a glimpse. You can perhaps see a tiny bit of work on my first ledger page here in the third image....I'm happy, I'm excited.
I'm also excited about mail I am expecting. I am waiting for thread, I'm waiting for cloth, (three separate lots of cotton, some with eyelets some plain) If the eyelet cloth is as beautiful as it looks in the images I will be buying more of that. I'm also waiting for a book I ordered, on impulse, a children's book...can you tell I love children's books? The illustrations are always so beautiful, inspirational. The one here today, well, it's so beautiful I can't stop turning the pages....as ''embroidered pockets'' evolves I will share the inside with you in more detail.
This morning I have been playing with the shop a little, adding clarity to my ''work on your own classes''. I still have three left to rewrite......it takes soooo long! That will happen later today. I have sold quite a few of those in the past couple of days. There are people out there who have hours and hours of my voice ahead of them...oops....do they know what they've done?
Also this morning.....yes I did go to bed.....I made a very short video for you about this piece. So I'm going to leave it there for today, enough of my rambling....
05/18/2015
seams and an accompanying doodle
This is the piece I didn't want to show you yesterday, the one I spoke of in the video. I also doodled a seam to accompany the stitch. That doodle has been added to an ongoing doodle sheet. I like that idea, I can add to the sheet as and when I get the urge and it will be full of pattern in no time. The seams are finished on this piece. Three seams, French knots, bullion knots and cross stitch. There has been a tiny amount of applique added to the pattern too.
The doodle to accompany this embroidery is merely dots, multi coloured dots to reflect the knots and the cross stitch. It works, it reminds me of confetti.
My brain freeze has thawed.....phew. This morning has been amazing, making videos for the new class. I have taken a couple of pictures of the table from then, nothing secret in them, no spoilers for class but nevertheless they remind me of my busy morning and a morning well spent. I will show you those tomorrow.
05/17/2015
chat...
I'm chatting, waffling, being indecisive again. I've got brain freeze, I'm talking rubbish......
A very short video about my plans for yesterday's piece as mentioned yesterday.....then a little chat about progress on another piece that I don't want to show you yet. Confused? Me too.....
This post.....part two.....half an hour later....
Clarity made an appearance for a brief moment. I have decided which papers and ledger to use for the new class.....that's what I call progress.....
05/16/2015
continuing....
So what's new on this piece? One large pocket and a couple of applique petals. There will be more large pockets along that side and I'm pondering, cogitating on what to frame the other area of applique with. I'm leaning towards small applique circles but fear becoming predictable. My ability to create something unexpected eludes me today. Maybe it will return tomorrow.
Maybe I will leave that border plain, as in cut it off, not add anything........I may talk to you about that tomorrow, a short video to clarify what I am talking about.
I worked on this some more yesterday, I doodled some little cloth scraps to use on the surface........I love how that one is developing.....watch this space.
05/15/2015
white and blue silk pouch
Finished.....lined, hand stitched edges, titivated along the back edge with tiny puffs....now in the shop. I'm now going to concentrate on this for a while and think about how to mix this one up a bit. I've got a weekend of stitch and little else planned. A weekend on my own, on my own until Tuesday in fact. Just think about the fun I will be able to have!
You won't be surprised to hear that I have also got pockets on my mind....embroidered pockets, small pockets, large pockets, pockets within pockets, pockets outside of pockets.....one week on Monday 'Embroidered Pockets' starts....my ideas list has already been started, making notes....I don't want to forget anything, I'm writing everything down. I just have to make sure I don't lose my list.....
05/14/2015
French knots on doodled cotton
It's becoming a compulsion.....see a bit of cloth, doodle on it. I woke up this morning itching to do this. I think I'm desperate to begin my new class....it's taking all my self control not to rush ahead with my plans for that and start before everyone else! For now I will settle for this, something new taking shape. At the moment it's quite possibly going to be a pouch with a pocket.....
The piece from yesterday is taking shape. I could have shown that today but I don't want to bore you. The blue and white pouch is finished too, titivated to death. You will see that tomorrow. The housework is pretty much done...so I made another video...lol.....can you tell I am missing class?
