Fiona Marie's Thread

Luxurious Merino...

I was fortunate to meet up with Jane Henry in December at the Christmas Market held in Addington (Christchurch). Jane produces the most luxurious ultafine Merino scarfs and baby shawls. They are absolutely beautiful and a superb gift for a special person in your life. Her manufacturing standards for her products are so incredibly high that she had a number of scarfs, with very minor imperfections, which she was selling as seconds. She gave one of these two-toned, chocolate coloured check scarfs to me so I could play around with the fabric. The idea being to come up with some crafty, inspirational ideas for ways the fabric could be used to make new products. I have been mucking around with this fabric for a while now, and through the process of trial and error I have produced a sample Merino Rose Brooch. I think it would look lovely pinned onto a woollen coat or denim jacket in Winter, or used to secure a scarf at your neck. Soon I plan on making up an Elephant softie, an animal which Jane expressed a love for, and then I may even be able to stretch what fabric I still have to making a small clutch purse. The fabric is so lovely to hold, it's softness makes you want rub your cheek on it - maybe a simple softie for a baby, or a rattle would work well too. Hmmm...anyone else have a brillant idea? Actually, a good idea would be just fine too.

A creative mind at play...

This is the one I liked the best. I spy Fiona...

Ruby, my sixteen year old daughter was so taken with Jane's scarfs that I ended up buying her one for helping with my stall. She got one of the lacy knitted ones. Here she is with and Hope, and yes, she actually does wear it with her Summer warobe.

I searched the internet for tutorials on fabric flower making and then just played around to get the look I was after. If anyone would really like me to provide a simple tutorial for them on the blog to replicate this brooch let me know and I will take a few pictures of the process. I discovered some gorgeous shot Silk Organza on sale at Fabric Vision yesterday for $15.00/metre, and I know it is going to make the perfect Silk Rose Brooch. Ohhh - I can't wait to find the time to play with it too.

Fiona Marie Clark

 

Vintage love...

This is my growing collection of vintage doilies that I have been scavenging from second hand shops and craft markets. It's amazing how many of these little treasures are still available and being sold very, very cheaply. If only they could talk and tell me some of their stories. I envision a beautiful, crazy styled, quilt top brimming with vintage delights taking shape in the future. In the meantime I will simply be enjoying the process of enlarging my stash. 

I couldn't resist taking this little old box home when I found it sitting in the Opportunity Shop for $10.00. I imagine this box coming from a deceased estate and I can't help feeling that the previous owner would be satisfied knowing her box of pre-loved, forgotten crochet goodies had ended up in the hands of someone who really cherishes it. The old D'oyley patterns I found at the recent Shabby Chic Market Day held at Rochester Villa in Christchurch. I must admit to becoming a little worried when I saw the word doily spelt d'oyley and did a quick search on the subject. I came across a fascinating blog by The Dreamstress, a self proclaimed textile expert with a passion for historical costuming. She has an enlightening entry here about the possible origins of the word doily, and it's many spelling variations.

I have been working on LOTS of crafty things over the past few weeks and will back soon with more news and pictures. I have also just realised there is another Shabby Chic Market Day on Sunday, and the first Sunday of every month up to May...I might see you there.

Fiona Marie Clark

Addicted to craft...

Since it is the holidays, and traditionally the time to let your hair down, relax, and just hang out doing the things you love...I have been spending large chunks of my time stitching, and I have come to the conclusion that I am indeed addicted to craft - big time! The first hint of this wonderful affliction reared it's creative head when Jessica was looking for something to do and I decided making Yo-Yo's would be a cool past time for an eleven year old who is confident with a needle and thread. Once I saw Jessica creating a stash of these cute little Yo-Yo's from my scrap box I had to stop what I was doing and start building a stash of my own.

and I'm still going...forget the scrap box, I now NEED to have a Yo-Yo made from every fabric I own. When will it stop? I just can't say. One of my facebook friends asked "So what are you going to make with your Yo-Yo's Fiona?" Like that matters!? Have you ever fallen into this trap, and what was your downfall?

Gotta go - I have some, ah, stitching to do.

Fiona Marie Clark  

Blooming creative...

Here is my latest creative folly - simply called Bloom.

