Archive for needle&thread
January 9, 2015 · Filed under markets, needle&thread · Tagged cardiff, christmas, craft, decoration, embroidery, fair, handmade, london, map, market, nadoligllawen, nordic, wales
September 24, 2014 · Filed under ETSY, Maps, needle&thread · Tagged british library, british museum, buckingham palace, covent garden, embroidery, euston, hyde park, kings cross, leicester square, london, map, marble arch, piccadilly circus, river thames, southbank, st james park, stitch, thread, travel, wall hanging
So a couple of these pieces have been getting a lot of attention on Etsy this week – I think thanks to the awesome new homepage feature which allows everyone a personalised homepage showing featured items that are relevant to them! Then I realised I hadnt actually made a blog post about these maps which I finished a few months ago.
South Bank Wall Hanging
I wanted to make something really amazing, without worrying about time constraints which is always a massive issue when selling hand stitched products. I want to make work that is affordable to everyone, but at the same time I have a massive compulsion to hand stitch everything! So I usually compromise by combining hand with machine stitching, painting, applique, or trying to make the pieces as simple as possible (that last one…. never happens!) But for once I just wanted to stitch some maps for the love of it, and so I made these wall hangings. They are a much higher-end product than I would normally spend time on but I just love how they turned out!
South Bank Wall Hanging
South Bank Wall Hanging
Euston Wall Hanging
Euston Wall Hanging
Euston Wall Hanging
Marble Arch Wall Hanging
Marble Arch Wall Hanging
Marble Arch Wall Hanging
Piccadilly Wall Hanging
Piccadilly Wall Hanging
Piccadilly Wall Hanging
September 9, 2014 · Filed under ETSY, needle&thread · Tagged aztec, bright, colour, cross stitch, embroidery, lace up, pattern, plimsole, shoe, sneaker
As much as I completely LOVE stitching maps sometimes I really just want to make something for the sake of using super bright threads!
I also thought it could be fun to stitch into my new plimsoles:
Which kind of lead to more stitched shoes which are now for sale on Etsy
August 1, 2014 · Filed under needle&thread · Tagged cosmos, earth, embroidery, jupiter, mars, neptune, planets, solar system, space, universe, uranus
I made these a while ago after borrowing some amazing books from work about the Solar System and the Universe (and watching the old and new series’ of Cosmos!) and thought I’d have a go at stitching some planets!
I found stitching the Earth in such a small frame really tough, there’s just too much to fit in! So lets say it’s not exactly geographically accurate!
I also really wanted to make Jupiter MASSIVE, like the biggest frame i could find, imagine that!!! Buuuut filling a piece that big would take light years!
I based the colours of Mars and Uranus on photos from one of the books I borrowed (Neptune was a no brainer!) Next
I’d love to do Saturn, but I’ll need a much bigger frame to fit the rings in!
July 5, 2013 · Filed under needle&thread, Studio Space · Tagged floral, leaf, magazine, pattern, print, sewing world
My Aberystwyth Map Cushion got a small feature in Sewing World Magazine!
The magazine is mostly dedicated to sewing as a hobby and contains loads of sewing patterns and tutorials for clothes and houseware. But it also has this regular showcase of handmade products by designer/makers who sell on a variety of online platforms, I was pretty pleased with my work being described as ”really unusual”!
I have spent the last week working in my studio. I’ve set up a stitching area right next to the window, mainly for light but also because I cant stand sitting at a desk every day!
I’ve been working on patterns which are a bit different from my usual designs of houses/streets/maps. I dont really know what i’m doing but it seems to be a lot more abstract than what im used to….
April 6, 2013 · Filed under ETSY, needle&thread · Tagged aberystwyth, baker street, carnaby street, cushion, embroidery, fish, flags, lamps, lighthouse, london, map, roath park, typewriter
March 10, 2013 · Filed under ETSY, Maps, needle&thread · Tagged applique, cushions, embroidery, fabric, stitsh, textiles, work
Some new work finally! 12 new cushion covers. Admittedly thay arent all brand new designs, theres a few old favourites that I’ve attempted to improve. They will all be added to the shop over the next few days!
For this selection I also changed the size of the covers from 50 x 50 cm to 40 x 40. I was hoping this would cut down the making time considerably, but to be honest it really didnt! So I guess I’ll be going back to 50 x 50 in the future….
February 20, 2013 · Filed under Maps, needle&thread, Studio Space · Tagged blackheath, chair, embroidery, folk bird, kensington map, london, pelican, postcard, railway, studio space
October 26, 2012 · Filed under Cat, markets, needle&thread, Studio Space · Tagged charity, london, markets, victorian
Its been a week of lots of stitching!
My Cadair Idris embroidery is finished, all it needs now is to be stitched together and shipped off to its new shelf!
and my workspace is currently established in the kitchen with a view:
The plan for next week is finishing some embroideries ive been working on that i have based on a beautiful old map of victorian london (here is a sketch of one piece i like rather a lot)
And organising myself for the first of two markets i will be doing next month!
Poster by Pixel Theori.
Myself and some friends wil be joining the sellers next saturday night at bikes and buttons charity swap and market at whitchurch community centre. Hopefully we’ll see you there! For more info have a look at the event page on facebook.
October 19, 2012 · Filed under needle&thread · Tagged aberystwyth, cadair idris, light box, london, street signs
I started off this week developing two new cushion covers for a commission for Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth, the first being my second attempt at an Aber map, I got to use my light box for the first time!
The second was a new design, as the museum wanted a different map of the surrounding area, so I chose Cadair Idris, mainly because thats quite an impressive name, and it looks cool on the map.
I just hope they look good when theyre finished! The Aberystwyth map proved quite popular when I made my first version of it, so next week hopefully I can start a third to go in the shop.
One of the best things about working in a library at an art college is getting to look at lovely books, and borrow! Here is my most recent aquisition:
I know to many people this might not look like much, but anyone who knows me will know how much i LOVE this sort of stuff! After reading this i wish I had developed my uni projects about London so much more, to go around London photographing all the little features, signposts, doors, chimneys and then stitching them? that would have been awesome. 🙂
Stitch City 