With this ring......

 

 

So you may have gathered that I like getting my craft on, but I've always been a bit useless when it comes to fabric crafts. My seamstress granny taught me to sew (ish) but to my shame I've never learned to crochet, knit or make clothes.

 

So I made my fabric crafts debut with this little ring cushion. My sister was recently bridesmaid for her lovely friend Angharad's winter wedding in Cambridge and I undertook to make this for her. The burgundy felt went with the colours of the wedding and as she was a Northern Irish girl marrying an American in England, we chose to use the vintage Irish lace doilies to reflect her roots.

It turned out quite cute I think, just don't look too closely at the stitiching!

 

(I took these photos before posting the ring cushion so that's my beautious engagement ring that Danny chose all on his own-io. Clever boy!)

Today's find - embroidered scene.

I found this amazing piece of embroidery in a charity shop recently. I love that it's so colourful and not entirely perfect. The frame's a gem too.

Found: lots of lovely wool for to make embroidery and suchlike with. Only £1 each in a charity shop - they're brilliant places for picking up wool and fabric for really cheap. Now I just have to get round to actually doing something with them.

Good to go

I've now got my own embroidery ring and thread so I'm ready to get going on my newest favouritest passtime. You can get embroidery equipment for crazy cheap in any craft shop or haberdashers. I'm going to start experimenting with using different papers and fabrics though perhaps I shouldn't get ahead of myself and learn the basic stitches first.

Embroidering the truth

I returned to the Ps2 Gallery on Donegall Street in Belfast last night to finish off the piece of embroidery I had started. The artists involved (Hannah, Lyndsey and Alessandra - see http://collectifbrodeuses19.com/ and http://hannahcasey.blogspot.com/ )are really inspiring and talented in so many different ways and I left the class feeling encouraged to try out some new art forms.

Lyndsey, Amy and Miguel absorbed in their masterpieces.

Below, my hastily completed embroidery sample. I am LOVING the rainbow coloured thread - got to get me some of that.

Some of the artwork on the walls.

The exhibition has been extended for a week so if you're going to late night art in Belfast next Thursday 3rd March, make sure to call in to Ps2.

embroiderstravaganza

Well what a wonderful way to spend a morning.

I spent a few hours learning the basics of embroidery with the intensely talented and chic Paris based group 'Collectif Brodeuses' based currently in the Belfast gallery ps2.

They are holding free collective embroidery classes there until the 24th February and I don't know when I last had such clean-livin' fun. Take a look in the window if you're passing to see the growing collection of 'urban' themed samplers. It's an age-old craft brought into the 21st Century.

A lovely lady from the Belfast Art college drew the outline of a lamp post for me and I gave a stab at embroidering it.

Below - Brodeuse extraordinaire Alessandra Celesia displays a charming sampler of a doggie doing a do-do.(close-up to follow)

http://collectifbrodeuses19.com/