E.S.T. illustration

N B

2012-01-24T13:59:00.000-08:00

Art Against Knives new exhibition at their new space at box park on the 1st of February until the 4th March 2012 called NEW BEGINNINGS

p r e s e n t

2012-01-02T11:22:00.000-08:00

new lovely sewing kit from kate :D

a a k b o x p a r k

2011-12-11T16:04:00.001-08:00

Art Against Knives opening night at Box Park, Shoreditch. On a very rainy evening Box park opened with lots of lovely little shops. AAK box was packed out, with lots of great work. The place looked super!

My tipi embroidered cushion...

Lizzie's homemade Christmas

2011-11-17T08:13:00.001-08:00

pompom ball-ball

dried oranges

wool ball, ball balls

crochet snow flakes

printed gift tags

Sister Sledge christmas fair

christmas tree!

christmas, Check!

A A K

2011-11-17T08:11:00.000-08:00

A sneak peak to my TIPI cushion and doll for ART AGAINST KNIVES permanent gallery space and BOXPARK Shoreditch. Please pop down and check out all there work there including Jimmys 'out in the sticks' piece, open from the 3rd...

f i n e c e l l w o r k

2011-11-17T07:48:00.000-08:00

The weeks running up to christmas ive been helping out with the charity 'Fine Cell Work'. They've had to big events, one at Glaziers' Hall, London Bridge, and the other at the 20th Century Theater, Notting Hill. These nights were in aid of selling the work made by the prisoners. Tables covered in mountains of cushions, quilts, hangings, bags, and much more.

crochet taxi cover i stubbled upon on my way home...

please read and find out more about Fine Cell Work at http://www.finecellwork.co.uk/

bricolage bear

2011-11-17T03:40:00.000-08:00

Around Halloween Ridley Road Studios had there open studio even. This is were the Bricolage girls studio is and were my bear has been hibernating; so we got him out for a treat and popped him on top of the knitting machines!

p i n a t a

2011-10-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

Monday afternoon Jon and i spent all of 3 hours coloring in the pinata screen print pattern i had picked up a while ago, to make in celebration of the Johnson's new arrival...

our coloring skills transformed this flat net into a jazzy unicorn

it is just to beautiful to smash up so we gave it a little flap at the back and filled with sweets

after all this hard work we treated ourselves to some tea and cakes :D

H o n e y

2011-10-13T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here is a new quilt ive made for a very special friends new baby girl Honey Annabelle

made from different colored fabrics each with a different texture

inspired from building blocks

quilted using repeated little tied pink knots

quilt bag

reversed triangle in green

and here she is

n a o m i p a u l

2011-10-03T13:15:00.001-07:00

Summer 2010 i met the lovely girls from the Bricolage collective; here i interned for Katherine May, helping out with her lovely patchwork quilts and workshops. This summer i was thrilled to be invited back to help out with Naomi Paul, who creates beautiful unique crochet and knitted textiles.

Naomi, Polly and Yemi and been asked to do the window display for KJ's Laundry, 74 Marylebone Street. They each went of individually to make their designs with the idea of a cushion moutain. Polly make the large ones for the base, Naomi the medium ones in the middle and Yemi the small ones for the top; all sticking to a blue colour theme.

http://www.kjslaundry.com/

Naomi hand mono printed her cushions using card cut out shapes, she called this selection ALBER which you can buy from KJ's Laundry

once Naomi had printed on to the hemp linen, i cut and stitched together the printed side and the back which was navy velvet or navy died hemp, around 3 sides, then stuffed with the feathered cushions and hand stitched the 4th side together. Naomi had screen printed name labels which we tacked onto the back. We also made a triangular ruck sack to go on the back of one of the mannequins.

the shop window, in the end they didnt go with one big pile of cushions, but instead lots of little mountains.

TENT

Also whilst helping out over the summer Naomi had to prepare for the TENT trade show during design week were she had been given a stand, and a order for Liberty London; both of which she was lunching her new collection of lighting.

http://www.tentlondon.co.uk/

The weeks leading up to these events i helped with the research in producing and making the light shades; such as finding people who could make the wire frames, the lighting fixtures/wires, packaging etc

Naomi had designed pendent shaped crochet light shades from mercerized cotton cord; she named this design GLÜCK

her second design is called SONNE

Naomi hand crochet all of the light shades by hand and sources her yarn from fashion houses, which the discard after each season. They hold there shape with a wire frame in the middle, and attached to the wire at the top with a little bung.

