Silk painting at the Fashion and Textile Museum plus Red Shoes

tools and materials

I recently participated in a silk painting course at the Fashion and Textile Museum. This was run by Naomi Ryder. You will see some of her work at the bottom of this post. The course itself, was very good. We were a small group and so got lots of individual attention, always a good thing. There was plenty in the way of tools, materials, inspirational  images and space in which to work.

experiments in shape and colours

The room was one where the exhibition  ‘The printed square’ was being held so all those lovely scarves were on the walls. Downstairs the exhibition Designing Women, with the fabulous textiles of the nineteen fifties, is still going on so  lots of inspiration there too.  Some of the participants had bought along their own sketches, others myself included decided to work from the material surrounding us. I chose a Lucienne Day  fifties fabric design which I inverted to make a continuation of the design.

A piece of Naomi's work drawn and then machine stitched on top

Naomi showed us some of her own work and then proceeded to show us some of the techniques that we could use  on silk. This including creating a barrier on the silk using Gutta. This is a gum like substance that comes in clear, or colours such as gold or silver. It is essentially a barrier  that you paint on and then dry  to prevent  any  silk paint  that you apply to the fabric, going anywhere other than where you  want it.  We were shown different ways to apply the silk paint including making washes, diluting the colour with a mixer to make it paler, using very fine brushes to paint over the colour wash. The last of these techniques reminds me of some stained glass where fine lines and details appear to be painted onto the glass itself. One of the effects that can be used to great purpose is sprinkling salt onto wet silk paint. The result is a dispersal of the colour. We were given printed instructions on the process of silk painting and  how to fix  our work.

I used to write a diary, but now I write a blog which is like a diary in many ways, the ramblings of an unhinged or hinged mind. As I added to my last post a love of red shoes I have to add these two which were embroidered by Naomi Ryder. One pair are at the south end of a girl for a Habitat poster the other is a card. Naomi is clever in that she draws and then goes over her drawing with machine embroidery the result is original and endearing all at the same time.

Habitat red shoes

Collect a Crafts Council exhibition at The Sattchi Gallery

The best in contemporary crafts is here at the Sattchi gallery  now for you to come and  visit.

Included is a stellar line-up of artists represented by 31 galleries, six of whom are new to the fair, from 11 countries around the world, including Japan, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden and China. These galleries occupy the ground and first floor of the Saatchi Gallery.

Launched in London in 2004, COLLECT has become the leading international art fair for museum-quality contemporary craft, showcasing the very best ceramic, glass, jewellery, textiles, wood, furniture, silver and fine metalwork by both new talent and established artists.

Artists at COLLECT 2012 include; Italian master craftsman Giovanni Corvaja (Clare Beck at Adrian Sassoon), whose exquisite jewellery pieces can take several months to complete, Steffen Dam (Joanna Bird Pottery) showing his hand-engraved glass pieces evoking scientific specimen jars, bold ceramic sculptures by Wouter Dam, and jewellery by both Olympic medal designer David Watkins (Contemporary Applied Arts) and Paralympic medal designer Lin Cheung (Galerie Sofie Lachaert).

COLLECT also previews the Crafts Council’s next touring exhibition

       Raw Craft: fine thinking in contemporary furniture presents furniture in the form of one-off’s, limited editions and prototypes by seven makers and designers. These 21 pieces exemplify a type of furniture-making that celebrates craft processes, materiality and the small workshop culture. Raw Craft is the newest Crafts Council touring exhibition and it launches at COLLECT 2012 before starting a nationwide tour. www.rawcraft.org.uk/

The top floor of the Satchi Gallery is given over to project space featuring  ten large-scale installations by individual artists with a focus on textiles and furniture, individual makers and their experimental installations.

