Wrapping

Earlier this year I found myself without wrapping paper for a friend's birthday. Being in the middle of studying for exams at the time, and needing a creative break, I gave myself 3 hours to make a basic wrapping cloth.

We decided to turn it into a friendship cloth, each of us adding bits over time. Debra recently returned it with washers sewn on to secure the ties...

...and this beautifully stitched quote on the back.

Much more enriching than disposable wrapping paper!

V & A Visit - "Architects Build Small Spaces"

A lovely day out

This was the view from inside "Ratatosk" - apparently named after the Norse legend of a squirrel living in a huge ash tree at the centre of the universe.

There's more about the structure at the bottom of this page.

Garden Structure

Weaving with silk on the bias proved a lot less stable than the previous cloth. I decided to machine it all together to stop it falling apart, and found that this gave it structural strength, holding its shape when rolled.

The first cloth is fairly robust, with only hand-tacked stitches in one direction, so doesn't roll so much as fold at the strips.

And here they are side by side. I like the neatness of the one on the right. I find the splitting off of the stripes on the left-hand cloth slightly disconcerting, while being pleased at the sense of shifting ground this creates. I'm still thinking about how to embellish them...

Together, these will form the first lined bag-within-a-bag. For the second one I am going to use linen (much more friendly to work with), and some kind of piecing method.

Textile Poets

I can't make any further posts about fabric weaving without acknowledging the work of textile story teller, and to my mind poet, Jude Hill.

William Wordsworth considered a poet to be someone able to present the world to people in a way that they would not ordinarily be able to see, but can get 'immediate pleasure' from. Jude's spirit cloths are like this, drawing the viewer to connect with the story as well as admire the craftsmanship.  

The Lakeland poet, however, thought himself "endued with more lively sensibility, more enthusiasm and tenderness, [having] a greater knowledge of human nature, and a more comprehensive soul, than are supposed to be common among mankind"*.

Jude's work demonstrates some of these qualities, but she has a much more inclusive attitude, akin to William Carlos Williams. He thought "the poet is he who walks through life, listening, being involved, participating more than watching"** and that poetry exists in everyone's life.

Jude has the same democratic approach. She creates beautiful work while encouraging others that they can too.

*William Wordsworth, Preface to Lyrical Ballads, 1802

**Interviews with William Carlos Williams “Speaking Straight Ahead”, Linda Wagner (ed.), New Directions, New York, 1976, p.xiv

Second Garden

I tried changing perspective by cutting the warp material on the bias and making the strips wider. I'm not really happy with this yet - a bit too chunky and possibly some more sheer layers needed to soften it down.

Woven Garden

The starting point for The Garden of Forking Paths.

I like the layered depth and complexity of the woven structure.

 I'm not sure if the finished piece will be flat or three dimensional. I've been thinking about making a bag within a bag where the paths lead to different windows through to the next world, something like this:

Occasional Cards - Hearts

I find the small scale of making cards useful for experimenting with different techniques and focusing ideas. Having something useful at the end of the process is satisfying too!

This one was made by weaving an embroidered sheer, some linen and upholstery fabric onto a backing and machine-sewing heart shapes on top. I cut them out and needle-punched them onto layers of frayed linen and fine calico.

Weaving and Stitching

This is my first experiment using different fabrics including silks, linen, upholstery and sheer, cut up, woven together and fixed with hand stitching onto a silk backing. I am pleased with the cross emerging as a symbol together with the colour red. The red circles were already stamped on the sheer fabric - I like the way they balance the composition.