Plumen light bulbs sponsored Naomi with her design, because the bulbs are energy efficient but gives the brightness without getting hot!

At TENT i was very excited to be there, to have seen all the different processes Naomi had gone through to get her final product had all paid of, and her stand was displayed perfectly...

there was an outstanding amount of interest in the lights and a lot of people wanting them in all different shapes, colours and sizes, which you could design and colour in on the lovely dining table. We filled to big books of business cards and contacts, which i think might mean i need to get practicing my crocheting skills.

see more of Naomi's work on her website and her lights in Liberty London.

http://www.naomipaul.co.uk/

j o n

2011-09-20T04:35:00.000-07:00

New fabrics found at Deptford market from the off-cut man, was playing around with different shapes and patterns, and then made these samples into a cushion for my friend Jon.

n a i l s

2011-08-27T06:38:00.000-07:00

Last night was the private view for Now We Do Sellac. Below is my crochet nails i made, and the rest the other artists involved, including my homeboy Joseph prince...

S h e l la c

2011-08-26T07:59:00.000-07:00

here is the press release for Now We Do Shellac at the Sassoon Gallery behind Bar Story tonight from 6 pm for the private view

come and see my crocheted/weaved set of nails puss many more ...

Now We Do Shellac is an exhibition of Nail Art at Sassoon Gallery, Peckham.

Peckham is home to a thriving and expanding creative community alongside over 30 Nail Bars.

This exhibition sees these two worlds collide and celebrates the revival of this unique practice in

an exhibition of work created directly onto false nails.

Wonderhammer have invited a range of creative talent, alongside local nail technicians to reimagine

this process, put their skills to acrylics and explore the full potential of these miniature canvases.

Shellac is a resin secreted from the female lac bug. Discovered over 3000 years ago on the barks

of trees in India, the same substance is now commonplace in nail bars throughout the world. This

exhibition explores the evolution of a process and is a closer look at an intersection of creativity

and culture.

Now We Do Shellac at Sassoon Gallery will showcase for the first time this ongoing exhibition

project. Follow the project at www.nowwedoshellac.tumblr.com

Exhibtors include:

Gina Giannetti, Anthony Zinonos, Jiggery Pokery, Nicky Carvell, Dan Szor, Jimi Gherkin,

Paul Kindersley, Jack Bishop, Garudio Studiage, Reena Makwana, Kunyala Ndlovu, Karolina

Kling, Noriko Sato, Joseph Prince, Kyle Bean, Emily Tallis, Free Range Tie Dye, Nicole Kai Kobilansky,

Leah Stewart, James Cartwright, Elizabeth Towndrow, Wonderhammer, Kate Shaw, Stassja

Mrozinski & Becci Dive, Nous Vous, Georgia Rodger, Sarah Helga Peeney, Annette Richardson,

Katie Anne Harrison, Will Tuck, Scarlett Barry, Natasha Farrar, Chihiro Kyozuka, Garudio Youth,

Lucy May, Berni Vent

The private view will be taking place on Friday 26th August at Sassoon Gallery from 6pm.

For information about opening times, and where to find us, please visit out website at

www.thesassoongallery.co.uk

NOW WE DO SHELLAC

a project exploring the creative potential of Nail Art.

26.08.11 - 11.09.11

Sassoon Gallery, 213 Blenheim Grove, London, SE15 4QL

Opening hours Fri-Sun 12pm-6pm

k n e e c o v e r

2011-08-02T07:20:00.001-07:00

this weekend i took a trip to Estonia for a very special friends wedding. This is a little quilt i made the couple as a wedding present.