05/13/2015
slow progress
It's been a funny couple of days. My new found (or imposed) domesticity is very unsettling. I was never destined to be a domestic goddess, never. Then there are the interruptions. If people think you aren't ''working'' they think you want to spend all day on the telephone, never mind the zillion windows I have cleaned. Yes, I've cleaned windows....that should have my housework obligations covered for at least a year.
So all in all very little stitching happened yesterday or last night.....frustrating.....I have embellished the seams from this post with buttonhole lace and added three applique shapes but had hoped for so much more.
Consequently you have one measly image and a video. If I stitch on camera I don't get interrupted. That may be the way forward..... a camera crew following me round permanently. I wonder if they would make the coffee too?
05/12/2015
blue and white, paper and cloth
One complete, embroidered surface of doodled cloth in blue and white. This is the front of the pouch. The back will be plain white silk, the lining cotton. More silk has been doodled on in blue and white in order to make puffs for final titivations. Paper prints are laid here as the doodling on this silk evolved from the doodles which form those prints. And so it goes on, a doodle, a print, a thought....inspiration for doodling on cloth, inspiration for stitch.
05/11/2015
Tiny pockets, adding cloth, extending a surface.
Lots
of pictures today and a video. This surface has been embellished some
more, more applique, more chain stitch, more French knots and a couple
of tiny pockets. I decided it needed to be bigger so I have added to it
since these pictures were taken, added more cloth, extended the surface
area, more scope for more embroidery, more scope for more pockets.
Pockets are becoming quite a theme around here.
05/10/2015
pattern
Pattern, doodle, pen, black and white. You have seen some of this work before but it has all now been added to, extended. The newest variation is shown in the last image and is as yet unfinished. I am in the process of developing that one into a colouring in sheet. I have so many pieces of doodling now that I must create a storage solution. I do have folders but I prefer to keep these close for now as I'm sure they are going to inform more work, more drawing and more embroidery. If I zip them up inside a folder I run the risk of forgetting about them. I wonder which other corner of the house I can take over, completely overtake with bits of paper and ledgers and design sheets? Do I even have any uncluttered corners? Probably not, but I do have a two week window now until the new class begins. I intend to create more for that elusive corner, to doodle, to stitch, to sample, to play....oh yes and to do some Spring cleaning.
05/09/2015
new.......and old 'in progress'.
A new piece was started last night which means I now have several pieces at various stages of completion. Mostly I'm playing, sampling. I do have a direction but I'm trying to solidify that, clarify my thoughts, gain a more concrete idea of what I want and where I should be going if that makes sense. I suppose the white silk piece doesn't fit within that thought process as it is pretty much set in stone how that will evolve but the other pieces, the Broderie Anglaise pieces with the brightly coloured, printed cloth are throwing up a lot of questions for me in terms of how to extend the idea, how to marry the different surfaces...questions, questions....
I'm not in any rush, I like searching for answers when it means more stitch, more piecing of cloth, more pinning and tacking. That usually calls for something repetitive too...I have a feeling the edge with the partial fringe will be finished soon, what better way to get lost in thought than adding fringe to white....
05/08/2015
white on blue
I have been adding to this piece. There has been a little more doodling added along with more embroidery. Coming next for this one is applique, chain stitch and lots of French knots, that's my plan for the weekend.
I hope you enjoyed the video yesterday. I am developing quite an addiction to doodling as you will almost certainly see over the next couple of weeks.......and to think I used to be scared of pencils and things. Mind you, I'm still a bit scared of them but practice makes perfect as they say and as I have no aspirations to the standards of Picasso I'm not judging my achievements too harshly......I'm just playing.....
05/07/2015
more doodling, a video
I've been playing again today, doodling. Not aimless doodling though, not frivolous doodling, more like ''limbering up'' doodling for the new class. I wasn't here yesterday, I was away getting cuddles off baby Lottie Rose, (you can see a picture on my instagram) she is even more adorable ''in the flesh''...there is something very comforting about holding a new born baby, I can recommend it.
