A Grand Day Out, Fashioned from Nature at the V&A

 A truly grand day out at the V&A and a lovely day in London.  The exhibition run into January next year and is worth a visit - amazing costume and crazy fashion.

The dress to the right is made from oat roots, the pattern being printed onto the soil, the seeds sown and once the roots have established themselves they are cut away to form this fabric - fascinating.  All in all a wonderful experience that I heartily recommend to all who are interested in textiles.

The exhibition looks at all aspects of natural materials from the obvious cotton and wool to materials made from pineapples.  There are also some gruesome exhibits when dealing with animal derivatives, the real horror being a cape made from colobus monkeys - nasty. 

The exhibition is beautiful to look at, particularly the period costume downstairs, and very informative.  Still quite buzzy about my visit!

A Very Grumpy Jewel Frog

 This little frog was inspired by the colours of Mexico, it is somewhere I would like to visit but have not done so so far.  I have been watching all things Mexico on BBC iPlayer which set the scene for this jewel frog.

I wanted to work with waste canvas, as an enthusiastic counted thread worker I had never used waste canvas.  So this frogs skirts are embroidered with waste canvas beatles, all over.  The tropical feel was enhanced with a lovely piece of tropical Liberty Lawn given as a present and just perfect for this project.

She is heavily embroidered to the body with mostly french knots and beads.  Her dress is also embroidered with french knots, seed stitch and cross stitch beatles.  Her sachet is a little cross stitch butterfly in tonal colours.  I rather like her and I hope you do.

The Fabric I Use, Part 4 - Plains and Solids

Oakshott is a family business run by Michael and Rose Oakshott supplying quilters, sewers and textile artists the world over since 2003. They supply the best solid fabric I know.

The fabric is shot, so that there are different warp and weft colours running through each piece.  This gives wonderful shimmering colour and a shine that is very attractive.  The quality of the fabric is just lovely, great to cut and brilliant to stitch.  I use Oakshott fabrics for my frogs, birds and now a new fox. It takes embroidery really very well and the weave is such that you can carry threads well.

The only problem I have with Oakshott is they are not cheap but you get what you pay for and the colours speak for themselves.  Have a peep at www.oakshottfabrics.com for a great range of solids.

Of course these are not the only solids available but the colours are the best by a long shot.  Kaffe Fassett does a very good range of shot cottons in a light weight with great colours but they are getting harder to find now as this is an old range.  I also like Moda Grunge, just a little texture patterning makes a great mouse!

Isolde, A Rag Doll in Liberty Lawn

Isolde is an Ida Doll standing nine inches tall with a hand embroidered and hand painted face.  She has glorious red hair that is stitched into place and given a curly style.

She is dressed in a Liberty Lawn called Ros with pretty spring violas all over in a fetching pink and lilac.  She has lavender in her stuffing and a rose quartz at her core for love & warmth.  She is finished with tiny buttons, leather shoes and a pink embroidered lavender sachet.

I paint all their faces and I am following the same pattern but no two are ever the same.  Tiny variations on such a small scale make a huge difference but I think this little lady has a warm gentle smile and would make a lovely companion for someone.

Tuesday Talent - Elana Garus

 Elana Garus is a Russian artist from the Moscow region of Russia.  And that really is all I know about the lady.  However I know I really love her dolls.

She makes two styles of doll, one all cloth and this style with a baked plastic face, hand and feet.  They are dressed impeccably with lovely details.

They are quite small, standing around nine or ten inches.

Check out her instagram page and her Etsy shop
www.etsy.com/uk/shop/ElenaGarus. Lovely work and a pleasure to admire.

Peggy, A Little Lancashire Witch

 Peggy is a little Lancashire witch in the blues and greys of winter.  She has a hand painted and embroidered face with hand styled wool tops for hair.

Her dress is a Liberty Tana Lawn print and she has coordinating underskirts and knickers.  She is finished with leather shoes, tiny buttons and organza ribbon.  Her black wool felt witch's hat sits at a jaunty angle and she has a portrait of her cat on her lavender sachet.

She is softly stuffed with a good stuffing, she has lots of lavender in her stuffing for a gentle scent and a rose quartz crystal at her heart for love.  She has a knowing smile and I thing she would make a gentle companion.  I hope you like her.

The Leather I Use

 The little shoes that all my dolls have are leather.  I do not use any synthetic material they are all made from bookbinding leather in small pieces I buy from specialist retailers.

To use on the sewing machine you ideally want leather not thicker than 0.6mm and certainly no more that 1mm.  If you buy small pieces they are much cheaper per square inch than the large skivers you can buy and buying lots of smaller pieces means that you have plenty of colours to choose from.  I tend to work on the suede side of the leather because I prefer the look but the shoes look just as good leather side up.

The best place to buy bookbinding leather is Ebay, simply for ease.  The sellers there are used to small purchases and it just works so much more simply than trying to buy from leather wholesellers.  My favourite shop on Ebay is Leather4craft.  They usually have what I want for a very small price and are very helpful in finding something a bit more unusual.  There are also shops like Dolman Leathers a bit more pricey but great stuff and then there are the real specialists like J Hewitt and Sons, proper bookbinders.  They will fulfill your exact requirement but for a hefty price.