Covid lockdown has meant that I've been doing other things & here's one of the first 1950/60s vinyl fashion dolls that I've given a make-over to ( click the picture to read more ).
I've just finished a single throw for a customer using fabric leftovers from all her cotton blouses & kimonos. It's semi "crazy patchwork" & square + rectangular pieces all stitched together by pre-programmed machine embroidery using my latest Janome 8200 machine. An absolute dream machine to work with - the best bits of the machine (for this particular job) being having finger touch control instead of foot control & a very slow stitching speed when needed. This was the first large item stitched with the machine & I was very impressed with its ease of use & the width of the longer than normal arm. If you click on the above picture of the " Summer Gardens " cover, you will be able to see details of its construction.
Here's the first stage of the panel - if you want to read more about its making, click the image above.
" Painting the eye of a dragon " is a machine embroidered panel made several years ago. It started its life before that as a sample of tie dyed silk for a colour workshop & was then developed further from what I saw in the randomly dyed piece of (original) cream habotai silk. At a Cardiff museum a few years ago, there was a Japanese interactive exhibit of the 'The Night Parade of 100 Demons" - & it reminded me of my panel. I mention all this now, because earlier in 2020, I was commissioned to make a panel about Anger & if you click the above image, you'll be able to see how I am making & resolving issues I come across whilst working on this piece of work & discover the thought processes that are involved.
The image above was another one I computer created via Photoshop. Finished (along with several others) it reminded me of a cell structure so decided to make a large textile cell to portray me - I suppose you could call it a "self-portrait". To see & read more about it, click the image above, where it forms a section of one of my blogs. It remains unfinished as like many of my pieces, there is a "sticking point" whereby you just have to wait for the next bit to come along!!
The above image was originally just a sample exercise in mixing media - a plastic bag, some dried sheet of glue & some offcuts of threads I was using at the time. How I was feeling at that moment in time, led me to take a photo to capture what I saw - a deadened heart! That was late 2013 & in turn, that led on to me creating a series of computer images that recreated my past early years while still at school. It's still pending being finished but if you want to view those first images, click the heart above.
Many years ago, I had a small "dress shop" & sold special occasion clothing that I had designed & made. I had my own label "CiCi" which has been used for a variety of different ideas over the years. In 2014, as a result of making an unusual wedding dress, I started another on-line presence entitled "CiCi Designs" (click image above to read them) that highlights a variety of criteria that I use in my design work. Primarily aimed at special occasion clothing, its intention was to assist any students or dressmakers I came across.
Back in the 1990s, I was involved in promoting dressmaking, knitting & fashion & wrote several knitting articles for a paper pattern company's magazine. I also wrote short dressmaking articles for other companies & department stores for specific promotional events. In August 2013, now living in Somerset I was asked to write an article for a stitchery/textile magazine. I called it "Patterns in My Life" & it really just reiterated what creatively I did - turning patterns in my head into creative & tactile objects (click the image above if you want to see some).
Here are some tassels that were made for a textile workshop that involved trims (for furnishings & clothing), colour & "scraps". Again, many of my initial ideas involve re-using or re-working other pieces of textiles or other mediums (click the image above if you want to read about some of them). I believe I have always done this for as long as I can remember - is it just being creative or is there another reason? One of my interests that was finally produced as a textile, was a variety of information on "Make Do & Mend" from research of WWII. This had in it many samples I re-created using either original materials or those that were similar & I wanted to re-create this digitally for my own work.
A stitched book made several years before recorded a selection of "Make Do & Mend" techniques researched from WWII. Now, apart from detailing its making in a previous blog ( ), further information about it was added in CiCi Creations &. as a flip book, could also bring it to life with its pages being turned. Additionally I added some haunting music in a YouTube video. Because the book is rather large & heavy, it is housed in an embroidered & personalised carry bag showing St. Pauls Cathedral on the front of it.