05/06/2015
paper and texture
More doodles and extensions of doodles. I have been adding texture, adding stitch, adding lace and tissue paper and pattern and layers. I could do this all day, every day......it's addictive. I'm going to get all my sheets out tomorrow and add to them, finish some of them and make plans for others. They will then all be mounted onto board, easily stored to get out and look at whenever I need to think, to plan or to be inspired.
05/05/2015
blue and white on silk
I wanted to doodle some more yesterday and I also wanted to work with white for a while, reacquaint myself with white. Blue doodles on white silk was the answer. Cutwork has been added with scraps of vintage white cloth used behind the cut away areas, bullion knots and chain stitch define the edges...
Other areas have been embellished with French knots and now I'm at the stage of wondering should I doodle some more on here. I'm tempted.....a few more petals maybe or perhaps trailing leaves. This will eventually be a pouch. It could just as easily be a pillow but pouches have more uses. You can put cloth in a pouch, keep thread in a pouch, fold linen and place it in a pouch....a pouch it is.
05/04/2015
Embroidered pockets, human cloth. (doodle, embellish, wrap)
I made it, as promised, my new class is listed today. Embroidered pockets is self explanatory, the human cloth? The human cloth aspect comes from the planned involvement of my body bag during these 12 weeks. ''Wrap'' ? It is my aim to create a series of pockets in which to wrap my emotion, my thoughts, my memories. The video today explains in more detail my aims for this programme.
Commencing May 25 for 12 weeks. There will be a two week break after week four meaning the programme will run until The end of week commencing August 24. (14 weeks in total. 2 week break plus 12 weeks)
***you do not need to have participated in any of my previous online learning programmes in order to join us in ''embroidered pockets, human cloth.''***
No prerequisites. Suitable for the beginner and the more experienced stitcher.
Be a fly on my wall for 12 weeks. Observe my creative process, learn from my successes and my mistakes as I sample stitch, as I doodle, as I experiment for design and embroidery.
During the course of these 12 weeks it is my aim to considerably advance embroidery and construction on my ongoing embroidered piece which I call ''the body bag''. One video per week will be devoted to the development of that piece.
In addition to this I hope to create a small series of pockets in various sizes using ''doodled cloth''. Doodle cloth is cloth upon which I will doodle and create pattern with colour fast, archival pens prior to embellishing and manipulating the surface using hand embroidery and fabric manipulation techniques. Design for these pieces of cloth will involve paper play, doodling and tracing pattern onto paper prior to identifying my favoured pattern for the creation of my cloth pockets.
There
will be a minimum of four videos per week, (approximate minimum 1 1/2
hours viewing time) which will be hosted on a private password protected
blog.
There are no
deadlines, no set tasks. You are under no obligation to create what I
am creating. Many people in previous classes have merely taken notes in
order to apply ideas to their own work. Please take as much or as little
as you wish from this programme, tailor my demonstrations to suit your
own creative needs.
Access to all resources is permanent.....forever.....
Please allow 24 hours from registration to receipt of welcome e mail which includes a list of suggested equipment.
05/03/2015
doodle on silk then stitch.....a pouch
I love it......first take some silk and add a doodle or two. Stitch, add a little applique, a few hexagons, a Broderie Anglaise lining and an edge of puffs in complimentary fabrics. This little pouch has turned out just as I had hoped. It measures 10.5 x 10 inches (25 x 26 cm) approx. This one is a gift......shhhhh....you never know who is listening and I know I have said it before on here but now I'm thinking I should keep my mouth zipped until it's delivered.
I'm going to be doing more of this in my new class. I promise, cross my heart and hope to die, that I will have more on that tomorrow. I made the chatty video this morning which will be on here when I've got the description all written up. The notes are made...I just need to type. I'm scheduling a two week gap (from classes, not from the blog) between ''reinventing the page'' finishing (later this week....yikes!!) and the new one starting. I want to take a deep breath and also catch up on a few things.
Now I'm off to tackle the next phase of the ironing pile.....
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