Flatford Mill

I took a little time out this weekend and visited Flatford Mill, which was the location for many Constable paintings. Lovely to get out in the sun and walk in the beautiful Dedham Vale. There is also a very nice tea-room (always have to sample the tea and cake when I visit somewhere new!) which encompasses the Boat House Gallery.

Finished necklace

Here is the finished necklace, following on from the last post! I'm making a cream one next, look out for that later in the week!

Each hand cut fabric "sequin" is stitched on by hand

Just one more necklace to make and then the new collection is complete!

A return to necklace making...

I've spent today in the studio working on some new necklaces which will have fabric embellishment. I haven't made any necklaces for a while because I've been mainly focusing on the brooches, but I thought it would be good to include a couple that tie in with the new collection.

The basic necklace is made from a strip of knit that I make on my knitting machine and then stitch around ribbon strung wooden beads. These necklaces were my starting point in jewellery making, having organically developed from their origins as parts of huge conceptual knitted hanging pieces (I will make a post on those at a later date, all will be revealed!) and they are something I like to return to and continue to adapt in different ways. Here is the navy one taking shape!

Stitching the knit around ribbon strung wooden beads

The base necklace ready to go, alongside the brooch that I would like it to match

I've spent the evening cutting out hundreds of tiny circles of  scrap fabric!

I coat the fabric "sequins" in fabric stiffener to prevent fraying

I'll hand stitch the fabric pieces onto the necklace over the weekend and post a pic of the results!

Sneak preview

Here's a sneak peak at how the new collection is coming together... Here are the brooches that I finished today (helped along by the lovely sun!)

Latest work

Just a little update- thank you everyone who has liked my Facebook page so far. On Tuesday I drew a name at random to win one of my handmade necklaces- please like my page for more competitions and offers coming soon!

The new collection is gradually coming together and I'm hoping to have another photo shoot soon and then an update of my online shop. Tomorrow I'm going to start work on the knitted brooches and I'm hoping it's going to be another lovely sunny day- sun shining into the studio always helps me work!

New coloured Tweed brooches in progress!

I'm also hoping to get the chance tomorrow to have a bit of an experiment with some old papers (more on those soon) and varnish, with the hope that I can incorporate the results into some future work

Baking!

I love making (and eating!) cake and my ultimate favourite is the classic Victoria Sponge. I made this one over the Easter weekend. Looking forward to the summer when I can add fresh strawberries and cream!

While we're on the cake theme, just wanted to update you on what became of the Blackberry and Apple Gin I made in early October last year- I have decanted the Gin, stewed the fruit and made a kind of upside down cake!