Stitched Pictures

 Thought I'd share my latest project, thinking ahead to showing at the Selvedge Winter Fair next month. If you don't know already, Selvedge is a wonderful bi-monthly magazine all about textiles. From the artisan to fashion, contemporary and historical, if you love all things fabric, this is the magazine for you!

They have two fairs a year, spring and winter, and for the first time I'm going to be showing on 29-30th November at Chelsea Town Hall.  I'm giddy at the prospect as I've just been a visitor before.

So, in hope of gaining the interest of textile enthusiasts and finally using those vintage frames I've had for over a year, I've made some hand stitched pictures. They were a real labour of love as I enjoy combining hand stitching with vintage textiles to produce something really unique and one of a kind. Hunting through my boxes of vintage fabric scraps, out came some of my favourites I usually just look at, not wanting to cut them up. Vintage quilts, 1930s prints and some felt were used in the construction. 

My inspiration? Well, some drew from the elaborate frame itself, such as the 18th century lady. I also have a nerdy love of all things outer space related so of course the moon, stars and the sun came out to play! The printed bee fabric, a much loved piece of mine, naturally suggested a honeycomb background. Not much of a stretch there!

I love using Pinterest as a source of inspiration so I keep boards of images that inspire me and are drawn to for various reasons. Sometimes I look through them to spark an idea such as a vintage illustration and somewhere it comes out in a piece of work. Your work is always your own and captures your own personality and skill so are always original.

I will make some more in the future even if it's only for my own amusement as they were a joy to make. Hope they prove popular at Selvedge too!