New Year, New Post

I make no apologies for my absence here.   Blogging seems to be drifting for everyone these days as social media takes over but I wanted to record some of my weaving projects in case it helps others who are struggling as I am to make the woven fabric into useful garments.   I'm not even sure how much I've spoken about weaving here but it is my avowed passion, ousting sewing and painting, although I do still dabble with some painting.  With arthritic hands and fingers, weaving is the least painful of the artistic endeavours open to me.

I recently wove a black mixed pre-wound Saori warp and it told me it wanted to be a jacket.  Much of Saori clothing is based around the kimono shape which is basically rectangles so, how hard can it be?!

The overall length of the fabric is 3.2 metres by approx 38cms.  In theory it wasn't quite enough fabric for the top I wanted to make so I had to do a bit of judicious cutting and stitching back together.  I knew all that patchwork would come in handy.

I was very good and made a cotton mock-up (toile) from a piece of sheet.  I had a Saori pattern for a t-shaped jumper but, just to be awkward I wanted mine to be like a cardigan, open at the front.  I was struggling with the actual construction and a friend of mine helped me to get to grips with that.  Added to that  a wonderful Facebook group gave me the solution to how to join the sleeves into the main body so I've had a great day today making the jacket.

I made a little model to test out how to join all the pieces together.

These two photos may not be that clear but I sewed the sections together in a set order so that the top and bottom were connected first and then the sleeve seams closed.

So, in order to get the right size pieces I had to do some cutting up.  If you're cutting woven fabric you need to stitch either side of the intended cut to stop everything unravelling.

Excuse the terrible photo but it was very sunny today.  I didn't have enough fabric to make the lower body section so I used the toile to map out how much I needed to piece to fill the gap.

It was a bit of a bodge job but actually it works well as you'll see in a minute.

The tricky part was getting the join at the underarm to work and be neat.  In the photo above the sleeve is forming the leg of the T shape.  I sewed the bodice seams first and closed the sleeve last.  There is a very useful video on YouTube that helped me get my head round this.



and also



So, how did it turn out?

I have added a pocket to the left front and I still need to sort out the fringes but it's been a long day so that's a job for tomorrow.  This has been quite a learning curve as I've never made a jacket before.  Needless to say this isn't lined as generally Saori is left unlined.

Back soon, well, hopefully sooner than 3 months!

Stitch Retreat Workshop

Following so closely on the heels of my Susan Denton workshop you will think I am always doing workshops.  This weekend I have had a tiring but fabulous time at a workshop with Angie Hughes organised by Nichola Keeble who runs the new(ish) company Stitch Retreats.  The Retreat was held at Stoke Rochford Hall which used to be my old stomping ground 40 years ago when it was a teacher training college.

Hard to believe this beautiful building had been almost destroyed by fire about 10 years ago.

 This beautiful Christmas tree in what used to be called the Crush Hall smelt beautiful.

We were so lucky with the weather all weekend and this was the distracting view from our seminar room.

Stoke Rochford sits in a beautiful parkland adjacent to a golf course and it was this rural location that attracted me when I was looking for a college in the 70's.
 

A lunchtime walk in the gardens revealed sculptural teasels and beautiful leaf shapes.

This fascinating glass fireplace dates to the early 20th century and must be beautiful with firelight flickering through the glass plates.

There were two classes running at the Retreat, our group with Angie Hughes and a second group with Mandy Pattullo.  Our group was 7 strong including Angie so we were very select, compact and bijou as they say.  It was lovely to have plenty of room to work and also to have lots of support from Angie who is a very relaxed and generous tutor.  

Our workshop centred on exploring velvet and that proved to be in an exciting and interesting way.  We worked with light coloured velvet and applied dyes, ink, bleach and stamps to it to gradually build up a base on which to work.

I explored several techniques that I havn't worked with much before and it was fascinating to see how different everyone's pieces were by the end of the weekend.

You can see that I was the rebel of the group, working in a landscape format instead of portrait and I chose to interpret an underwater theme rather than a garden.  By this time we had added machine embroidery and I had cut back some of my sheer top layer as I wanted to see where I needed to add more stitch and maybe some more stamps.  Just by coincidence, and probably because this venue was local to me, I had met 4 of the participants before, such is the small world of textile arts.  It was fun to spend time with new people and to receive tuition from a lovely lady.  I am going to do my best to finish my piece this week. Angie's piece is top left and was unfinished.

All of the work is beautiful and I loved seeing the way people combined the stencilled designs, stamps and colourways.  You can see the fabulous and exotic flower forms and colours that were used.  I hope I get to see some of the finished pieces some time.

