"Seeds from my Textile Garden" ...

This evening I'm giving a talk to a gardening club (specific details will be uploaded soon when my computer has come back from being upgraded!).

You may start to wonder what have textiles & gardening in common? My first thoughts were germinating on COLOUR (click this link to see what I mean) & secondly, what can be made using a variety of 'textiles'? Being near to Christmas, ideas were not short in appearing in my head!!! The next step was to gather existing samples together, make some examples appropriate for the evening 'project activity', decide on the 'goodies bag' contents (eg. ribbon at left) & give the evening a title. Predominantly inspirational, I decided on:

"Seeds from my Textile Garden"

Make Simple Wave Curtains & Dress them ! ...

* Dressing a window - details at end of write-up

Another pair of lined curtains have just been finished - basically made from oddments & costing less than £30.00!

For a spare bedroom, the curtains were designed for a window (appx. 5'  /1.5m wide) above a radiator. In the past I've normally had colourful walls & paintwork but having moved into a modern & relatively new house, I've decided to decorate/furnish it in a different way. I'm treating the house much like a 'blank canvas' with it being redecorated in magnolia & white. Boring?? no ... I shall be using COLOUR & introducing it into the room by way of a variety of 'other means' to 'bring it alive'.

In this particular room, the window doesn't allow much light to enter the room as it overlooks an adjacent brick & house wall & has no impressive view either! However, inheriting a modern chandelier (from the previous house owner), I decided to use some of my 'stash' of fabric (rather than buy new) & begin to create a few illusions! I loved this fabric when I first got it so this is where I'll begin! So to start:

Bought a few years ago: 4 panels of furnishing fabric. In a heavy ribbed cream calico, it had an embroidered purple flower motif (appx. 3" / 70cm diameter) at 10"/ 250mm intervals. These 'display' panels (section as per image left) were ideal for narrow windows but not a wide one. The fabric was unusable lengthwise as its width was too short for the curtain's drop.

For this reason, a complimenting fabric needed to be found as a 'trim' as an additional wide edging for the side(s). Looking at various furnishings in TK Max, I first came across a pair of wonderful ethnic-style cushions in bright colours that included purple. turquoise, pink & orange. They would be an ideal focal point & would integrate & visually 'vibrate' alonside the cream panels. A few days later (whilst buying paint in the local B & Q decorating store), I came across a single 'demo' curtain that perfectly colour-matched (packaging & sample at right) the floral motif. A medium-weight polyester with a metallic paisley design, they 'linked' to the ethnic cushions as well as having a design to visually 'lift' the calico (by highlighting & emphasising the sheen of the embroidery).


Also inheriting a metal pole with rings & only needing a basic & simple window covering, I decided to opt for making 'wave' curtains. They take less fabric, are less bulky & (if I could also somehow adapt some pleated heading tape from my store), I would additionally be further 'in pocket'.


Each curtain was made by cutting the lavender curtain lengthwise in half & stitching it to one edge of the embroidered panel. As I only needed the curtains to be lightly lined, I used a new polyester/cotton duvet cover (bought from Homebase) for the linings (I didn't want the extra weight or bulk of conventional lining fabric). My pleated heading tape was stitched on the curtain's upper edge & plain metal hooks inserted along the tape on every 5th 'hook pocket' (see image above). After finishing, the curtains were hung & then * dressed (click if you want more information relating to this). I'm now just waiting for the curtains to 'hang' so that a final image can be taken!

(NOTE: All measurements/calculations here are based on the rod, pole, hooks & tape that I was using - if referencing this for your own curtains, please ensure your own measurements etc.)

Butterfly Tray !

I've finally taken a photo of something that's always remained special to me & has been in my head for many years - since I was very young in fact. I remember initially seeing it in a relatives' house a long time ago and on occasional child visits, always found it fascinating. Growing up, I never saw it again and forgot about it. Until recently ... when after a relative died, it was given to me and it was just as I remembered!!

Now, looking retrospectively over my work, I've suddenly realised that it actually had an enormous impact on how I design ... my use of colour ... the imagery I like ... my interests. I believe the item to be a holiday memento from Brazil that shows Rio de Janeiro's Sugar Loaf Mountain and is a tray (at least 60 years old) - a label on the reverse states that it is an original hand painting and uses authentic butterfly wings from the area.

The tray (above) is solid mahogany with two handles and an inlaid wood marquetry border surrounding an inner recessed glass section. It measures appx. 52cm x 33cm / 20.5” x 13" with the main ‘picture’ section (38cm x 28.5cm / 15” x 11.25”) under glass. It depicts an evening scene in Rio de Janeiro at Sugarloaf Mountain - skillfully captured using reverse painting predominantly in black and gold with sea and sky (blue, green and white) irridescence from the butterfly wing background. The tray’s reverse is also of solid wood and is screwed onto the main body underneath. A small label states: “We guarantee that this article is handpainted and that the wings used are from genuine South American butterflies.”

