I joined the British Textile Biennial ‘Slow stitch and indigo shibori workshop with Justine Aldersey-Williams‘ held at the Pendle Heritage Centre. Justine introduced us to indigo as a dye, which fibres you can dye with natural dyes (showing a video of her impressive swatch book!), and she talked about the impact of chemical dyes and… Continue reading Exhibition: British Textile Biennial (4)
Why trends?!
I was initially writing a little bit about some of the exhibitions of the British Textile Biennial that I saw, but I then went on a waffle about trends. Instead of polluting that post with this rant, I decided to dedicate a separate post to my initial thoughts on trends (I guess I am suggesting… Continue reading Why trends?!
Exhibition: British Textile Biennial (3)
Today I visited two museums to view exhibitions part of the British Textile Biennial 2023. The Soft Acid exhibition is on display at the Helmshore Mills Textile Museum. This exhibition is created by Tenant of Culture (artist Hendrickje Schimmel) and consists of sculptures made from discarded garments and accessories: The exhibition How to be a… Continue reading Exhibition: British Textile Biennial (3)
For sale (004)
I currently have several new handmade bags for sale for which I used mostly second-hand or upcycled materials. This bag is made from a vintage parka/coat. The original pockets are used on both sides of the bag and are fully functional. The bag is lined and has one inner pocket. The cross-body strap is adjustable.… Continue reading For sale (004)
Sewing course 2023 (01)
I’m currently taking a sewing course at a local college. I hadn’t been to the college before and was impressed by the size of the building as well as how modern the facilities are. It’s not super clear yet what exactly we will be learning during this course. I signed up because it’s called advanced/adult… Continue reading Sewing course 2023 (01)
Exhibition: British Textile Biennial (2)
The British Textile Biennial has now been going on for almost a week. I spent the day in Blackburn where six of the venues are located that are exhibiting works as part of the BTB. Today, I visited three of these venues to see four of the exhibitions. Firstly, I visited The Exchange to see… Continue reading Exhibition: British Textile Biennial (2)
Exhibition: British Textile Biennial (1)
Yesterday the British Textile Biennial (programme) was kicked off with the opening lecture held at the Blackburn Museum & Art Gallery. The lecture started off with a brief story about the Penistone cloth on display in the museum. This is a small sample of handspun and handwoven material that was used to create garments for… Continue reading Exhibition: British Textile Biennial (1)
Exhibition – Unpicking Couture
A couple of weeks ago I visited the Manchester Art Gallery to view the exhibition ‘Unpicking Couture’. This exhibition shows some pieces of haute couture from famous designers and also gives the visitor a peek into how this exhibition was designed/planned. I took some photos of an interesting sleeve part of an ‘inside out’ overcoat:… Continue reading Exhibition – Unpicking Couture
Mermaid costume
A young family member wants to be a “rainbow mermaid” for Halloween, so I offered to make her costume. I have never done children’s clothes before, so I was looking forward to give this a go. Another challenge was that she’s in another country and that I have only once before (20 years ago) worked… Continue reading Mermaid costume
Alphabet Superset 2023
I was told about the ‘Alphabet Superset’ challenge run by Struthless (Campbell Walker; see YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@struthless) and I wanted to take part. However, I don’t have Instagram and that’s probably where ‘everyone’ who takes part is going to be at. So, to find others to share this challenge with, I created an unofficial subreddit page for the… Continue reading Alphabet Superset 2023