I was lucky enough to speak to a couple of the designers: Maryrose Watson, is a weaver by training, who makes very linear boxed structured pieces.  www.maryrosewatson.co.uk

The work of Anna Ray, who trained in Edinburgh’s weaving department,  is much more organic although it varies in both style and medium from fine hand embroidery to large installations.

www.annaray.co.uk

Louise Gardiner works on canvas using a combination of techniques including applique and embroidery

http://www.lougardiner.co.uk

For more information visit: www.collect2012.org.uk

An interview with Australian Author Pip Lincolne

Before we start I am delighted to discover another person with a thing, perhaps a fetish, for red shoes. Her name is Susan Penny and her blog is   and she even has a pinterest board with red shoes.

Interview with crafter, blogger and author Pip Lincolne

Q. Can you tell us what first triggered you love of crafts?

A. I was born into a crafty, cooky, DIY kind of family. I never knew any other way! It is a great way to be, because you take making things and being resourceful for granted.

Q How long have you been writing your blog  meetmeatmikes.com?

A. I started writing my blog in November of 2006! It seems like such a long time ago! So many great things have happened as a result of my blog, I feel super fortunate and am so glad I took that first step into the blogging world.

Q What made you decide to write a book?

A. It was a life-long dream of mine to write a book.  One day I sat down and took stock of what I was doing and that was still at the top of my list. The very same day I emailed Hardie Grant about writing a craft book and they asked me in for a meeting and offered me a book deal! What a dream come true!

Q. Do you have a particular favourite craft that you find yourself coming back to (if so why) or do you like to try as many different crafts as possible?

A. I really adore crochet. It’s my crafty true love. I love to learn about other crafts and experiment with other mediums, but crochet is my HOME!

Q. Your book ‘Make Hey’ while the Sun shines cover sewing, appliqué, crotchet, paper crafts, embroidery, patchwork and cooking are there any crafts you don’t do?  Are there any crafts you still want to learn more about?

A. I’ve never tried macramé… and I think I might like to! It seems to be a bit like crochet in some ways and that appeals to me! Who DOESN’T love a macramé owl or pot plant holder?!

Q.I see you have just set up an online magazine called ‘ Good Stuff our holiday guide’ What made you decide to do that?

A. I love magazines and publishing in general, and I wanted to make my own dinky magazine, focusing on the holiday season, nostalgia and independent makers/stores.  Good Stuff was born out of a bit of a yearning to be a magazine editor. I thought I would give it a go and see what it felt like. It felt like FUN and it felt like lots of hard work, too!

Q. When did you set up your shop? How would you describe it?

A.We set up our shop, Meet Me at Mike’s in early 2006 and we recently closed it to concentrate on family and a multitude of other projects which are constantly presented to us. It’s nice to have a bit of a break from retail and concentrate on writing and making!

Q. You appear to have loads of energy – do you have a secret you can pass on to others?

Eat well and at home!  Don’t stay up too late!  ‘Act the way you want to feel’ (that one is via Gretchen Rubin)  Aim for some positive growth in your life every day, to keep yourself motivated!

Q. Can you tell us about your current book Make Hey?  What inspired it?

A. I wanted to make a mini encyclopedia of craft, packed with contemporary projects but still paying tribute to old fashioned skills. I wanted it to be colourful, cute and cool!  I think everyone should have a daily creative habit, so I wanted Make Hey! to appeal to a wide audience, some of whom may never have felt crafty before!

Q.Are you working on a new book at the moment?  Are you able to tell us what it is about, when it will be released etc

A.I am working on a book about food and craft and friendship. It’ll be out in 2014! Gosh that sounds so far away, doesn’t it?!

Q. What are you goals/plans for the future?

A. I’m revamping my blog and I’m really going to concentrate on making it bigger and better this year.  Lots of profiles of creative people and lots of ideas about how to lead a happy, creative, fun life!  I’m looking forward to seeing how that unfolds!

