New Designers

via Instagram Photo credit @ievakeli


Fell in love with these pieces by @ievakeli at New Designers yesterday . Heading off now for another day of colour and beauty. I'm helping out on stand A6 with the lovely team from Make it in Design.

Celtic Triskele Brooches

I have just been adding these little brooches/badges to my Etsy shop - a little late for St Patrick's Day but hey ho.

I have been having great fun designing and making these, they are entirely embroidered onto a removable backing (badge film) then attached to a 25mm round pin back.   The challenge is to adjust the stitch density and pull so that the design holds together without any gaps and doesn't distort into an oval as it stitches. Having no background fabric means I can easily make them in any colour combination I fancy and I am also using up the offcuts of badge film left from making larger pieces.  If you would like me to make you one in a different colour scheme, just let me know.

Next step is to try them with thicker threads for a hand-stitched look and with some other motifs.

Setting up at Nature in Art

Quick peek behind the scenes, Liz and Jenn setting up our exhibition yesterday.  No matter how much we plan beforehand, we always end up rearranging everything.  It looked different again by the time we had finished.

Don't forget to pop in and see us (and pick up some gifts from our sales table) at Nature in Art, Twigworth, Gloucester - open until Nov 19th (closed Monday) 10-5.

Nature in Art Exhibition

Only a few days to go until we set up this exhibition - so excited. We spent yesterday laying out all the work and figuring out how to arrange it - always a bit of a challenge with a group of 13 artists working in different sizes, colours and styles.  I may be biased, but I think it will look amazing.  My new business cards arrived just in time too - look closely and you will see some of my little birds peeking out.

We are at Nature in Art Gallery and Museum, Twigworth, Gloucester, GL2 9PG.  Two miles north of Gloucester on the A38.  November 7th-19th, 10am -5pm, closed Mondays (entrance fee to museum applies).

Exciting News

So, there I was setting up this new website and thinking 'I really must get back to blogging, what shall I write?' when the news came through that a group I belong to has been featured on TextileArtist.org.  What a great way to start!

I am delighted to say you can read all about my current work at  http://www.textileartist.org/gordano-textile-artists-natural-selection/

We are profiled individually and in alphabetical order, so I am near the end, but that's okay because it is all well worth reading.

As well as the framed pieces, I have used the bird designs to make iron on patches, which are available to buy online.

Celtic Knot

So, I promised to explain what happened to the piece I was working on last March based on Irish dance dresses. We left it as an idea for making pieces/fragments in wispy silk paper with white on white stitching based on celtic knots, to be joined into a large hanging or made up into a dress.  It was a slightly melancholy concept.  And then a funny thing happened - the weather changed, winter ended and one particularly sunny spring day, I realised I didn't want to do it.  What I wanted to do was celebrate the colour and exuberance of the dance dresses in all their gaudy glory.

My next thought was to focus on the knotwork and let it escape from the dresses, so I came up with the idea of making freestanding knots on a larger scale.  I had just been working on this little piece

and really enjoyed it, so I used the same technique.  First, I drew the knot - a triangle elongated as if to fit the bodice of a dress - and cut it out from felt which I painted with silk paints in red and yellow.  I graduated the colour from red at the corners through orange to yellow in the centre.

 Next, I collected up reels of threads and yarns in red, orange and yellow and cut short pieces, mixing them in boxes to create the range of colours I needed.  Then I laid down pieces of Mistyfuse on the felt and sprinkled on the cut ends, fixing them by ironing.

Here you can see how I started with all the red areas and then worked through to orange and yellow, carefully blending as I went.

Once I had a layer of thread ends fixed down, I handstitched over the whole piece using long random cross stitches in the same threads.

                                                

Finally, I trimmed all those ends away to give a clean edge and painted over the back with fabric stiffener to stop the corners from flopping.  The finished piece is about the size of an A1 board.  Although I  attached a dowel for hanging in the exhibition at Sidcot, I like the idea of using it just propped sideways against a wall or leaning on a fireplace as a piece of home decoration - maybe several in different colours.  My only regret with this piece is that having carefully drawn the overs and unders in the knot correctly, they don't show, so perhaps for a future one, I can make it clearer.

