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This pattern by Normajean Brevik was published in the Winter 2006 (Issue 24) of Quilting Arts magazine.
Magic! The card rises to the top when the ribbon is pulled. The case can be made into a necklace if desired.
Back
I made my first one to coordinate with one of my favourite outfits.
I’ll make a few more just to stay at the height of fashion. Here’s one that I made last night using a piece of A5 fabric I made by printing one of my Southbank graffiti photos onto white pima cotton, an eyelet and silver leather cord for the necklace.
The little compartment at the back is good for spare cards, driving license, oyster card, etc.
This is a modern take on the Japanese Obi Sash.
Obi
I made it from charcoal grey wool, pumpkin and pewter dupioni and my Southbank Shadows photograph printed onto silk habotai and fashioned into a belt loop. The padded part is layered with cotton batting.
Obi – detail
It is designed to sit just at the small of the waist and the ties wrap around to tie into a short bow on the opposite side. It can be dressed up or down and works over a few layers of clothing or just a top.
One of my first fibre art projects in quite awhile was making brooches from some of my photographs taken at London’s Southbank. One of my art goals this year is to make and market some smallish fibre art pieces that I can sell for between £10 and £300, both online and in galleries in London and the Southwest.
Last autumn I had printed out a contact sheet onto some silk habotai. I’d started to make a few neinchies (near enough inchies) and then put them into storage with the rest of my things while I was on walkabout to the US.
Last night I used my sewing machine, a Bernina 1090 for the first time in exactly four months! I backed the neinchies with silk dupioni and finished the edges with a zigzag stitch using metallic thread in the bobbin. Then I painted the edges with acrylic paint, just to cover up the Pellon that showed through and glued on backing pins using Tacky Glue.
I’ll document and post the whole process from start to finish the next time I make some brooches. But for now I just want to get the images up and say ‘Yes, I am still a fibre artist, even though it’s been all about food, photography and musing for the past few months on Inspiraculum’.
Southbank Shadows, 1 ½ x 2″
Southbank Graffiti
Southbank Trees
One of my mottos is ‘Wear your Art’. I love to buy artist/designer made clothing, jewelry and accessories. However, its not always easy to find just the perfect colour, fit or shape when at a designer shop or craft fair. So I am just starting to make my own fibre art scarves and jewelry to my specifications.
The first one is the result of serendipity. I made this piece while I was dyeing some cotton fabric with Procion dyes. I thought ‘What the heck, I’ll throw in some leftover wool quilt batting (wadding) and see how it comes out.”
Fuschia Stole
“Very Scrumptious” is the answer. I’ve had this piece of beautifully coloured, soft and cloud-like wool for a few years. It is way too gorgeous to put in between layers of fabric so I’ve had it draped in my studio. I went to London for the weekend a couple of weeks ago and it seemed to go well with my travelling outfit. Actually I couldn’t find my favourite charcoal grey cashmere scarf, so I wrapped the piece of dyed batting around my neck and ‘Voila’ my first piece of wearable art.
It needs some sort of a brooch to keep it in place when I wear it as a stole. I am in love with the jewelry designed by the Viennese artist/designer Josef Hoffmann. I will make my first fibre art brooch based on his designs to wear with my stole.
Seafoam Necklace
I made this piece in March at a nuno felt workshop taught by Val Diggle, a Devon-based craftswoman. I used a beautiful piece of sea green silk chiffon as the base and worked in blue and natural merino wool. The most amazing part of the process was when the piece got rolled into a long sausage shape and bashed around a bit, then rinsed in hot water. This causes the wool to shrink and the silk chiffon ruches beautifully. Nuno felt is a lot lighter in weight than all-wool felt. This is a really nice piece to wear in the Spring and early Summertime, when the evenings are just a little bit chilly. The salamander pin I am wearing is Art Deco and made from sterling silver and marcasite.
Stylist/Photographer: Anthea De La Roche
E: de.laroche@virgin.net