Brighton Open House

Bright Open house is part of the Brighton Festival, it is a mixed bag of styles. One real gem is The house of  Solomon Grey,  the brain child of John and  Joe as they say on their mission statement ‘ We scour the Land searching for old boxes & furniture & anything that catches our eye. We love to find something lost and then to give it a new life. We draw out inspiration from the things themselves. Each piece has its own story’. www.solomongrey.co.uk

As well as showing their own work in their house they have other artists such as Graham Alborough sculptor, stone carver and letter cutter. www.alboroughstonecarving.co.uk I particularly likes this group of three stones.

The last turn can be flipped to reveal this:

The work of illustrator Robert Littleford is also on sale in the form of prints, tea towel and mugs. http://www.robertlittleford.co.ukWorking in a different medium is Dagmar Eberts, I particularly liked her quirky tapestry head. dagmar.

The Printed Square Vintage Handkerchiefs

The exhibition coincides with the publication of the book The Printed Square: Vintage Handkerchief Patterns for Fashion and Design by Nicky Albrechtsen by Thames and Hudson @£14.95  www.thamesandhudson.com

Apologies to everyone for being so slow in mentioning this small but perfectly formed exhibition. Below is a tiny bit of history of the handkerchief but you will need to buy the book to find out more.

Living as we do in the age of disposable tissues, it is hard to believe that once upon a time the handkerchief played a vital role in the traditions and social etiquette throughout history. The Romans dropped a handkerchief  known as a Mappa  to signal the start of the Circensian games, while their emperors carried handkerchief that were ornately embroidered  and fringed with gold as a sign of prosperity and position.

In the middle ages jousting knights proclaimed a lady’s favour by pinning her handkerchief or scarf to their sleeve.

In 1924 the American company Kimberly-Clark launched Kleenex disposable tissues, originally marketed as wipes for cold cream and make up removal. Endorsed by Hollywood film stars  they caught on very quickly. This should have seen the demise of the handkerchief but because of paper restrictions during the Second World War traditional handkerchiefs became popular as gifts. Sometimes they carried messages of endearment It was not uncommon for soldiers serving abroad to send handkerchiefs to embroidered with romantic messages to their sweethearts back home.

The aftermath of the Second World War brought a need for realism and functionality with sympathetically streamlined aesthetics in all genres of design. Handkerchiefs continued to be sought after as a small expression of style and sustained their appeal by the range of designs available. The post war handkerchief was transformed into a commercial product, with handkerchiefs for special occasions such as Mother’s day, Easter, and Christmas.Other’s were used to promote cultural events such as the 1951 Festival of Britain and both 1939 and 1964 New York’s world’s Fairs.

The handkerchiefs on show range from the 1920’s to 1950’s  and display a magnificent range  of pattern and colour.

for more information about this and other fashion and textile exhibitions and events go to www.ftmlondon.org

The homemade home for children

Is it strange that there are fashions in books the same way that there is in wallpaper, furniture, clothes and food? The latest book trend is for everything to look slightly homespun  and shabby chic ,this is one of those books, even its spine has a line of faux silver stitches that give the appearance of hand sewing.

Sania Pell has jam packed her book full of charming projects to make, many of which recycle common household items such as jars and tins and wooden crates. Lots of the items  can be made by both adult and child together. There are nursery, bedroom, play, clothing, storage and outside chapters each of which have very quick projects such as treasure jars and paint can storage. Sania Pell is a stylist, and both the book itself and the projects within  are lovely to look at. I feel some, such as the pebbles with letters are totally impractical and although fun to make might not last for long with a robust and lively child.

What an ingenious idea to make a dolls house from bookshelves. It is not surprising to learn that Sania’s background is in Textile design she is a graduate of Edinburgh college of Art . This is reflected in the feminine projects such as the floral wall hangings and the butterfly lamp shade that I feel are some of the most successful in the book.