I am putting the knot into the Bristol Embroiderers' Guild Exhibition in February - details below - so do come along for a look round, a cuppa and some homemade cake.

Embroiderers' Guild, Bristol Branch Exhibition

Feb 20-22nd 2015

Stoke Lodge Adult Education Centre

Shirehampton Road

Bristol BS9 1BN

Open Fri and Sat 10am-5pm, Sun 10am -4pm.  Admission £3. Light refreshments available

Shameless Self Promotion

More coursework coming soon, I promise.  Meanwhile, somethingsto get excited about.

Check out the latest addition of Workbox - does this look familiar?

Now come and see it in the flesh...

Gordano Textile Artists will be showing new work on the theme of Explorations at the Grant Bradley Gallery, Bedminster Parade, Bristol, BS3 4AQ  from 8-29 September 2012.  Open 10-5 Monday to Saturday, with the chance to meet some of the artists each Thursday and Saturday between 11 and 2.  I shall be there at the preview on Friday 7th at 6pm and also on Thursday 27th 11-2 so do come and say hello.

Irish Dance Dress – Finished at last

So here it is finally – front and back.



In the end, I removed the black handstitching and went back to the first idea of random herringbone stitch in metallic thread on top of the digitised embroidery, having first used red and orange Markal sticks on the to blend the colours.   Each of the six skirt panels are slightly different in colouring.  Taken with the metallic machined spirals, the dress does have bit of sparkle, so I haven’t added any rhinestones.  the green sash has crossing lines in metallic thread machined over it to echo the herringbone stitches.  We are going to a feis this weekend so I can se then if it needs any more oomph. I can also check if the skirt hangs correctly when she is dancing – I had terrible trouble getting it attached to the bodice and getting the zip in,and had to keep unpicking.  Despite lots of pinning and tacking, it kept shifting under the needle - another time I will ask a favour of a friend with an industrial machine. The skirt is stiffened with craft vilene as well as the velvet and interfacing which makes it very difficult to manoeuvre.  This explains why the time taken to assemble the dress is so long. I am intending to make a video of my daughter dancing and bring it to summer school with the dress so we can see how it looks when it is on and how it moves – I don’t think the photos on a dummy do it justice.
So, here is the breakdown of costs and time followed by my reflections on the project.

Irish Dance Dress Cost and Timings Item	Cost in £
Calico for toile, 2m @ 1.62/m	3.24
Black cotton velvet 3.5m @ 7.29/m	25.51
Black polyester lining 1.3m @ 1.75/m	6.13
Digitally printed silk/cotton mix 3 yards (including p&p and import charges)	79.44
Bondaweb 4m @ 3.02/m	12.08
Stabiliser for machine embroidery 3.5m @ 3.49/m	12.22
Vilene interfacing 3.5m @ 1.95/m	6.82
Craft weight Vilene 2m @ 5.97/m	11.94
Zip	1.05
Metallic machine sewing thread 1 reel	2.65
Metallic stranded thread for hand sewing 2 skeins	2.90
Rayon thread for machine embroidery – 7 colours @ 3.50 per 1000m cop. Used about half of each.	12.25
General sewing thread for seams etc 1 reel	1.49
Bobbin thread for machine embroidery, 5 pre-wound bobbins	1.50
Total Cost	£179.22
Activity	Time taken in hours
Pattern drafting, making toile, adjusting and fitting	15
Designing and samples, preparing embroidery designs	58
Surface decoration (free machining, digital embroidery, hand stitching, painting) and dyeing	81
Cutting out and making up dress	29
Total	183

Reflections on Making the Dress

Well, first of all, if I had seen those figures before I started, I probably wouldn’t have made it – 183 hours is a huge amount of time to spend on one project – no wonder I have been feeling chained to the sewing machine recently. It is surprising how large the total surface area to be decorated is; a single one of the six skirt panels would be a reasonable size for a  wall-mounted piece.  But I am glad I did perservere and hope she doesn’t grow out of it too quickly.  I added large seam allowances, but I am not sure I could face undoing them to let it out.

