Beaded Saori Scarf

I love this Saori woven scarf. The colours brighten any outfit.

I beaded the ends to give it a bit of weight and interest.

It was made on a loom at whilst I was at The Saori Shed in Diss.

Saori Weaving And a Cat helper.

I am really enjoying my weaving , I had been using a rigid heddle for a long time and not being very adventurous until I met Kim from the Saori Shed in Diss Norfolk.
I love to go there and weave , the atmosphere is good and Kim is a really relaxed and friendly person.

http://www.thesaorished.co.uk/

My own Saori loom has just arrived so I’ll be posting more pictures soon.

Woven cloth which I made into a top.

Thomas helping me with my weaving 😀

Found Cloth Eco dyed

About six months ago I wrapped a cotton handkerchief around some leaves and hid it under a hedge near a path where I walk my dogs. Until today I had completely forgotten about it but as we were wandering along nearby I wondered if it would still be there.  

I found it almost immediately as one of my dogs was sniffing by the hedge where we hid it.

My eco dyeing experiment was amazing. Lots of colours and patterns deeply marked into the fabric; it might not have lasted much longer as there are some tiny holes within it.

Here it is before washing.

I shall definitely take some more fabric and hide it but retrieve it  earlier next time.

I love the fact that it had lain undisturbed for all that time.

Eco and Rust dyeing

Today I have been rust dyeing. 

This is a bundle of fabrics with some of my collection of rusty items wrapped up inside.

I left this for  about four hours before I unwrapped it.

Now the cloth has been rinsed and is soaking in a bucket of water and bicarbonate to halt the rusting process.

These bundles are eco dyeing. Wrapped amongst the layers of fabric are leaves and small branches that I find on my walks.  I only use fallen leaves etc as I won’t take from the tree. 

The bundle is simmering in a dyepot to which has been added a couple of ordinary tea bags plus a turmeric tea bag to enhance the colours.

Once cold these bundles will be rinsed and put into the bicarbonate mix.

Permission to Play

I have given myself permission to play !

Sounds daft doesn't it but Carolyn Dube's free workshop does just that.

Releasing the inner child to really enjoy your art work.. watch this space for my messy or not so messy results.
I love the fact that Carolyn encourages use of what you already have rather than spending loads of money on new supplies, plus of course, the workshop is free!!

Click on the picture and have a look around,  join in  and play xx

1 Year of Stitching project

My newfound love of embroidery led me to this great project started by Sarah
1 Year of Stitches

There is a facebook page as well just called 

1 year of Stitches 

Each week there is a new folder started on a Sunday for the participants to upload their progress photos, the best thing is that anyone can join in.

This is my first weeks work. I used a vintage linen chair back cover and decided to work shapes randomly and then tie it all together once I have used up most of the space. I started with a circle and then added the heart,  using a water dissolvable pen to draw the shapes so that I could keep the shapes reasonably uniform.

Week 2 and I have added a hexagon and a paisley shape.

Week three and the 3 interlocking circles are in place. 

 Now I have to think of another shape to add , any ideas would be gratefully 

received

Dropcloth Sampler

To practice some more stitches and learn more about embroidery, I bought Rebecca Rinquist's great book.  

I love it, the bonus was that at the end of the book was a little pocket with a cotton sampler to stitch. 

This was my finished piece, I like it in the hoop so I may hang it in my workroom.

Creative textiles - blue

The Creative Textiles course was held at   

The Old Artroom in Swaffham.

The Old Artroom

Jane Clarke was our tutor and she made it a fun time and we all stretched ourselves and achieved great stuff.

Once I had finished working with those glorious autumn colours, I worked on a blue fabric book.
This page is made up of threads trappped in Sulky and free machined to make a lacy delicate fabric.

Then the two pieces were layered on blue velvet.

Eyelet starburst embroidery on linen backed with a gold fabric.

Hardanger embroidery backed with gold fabric.

I went to a workshop held by the lovely Dilys Harvey.

I would never have believed that I could achieve this but Dilys tuition was so helpful.

This is the only embroidery that I have worked on since I was at school... a looooooooong time ago.

Creative Textiles - fabric book

For my creative Textiles city and guilds final piece I decided to make a fabric book.

It all seemed a bit daunting at first but I soon got into all the different techniques .

This is the front cover.

One of the inside pages, hand dyed scrim over velvet with hand embroidery.

I enjoyed playing with the fabric on this page and after weaving I added some found objects.

Working with the heart

“He who works with his hands is a laborer.

He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.

He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist.”

 – Saint Francis of Assisi

Lots of Glorious Lace

I have nearly finished a City and guilds course in creative textiles, lots of work.. lots of fun.

My chosen subject is lace, so I took a few pics of just some of my stash..

I have always loved lace as you may tell by the pictures of just a small selection that I have accumulated :-)

I wanted to use some of this in the pages of my book that I am sewing,  but also wanted to look into alternate methods of depicting it.

I have used paper and lots of machine stitching as well as lovely meditative slow stitching.

I'll post some pictures of  some of the finished pages or work in progress.

Hope you have a lovely day x

Words of encouragement

Some Things I Like

Beautiful Antique doilies.

An Inspiration Pack from The Ice Queen's shop.

http://alteredbits.com/fiber-fabric-collage.php

Indigo Dyed Lace

I love Indigo to Dye with but just recently have used some Dylon Jeans Blue, so easy to do in the microwave.

Jeans Pocket Organiser

Love this idea, if I can find the link I'll post it.

Elderberry Wine

Waiting on the Elderberries in my garden to ripen.

Planning on making this wine.

http://www.lowcostliving.co.uk/home-brewing/elderberry-wine-recipe/

Love this little picture x

Erosion of the cliffs , but not of Dreams.

Sunday was a day of rest and relaxation. 

After a very good carvery and nut roast for me, my daughter and son in law (and Frankie of course) walked with me through the fields.  

We took in the warmth of the sun and the fresh air and felt revitalised and peaceful.

Sad to see that the cliffs of the North Norfolk coast are eroding so quickly.

Each time I visit there is less of the cliff walk, the people who live in the houses along that stretch of coast must be devastated to know that they will lose their homes to the sea.

The farmer had not planted his crops near the edge of the cliffs but still, as the ground breaks away, the newly grown crop tumbles over.

Applique bird

The stitching around this leaf appliqué has given great depth to the piece.

This blue leaf came from another piece of upholstery fabric. 

I like the way the colour gives a bit of zing.

My bird has very thin lace as an edging and other laces pieces to define the scraps.

The fabric I used for the head has an eye in the right place so I didn't want to detract from that as it seemed to work.

Of course it's a flower really.

The Woods in Bloom

Walking through the woods is so beautiful, the air is clean and invigorating, 

magic is all around and the peace is empowering.

Cow parsley

Wild daisies

A view across the woods

Dandelion

LOVE

Sunshine ,Indigo and Magic.

The tattered sheet and some other random white cotton off cuts have been in my Indigo pot.

The sun has been glorious and the fabric dyed and dried . I love it, once pressed it will be cut and hand stitched to add to my cotton cover.

 The piece with the leaves on was gifted to me as it was a screen print tester and not perfect. 

I love the randomness of it and it's mistakes add to its character.

I have quite a bit more of it that I will dye another day.

I tied some of the fabrics before immersing in the pot to give a little variation in colour.

You can just about see that the piece on the left is showing a little tie dye effect.

I am looking forward to working with it all.

This is an experiment in solar dyeing.

I immersed some white cotton in water that had a mordant added to it then added oak leaves and some flower seeds.  

Hopefully the warmth of the sun will encourage some magic to happen.