Tag: artists life

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Autumn is upon us

We are a bit mushroom mad in our house too, the ones that grow in the woods now, not any other kind! we love hunting for them, identifying them and cooking up the edible ones. With Autumn now upon us, the woods are our favourite place to wander. Last weekend we went to Killarney National Park to hunt for them for reference. You aren’t allowed to pick anything there, only take photos. With all that inspiration I decided to have a go at creating some with wool. A mix of wet felted and needle felted mushroom have started emerging from my studio and I have to say I am rather pleased with them. It also gave me an excuse to random dye a whole pile of Wensleydale curly locks that I got from a local farmer and to card some of Leiko Felts gorgeous dyed merino wool from my stash into mushroom blends. Continue reading Autumn is upon us

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Sewing: a skill for life.

Sewing is a fundamental skill for life. In almost every household, the girl learnt from the mother and grandmother how to stitch. In the more affluent homes, girls were taught by the governess the more decorative arts of embroidery, tapestry and lace making for example, as a way to occupy their time. In poorer homes, villages and amongst indigenous peoples, sewing was and still is, how they made their clothes, the very fabric being made from the fleece of their animals and the fibres from plants. Dressmakers and seamstresses were from the so called lower classes. It was their life’s blood, their income and therefore a skill for life. Continue reading Sewing: a skill for life.

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A New Journey

Wet Felting
Wow October disappeared under clouds of wool! For many years I have wished to be able to felt and a friend gifted me some merino felting wool recently. I had no idea how to start but a few tutorials later and I dived in. I made my first wet felted neck warmer. Followed swiftly by a second pushing into new techniques and incorporating hand dyed wools of my own. Another tutorial later and I had to try making a bowl. I love bowls. I cracked it! I love affair is born. Continue reading A New Journey

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At summers end

Children are back to school, the sun is shining and that gorgeous autumnal light has returned. The berries are ripe for picking, butterflies are everywhere, the bees are busy and the land is showing signs of slowing down for the winter sleep. It is harvest time, foraging time and jam making time. I am holding … Continue reading At summers end

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Dyeing silks and things in the microwave

I had some fun experimenting this last week dyeing various items in the microwave. I use Dupont silk dyes for all my dyeing projects and these are steamed fixed in a pressure cooker which can take up to an hour plus the use of water to rinse. Some time back I learnt that you could fix dyes in the microwave… but I was reluctant to try not being a fan of microwaves anyway.
However… having seen another textile artist posting gorgeous pieces on Facebook and learning that she had fixed them in the microwave, I vowed to try the very next day. A bit of googling and I found some basic instructions which I followed. This was not enough for my enquiring mind though. I wanted to test other materials that I had previously steam fixed successfully. Continue reading Dyeing silks and things in the microwave