the bride, groom, ushers and bridesmaids in Tallinn square

r a f f l e a n d p r e s s

2011-07-16T06:42:00.001-07:00

Katherine May won by Hannah Katrina

Katie Brookes won by Darryl Clifton

Martha Smith won by Mary Kuper

Jordan Chatwin won by Hollie Limer

Luke best won by Alice Devine

Jamie Hall won by Eleni Charalamroous

OVO books won by Lizzie Towndrow

Peter Nencini won by Helen Matin

Team won by Jane Chamberlain

Chie Miyazaki won by Tony Lee

Luke best won by Walter Sharpe

Team Team won by W Pike

Nobrow won by Jimmy Patrick

Luke Best won by AAK

Known won by AAK

Rob Rayn won by Harriet Corey-wright

Geoff Coupland won by AAK
Luke Best won by AAK
Marie O'Connor won by Poppy Steveni
Its Nice That won by Lise Kasson

E X T E R N A L

2011-07-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

our external show: the private view night!

this sums up the night...

around the show...

Sunday market...

the last supper

I N T E R N A L

2011-07-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

Camberwell illustration 2011 internal show 20/06/2011

With lots of prep and our classes hard work our internal graduate show began....

with a bit of pizzaaa

room 1

the cushions and seats jimmy and i made for the reading area

the shop

the classes publications

Harriet's, James's, Thomas's and Liam's print's

room 2

yeon

Chloe

Alice

room 3

Katie

Iriini

Hollie

Kone

m e a n d b e a r

2011-07-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

So during my 3rd and final year at Camberwell my final major project was to create an anatomical model of a bear to use as a learning device to teach children about there organs, and create interactive creative fun and games around it in workshops.

This beast of a bear has taken me months to complete because i choose to used the longest processes ever like knitting then felting the fur, hand stitching it all together, embroidering all the organs, patchwork quilting the insides......

LUNGS

HEART

LIVER

GALLBLADDER

SPLEEN

PANCREAS

STOMACHE

KIDNEYS

BLADDER

INTESTINES

FOOD

THE BEAR

SCALE

i was very excited to see that the guardian newspaper and posted this image on their website www.guardian.co.uk to promote Camberwells college of art undergraduate summer show 2011.

'Camberwell College of Arts BA Illustration student Lizzie Towndrow is photographed alongside her work 'Bear'. Towndrow’s illustrations can be seen at Camberwell College of Arts’ Undergraduate Summer Show from 21-25 June 2011'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/gallery/2011/jun/14/degree-shows-university-arts-london#/?picture=375465238&index=3

workshop out comes

2011-06-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

the workshop

2011-06-12T14:35:00.001-07:00

bear workshop at Mudchute farm:

bear and my body

2011-05-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

work books for children workshops

the OVO fundraiser

2011-05-10T04:28:00.000-07:00

Here are a few photos from last weeks OVO fundraiser, where we raised £470 to put towards our show. The night was SUPER

our lovely penny, who organised the evening in her choir

O-V-O

2011-05-07T14:31:00.000-07:00

OVO fiuundraiser monday night (9th May) at new gallery

http://www.ovoshow.co.uk/

Featuring a compelling array of music, the evening will offer strings, keys, guitars, percussion, pedals and a sacred harp choir.

Live performances will come from:

BREAKSPEAR SOUTHERN HARMONY

RHOSYN
http://www.myspace.com/listentorhosyn

HILLS HAVE RIFFS
http://www.myspace.com/hillshaveriffs

ALICEBAND
http://www.myspace.com/alicemwalker

MARTIN ALOYSIUS BRIGNALL

CATGUT
http://www.littlecatgut.com/

£3 on the door

6 till 11pm

jimmy and i have been working on some OVO banners for events and the show

Also you will have chance to buy these raffle tickets, Emilia and i have made 996, we are selling them to raise money for ART AGAINST KNIVES

http://www.artagainstknives.com/

the prize draw will be a OVO Sundays market 10th July at the RED gallery

we are looking for artists work to put in the raffle, so far we have

Rob Ryan

Luke Best

No Brow

Katie Brookes

Jordan Chatwin

Emma Denby and Elizabeth Linsey

Katherine May

£3 for 1

£5 for 2

muscles

2011-04-22T14:35:00.000-07:00

ZSL library

2011-04-09T04:00:00.000-07:00

the other day i became a member of London's zoos library, which i lovely little one opposite the zoo full of all the animals of the world wrapped in hard back covers. i went to research into my bear projects to find out some facts; heres some things i found...

the donkeys guide to BERLIN

2011-04-08T14:36:00.001-07:00

at the beginning of the Easter holidays Naomi and i headed of to Berlin for a few days in aid of nays bday; this is a few things we got up to and you have to check out if you ever go....

first of all get a decent pair of shoes!!!

