Transformation.

They started as part of a five piece graduated set of wedge shaped pendants. The central sections had been filled with glittery golden sticky backed plastic – horrible but easily removed to give a blank space full of possibilities.

As you can see from the above photo, I already had one idea brewing – to use some of the scraps of fabulous yew wood veneer I scored from my Dad’s workshop a while ago. I liked the look of the wood against the gold coloured edging, but felt that to do all of them the same would be too much and just one wouldn’t showcase the wood enough. So I decided to make a trio of pendants, using the two smallest and one of the medium sized sections.

I cut the veneer to shape and carefully finished the pieces with clear Danish oil and micro-crystalline wax before insetting them into the pendants, adding a gold plated chain and listing them here in my Etsy shop

That left the largest and one of the medium sized sections for something different. I really enjoyed working with ironed out silk carrier rods recently and I had just found three bags of them I didn’t know I had (hangs head in shame…) in my favourite colours – blue, green and turquoise – so that was the next design sorted. I cut a piece of the green to fit the largest section and started to create a little garden corner. Straight stitch stems and french knot flowers in various weights of silk thread.

Then an overhanging branch in stem stitch…

…with lazy daisy stitch leaves…

…set into the pendant which can be found here.

A piece of mottled blue/turquoise carrier rod was a good start for a sea themed pendant. I added feather stitch in gold silk thread and three tiny nuggets of rare yellow sea glass.

They were stitched down with fine silk thread and I added another swirl of feather stitch to link them.

I’ve called this one ‘Sunlit Zone’ and listed it here.

Stitching on the ironed out silk carrier rods is lovely. They are firm, like a heavy paper, but much more forgiving if you put the needle through in the wrong place. Pelmet vilene is great too but the colour and sheen of the silk is just very special. I think they have loads more potential in my jewellery work so this won’t be the last you see of them!

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Bluework and other bits

Sorry I’ve been awol. Issues with work kicked off at the end of May and I’ve really been struggling to get my head round them. In fact, I’ve struggled to do anything much, including sew, but I do have a couple of bits to show.

Firstly, the bluework is coming on slowly. I wanted a section that looked like a fragment of blue and white china from another piece of pottery so I used an old embroidery transfer picture and copied the central part of that into the right hand section.

I’ve used split stitch to outline the flower shapes and am filling them with a sort of cross between satin stitch and long and short stitch.

My usual mixture of threads. Some silk, some cotton and some a complete mystery.

Heavier weight and lighter toned threads on the larger flower which I plan to finish off in white stranded silk.

I’ve also made another brooch from some of the wooden offcuts and rusted painting cloth I brought back from my Dad’s shed at Easter to go in my Etsy shop.

This one is made from a square of rusted muslin that he was using as a paint cloth. I ruched it onto a much smaller piece of hand dyed cotton with french knots in a rusty-coloured variegated thread which gives it a lovely fluid, tactile surface.

I’ve mounted it into a square of apple wood left over from one of his chopping board projects.

The wood is smoothed but not polished and I love that understated background against the contortions of the bunched up fabric.

 

 

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