I've now found out more about it:

It's an early/mid-20th Century hardwood wood tea tray with central landscape scene of (mainly) water and palm trees and titled 'Brasil'. Originally (& possibly purchased as a holiday memento from South America), these trays (plus other items) were often made specially for the tourist market using Morpho butterflies (left). Found in the South American rain forests, the butterflies are captured by natives & the iridescent wings then displayed under glass. Using a technique called reverse painting, a tint is painted directly onto the back of a piece of glass that is then placed over a butterfly wing background.

The notable mountain shown is a granite peak at the mouth of Guanabara Bay – it is said to resemble the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar! On a peninsula sticking out into the Atlantic Ocean, Sugarloaf Mountain rises 396 metres (1,299 ft) above the harbour and 2 cable car lines (the earliest built in 1912) take passengers to the mountain peaks. These 2 lines together with a cable car are clearly visible in the landscape scene on this tray.

Inspiration: Phrases …

(above imagery is from Kaffe Fasset exhibition bear Bath)

The exhibition was very inspirational - so too are some of my favourite phrases that I’ve noted for further reference etc - author’s unknown but my thanks to them for inspiration they've given me for work completed or will be!

“Life is a circle, I’m sure we’ll meet one another again” 

“I am become death, the destroyer of worlds” (click for link to artwork)

“Leave the moon alone, it’s not hurting you” (click for link to design)

“Eyes are gateways to your soul” (click for link to design concept)

“Wrap in cotton wool & it will soon become a straight-jacket” (click for link to design concept)

Colour : If at first you don't succeed ...

Any colour can be inspirational - it just depends on the mood you're in and whether you really like the colour you're using. Over time, I've come to learn two important factors: (a) don't use a colour that make you feel 'negative' and (b) don't continue to work on a project if it starts to go wrong as that produces yet another negative vibe ! BUT ... you can often 'swing the scales' in your favour should either of these things occur ....

If a particular colour feels wrong or gives you negative thoughts, consider using a slightly different shade especially if it's a project for yourself or a client can be persuaded. And if things should start going from bad to worse, wait a while and come back to the project later or even another day. Unless you feel positive and relaxed, inspiration and ideas usually don't flow !

Here's a personal example:
I started initial sketches for a patchwork/embroidery project in black pen and it wasn't long before subsequent ideas started leaping from the page in colour. I selected yellow, orange and brown felt tip pens as they were immediately to hand - the colours I'm not to fond of but represented the fabric and thread I was intending to use. As I put colour to paper, ideas became slow and difficult to expand - the chosen colours appeared to 'jump off' the brilliant white page in their intensity and didn't appear to co-ordinate well together. The paper that normally faded into the background looked wrong with the yellow appearing too bright and strong as it vied for position with its orange counterpart. The shades of brown, in comparison, looked bland and more like a shade of orange - some black edges (to represent machine stitching) appearing dark blue. I glanced again at those initial black and white pen sketches for inspiration but ideas faded fast! I tried sketching a few more times before I gave up. I then remembered one of my favourite phrases "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again" - but did so a while later ! With renewed energy and different colour medium, I selected a range of coloured inks in place of the felt tip pens. As I started to use them on the same white paper as before, the ideas just started to flow ... yellow looked bright and transparent, orange glistened when next to it and brown enhanced the other two. Finally after a few pages and with the addition of some black, a final sketch and design idea was complete.


I looked over at those initial felt tip ideas and wondered what had happened other than using the different colouring medium. The answer was obvious ... the colours, although similar, were actually very different. Here's the result (samples shown as fabric) - ink shades on the left, felt tips on the right - the colours at right are more yellow based and have less blue in them and are less like those colours I personally prefer.

COLOUR: Rainbows …

I’ve always believed that colour is central to any piece of work whatever it is … choosing an outfit … embroidering a wallhanging … selecting curtains … or just planting a tree in the garden. Correct choice & shade of COLOUR is vitally important … it carries meaning & also has a psychological effect.

The colours found in a rainbow are: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.


Here are 4 sets of 'rainbows' – each one slightly different in its colour depth & intensity. Can you see the subtle differences?

COLOUR: What is the meaning of a season …

Whenever I’m out and about, I try to remember to take my camera with me ...











... you never know when it will be needed.









Here, I took some sky shots at each season ...








... now, every time I look at the images I can recapture what I felt at the time.






The imagery is also useful if or when I need to verify colours!