1. We stayed in a real nice hostel called city stay hostel situated next to Alexander platz and Hacescher Markt. this was a really good location and easy to get everywhere

http://www.citystay.de/

2. Getting around, Berlin has a very good transport system but it took a while for us to get used to. There are trams, buses and trains that all inter link. we brought daily travel tickets which you have to activate by stamping it with this machine, this means you could get a way with one ticket for ever until you get caught then you in trouble, so don't!

3. food!

best places for real good cheap food is to g down the quieter back streets not the real touristy places! even though we did end up living of 1 euro madonals burgers all week cause we ran out of money!

make a pack u for the day, Kaiser's was our closest supermarket we discovered round the back of our hostel.

Tadshikische teestube

this was a little tea room we was told we had to check out; it feels like it is in the middle of no where and in a huge building you do not expect to find it in! (which i think is a theatre) you walk past a security guard up these grand steps to this little room; it was a gift from the Soviet union to the DDR in the 1980s; you sit on the floor with lots of cushions and choose your tea and snacks. a must go to relax and plan were to go to next.

nearest stop Friedrichstrasse

http://berlin.unlike.net/locations/303345-Tadschikische-Teestube

Kaufbar

nearest stop: Warschauer Strasse

this was a lovely little cafe/bar, with lots of locals hanging out there, and the staff were very friendly and helpful and couldn't do enough for you, they even offered to walk us to this other bar!!! maybe to friendly i don't no. anyway really lovely chilled little place and you can buy absolutelyeverything in the place, chairs, cups, spoons, books, lamps, sofas... everything is for sale

http://www.k aufbar-berlin.de/index.php?id=2

this area of Berlin was also my favourite, just walking around there are so many really nice shops, bars, cafes, buildings and people to look at

we was told to check out this place called RAW (tempel)

http://www.raw-tempel.de/projektpartner/kuenste.html

i think the link above is it, its a huge space full of different sized warehouse space buildings each with something different in, it looks a bit squatty and covered in graffiti of course but a great atmosphere. when we went there was like so English emo punky band playing which hey seemed to love, and obvs a bit of techno! in the day time there seems to be a hippy kind of vibe within the complex.

this thing was also round the corner from it!! addictive

donkey and dong

4. galleries:

east gallery Berlin, i got really confused here, i though we was actually looking for a gallery in a building, but actually the east gallery is the last bit of the Berlin wall which takes around 30ins at the most to walk the full length if it, each panel of the wall id painted by some one different.

the wall was something i had wanted to see for ages, i still cant get it in my head that this actaully happening and

nearest stop: Ostbahn hof or warschauer st

Bauhaus museum:

this was a place which on my must see list; even though i enjoyed it there the collection wasn't very big and you had to pay to get in but give a cheeky wink and get student discount. the building its self was real cool, big, white and spacious, and they had a really nice little cafe and shop, but i still got to see lots of beautiful rugs, weaves and furniture and learn a bit about the history of their architecture. there was also and Erik Spiekermann exhibition on about type

http://www.bauhaus.de/

nearest stop: Nollendorfplatz

also really close to this stop is a cool vintage shop called garbage, you pic out what you want and then they weigh it, i got a pair of jeans for 11 euros which where quite heavy, so you could get loads of light stuff for the same price. there is also prices garms which were quite pricey!

5. shopping: surprisingly this isn't something we did much of, but we did spend a entire morning at the Mauerpark flea market.

nearest stop: Eberswalder str/ bernauer str

this was rows and rows of stalls selling everything from antiques, clothes, furniture, food, there was even a stall that just sold tape! everything, i didnt end up getting much though, everything i did want was to expensive and there was just to much to take in.

the flea market was next to the park which had basket ball courts and a tiered seating area which people sat, watched and joined in with a guy who sang and played his guitar there. he would also get others up for a bit of karaoke to.

one of the reasons we didn't do much shopping was because we ran out of money! this was due to the fact that we spent lots on food and went out and pampered ourselves on the first day!...