I love the house that hangs over a clothes line as it reminds me of making camps when I was a child. If you are a parent or grandparent who likes making things then this is the book for you. It is excellent value for money and will provide hours of fun.  Sania’s blog is www.saniapell.com/athomeblog

Cross Stitch samplers by Marjorie Massey

Without wishing to sound like an advert for Murdoch books they have come up with another gem. This latest is from a series called ‘Made in France’ and is on Cross Stitch samplers.

Elegant and timeless needlecraft designs in red and blue. By cross stitch designer Marjorie Massey

The book was originally published in France and this is an English language edition .  If you  are a beginner  and want to learn to cross stitch this is not the book for you. It is full of lovely cross stitch designs including variations on my favourite heart designs. The instructions are rather basic, telling you such things as start in the center of the design and leave a border of 6cms round the edge the shades of the individual colours are also given.

The introduction to the book explains how the reader has been thrown open the workshop doors of the designer and antique lover, Marjorie Massey, to view some of her wonderful collection. It explains how many of her designs are inspired by her collection of cross stitch heirlooms.  Then there is this un -explained statement

‘ Sometimes there is no  J or W in the alphabet samplers of former times’ . The reader is left hanging in mid air, as no explanation is given for this state of affairs. I had to look it up on the internet -so can you!

The use of either red or blue is very chic and stylish, taking what can often be a twee craft into the realms of must have , elegant design. Included in the book are both charts for the smaller projects and larger loose -leaf patterns for the bigger ones.

For an expert cross sticher this is a great resource and wonderful book costing £14.99 for 8 pull out pattern sheets and 35 original cross stitch designs.

A lovely scrap book

A cousin of my husband delivered a suitcase of his Grandfather’s books and a couple of scrap books from an earlier generation. The books are made from cloth and the edges were once bound with blanket stitch. As well as pretty scraps they are full of birthday and Christmas cards and adverts for soap and healthy cigarettes. Here are some of the lovely images.

Ladies Cigarettes

Swan soap in a nest

American flag on crepe paper

Camping Scotsmen

Lord Kitchener

Stencil It

Paisley

Helen Morris the author is The Stencil guru. She set up her company Stencil Library in 1988 and now has over 4000 stencils in her extensive library. In this book Helen gives ideas and shows you how to for stencil  anything for the home – whether it be walls, floors, wood, furniture or textiles.

            The book includes 20 ready to use stencils. The great thing about buying a book from an expert such as Helen is that you are also buying her years of experience and knowledge of what works well.  She shares her inventiveness enthusiasm and preferred techniques to demonstrate the endless effects that can be achieved with just a little imagination and know how. Using a wide range of different paints, including glitter and metallic, as well as gilding, varnish and plasterwork to create a textured finish.  There is an extensive technique section and each chapter shows how to execute specific projects divided into Flowers and Foliage, Birds, and Beasts, Figurative, Architectural and Decorative Details.   Helen demonstrates the methods used and provides a list of ingredients required to achieve each  design, as well as illustrating how one stencil can be used in different ways and on different surfaces to create dramatically different results.

            The excitement for me is the ease with which one can decorate fabric before sewing it into a desired object.

82 Modern Style Ideas to Create a Home

Stylish Tea Towels

This is a book of very stylish, easy to make projects. In fact as it says on the cover, there are 82 of them to be exact. The book is seductive in as much as the photographs are lovely to look at and beautifully styled. This  tome is as much to do with styling as with making the projects themselves. There are simple but very effective ideas such as that on the front cover : A mural of a  heavily laden branch hanging down on which are hidden hooks for mugs to hang.

The projects range from printing, paper manipulation, gift wrapping to sewing projects. There are cushions made from French or English linen tea towels, a union jack flag is used as a table cloth, cushions with photo’s transferred on to them and long curtains made from a patchwork of jeans.

Faces

This is a book about inspiring your own creativity with various suggestions for storage devices, simple art for your walls and re- or up cycling general items as decorative pieces. At £12.99  for a large paper back book this is excellent value for money.