September Textile Love - part 4

Day 19: Upcycling

I hate waste, so upcycling of fabric is dear to me.
I have a stash of ‘might come in useful’ fabrics - from vintage table cloths and sheets, to tea towels, felted and worn hand knitted socks (now too small to wear) and of course denim jeans.
Denim jeans are a great thing to use. They soften with age, and have been used to make travel pouches, Japanese rice bags and shoe bags, and a carry bag for a campbed! I have to say the last one of these did look alarmingly like I was carrying a rifle, but nobody questioned it when I took it on the underground!

Newer jeans mostly have some stretch, which is great for wearing but less good when using for other things, so hang on to your old non-stretch ones!

Day 20: Newfound skills

I am something of a magpie when it comes to learning new things, taking a workshop, learning something new, but not always having time to take it through to become part of my skill set. That’s why I signed up for for the Foundation Degree in textiles Practice, I hopes it would give me a chance for some long term projects where I have time to develop an idea, and also help me find what kind of maker I want to be.
However that hasn’t stopped me signing up for other courses!

Earlier in the summer I did an online Upcycled Bookbinding course with Bookbinding with Cass and that is one skill I am going to continue to use.

This book is the fourth one we made and it is sitting waiting for me to decide how to use it.

Day 21: Tools

Today I’m hand stitching and this is my view.
The tool pouch is the Fold up Sewing Folio by @aneelahoey.
I was sitting at my desk under a skylight. We recently moved to this house, so that I could have a workroom where I can have all my crafting stuff in one space, and there is room for a desk, my sewing machine and a ‘cutting table’ at just the right height for working standing up. As a great bonus, the room is on the top floor with skylights and I can hand stitch in daylight, it is an absolute joy.

Day 22: Influence and inspiration

This is really hard because I’m still at the beginning of my life in textiles (at 69!)
But my Mother has been a major influence, I am sure. She was a seamstress who made all her clothes for most of her life and imbued in me a love of colour and fabrics, through visits to the market stalls where you could buy almost any fabric you wanted, from Liberty lawns to luscious heavy wool cloths from the Yorkshire mills.
Another influence on my practice is my science background, always seeking patterns and explanations for them.
There are more influences who I have encountered in recent years, some make me think about what sort of skills I want to develop, and others make me think about what messages I want my work to send.
I am interested in the practice of Sarah Hibbert, @quiltscornerstone, in moving between collage and quilt.
And I have recently discovered the work of @sabiwestoby whose work I admire immensely.
And finally I am inspired by Hannah Lamb , course leader at Bradford College of Art, where she posts as @bradfordtextiles .

Day 23: Texture

I capture textures everywhere, these images are typical.

I have so many photos of these ripples on a beach, but cannot resist taking another next time I am there.

Trees yield so many textures and colours, again it is impossible not to take just one more photo.

I have begun to experiment with how they might translate into textiles, but a long way to go, meanwhile it is good fun playing!

Day 24 Workshops

Gosh how I have missed face to face workshops. However, many people developed great new skills in Zooming and we had the advantage of not having to travel and having all our home resources to call on.
These images are from a mix of F2F and Zoom activities
Machine embroidery with @mrsddesigns and Slow Stitch Club with @heatherchalkley_ (both made possible by @yorkfabricshop ),
Eco dyeing with CarolAnn Allan and Experimental Textiles with Justine Warner. Thanks to them all.