Working with Bits and Pieces

This is a very early experimental piece where I wanted to explore both recycled materials and avoiding the use of nice straight edges - something I still tend to struggle with. The substrate is strips of old jeans woven together and free machine stitched in a pebble design. The diamonds at the top are cheese wrappers and textured yarn sandwiched between layers of organza and free machined in a random stitch. The black and red circles are two buttons that have been stitched with red embroidery floss to create the windmill look. I have used part of a satin table napkin on the left hand side with couched korus. Over the bottom of this I have applied a small crocheted doily with the print of an old farm house. This print is on foil - another experiment at the time. The top is suspended through a branch to provide a hanging sleeve.

We all need to push our boundaries from time to time and this piece became a jumping off project for many later recycled pieces. There is a circular emphasis contrasted against the squares of the weave, the cheese wrappers on point, the foil print and the side napkin.

Reusing Vintage Linens

Charlotte on a vintage tray cloth

I collected quite a few vintage embroidered linens from charity shops over the years. My problem is that when I come to cut into them to give them new life, I think of the hours of laborious work that some unknown person has put into making them. I find it incredibly difficult to cut them up. This piece was a bit different because i was adding to the hand embroidery on the tray cloth.

I took a photo of my granddaughter, Charlotte, and traced the main outlines onto tissue paper. I pinned the tissue paper on the area of the tray cloth where I wanted to add my extra work and then I simply embroidered through the tissue to create the outline of Charlotte in black. I have used a simple back stitch to do this. I appliqued the apron in a bright fabric.

To remove the tissue paper without “pulling the stitches, use the index finger on your non dominant hand and place it over the stitches where you want to start. Gently pull against the pressure of your finger with your other hand and the tissue paper will tear away quite easily.

I added the light blue buttons at the end just to finish this off.

So What is A Reliquary?

The completed reliquary

A reliquary is an ornamental vessel from the middle ages that often housed relics such as fragments of Christ’s cross. They were often elaborately decorated. I decided to make a reliquary when I became fascinated by this history in my study of Celtic customs. This has formed part of my Parallels in Maori and Celtic culture and houses trinkets of Maori and Celtic symbols.

As usual I decided to make each side from recycled materials. This one is a pentagon shape (5 sided) and each side was completed separately before being joined up the sides with additional embellishment of small beads in the seams. I used a wind cask to create each form of the pentagon. The top triangular parts were folded in and seagrass was attached at the apex. The seagrass was then threaded through the inner of a used up cello tape roll. The ends of the seagrass closings were fixed by threading them through holes in shells picked up on my beloved Mokau beach. This also gave the sea grass a weighted end as well as acting as an added embellishment. To give a more ethnic appeal I have used cockerel feathers on the top (fold in) sections. These ones gleam in metallic colours when the light strikes them. Below you can see each of the sides before final assembly

The five sides before assembly

The left hand side is foil sweet papers with textured yarn (free machine stitched over black net). The second section is an old scarf that had ripped. I added beads in the decorative holes. The middle section is an acrylic substrate painted with acrylic and couched copper wiring detail. Next is a camembert cheese wrapper with textured yarn and black net free machine stitched. The final panel is stitched copper foil left over from another project.

Waste products can look quite different when subjected to processes to create a textured surface.