6. must sees but costs money!

liquidrom:

http://www.liquidrom-berlin.de/de/

nearest stop: Anhalter bahnhof

this is an amazing spa with a salt pool in a concrete dome shaped cave, which is dark with mood lighting and djs playing relaxing music, it is 19,50 e for 2 hours and 24,50 e for 4 hours, this ticket allows you to use the sauna, steam room, pool, hot tub and bar area; then you pay extra if you would like a massage and other treatments.

be warned! as Naomi and i was changing in the female changing rooms, 3 gentleman walked in, we then realised this was a mixed changing room and lots of naked people walking around! this was the case in the sauna and steam room to (but not the pool, swim suits are compulsory, so be ready to see German sausage!!!

the Olympic stadium:

i wasn't that bothered abut seeing this but Naomi dragged me along and the building was amazing and massive, we managed to get in free because we were desperate for the toilet and asked and it wasn't busy so we managed to get a quick sneak peek of the inside; i would of loved to have gone inside properly and spent some time there but we had a flight to catch back home.

The German Bundestag

(this is the building for the national parliament of the federal republic of Germany. we saw this and tried to get in but realised you had to book a week or so in advance; you should be able to book it on this website:

http://www.bundestag.de/htdocs_e/index.html

you walk round and round to the top of this glass dome and the view is meant to be real good.

Berghain/panorama bar

nearest stop: Ostbahnhof

time has said that this is meant to be the best club in the city if not Europe! its tech-no tech-no tech-no with some smaller rooms with some funky house music, i think it depends what day you go on for music. it is in a huge concrete cube which used to be a power station, it is huge, different levels different rooms, its amazing if you get in! ive never been so scared and nervous about getting into a place. it has a reputation for a difficult and random door policy, the bouncers were picking and choosing who went in of the tops of their head, and they were scary and meant business no one messed with them.

for example here is one of the main men!!!

once we got in it wasn't over, we got fully searched, all our cameras were taken of us, and we was told if caught with camera phones out we would be kicked out, it was full on; it is a definite must go, so please try and get in.

7. free tings:

http://super.tacheles.de/cms/

this is an amazing building (the website tells the history about it) used as a squat for lots of artists, you are able to walk around their studios and chat to them and buy work... must go and see

nearest stop: Oranienburger

the back of the building

Dankmal fur die ermordeten Juden Europas (the memorial of the murdered jews of europ)

everyone's seen it, its a lot bigger than what i thought, and even though a very sad and serious place, it is fun to walk around, like a big maze.

the secret theme park

nearest stop: Treptower park

if you walk from the station with the river on your left you eventually get to it you will see a yellow/orange dome, i don't no what was in it, but there there is a hole i the fence which you can get through. Naomi and i happily got in taking photographs when a lady in dogs came out a a trailer and told us to get out in German, so we did, there are people living it that looked as though they were clearing the park; but if you walk around the edge you can get a good view of all the rides through the fence.

on the way to the park we cam across this huge park but i don't no what it is, but the statues and sculptures were so solid and strong and grand they were kind of scary.

the berlin marathon:

our map

a little note left to us from Spain, Portugal and China

the welcome collection

2011-03-29T14:01:00.000-07:00

a few weeks ago i went to the welcome collection in search for anatomical models and ended up all afternoon in their library, heres are some yummy images i found.....

Easter fair fundraiser 24/03/11

2011-03-29T13:57:00.001-07:00

posters for Easter fair fund raiser by graphics

WORK

2011-03-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

final images for guardian external project

from this project ive realised editorial isn't for me

embroidery on black fabric

to create a space scene for a article about how to get to work in space

collage

office scene inspired by 50s furniture and fashion to show jealousy in the work space

its probably not that obvious which isn't good so I'll explain; the people in the green are jealous of the other 3 characters: lady with type writer is jealousy of lady with computer, man with glasses is jealous of the big boss man flirting with pretty lady, and little crouched lady is jealous of pritty lady for getting attention from boss whilst she dose all the work!

guardian roughs

2011-03-02T09:49:00.000-08:00

we have been set an external project by guardian newspaper, were they have given us to old articles for the work section, we have to produce to images one for each.

