TextileArt07 Christmas Decoration 2015

Happy Christmas!

The Christmas challenge set by the TextArt07 group this year was to do something with a small double metal hoop.  It did not have to have a Christmas theme but I was very short of time and thought it could be my Christmas decoration tutorial.

Then I came down with a dreadful chest infection and although I had finished the wreath, missed the party and did not have time to do the tutorial. I did take a few photos and so decided here on Christmas morning to show you how I made it.

 This is rare I might add as I usually host Christmas Dinner for lots of people but with all the building work going on we were invited to family. This means I am calm and relaxed instead of running around in a flap.

I painted the hoop with some white paint to soften the colour.  I then made lots of small sandwiches of angelina fibre, silver fabric and lace, and organza, covered with a layer of chiffon and placed it in a large sewing hoop.

I then free machine stitched some five petalled flowers with silver thread.

I cut each one out with a border.
I then took some silver wire and knotted on some crystal beads leaving gaps.  I wrapped the wire in the gaps along a pencil to make them curly. 

I made a circle of angelina fibre and laid it at the back of the hoop.  I stitched the flowers on the front of the hoop, through  onto the angelina at the back, and added a crystal bead in each centre.  I then carefully wound the wire around and around the hoop.  I touched the wire up with a little white paint to highlight it in places.

Being very short of time this year I decided to place the wreath on the top of my Christmas cake.

Hanging on a cupboard door.

Have a very Happy Christmas and New Year.

Pineapple Palace Christmas Spectacular

Come and join us down at the Pineapple for our Christmas event. We are open on a Sunday as well as the usual four days and we are packed with beautiful thigs to buy or be inspired by.  Why not treat yourself to some yummy homemade soup, panini or cake in the cafe.

The event starts on November 20th and ends on Sunday 20th December.

Blue Linen Jacket

My sister Jeannie kindly agreed to model the blue linen jacket I made earlier this year.  The jacket is unlined with a draw string at the waist and hem.

You can see she really got into the modelling!

She actually did a brilliant job.  I wish she could model all of my hand made clothes for this Blog, but she lives too far away.

I was very pleased with the jacket and found it was straight forward to construct.

I couldnt resist putting this one in!

The pattern I used was this Burda Young number 7047.

Mushrooms

I found these sweet mushrooms growing out of a tree stump in the garden.

 

Pineapple Palace

I have put some of my artwork to sell in the Pineapple Palace which is a gallery and arts cafe at Lower Way Farm, Thatcham.  It is located down the road opposite the Hospital and just after the bowling alley.

The gallery is open from Wednesday to Saturday from 10.00 to 4.00pm and the cafe serves not only delicious homemade cakes but yummy soup and paninis.

As you can see there is something for everyone from shabby chic furniture, clothes, jewellery, cards, artwork and lots lots more.

Here is my area.

Here is the cafe area inside and there is also outside seating. The barn is situated just next to a small river and there is an additional cabin where workshops are held.  There is going to be a great Christmas event happening soon which I will keep you informed about.

Black Kimono Top

I bought a metre of black sheer fabric for £3.50 last year from Fabric land with the idea of making a simple kimono cardigan. I don't like sewing with this sort of man made fabric as it is hard to handle and this experience didn't change my mind. However the print was gorgeous and I couldn't resist buying it.

I couldn't seem to create a  perfect unpuckered seam even though I tried a couple of different methods.  When shopping I looked at commercial garments and found that they were just the same, so have decided that it is just the nature of the beast!

I folded the fabric over sideways with the selvages along the bottom.  I cut up the front of the cardigan to the fold and at this point cut sideways each side to allow for my neck. I removed some of the fabric to make a rounded area at the back of the neck and to shape the front to make a v shape.  I then removed an oblong of fabric from each lower corner to create sleeves.

I sewed up both sides and neatened with my overlocker and then turned back all of the other edges.

Black is a bit harsh on me as my skin is pale but the cardigan may be useful around Christmas time. 

I left the bottom edge raw as it had a pretty fringe along its length.  I sewed on some lack ribbon to hide the selvage holes.

Reflect Exhibition at Headley

Our exhibition at Headley Village shop is now over  and it has been a great success.  We liked the layout better this time with a table down the centre which gave the exhibition a more open feel.
We provided tea, coffee and cake and people could make donations to Macmillan.  We made over £250.00  which was brilliant.

 

 Ten of the members of textileART07 textile group took part and our theme was Reflect. I apologise for the bad photography and the sun was shining into the room which bleached some of the colours and the angles of the pieces were difficult to correct.

 It was great being at the village shop which had lots of goodies to tempt us such as freshly baked bread.

June Withers made two pieces of work inspired by the war with links to lost family members. One embroidery shows the countryside in france and the other a reflection of the same scene after the war.

Rita Maton made a large wall hanging inspired by the Centenary of Armenian Genocide by the Turks and a reflection of her ancestry.

Wendy created some beautiful embroidered pieces inspired by water reflection and made with printing techniques and machine embroidery.

Gail Winters work was inspired by a fascination with Kaleidoscopes and their reflective patterns. The pieces sparkled as you moved around them being made also with reflective materials.

My work was inspired by the tiles and stone work at the Papal Palace in Avignon France and is a reflection of artistic worship.

Sue Crooks work was inspired by a visit to France and the reflections on the Loire River.

Rachel Knights experimental piece was inspired by a scientific interpretation of the word reflect and included pieces of mirror. Quote " viewer may catch glimpses of themselves adding an individual element".

Ann Beers two pieces were inspired by light reflections in water and also "convey a feeling of thought when contemplating a scene of beauty in nature".

Val Carters piece was inspired by her fascination of the Tree of Life, "the top half being a reflection of life in vibrant times and the lower half in tranquil moments"

The smaller piece was made by Mary Rich and included applied stitched shapes onto a stretched fabric background.

The first piece one the left was made by Gail Winter as part of her Kaleidoscope work.

The centre piece was made by Mary Rich and was made with layers of felt and stitch.

The third piece of work was also made by Mary Rich and was inspired by a Tibetan temple door awning. It reflected the influence of different cultures on embroidery and included several of those embroidery techniques in the piece.

One of Gails Kaleidoscope pieces.

A selection of our goodies for sale.












 

 A close up of one of Wendys water pieces.