This little work of art was created in four stages. Firstly I had a lot of fun felting dyed merino wool roving, silk roving, fancy wool, and other off cuts I had collected from other projects to make the luxuriously textured tree top.

Stage two involves drawing a simple design on your background calico and then painting it. This is all about experimentation with the paints and using water to mix different dilutions. The paint has a life of its own to a certain degree in the hands of an inexperienced painter, but that just makes it all the more fun and free flowing. This is not the time to be too fussy.

Stage three is free motion stitching time on the sewing machine. After ironing on pellon I machine stitched the tree trunk, the Sun, the heart, the lettering, and some grass detail around the bottom.

Finally it is time to have a play with hand quilting and embellishing. I stitched on sequins, beads and a diamante to the tree top. I then quilted the entire wall hanging using a gorgeous hand dyed silk thread from BJ's Colourways in Invercargill. The design is completely organic and just developed as I went. Throw in a few cross stitches, french knots, and sprinkles and it's finished.

Well almost, I like the frayed edge look to finish the piece and have ironed on fusible webbing to a backing fabric that I have then ironed onto the back of my wall hanging to hide all the stitching. I then ran a stitch around the edges to secure and have decided to try using 3m poster adhesive strips to hang it straight on the wall.

If you think this looks like fun you may be interested in attending the two day workshop I will be holding in February/March in the Christchurch area. If you would like to find out more when I have finalised the venue and dates please email me at info@fionamarie.com and I will forward the information onto you when it is available.

Happy Stitching!

Fiona Marie Clark

  

 

For the love of lace...

I recently posted a photo on my facebook page showing a section of the beautiful lace throw my Mother-in-law hand stitched using her source of vintage lace, trims and buttons. These little treasures had been collected over the years from many sources and the satisfaction she felt having used them all to such great effect was evident. It makes me wish I had been more of a hoarder of beautiful things in my youth but I am trying to make up for that oversight now. I have found second hand shops to be a wonderfully cheap source of supplementing my stash.

I received such an enthusiastic response from my facebook post that I promised to show more photos here. I still might have to revisit to get a shot of the entire throw but here are the photos I currently have for you to enjoy.

The throw has been hand stitched in a crazy patchwork fashion. In this photo you can see an old bib.

This photo has been digitally enhanced but gives a better appreciation of the textures of different lace and fabrics used. Jan is very artistic and has created the throw organically letting the design develop as she pieced.  

This is another stylised photo that is my favourite. The lace piece at the top of the photo is a very old lace collar. You can also see some cute little bullion roses Jan has stitched on (if you look hard).

This last picture is of a cushion Jan made to finish up using all her treasured scraps and probably is the best photographic example of her creations.

I hope this has inspired you to keep collecting those little bits and pieces of fancy, and if you already have a box full to overflowing then maybe it's time to start creating your own little vintage work of art.

Happy New Year!

Fiona Marie Clark

 

It's hard to believe it has been so long since I posted a blog entry. Some exciting news I received recently was my acceptance as a workshop tutor at the Handmade Festival being held in Wellington on the 2nd and 3rd of July next year. The programme has now been uploaded onto their website.

My two workshops are: Making Art with Everyday Stitches

This is classed as a Masterclass but will involve everyone having a go at making one of these Mandala stitcheries. We will look at different options for stitching, embellishing, and finishing.

The second workshop explores fabric stamping and we get to have a play and create our own unique piece of fabric that we will then use to make a pear pin cushion.
I also had fun making up a couple of kits to sell at the recent Christmas Market Fair in Christchurch. The Happy Hedgehog kitset was the big seller of the day. The kit includes wool felt, emboidery thread, beads and button for completing one of these gorgeous creatures.

The other popular kitset was the Quilted Coin Purse. This included the fabric, paper piece circle, pellon and purse frame.

I will be running workshops in both of these in the New Year and will have more details soon. If you have a group of 6 or more and live in the Christchurch area I would be happy to come along and run a mini workshop at your next stitchers meeting. $25.00/person includes the pattern, kitset and tuition. I could even bring along some bargain priced inspiration as well. If you are outside the Christchurch area and have a larger number of stitchers interested in doing something a little different then contact me too and I will see what I can arrange.

Now it is time to get back to my stitching group and help finish sewing the quilt top we are making for one of the ladies daughter's wedding. It is looking great!

Happy Stitching!

Fiona Marie Clark