the first is for a column called ' so if you could work in..... SPACE'

playing with different stitches on fabric to create a space scene

the second article is about jealousy in the work place

ive been looking at office furniture from the 50s/60s and the layouts, i want to create this using paper collage cut outs to then photograph in a little scene.

big bear

2011-02-24T06:40:00.000-08:00

bear planning

jumble

2011-02-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

Jumble fund raiser at New Gallery 19/02/2011

smocking

2011-02-17T03:08:00.000-08:00

last night i was taught smocking in the lovely ladies from bricolage pop up shop

this is embroidery used over gathered material

we started of stitching 4 rows of running stitch equally spaced out in a straight line on about a 70 cm piece of linen, you then pulled these strands tort which pleated the fabric down to around 5 cms

you stitch horizontally through the pleats half way down to make patterns

once all stitched you then take out the rows you did at the beginning

i was left with 7 cms of smocking

OVO+JUMBLE

2011-02-16T16:57:00.000-08:00

Tuesday Jimmy, James, and i made flyers on the risograph for this Saturdays JUMBLE at the new gallery, were we are going to have a stall to raise money for our external show in July, so pop on down :D

hand in!

2011-02-09T04:57:00.000-08:00

research and development

course project box of research and development

I HAVE FINISHED MY DISSERTATION AND HANDED IN TODAY!!! YEEEHAAAAA :D

all 127 pages of it, sorry trees

finished pieces for course project

2011-02-03T14:42:00.000-08:00

London project: Deptford flea market

To source materials and objects, to then up-cycle into new products inspired from the market, of better quality with a higher environmental value.

books and cups

2011-01-27T06:58:00.000-08:00

for the chair i found at market, i have taken patterns from the piles of books and clusters of cups on the stalls

i wanted to try and make the shapes not follow in consistent patterns

pinning to the chair

the materials i used were: red velvet top, brown linen cut off, cross-stitch table cloth, nave cotton, purple knit cut off, blue cotton scrap and brown suit jacket navy

stripping the chair down

upholstering the chair

tools

almost there

i just need to paint, tack and nail, and i have the hessian on the back open to do some embroidery.

course project

2011-01-15T14:32:00.000-08:00

course project = to choose a area of London and produce work inspired from it.

idea 1. boats and the themes

idea 2. Richmond park deers

heres some pictures from my sketch book of ideas and plans i have for my 'London project'. i finally at the end of the summer decided to look at deptford market.

a few little drawings from my personal project sketch book

organised jumble

2011-01-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

to day i brought a massive galaxy chocolate bigger than my head, and made a patchwork inspired from the organising of jumble at the market, whilst i ate it, ALL!

MAP

2011-01-14T11:00:00.000-08:00

today i went in the photography studio to photograph my map of deptford quilt.

the black quilted rectangles represent the stalls

all the material i got from the market, curtains, scraps, trousers and throws...

this is the back, so you see the map in reverse..

this fits a double bed and is very heavy and warm :D

lithography

2011-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

the last 3 weeks of term we did i lithography workshop

probably the longest printing process ever!

this is what i came out with

map of Deptford market

one colour

bear insides

two colour

bear 3 colour

no more tears

2011-01-06T06:18:00.001-08:00

i had originally started this patch work made from hankie chiefs to upholster a chair, but last night whilst i should of been writing my dissertation i decided to make a quilt which took me till almost 4 this morning. all the materials used in this are from Deptford flea market.

an old gem

2011-01-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

a lovely young chap called Jatinda Singh Durhailay took these lovely photos of our external show we did back in may 2010, i just had to pop these beauties up...

reclaiming deptford

2011-01-04T06:32:00.001-08:00

these are the pieces of furniture i have found at Deptford flea market which i am going to reupholster out of other fabrics ive found at the market.

heres the chair with a hankie chief patchwork i have made to go over it

shoppinghour

2011-01-04T06:11:00.001-08:00

i did these little cross stitch embroiders over the summer for a magazine issue about 'rights'

burka

christmas fair

2011-01-04T05:30:00.001-08:00

for our external show we put together a christmas fair in the canteen

and sold cakes, prints, cards, tags and trinkets.

