Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

 Background: Seam  are a contemporary textile collective based in Bath, England. We are emerging and established embroiderers, printers, knitters, weavers, dyers, fashion designers, eco-designers, makers, artists… …who want to make textiles that are irresistible, and find their way onto your body, into your house and onto your walls. We share a commitment to pushing the boundaries of our craft and making high quality objects realised in the hands and thoughts of the maker. We hope to make a sustainable living from textiles, work locally and bring textiles into contemporary focus This month, all textile artists are enouraged to share their love of textiles and respond to  30 different textile prompts for on  Instagram  during September. You can respond to as many of the prompts as you wish, this could be only a few or it may be all of them - with the hashtag #SeptTextileLove   Here is my first week of #SeptTextileLove  Days 1 & 2 - Introd...

Eggs and hares were symbols of fertility and a new beginning in spring. Since time immemorial, eggs have been associated with world or universe by many cultures. So, it is not surprising that eggs for hundreds of years have been used for rituals, decorated and were hung in temples in Babylonian time. They dyed, painted, decorated, and then used egg as a symbol for spring festival since eggs represent new life and a new dawn. When Christianity spread out across the world, egg becomes a symbol of man’s rebirth rather than nature or spring. Christians symbolize the egg to Jesus Christ tomb from which he broke forth and rose again. Likewise, they painted the egg with red to symbolize the blood of Christ, and every year the decoration becomes elaborate and colourful. Today, Easter eggs decorated with myriad of colours to make it more fun to look at, and children  can better understand their importance to the celebration of Easter.  From Ten Easter symbols and Their Meaning  ...

I am rarely so organised to have Christmas decorations up this early. However, yesterday, I used this display stand/ Christmas tree at the Hunter Art Bazaar. Most of the handmade decorations on it were sold, so rather than put the stand away for a few weeks,  I hung  some of my temari balls (some made by my mother and some made by me) and here it is on the dining table already.  I must admit I thought to myself that it is  far too early for Christmas decorations and I checked , on Google, of course and it appears that I am a little premature in setting up any sort of Christmas tree.    November is too early for Christmas According to an poll carried out in 2015 by Confused.com, over 86% of people believe that November is too early to put up your decorations.  So, it appears that December is the most socially acceptable time to get into the festive spirit.  And if the good people of Twitter are to be believed, there are many tha...

 I love working with blue .... much of my recent work is blue. In the latter part of last year I saw blue everywhere - I stitched a series of blue temari (embroidered thread balls) and felted dolls in shades of blue.  - Blue Temari  - "Layered" exhibition ,January 2014.  Blue felt doll - Bonnie  Blue felt doll - Maribel  I love the colours of the traditional Willow Pattern… these blues induce a sense of calm and peace and the sight of a blue bird is often seen as a symbol of happiness and contentment…. One of the works in the current "Layered" exhibition by the Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists is  Blue Bird which was completed in December. I  covered a  wire frame  with different fabrics, which have been felted, stitched by hand and/or machine, painted and stamped, dyed. This textile art is a derivative of an earlier collaborative work created for International Women’s Day 2013. Bl...

The Gentle Arts book  While I am always reluctant to make New Year’s resolutions, I openly declared that 2013 was going to be a “gentler” year. Coincidentally, while sorting books I came across “The Gentle Arts – 200 Years of Australian Women’s Domestic & Decorative Arts”. It is full of  amazing textile work – from hand coloured photos to filet crochet,  delicate embroidery to  weaving – fine and gentle work.   … which motivated me to learn shuttle tatting.   A friend gave me a shuttle and lent me a basic instruction book – first attempt not so successful! I hate to say I failed, but the results were certainly an alternate version of tatting! I just could not get the right thread knotting around the other!   History of tatting in  Australia in "The Gentle Arts"  Tatting instructions  While on holidays, my mother taught me to needle tat and that seemed quite easy, so back to working with the shuttle with even more det...

 Background Information:  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that is alleged to have originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. Recently I've wondered if your don't use traditional techniques whether you should call what you create "temari". That is an ongoing debate but today I share what I do to make a "non-traditional temari".... 1.I start  with a polystrene ball ( traditionally the balls were wound  silk scraps or other organic materials) and begin to wrap with approx 4 ply wool, turning the ball as I wrap.  2. I then wrap another layer of wool in a similar fashion , this time a 3 or 2 ...

  Temari (literally translated “hand ball”) is a Japanese folk craft that originated in China and was introduced to Japan five or six hundred years ago. Traditionally, the balls were constructed from wrapped kimono fabric remnants and silk threads. They were made by mothers and grandmothers for children to play with. Nowadays, decorative embroidered temari represent a highly valued and cherished gift symbolizing friendship and loyalty. ... This is part of the description of a workshop I will be teaching at the Contemporary Craft Retreat in October. I just finished the paperwork for the advertising copy this afternoon. The photo above is one of my latest balls - completed while my mother was visiting over the Christmas break. I had her ball as a guide. In the workshop however, we will be completing a much simpler design like the "polystar" patterns seen below.  As part of my New Year's resolutions to so something different each week, I joined the Tag Tues...