Zip zip

Just finished take two on a self-zipping purse.  It's a bit of an odd name as you'd almost expect the purse to know when you needed to get at your money and unzip itself, but when you look at the purse's structure it makes more sense.  The instructions were courtesy of Craft Passion, referenced by the ever-fabulous How about orange.

I lined this one (with ribbon, rather than a strip of fabric as I didn't want to have to fold the seam allowance) and it does give it more structure (I hadn't thought the unlined version lacked structure, but it's a welcome addition).

Today is chief niece's birthday - hope she likes it.

Pantomime

Well, sort of.  Piñata making for us is a yearly occurrence, and this one definitely has an air of pantomime horse about her.  

Although my MiL did ask why we'd got a Friesian cow on our chair, so maybe I'm kidding myself.

Mirror, mirror

Been doing some experimenting with shisha stitch for a pre-college project (on the theme of Reflection).  I was partially inspired by Erratic Needle's lovely post, particularly by the stitch which I've done in green here.  I've seen it called Pinwheel and also American Shisha, so have no idea which is right.  Roll on September and having access to a whole library full of textile books.

Thought I'd go all out with a shiny metallic piece (the two biggest circles are still mirrors, just reflecting colours from around them).  Sewing with metallic thread on stretchy metallic fabric was easier than I'd expected, and like the way the mirrors become part of the whole piece.

With thanks

Wanted to make a 'thank you' card which was stitched, and this blog posting gave me some indirect inspiration.  Design Sponge uses a threadless sewing machine to stitch holes into a piece of card, something I've done before but had pretty much forgotten about. 

I appropriated the idea and used it to punch holes for the letters, using a pin for the curves which were too tricky for my machining.  The stitches are either chain or Holbein, with a buttonhole wheel for the 'O', and some french knots on the flowers.  All in all, fairly quick and fun to do.

Ro Hae Sin 노혜신

Popped into the Ceramics section at the V&A yesterday, and was very taken with these pieces in the modern Korean room.

They're by a Korean artist called Ro Hae Sin 노혜신, and according to this blog, she meticulously builds up layers of different colours, then scores the pattern into the work, revealing the hidden colours.  I love the tactile feel of the spheres, the sugared almond colours and the multi-layered patterns.  I've been pondering spherical embroidered pieces for some time, and hopefully these will prove to be fertile inspiration.

Fishy

This project was an idea from my OH: he asked his niece and nephew to draw some fish, and then we chose a couple to embroider. 

Yes, I did say 'we': it was his first foray into the world of embroidery.  He did confess that the best part was seeing it finished, so not sure he's a convert yet, but we shall see.

The one above I've nicknamed 'skeleton fish', and I think the second one has a bad cause of some contagious vomiting disease, but am really pleased with how they turned out. 

They were surprisingly quick to produce (probably helped by the liberal use of bondaweb), and were completed in a couple of evenings.  Skeleton fish has bullion knot bones, a buttonhole stitch wrapped eye and detached chain embellishment; vomiting fish has french knot spots, a bullion knot tongue and satin stitch teeth. 

I may suggest this as a future project for my local Young Embroiderers - we could have a whole ocean full.

Completion

Today is a day of conflicting emotions as my art course finished yesterday.

I'm v.happy to have finished my final piece and to have successfully hung it (and I've not had a phone call from a tutor to say it fell down overnight which bodes well).  However, I'm also sad as it's been a fantastic year, and I'm going to miss both the tuition and even more so, the people.  We've been a pretty diverse bunch but that's made for a supportive, non-competitive atmosphere which has been perfect.

The photos are of my final piece hung in the college exhibition hall.  I took the theme of female relationships and so was trying to convey the feelings of isolation and exclusion which can occur when relationships start to break down.  The piece uses embroidery materials (hoops, needles and threads) chosen partly because they will be the tools of my trade when I start my new course in September but also because they are from a traditionally female craft.

The close-up image shows the needles more clearly.  When spotlit they glint and shine which, particularly against the softness of the thread, gives a sense of discomfort: something which should be used for a pleasurable pastime has become something uncomfortable and slightly menacing.