A faerie mound

This is what I made today........................if you hear music don't go inside.

All at sea

The next button in my baroque phase ! This time a little galleon sailing in a needlelace sea complete with mermaid and leaping fish.

The Sun King

I recently visited the Baroque exhibition at the V&A and loved the baroque theatre with its moving scenery . This has of course inspired a set of buttons which are three dimensional. The first one is of the sun behind the clouds. The sun is heavily embroidered in a baroque style onto the silk but the clouds are made in needlelace and are suspended in front on little springs.

The Earwig Mystery

I recently discovered that earwigs have wings but never use them. They are folded up some forty times and this is suggested as a reason for them not being unfolded. I think that they are saving them for a special occasion and when that happens they will unfold their silky origami wings and wear garlands of dew drops and tiny silver and gold chrysanthemums ( their favourites) .......and here is the button proof available now on etsy !!!!

In the light

Come and join us !!You can also contact me via this blog.

Abbey Art Centre

My studio is in a secret garden in London where artists have been coming for years !!!

Come away O human child!

One of my favourite poems by Yeats has inspired this embroidered ribbon.
The lines
'Come away O human child ! To the waters and the wild, With a feary hand in hand, For the worlds more full of weeping than you can understand.'
is 'free-machine' embroidered onto silver organza with silver antique sequins and owl feathers. It is then wrapped around an old wooden cotton reel




( available on Etsy from August )

View from the cliffs

The colours in this button look like the coast and sea around St. Ives. The yarn is called gimp and is a little tricky to sew but looks lovely and rugged !
Measures 29mm across , £12 +postage

Little Posies

These are more from my new selection of millefiore buttons........



...all are 15mm across and embroidered in various hand dyed threads on linen ,£8.50 +post each

Knot Gardens for sale

I am currently working on some new buttons based on my millefiore range. These are covered in french knots using lovely hand dyed silks on linen. This first is 'up the garden path', inspired by the little pathways on the crinoline lady embroideries popular during the 1930s. The thread is wool and silk and it measures 29mm across.
£12 + postage


The next are sets of old style ball buttons with hand stitched shanks on the back. They are about 8mm wide and these are in a silk that reminds me of the sand ornaments you used to buy on the Isle of Wight.

set of three £10 +postage


...more to follow.