Embroidery .....

Below is a photo frame I made, with a cute photo of a very young charlie in it....I made the frame from two pieces of very thick card....from the back of an art drawing pad if my mind serves me right.  I used some cotton fabric that I had subtly tie dyed to cover the card. I put a layer of wadding between the card and the fabric, then stuck it down with uhu glue. When the glue was dry I used a blanket stitch to sew together the long sides and the bottom by sewing through both the front and the back at the same time.....I did each side of the top separately thus leaving an opening at the top. I remember hunting everywhere for some perspex to put inside to protect the photo....I cut up some that was packaging but I can't remember what it was now...

I cut stencils from cereal packets in the shape of flowers and stencilled using fabric paints onto frame. I just embellished the flowers with embroidery..some I outlined and some I sewed sequins in the middle.   The hanging cord is crochet with a couple of beads on each side.....The heart is full of lavender from my bush in the garden....

The design on this cushion represent....' Hands to work....hearts to god ' ...I think ..but don't quote me that it is a 'Shaker' belief....   Anyway I did my own design and printed it by doing a mono print from cardboard...then I embroidered it...this I sold on eBay...

My mum did this embroidery...this is just a section. She bought the kit in London in the 70s, I think she said from 'The Needlewoman', I'm not sure.... anyway, she did not make it up until a few years ago...and now it is mine :) .

This is how I work...in a mess !  I shall get told off by my mum now that she can see the tangle of threads that frustrate me every time I embroider.....I would untangle them but it would take up too much of my valuable time.....

And...this is just a little mushroom house that I made because I was in that sort of a fiddly mood....I did the 'Home' in tiny stitches... the door is applique and the flowers are beads....It now hangs on my kitchen dresser....  Oh...and the patchwork is part of a big blanket I made to cover the sofa...

Screen printed fabrics

I like to print fabric more than anything else...I have limited space so I can only use small screens.  I have some very large screens in the shed awaiting the summer when I can set up a table in the garden.

I print using stencils cut from thin paper. It takes a long time to cut the design with a scalpel and to get the screen ready .When I print I have to keep on going as I know the stencil will eventually fall apart or clog up. I do a run of as many as time will allow...or until I get fed up .Usually I start with a light colour, maybe a pink and add more red as I top up the ink to vary the colour after which I may add blue to change it to purple etc. I hang the prints to dry on the washing line.

These are some old prints I did which I made into bags and sold at a farmers market and on eBay. I printed it on paper first so that I can re cut the design and use it again.

I like to colour some of my prints by hand with fabric paints. I love the way one design can be changed in so many ways...

                                   These are old photos rescued from my old blog...
                   the camera was only a cheap and I cant  seem  to alter the photos very well.. 

This is one of the finished bags.........