I am generally pleased with the dress but as always, there are things that could have been done better.  I like the way the colour changes and the curves sweep around but, as I have already mentioned, I should have brought the embroidery further down the bodice to better balance the size of the skirt panels.  I love the colour and the feel of the green silk/cotton fabric but to be honest, the image I had printed doesn’t really show up, so I could have used plain satin and cut down on the costs.  I think I have updated the classic three panel shape successfully by using an asymmetric design.

It took a surprisingly long time to assemble the pieces, but on the other hand, it was the first time I had made this style of stiff skirt and not having a pattern or instructions to refer to,  I was really making it up as I went along.  I wouldn’t have chosen to make this type of skirt but it is what my daughter prefers and I agree with her that the shape does suit her figure.

I really enjoyed the challenge of this project, I would love to make more dresses but preferably with the soft skirt style.  Some I have seen recently have a very simple, almost plain gathered skirt so that all the emphasis is on the bodice decoration. It would also be good for my eyes to work in a colour other than black. If I were making a dress for someone else, I think I would need to go for a simpler design to keep the cost realistic (if anyone reading this is interested, I am open to offers).

I also found sitting down drawing knotwork designs very relaxing so I will be doing more of this at some point and incorporating it into my work.

Irish Dance Dress–Making Progress

Taking on board Sian’s comments about balancing and integrating the embroidery -  I have added further layers of free machining in red and orange to the background and then rubbed on colour with Markal sticks.  After I added the knotwork, I rubbed the colour over the edges as well. 
I have also experimented further with handstitching over the knotwork – this time carrying  on the lines of the spirals in black. I’m not sure if this is adding anything, it makes a rich surface close-up but doesn’t really show at a distance – my daughter says it looks like someone has just thrown thread around!   I’m thinking I would like it if I were making a wallhanging but not for a dance dress  (perhaps I should make a companion piece sometime using my original drawings and handstitch).

The photos that follow make this clearer.  I have made up the bodice but the skirt front and sleeves are just tacked into place (haven’t done the back yet). The bodice front has the black stitching  but the skirt panel does not. 


This gives an idea of what it looks like from a distance so you get the effect of the colours blending and the curves.  With hindsight, I should have made the knotwork come further down on the bodice, but I was concerned to avoid going over the darts in case they need to be let out as she grows. In this picture, you can see part of the green pleats between the panels.  At my daughter’s request,  I have left the sleeves just black with metallic stitching so it isn’t too overpowering (although there is no such thing as too much when it comes to these costumes).  The downside of adding colour over the top is that much of the sparkle has gone, so I have ordered some tiny rhinestones to scatter.

 This picture shows the three panels on the skirt more clearly - I toyed with the idea of green for the sleeves but apparently this would be 'weird'.

I have been working really hard on this for the past couple of weeks, hoping it would be ready for a feis this weekend, but obviously, this isn’t going to happen – so fingers crossed for the one in June.

Metal Samples

I have put together some of the loose pieces made at summer school to make a book of samples using metal effects. The one above is a piece of tomato puree tube embossed and coloured with alcohol inks. I have put it on a background of painted puff paint and covered with silk paper and wire stitching, It hasn't photographed very well - even without a flash I was getting a lot of glare.

Below is a strip of crimped shim on top of fabrics coloured with transfer crayons and transfoil.



The cover for the book is small pieces of stitched metal underneath water soluble paper, stitched and partially dissolved, coloured with walnut ink and applied to a background of crumpled tissue on pelmet vilene. A little colour added with Moon glow sprays and joined with wrapped pipecleaners ( this is Maggie's influence!).