Brooches - continued

Hi Everyone

I’m still stuck in the Stitch Story Brooch thing. Last week, I spent time fiddling with tiny details of brooch #3 and I’ve settled on the final versio. I think the brooch represents lots of elements of my Miss Mitchell story and has given me an excuse to decide on the key characteristics of my story.

                   

I quite like the ‘medal-like’ shape of my brooch, it almost gives a commemorative tone to the piece. I like that idea. The little framed image of Miss Mitchell sets the central message of the brooch but I particularly like the wings which represent Miss Mitchell’s ethos. The idea of being able to ‘fly’ - this idea is something (I like to think) is all about her dreams and the confidence to carry them out.

I’m still not quite finished with brooches. I have another, #4, started last week in the last Making Workshop. I had an idea but it needed to grow. I’ve spent a little time working on the brooch and it’s coming together.

             

Hopefully, I can spend a little more time on the design later today. I’ve used the ‘flying’ idea again with my little wings and will make a new pin. More on progress tomorrow.

Thanks for calling in today.

Fibre Friday (18/5/18)

Hi Everyone 

Can’t quite believe it’s Friday already ! - this week seems to have flown by so quickly. I’ve been very busy with lots of work commitments and yet again my fibre projects (as per last week) have suffered. I was well underway with my Fragment Socks by Helen Stewart and I’m happy to report they are finished, other than sewing in the ends and blocking.

                         

This has been a lovely knit. I’m already thinking of making a second pair for my husband.

My current cardigan knit, the Coinneach by Kate Davies is still waiting to be finished. I’m well into the yolk of this pattern, having completed the body and both sleeves. 

               

Look back on the Friday blog posts for more on the project. I’m committed to working on the cardigan this next week, now I’ve almost completed my socks. The Coinneach is a lovely pattern and I’m  keen to get to grips with my first steek technique too. 

I do have a number of new knitting ideas under consideration. However, I do need to spend some time reviewing and reorganising my stash. This is an ongoing issue for me. I have so much yarn and fibre which is very badly stored in a cupboard and I’m not absolutely certain, exactly, what I’ve got ! This is not a satisfactory situation and I mean to do something about it. There will be more news about this next time.

Thanks for calling in today. Have a great weekend, I’ll be back on Monday.

More Brooches

Hi Everyone

I’m back on the brooches today. Here is a few images of brooch #3 as mentioned on yesterday’s blog.

             

               

From the basic version, I’d reviewed my brooch and decided on the elements in the first photo story. The most important element is my little framed Miss Mitchell charm. This tiny photo sets the story for my brooch. Initially, I thought about transferring the Miss Mitchell image on to fabric and adding to the frame charm. However, I simply printed the photo and set it into the frame with a clear glaze to protect the photo paper. I’ve also added a couple of small red polymer heart beads. I had surrounded the bottom segment of the brooch with small seed beads and added a second lighter blue seed bead giving a striped beaded tear drop shape. From the beginning, I wasn’t sure about the beaded element. I finally decided to remove the beads and I feel it’s more balanced.

I have another couple of additions to the broach, a small silver heart bead and a pair of wings for Miss Mitchell (photo will appear next week). The wings are an important part of Miss Mitchells story. She can fly, metaphorically. She has aspirations and knows how to use the wings to achieve her dreams. This little idea was inspired a few years ago from the Paloma Faith song, Never Tear Us Apart. Here’s the actual words which gave me the idea :
I told you
That we could fly
'Cause we all have wings
But some of us don't know why. 

Miss Mitchell knows how and why !

I’ll be rounding up all the finished brooches next week (including a few more brooches from Workshop Makers). I will decide where the brooches fit into the larger Stitch Story Project. It’s time to complete the Story and I’m happy that I have all the bits and pieces I need, to finish my bag. If you are interested, you can read back for lots more about this project.

Thanks for calling in today.

Workshop Brooch Samples

Hi Everyone

I’m sharing the results of some of the Making Workshop brooches from yesterday’s activities. The Making Workshop is a regular, fortnightly, arranged creative workshop made up of a wonderful group of ladies. We had a lovely afternoon messing about with bits of fibre and making lovely little brooches. All our Makers created amazing brooches from scratch and I’m sharing a few of the samples here today. 

              

Each of the brooches need a little more work but you can see the creative intentions.

             

              

There are more samples to share so will come back to this one next week. Our group started with wool fibres and created the brooches via dry felting techniques. Everyone took inspiration from the workshop samples created by our session leader (will get some images from her fabulous work) and added beads, embroidery and ribbon.

I managed to start yet another brooch (yesterday) which is only half done ! I’ll spend a little time later today developing my design and share how both brooch #3 (read back a few days for details) and my new brooch #4 turn out.

 Some of these items may end up on a few of the Stitch Story projects which have been underway for a few months now, again read back on the blog for lots of background on the Stitch Story. I have another brooch sample to share (tomorrow) which is very much in this category. More on the progress of the Stitch Story tomorrow.

Thanks for calling in today.

Brooch #3 Update

Hi Everyone 

I’m reporting progress on my brooch #3 (from yesterday’s blog post). The actual construction is complete. However, there are more creative things needed to decorate the brooch.

                        

I’ve almost managed to keep to my original design plans (see bottom left image) - which is very satisfying. Almost all my usual plans are scrapped very quickly and I find myself wondering why ? This time, I started the project and simply followed my own sketch ideas. I’ve embedded a regular pin clasp into the back of the brooch but also added a faux handmade pin at the top. I like the handmade shape and the fact that the pin is unique but recognise the pin would make a massive hole in any garment. Hopefully, I get the best of both worlds by using my approach.

I’ve also incorporated some of my hand printed fabric into the brooch (top section) and love the effect of the pattern. I’m not sure exactly what I want to add ? I need to experiment with beads, charms and possibly ribbon or even more embroidery. I’d like to keep the impact of the fabric, I feel too many additions will simply hide the pattern and the colours.

The bottom section of the brooch has felted fibre over a piece of manufactured Felt with the words ‘once upon a time’ embroidered around the tear drop shape. Very small seed beads are then attached around the the ‘tear drop gem’.

I’ll be developing my brooch at our regular making workshop later today. I’ll share the results of more work tomorrow.

Thanks for calling in.