Ocean life

These two pieces, inspired by a workshop led by Nerissa Cargill Thompson, depict ocean life (my abstract imaginary take on it) and there's lot of texture in them.

I used paint to make marks on the base fabric, and a lot of recycled fabrics as appliqué and Suffolk puffs, as well as some old lace, ironed plastic netting, couched wool thread, some beads and a fair amount of stitching. 

Both pieces will be mounted onto 1 canvas, next to one another. Perhaps part of a future exhibition?

Say it's only a paper moon and stars...

This small piece is my take on the workshop led by Jessica Grady, via Textileartist.org. 

The moon is cut from a page out of an old book. I folded written paper into stars and added some yellow beads. 

The big blot is blue ink. I love that effect, suggesting a dark but not gloomy night.

I’m not sure yet if I’ll cut the edges and leave it in the hoop as a piece of its own or whether I’ll make it into something else.

Kitchen Story

This collage piece is a stitched story about the kitchen in my childhood home. It took rather longer to plan than usual, because I first made a mind map to set free my thoughts and associations.

The technique of mind mapping is something I learned from Ali Ferguson. I found it to be very useful and insightful. 

Starting from this mind map, I selected meaningful materials, words and motifs. 

For the materials, I chose a piece of an actual cushion cover from that time, some jeans fabric (we wore jeans all the time back then), fabric scraps from a pair of slippers I had, some pieces of kitchen textiles and random fabrics that remind me of the atmosphere of this eighties kitchen.

As the motif I picked a whisk, which my mum often used, among many other things for making mayonnaise. This was a job that required a lot of attention and we often chatted as I watched her.

By stitching together the words and this image I’ve tried to capture a cherished memory of peaceful, secure and happy times.

Woollen handbag

In 2018 (you can read the blogpost here) I dyed some yarn with onion peel. 4 of the skeins, all of a different shade of yellow, I knit into a piece with wide stripes. 

This piece I washed on a high temperature and high spin cycle, to get it felted. It worked : the fabric is firmer, smaller and thicker now. 

And this week I decided to make it into a handbag of my own design.

I chose a nice fabric for the inner lining. It’s all hand-sewn, because I wanted to do some slow, meditative stitching. The wooden handles fit perfectly, in my opinion. 

This project is is a good example of slow crafting: hand-spun and naturally dyed yarn, hand-knit and hand-sewn into a bag. It reminds me that the journey is so much more important than the goal. That it turned out to be a nice handbag is a bonus 😊

the knitted fabric, before felting :

working on the bag, with the lining fabric and the handles:

the inside of the finished handbag:

Pockets on a string

I was looking for something useful I could make from the patches I got practising crocheting and using up my yarnscraps. At the same time I found myself inspired by the dangerous pockets project, by Paula MacGregor and this poem by Sharon Owens :

Dangerous Coats

Someone clever once said
Women were not allowed pockets
In case they carried leaflets
To spread sedition
Which means unrest
To you & me
A grandiose word
For commonsense
Fairness
Kindness
Equality
So ladies, start sewing
Dangerous coats
Made of pockets & sedition

It is true, womens garments often don't have useful pockets and to carry a handbag just isn't handy all 

the time. So I thought, what about pockets on a string? Little bags for phone, keys, card, a bit of money, so you have the little things you need close at hand, but also freedom of movement!

Making these pockets, I can try out different techniques, different materials (some recycled fabric and yarn leftovers), adding haberdashery, tassels, and so on, which I think is a lot of fun!!

Duttons for Buttons

Some years ago, I visited Harrogate in Yorkshire (UK). There is this wonderful shop, Duttons for Buttons. What a treasure cove, or in their own words : "For haberdashery & lace & spare-time & needles & thread & ribbons & rainy days knitting with friends & wool & needlewordk & making stuff with the kids & just about every needlecraft thing you'll ever need…" Along with some beautiful and unusual buttons, I bought the shop's environmentally friendly souvenir bag. I
customized it, as is the idea, with lots of buttons from my button box. It took a while to sew them all on, but for what's now my favourite tote, it was totally worth it!

Crochet with friends

This shopping bag means a lot to me. Two friends and I choose to make one each: it was an attempt to stop the time, be together in a bubble, outside the far to harsh reality of illness. It gave hope, just for a moment, where there was no hope. Two friends finished their bags, one didn't, she passed away 4 months ago. We couldn't give you anything but this small tiny bubble that wasn't real, Kathleen, but we will never ever forget the joy of that day.

The pattern and Yarn (Sandnes Garn) we bought at Pand 16.

Boho bag number 2

First, I knitted two pieces of fabric, inspired by a pattern for legwarmers in the Dutch book 'Breien en haken met dikke naalden' (p.56). The yarn is Sirdar Kiko, a wool-acrylic blend.
Sewn together, this knitted fabric has become the outer bag.
For the inner bag and the carrying strap, I used a well-loved old shirt of my husband.
I added a zipper, a ribbon with a hook for wallet and a small pocket for my phone.
To finish up, I added a beautiful wooden button I bought at Bunyip Beads in Exeter (great shop, very friendly people!). It's a bit smaller than the first one (check it out here), but still perfect for a city trip.

A French market bag

This is a free pattern from knitty.com, you can download it here.
It's a market bag with a square base and it's knitted in the round.
I used Debbie Bliss Aran tweed, in a beautiful soft purple colour with speckles. Running out of yarn, I dived into my leftover stash and found just enough Debbie Bliss Donegal aran tweed (dark grey) to finish the bag. I think the colour combination works well.
This is a felted bag, which means that the finished work is put into the washing mashine on a high temperature. The fabric felts, shrinks and strengthens. Here, the purple yarn has felted less than the dark grey and you can still see the stitch definition in the purple knitted fabric. I don't mind, I like it this way. Perhaps I'll try to felt it tighter later on, but for now, it will do.

starting on double pointed needles:

finished, not felted:

before felting : clear stitch definition

after felting in the washing machine:

done and ready for shopping!

Boho bag number one

This bag is made out of knitted pieces sewn together with some recycled fabric.
The grey yarn is bulky acrylic that was a gift. The light blue yarn is something very special : a vegan yarn, from 'Darn Good Yarn'. It is made from banana fiber, a great renewable resource!  I found it very enjoyable to knit. In my imagination it felt like it was spun from a magical beast's fleece, like a unicorn or something. It's so shiny and super soft. I bought it at Bristol Wool Fair in 2015.
The strap I made from an old jeans of mine. For the "inner bag" I used old t-shirt fabric.
I also added a few lovely beads.

The constant happiness is curiosity

This bag is made from an old organic sweater. It is lined with some fabric from my mum's stash. Inside I made a small pocket for a phone. the stack of books and the bird on the teacup are made with machine embroidery. I also embroidered a saying by Alice Munro :"the constant happiness is curiosity". I love that saying, it is so true. I could do with some practice on the hand-embroidery though...Nevertheless, the bag made my mum (it was a present for her) very happy, her being an avid reader.

The bucket bag

This summer, on different trips, I worked on my 'travelcrochet' : the crochet bucket bag, a pattern by Martha Stewart crafts. Here you should be able to download the free pattern : http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/crochet-bucket-bag-l10191b.html
I love the simple, honest look of this bag. I used fine merino aran pure Falkland wool and the grey stripes and handle are made with biolana organic wool. I added a simple big wooden button and a crocheted chain, with tassle. That chain gets wound round the button, this way the bag is kept closed when I put it down.
It was a fun and easy project to work on and the wool felt nice : light and fluffy. I like the outcome, I think it will make a great project-bag.