cakes...

prints...

tags, cards, necklaces, key rings...

more cakes...

bear tag

over all we raised just under £250.

knitting

2010-12-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

recently i have been getting creative and doing a spot of knitting...

i have learnt how to use a domestic knitting machine and been knitting cones of Shetland yarn into big sheets ready to felt for my personal project

i also did some hand knitting for Christmas...

heres zoe babes in her head warming bands I made for her :D

yummy navy wool from liberty with a pom-pom

William's christmas present

navy and grey stripy scarf

cabbage patch

2010-12-17T13:47:00.000-08:00

at the beginning of third year term! Katherine May who i did work experience with over summer invited me to join her to help out with a work shop she was doing over the schools half term break at Dalston Gardens.

being outside in the end of October wasn't the best venue to be stitching, you would think!

but the garden, environment and atmosphere was lovely. with cups of tea brought regularly to us by a lovely lady who run the place. she had set up different workshops throughout the half term break for kids to join in for free; the following day they were pumpkin carving!

we hung bits of fabric and samples so the children and the grown ups could choose and get ideas from.

Katherine had a simple class which taught you the basics of patch work

for squares stitched together with garden inspired fabrics to create a little cabbage patch.

i helped cut up the squares and prepare the needles and threads and the basic kits needed for people to come and join in.

some of the children were very little and young, and one little girl who i sat with who was around 6 had never sewn before, because they wasn't allowed needles in school!

any ways she was a natural and was in a deep trance stitching away until she finished it, and her mum even took the materials away with her to try one her self.

after stitching the squares together Katherine then showed how you quilted it with the wadding and a back and the different stitches and patterns you can do to hold it all together.

because it was open to the public there was a lovely mix of people of all ages and some characters!

i loved working with the children and got a real enjoyment out of it seeing them walk away with something they had made and proud of.

here is mine and a little boys cabbage patch

quilt in a day

2010-10-07T04:32:00.000-07:00

so for our new course project we have had to choose a place in London to produce work from. ive choosen Deptford flea market where i have been collecting bits furniture and fabric from curtains, cloths, tea towels, handkerchiefs, table cloths, bed lining etc to redo objects.

my first piece is this quilt.

first i cut up all the squares from these curtains i had and from the middle built out around it in strips

then i lay it down with wadding in the middle and the brown back piece of fabric

i then quilted in pink thread, with the square pattern in the middle

then i blanket stitched around the edge the pink bits or fabric to neaten it up

i couldn't stop stitching and worked straight through the night to make this quilt in less then 24 hours!

it is the perfect size to pop over your knees, ready for these wintery nights that are coming up writing my dissertation!

mission accomplished

prick your finger

2010-10-06T15:19:00.001-07:00

i helped out and a wonderful little haberdashery in east London called Prick Your Finger by Rachael Matthew's and Louise Harries, who both studied and CSM

the shop is like walking in to a menagerie of yarns, fitted themselves with old bits of found wood and shelf's made out of doors the shop is full of everything you need to knit, crochet, embroidery etc and make something yummy.

all the yarns they sell are UK based were most haberdasheries sell synthetic. they also hand spin their own yarn from different fleeces and make new out of recycled cottons and silks. each ball of wool you see has its own little story of how it got on its shelf.

here is some yarn i was getting ready to dye

first i made them into skeins from the bobbin then tied rag yarn around them like tie dying, ready to dip dye.

here i was combing the fleece ready to spin

knitting planks for the bench

http://podprojects.org/projects/current/a-flock-of-benches

learning how to crochet...

prick your finger has a different window display each month, when i was there they were getting ready setting up for Celia Ward, with East London textile arts. Women from many different faiths, joined together at St. Barnabas Church, to embroider alphabets and animals.

wall hanging

then with their embroidered pieces they then photograph and reproduce making decorative papers and greeting cards to sell which then goes back into the community fund.

www.eastlondontextilearts.org

the shop:

http://www.prickyourfinger.com/

http://prickyourfinger.blogspot.com/

Rachael and louise are super duper girls who know exactly what they are talking about, i've picked up many tips and hints from them to help with my projects, and also met and found alot of contacts through them.