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!

                            

 

Crafty Fox Market at the Dogstar.

 Today I took part in the ever popular Crafty Fox Market in Brixton. I lived there during my 2nd year in London, back in the late 90s and though its changed a lot since then, it's always had a vibe of its own.

Crafty Fox has a loyal following beyond Brixton and especially amongst craft lovers and great promotion by the organisers Sinead and Stephan meant there was a queue even before the doors were opened! (They were rewarded with goodie bags for their dedication.) 

Live DJs, workshops and a pop up tea shop all contributed to the experience for shoppers and sellers. It was nice to see familiar fellow makers and some new ones and have a wee blether in between sales!

I managed to take a few photos quickly so not the best I'm afraid and also confess to a guilty purchase! 
Normally I follow a strict no buying restraint on myself but seen these cute little poodle brooches by "Love for Hetty and Dave" and well, they were meant to be!(pictured below)

I will be back at the Dogstar again for the Crafty Fox Christmas Market on Sunday 8th December. Maybe see you there?

Mock up of stall display at home.

Table display at the Dogstar.

Managed a few snapshots!

 

Guilty purchase but couldn't resist these brooches!

Stall banner.

LOIS - a new indie shop in Peckham!

Retropoodle

Good news for all South Londoners and lovers of nice things! A exciting new independent shop is opening on the 5th October at 42 Choumert Road, just off Peckham Rye. 

There are many, many fabulous designer makers stocked and I have pictured just a selection of them. Jewellery, bags, prints, ceramics, textiles and printed goodies are all there so you don't have to travel into the dreaded "West End" for a lovely gift or something special for yourself.

My soft toys, bunnies Timmy & Barnie and cats, Wayne & Vincent are available.

I Am Acrylic

 

Opening times:

Tuesday-Saturday 10-6

Kuku

Sunday 10-5

For more info on who's stocked there, click LOIS 

Rachel Foxwell

Mister Peebles

Custom Made

A visit to Flora + Fauna pop up shop.

Paid a visit to the fabulous Designers/Makers shop on Columbia Road, open from Wednesday-Sunday for the whole of September and during the London Design Festival. As you may know, if you follow my posts, my new collection of soft toys are on sale there. I went to have a wee look, take some photos as well as have a mooch around Spitalfields/ Brick Lane!

I was very impressed by the look of the shop and the amazing range of products from indie designers. Lots of beautiful prints, jewellery, textiles and ceramics on offer and much more personality than on offer in most shops!

Much credit goes to Sophie Rees, mastermind behind the Designers/Makers label for putting together such a unique shop and giving independent designers a opportunity to sell in a great location.

http://designersmakers.com/#/floraandfauna/

Ceramics by Catherine Hammerton (L) & Matilda Moreton (R)

Knitted animals by Sally Nencini

Cushions by Lulu & Luca, & Oywah

Cats by retropoodle

Fish soft toy by Jo Waterhouse

Making for an exciting venture...

Lately I've been making up stock for forthcoming fairs that I'm going to be selling at soon. First coming up, an exciting pop up shop by Designer/Makers in September as part of The London Design Festival. From 1-30th, lovely original products from UK's independent designer makers will be available from the shop on trendy Columbia Road in the east end of London. 

All my new range of soft toys, the Bunnies and Cats, will be available for the first time in a retail shop! Can't wait to see them displayed. The theme of the shop is "Flora & Fauna" and there will be a variety of products from jewellery, prints, ceramics and homeware. 

Designer/Makers is an design organisation which puts on great pop up events and also has regular Saturday fair at Old Spitalfields Market. If you haven't been to one, have a look as there is a ever changing array of fabulous designers there each month. Guaranteed to have original products and gifts not seen elsewhere!

Cats...Assemble!

I've been busy making up new cats after the torture process of CE testing (see previous post). So have been making a few each of the cats and bunnies groups in order to photograph. Once I've got some beautiful photographs then I can add them to my website very soon!

 Hand stitching the features on Wayne Cat.

Flat cat!

 Wayne Cat all assembled & ready to be stuffed. He has an empty feeling...

He's made up & not amused...

A long process....but there's the light!

It may not be commonly known that any product that may appeal to children, whether intentional, has to be CE marked. What this means is any soft toy has to be tested in order for it to be legally sold to the public or risk a hefty fine or imprisonment (gulp! yes it's that serious). It all seems rather too much for the small independent business (lab testing a complete toy is £350+) but there is help out there from a great Facebook group about the CE testing of products. 

To cut a lengthy process short, every material used to make an item (fabric, button, thread etc) has to be chemically tested so it does not contain any harmful chemicals that may come out when, as children do, put it in their mouths! Also the design has to pass a tension test, involves hanging weights off the seams, and a flammability test (no explanation needed!). A technical file has to be kept and every item has to have batch number so I know when each item was made. 

I designed these specially made soft toys, the Cats and the Bunnies, way back in January and after prototypes and testing, they will finally be available to sell. Hurrah!  So, they are suitable for all ages and I mean all ages as I know that even adults like me can't help being drawn to little animal soft toys!

Millicent Cat been set alight & passed with flying colours!