Horse Hoof boots

Now here's a blast from my past ! I graduated in fashion quite some years ago (1991, for goodness sake!) and for my final show I designed some boots that looked like horses hooves, they were done beautifully by a shoemaker called 'Napoleon'. Isabella Blow picked up on them and at the beginning of an extraordinary career used them in a shoot she styled with Steven Meisel. It became an iconic shoot for Vogue as it put upcoming designers ( me , Husein Chalayan, Alexander Mcqueen etc. ) with new models and many went on to stellar success.
  The new exhibition about Isabella at Somerset House has those photos (mine is the one on the left, thanks to Aeshetica) . I have fond memories of Isabella and some mad cab rides around London. She bought me silk and tights and I gave her a velvet jacket ! My career has changed since then but I am still proud of this shot. I should also add that I no longer produce these boots for sale...........

New shop opening

A new Etsy shop that is ! All my stumpwork pieces under one roof , to commission, including the scissors above. They are are detail from the large commission I did for the High Sheriff of Cumbria (see the links down the right hand side!) and can be made seperately for  £50 plus p&p. They measure about 2cm each way and can be made in ivory or the sepia tone above (which is actually just the photo but still....)
 New stuff is being made................

Happy 100 !

It would seem I have written a lot of posts and this is the hundredth........was that me ?
'Want to come round and see the studio for Christmas ? It'll be open on Sunday the 8th December... The fire will be on, the red stuff will be mulling and I'm making ecclefechan tarts ( posh mince pies). AND the Museum will be open and candlelit....and there will be my own little christmas decorations for sale.

..and it's not just me either . The whole of my bonkers little artist community will be showing plus our artist neighbours. 'just a bit of shameless self-promotion you understand.

Handmadedashery at The Knit and Stitch Show

Thankyou to everyone who came , I had a lovely time...very tired now.
 Etsy is stocked up again but if there is something I've missed out please contact me.

One week to go

....less than a week in fact.........the Knit and Stitch Show at Alexandra Palace,London October 10-13th.  I am stand TGI7 in the gallery hall which you can get to quickly by turning left in the lobby (this is a hot tip for anyone arriving in the morning as most head straight for the main hall and are swallowed alive !!!!). I have a whole new range of 'Handmadedashery' including the sewing kit above , pin cushion rings , moulded beeswax and these......

Etsy shop

If you have ever wondered about the description on Etsy of what The Glass Pingle shop actually looks like ...here it is!

Studio

'Thankyou' to everyone who came , it was a lovely weekend !
Now for the Knit and Stitch Show........

Open Studios 2013

I will be taking part in the Herts. Open Studios on September 7th-8th along with several other artists from the studios here.
Our studios are in the grounds of a large mid-Victorian house together with a 14th C. tithe barn , Victorian shop arcade and large wooded garden.We will all be selling work and you can get to meet my furry assistant...what more could you want ? ! See the link in the side bar for all the visitor info.

http://www.ruthparker.co.uk/

http://www.mollyhagan.co.uk/

http://www.lisafreeman.co.uk/

http://iconin.blogspot.co.uk/



p.s. there's this too........Pathe film of the Abbey Art Centre

Pingle rings

As one who likes to embroider on the go....in the garden ,on the train, in the car..... I have needed somewhere safe for my needles ! I usually end up wearing them and then forgetting so when I was making some of my pin cushion buttons recently I wondered if  rings would work and they do ! I was given a lovely little stash of old Liberty print remnants so here they are ! On etsy packaged in their own little domes..£10

and here are the buttons. These will be at the Knit and Stitch show in October.

p.s. if any of you want to see a spectacular stumpwork casket pop along to The Queens Gallery to see this

..so many leaves !! It doesn't get out very often and has to be seen to be believed. There are also some beautiful tudor jackets in the show , french knot heaven.

Anenomes

..some brooches being made. This set are inspired by the middles of anenomes (and all the lovely hand dyed threads that I have !)

In the garden

If the slugs didn't eat them I would have delphiniums in my garden.....so I embroider them instead !

There's a little garden of buttons going on to Etsy this week . I'm working my way through my range of 1930's inspired embroidered buttons , the delphiniums and bellis are in two colours and the hollyhocks...

..... in this heatwave they are all that is flowering in my garden.

Munstead Wood

 Another of my new pieces ,a pendant. This one was inspired by the colour of one of my roses , the David Austin rose 'Munstead Wood'. It is such a dark red and smells so good , I have been making rose water all week for my hair ! The pendant is all done in french knots on green silk linen. There is another version too which looks like the centre of  an opium poppy( in the same colour) just click on the etsy link or go to
The Glass Pingle at etsy from here.

Modernity? !!

A new venture..... I like embroidered covers for things and after making covers for everything in my handbag it occurred to me that other people might too !! The first fruits are i-phone covers and memory stick covers. Using my stash of hand dyed threads I have worked them in my favourite stitches. For the covers themselves I have used some lovely pieces of linen and silk linen and they are all lined in Liberty print cottons with useful hanging loops. 

'just click on my etsy link to see all the new stuff !

Elven heart

This is just a small project to see where I could push the needlelace this time ! It is very small and I worked it in some lovely silk from Pearsalls. As for technique , a basic single brussels stitch base which I then worked into with more buttonholing , picots and french knots. I had no plan as I went, I just wanted an organic texture and something which could possibly be worn.

Thankyou

This is just to say 'thankyou' to everyone who has commented recently ,I'm afraid I can't reply through the comments section at the moment as it keeps sending them to the wrong person ! It is,however, lovely to hear from the very kind and generous people who read my blog !

On their way

 'finally something new for Etsy .......being made and then packed up ready to go ! These are a new line , a 'Posy set' of three different buttons all embroidered in the same colour hand dyed threads. In each set there is one button covered in french knots (millefiore), one a triple buttonhole wheel (old cushion) and the last one a cluster of lazy daisies ( wallflower).I am using my stash of lovely hand dyed threads that I get from the fairs so some are silk, some are wool/silk and there is a linen/silk mix too. They will be for sale for £15  plus postage.

High Sheriff of Cumbria

Congratulations to Diana Matthews who is now High Sheriff of Cumbria. Her entire outfit has been bespoke made by five art makers , most of whom are members of the Art Workers Guild. This is my contribution !
The image above is the lace jabot before attaching it to the collar ,below.

The cuff(s) are too shown flat ....

 ...and then made up onto organdy half-sleeves.

'just a detail of how the cuffs fasten at the back...

It's all in the details

Yes, I appear to be finished after three months of lace making ! These are some high res. photos so you that you can see why I use a magnifying lens to work !
Firstly the eye, now with eyelid and question mark. The string of the bow is drawn threw the 'dot' .

The moth has all its' wings and a furry body,

the roses have all their leaves, the cuffs have their gabled edges.
When this has been officially handed over then I will post the complete images.

Hands on

The second part of this commission is the cuffs...two of them !!! The jabot was designed to represent the law and order side of my client but the cuffs are symbolic of the architectural practice she runs with her husband. The only stipulation in this brief was the Westmorland rose and gables !! I have used a linking gable motif to create a very ornate edge to the cuffs but the rose and its leaves hold the design together as in the jabot. From the wrist there are leaf tiles which overlap the rose leaves which in turn overlap the gables. I managed to get an eye in though disguised as a leaf !

The cuffs are being made as semi circular pieces to be seen flat rather than gathered up which means they have to 'do up' at the back. To do this I have made a little arched half window motif with tiny buttonholes in the lace construction itself. When the cuffs are done up the two halves of the window come together at the back of the sleeve.