Softies Central

Characters welcome...

The group today are all by Sebolds Originals - who make some very beautiful character animals filled with personality, all in lush colors. Here's the etsy shop with lots more to drool over.

Group portrait

Zebra

Giraffe

Elephant

Donna Wilson new pieces

If you like softies, you most likely love Donna Wilson's work. I have her poodle tea cozy and a cupcake but I truely want everything she makes. Here's a few new (and recent) pieces. And best of all, she's selling a kit to make your own little monster:

Who can resist...birds and bunnies

Handmade duck with leather beak and feet, and his bunny friend below...

bunny with felt/button eye - duck and bunny filled with buckwheat and lavendar by Catherine Tough in England.

Angora bunny sitting in her own angora cup by Blossom Hill.

Amigurumi chicks from Lampe's Lumps. I always appreciate the photo set up and this one's fantastic.

Bluebird of happiness from gracia & louise in Australia.

Needle felted bird and nest by Mykonos.

Silly bird :-) by Lissa.

French lapin by Hazar.

Sparrowkids Kits

Absolutely wonderful craft kits from Sparrowkids, mainly for kids they say, but I say for the kid in all of us! They come with everything you need including high quality thick wool felt. The pieces are constructed with a "series of tabs and slots which are held in place by a simple knot"...and just a little sewing, which DOES make it a nice kit for kids just learning. They're reasonably priced too - the dog purse on the upper left is 12.50 pounds sterling, or about $25.00.

Little Cotton Rabbits

Here are ten recently made and very quickly sold little friendlies from Little Cotton Rabbits. Best to go to her site now and sign up for the advanced warning email for next time.

She also posted some almost done photos which i like almost as much. Below a row of heads and then the panda's legs.

And finally, here's the finished panda with head and body attached. She was sold as soon as the shop doors opened, and is it any wonder with a face like that...

 

Hand & Lock Embroidery Prize

The Hand & Lock embroidery competition for 2007 is on. The aim of the competition is to promote surface embellishment for fashion and interior textiles. Here are some of the pieces entered from the 2006 competition, starting with the winner, Heidi Turner's work (first four images), whose work is nothing short of perfection! I saw an ad for the competition in Selvedge, but passed it by til I was reminded about it by a post on Rasperry's blog who's work is def worth a look too! The photos are rather big today so I hope they look ok to all - I wanted to make sure the small embroideries would show to their best effect.

 

Lingerie by Gemma Nicolson

Inspired by the workings of old pocket watches by Beth Groves

Crystal embroidery inspired by childrens' book illustrations - this the pocket watch of the white rabbit in Alice In Wonderland -- by Charlotte La Roche

by Dora Kiss Parkas

by Eileen Yingchun Zhang

by Emma Daniel

What Is It???

For fun today, I found some close up images of textiles -- pretty enough to look at on their own -- but try and guess what kind of garment they come from and from what decade. (Answers on the ANSWER post just below)

 

ANSWERS to What Is it???

Cape made of pink ostrich feathers from the 1930's.

Winter hood, crocheted in Italy - early 1960's.

Embroidered shoes from 1850.

Beaded dress with silver beads, pink sequins and long mirror beads, 1920's.

Black open net and wire hat trimmed with matt black spangles and black facetted glass beads, from the 1890's.

Thrifting in the 1920's! This garment is made from a paisley shawl from the 1860's, remade into a fitted jacket for the later decade.

Jumpsuit - 1960's.

Pheasant feathers on this turban style hat popular in the 1950's.

Which is your favorite???

All images via the Manchester Art Gallery.

Tait & Style

Tait & Style is the the design company of Ingrid Tait who lives in the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland. An award winning textile designer, she makes charming softies as well as intricate scarves and blankets with what looks like Scandinavian influence to me. Her pieces are for sale at Not On the High Street. Here's what she says "It gives me a real thrill to be sitting in this old schoolroom overlooking the harbour of the small fishing village of Stromness in the Orkney Islands - and to be designing and making scarves, hats and beasties that sail off to exotic locations all around the world: Paris, Tokyo, London..."

What a romantic life that sounds like! I wonder if she'd like a visit from a fan who lives in a drab, little apartment in New York???? Ok, I exaggerate. A tad. It's not drab, but the East River is definitely not romantic.

More of her exquisite work follows.

Pockets

Mid 18th century embroidered pocket on display at the Museum of Costume in Bath, England. The exhibit is called The Pockets of History and explores the 'making, using, nature, function and significance of pockets from the 18th C to the time they eventually died out in the early 20th C.' 

Apparently, women would have a pair of pockets that would be separate from their dress and worn under their petticoats. Openings in the side seams of their dress would give them access to their pockets.

There is an inordinate amount of info online on the V&A's site about the pocket exhibit, including pix of pockets, how-to-wear pockets, contents of pockets, buying and losing pockets, and a pattern & instructions for making a pocket...my gosh, more pocket info than I thought existed!

Maybe someone would like to create a new online Pocket Challenge????  Pleeease...