Textile Tuesday

As you can see bags are really popular at class and some 

are now known as 'Bag Ladies'!

Beryl had unpicked some of the binding on her Batik Bag

(Bag in the middle above) 

and added the buttons.

The box style bag used the twisted squares technique.

These small alterations just made the difference.

Its all about finish.

its knowing how to move on a design or how to 

make the best of what you can do.

Val showed us her new Laptop bag she had made,

again an adapted pattern.

It is the fixtures and finishings that make

this look so'Designer'.

You can find good bag fixings at this website

HERE

This is where Val found her stainless steel twisted fixings

fo this bag. 

Stitchers at Work

I love catching stitchers at work. 

These show total different textile techniques.

Top, Caroline piecing her Jelly roll strip blocks.

Middle, Sylvia getting to grips with a flower stitch foot

and bottom, Judith starting her piecing of a stained glass patchwork.

I love the diversity of Creative Textiles and I feel so lucky to be able

to teach and share.

More Dorset Buttons

More Dorset Buttons are being made each week and

they are getting bigger and more ornate. 

These ones were made by Bev.

Lots of beading and sequins are being added,

I wonder who is influencing the BLING!

( me, never!).

HERE is a good article for making a Dorset Button,

if you haven't tried yet.

I stitch using the stitches of the blanket stitch inside the

hoop ( blanket stitch then twist the stitches on the 

hoop into the middle).

 Rather than wrapping the spokes it still

gives you great effect all the same but you need to wrap tightly.

Enjoy having a go.

Bead and Button Making

This month at classes I have been teaching all about 

Circles, Beads and Buttons and as you can 

see by the above pictures some have had a real

play and made them out of unusual materials.

Just by wrapping a long triangle piece of fabric around a 

knitting needle and securing it with thread or wire.

You can then heat gun it or use a soldering iron.

(Remember to be careful!).

Layers of sheers and man made fabrics work really well.

When cool slip them off and you can use as embellishments

 on your work.

Add paint foils and powders to really get effects.

See more in previous posts and I am sure there will be more to come.

Folded and Twisted Hexagon Flowers

These are some of the Folded and Twisted Hexagons that the participants on 

Textile Tuesday made. The fabric hexagon is one that fits an A4 width of paper. 

You need them large to begin with because the hexagon

flower will end up half the size.

It was a real morning of concentration due to all the folds and 

needle techniques.

I had started with the easier Twisted Square to begin with

so they weren't overwhelmed by all the folding.

Some went away and made enough to make a bag!

You join each hexagon flower by putting right sides together and

 over sewing.

To see how they are made visit a video on my tech site 

HERE 

Bags and More Bags

Textile Tuesdays are wonderful for 'Show and Tell'.

We always have a lot of bags. 

I started it off two years ago by making several different bags 

each month and sharing the making of them at class

and it has just taken off. 

We are now officially Bag Ladies!

Some take up the challenge more than others!

Beryl's bag above is made with Amy Butler fabric and looks

wonderful and is a great Summer Bag.

Pat has made hers out of recycled upholstery fabrics and 

it for those awkward and last minute things that when you are going away are always

left over and you don't know where to put or pack them!

See more bags by clicking the written label below.

Cotillion Bag

HeatherAnne has made this wonderful bag made from a kit by Quilters Trading Post. 

It is called a 'Cotillion Bag'. Now 'The Cotillion', is a type of dance made popular in

18th Century France and became very fashionable because it was performed in formation.

 Couples made up a square or opposite lines, making it a very social and very popular.

Now a lady of this time would have had a bag,

 to put her 'other shoes' in and some 

'overnight' things just in case it was a dance too good to leave!

Or a well invitation came her way to stay at the family house!

It made me laugh as HeatherAnne wanted to adapt the bag for her

Church Books! 

A very novel way of distorting a history of a bag!

It makes her giggle and the rest of us that she is taking her dance overnight

bag to Church!

textile Thursday is all about Quilting of all different types.

This week it was all about Quilts!

Here HeatherAnne is sharing her Japanese inspired Quilts.

We had a good 'Show and Tell' about how they were made and

what patterns were called and how they were put together.

HeatherAnne had used two different ways of putting the quilts together.

'Quilt as you go' and Whole quilt pinning.

Thank you HeatherAnne for sharing.

Helen's Bags

As you can see it's been Bag Inspiration Week.

I love the Owl Bag, apparently he is been in the making for

quite sometime and the snow gave Helen the opportunity to finish

him. Isn't he great?

Sandra's Bags

I encourage 'Show and Tell' at sessions and Sandra showed us

all her bags she had worked on due to the snow.

They were all different and made for different

people.

Well done Sandra! They are fantastic.

I particularly loved the Cherry Bag with the matching purse

and The Cath Kidson bag made from a kit.

See more bags by clicking the written tags under this post.

Carol' Embellishing

Carol has been busy using her Embellisher Machine she got for Christmas.

I introduced Carol to the Embellisher Machine at Textile Tuesdays and on the 

Level One Creative Textiles Course. 

She has just taken off and made the skill her own.

Using the Embellished fabric as a base 

she then adds machine stitch and lots of

embellishments like beads, sequins, buttons and additions.

These additions often take the form of melted plastic and papers!

We do have fun recycling!

See more of Embellishing work by clicking on the written labels below.

Textile Evening Class

The first Evening Class at The Art Room took place on Wednesday Night and it was very productive and everyone felt glad to be back after Christmas. Ann is finishing her Kitchen Runner, a lovely sunny piece, shown at the top. Heather Ann had finished two bags. I showed the last evening class how to make them and she went into production and they have proved very useful. I saw the video on Crafty Gemini and adapted the pattern slightly. As you can see by the photos there were quilts in production too! UFO's that had surfaced for re-looking at and continuing.
Textile Evening Classes at The Art Room are on the first Wednesday evening of most months of the year. Contact me for details.

Classes at The Art Room

New Year New Venue at The Art Room Dereham.

Here you can see the first 'Textile Tuesday' for 2013 at The Art Room.

It was electric there was so much 'Show and Tell', lovely Christmas presents

and photographs being shared. This is what it is all about.

Not a lot of making by some but lots of pattern making and working out

and how to finish or make new things.

The Art Room is at

1A Rash's Green

Toftwood 

Dereham

Norfolk

If you would like more information contact me for details.