You can see a short video of Angie's technique on Youtube and hear her beautiful singing voice.





We worked really hard over the weekend and enjoyed every minute of it.  The other group with Mandy Pattullo worked equally hard, maybe even harder, and produced some fabulous work.  We were invited to view their handiwork this afternoon.

Aren't these all fabulous?  They must have worked very hard as this was all collaged tiny scraps of old clothing and was all worked by hand.  If you know Mandy Pattullo's work you will recognise some of the creatures depicted.  I particularly liked the fox (by Liz Hands, fancy her being there :-)  ), the kingfisher and the blue hare. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend and it was wonderful to share this creative time with friendly people.  Many thanks to Angie for all the information and techniques she shared with us and for making it a hardworking but relaxing and rewarding time.  Thank you too to Nichola for all her hard work and her great sense of fun throughout the weekend.  She worked really hard to ensure the hotel did everything to keep us happy and comfortable, not to mention well fed and watered.  Keep your eye on Stitch Retreats, Nichola has not been trading long but she is working hard to provide satisfying stitchy breaks with excellent tutors.

Flippin' Eck!

Over a month since I blogged!  I blame facebook, again!  As you might expect we have been very busy one way and another and also exhausted by all the hot weather that I do not enjoy, although the sunshine is nice.

My sunprinting experiments are still waiting to be worked on but I have indulged in some other creativity.

Several months ago our stitching group Grantham Stitchers made some floppy sunhats and I have finally got round to having a go myself.  I've never ever attempted a hat before so I am pretty pleased with this effort.  It's a little bit high on the crown so it does look a bit 'posh' to my mind but I do love it!  

I'm not sure whether I showed you my finished 'pinny' quilt so, at the risk of boring you I'll include it anyway.

Excuse the crumpled look, I thought I'd straightened it out.  I used a lot of offcuts to make the binding and then found I'd made too much so I used the leftovers to make some cushions.  I am delighted with this quilt, especially as it has so many memories in it being made from my mum's and my friends pinnies (aprons/pinafores).  I didn't do the quilting, my friend Trudi who blogs as Quilting Prolifically did it for me.  If you need a quilt longarm quilting Trudi is excellent and her prices are very reasonable.

While I'm showing you a photo taken in our conservatory I'll bring you up to date with changes we've been making in that very room.  We've been finding over the years that we have barely used the conservatory as it has either been baking hot or freezing cold and has largely been a wasted space.  It has also been something of an eyesore as I have never had the walls plastered.  I decided to research roof renovations having seen some options for a solid roof and settled on a Guardian Warm Roof system that seemed to offer what we wanted.  Long story short, we found a local company, James Oliver Conservatories, who install it and went ahead with the work.   As well as the roof we went the whole hog and had new floor and all the walls plastered.  Although we still have to decorate and are waiting for new furniture to be delivered we are delighted with the result!  And with all the recent heat its had its first test and seems to live up to the claims made for Guardian roofing, you can actually sit in there without melting!

The room feels more spacious and it definitely looks better than it ever has.  Once we have it all kitted out I'll show you more.  If you consider changing your own conservatory roof and decide on the Guardian Roof system you will find that there are many different companies around the country who manufacture and install it but they all use the product under licence to the original Irish company that developped it.  It is a case of finding an installer in your own area or one that you feel you can trust.  Our experience with James Oliver has been fantastic!

Back to creativity but not my own!  Last week we went to see my stepmum who lives in Wiltshire and while we were away paid a visit to the American Museum in Bath which was hosting an exhibition of Kaffe Fassett's work.  Kaffe has a special relationship with the museum since he was friendly with the family who originally opened it and made sketches there of the replica room layouts.  Photographs were allowed but without flash so please excuse some of the colour variations.

 The colour started in the grounds of the museum where a huge tree had been yarn bombed and festooned with plantpots covered in Kaffe fabrics.

 The entrance hall was a blaze of colour!

This waistcoat was stunning!
 

 There was a whole collection of these buttoned hats but at £480 they were a bit out of my league!  I might try making one though, I have enough buttons!  I wonder how heavy it is?

 I love this bright log cabin-y quilt and may have to attempt one some time.  It's wonderfully quirky with its mix of block sizes.

The entry to the exhibition was a tunnel of reflections and very playful.

I was so moved by the brightness of the exhibition and so intrigued by Kaffe that I have used some birthday money to buy his autobiography.

 To be continued.....I'm tired and need to go to bed.  Back soon :-)