October - Pat Barrett & ' That Darn Stitch'

The traveller Michael Palin in no way could surpass the travels & tales of Pat Barrett, who entertained us at our October meeting. Combining her passion for adventure with her teaching occupation she has covered the globe whilst at the same time collecting many artefacts & inspiration for her stitch work. Her ability to collate & mix such simple stitches was extremely effective & judging by the popular workshop the next day, our ladies started out on their own adventure with something a little different.

           

  

 

 Claire Ketteman on Sculptural Knitting

After a PhD in chemistry & a career in science, Claire revived her passion for knitting and translated her science knowledge in to the threads & 3D images/ artwork she now creates . With a passion for nylon filament and the use of Japanese Haboo her creations are delicate but at the same time amazingly strong. She has also extended her creativity in to jewellery making .
More of her work can be seen at claireketteman.blogspot.co.uk

  

 

 

17 July 2013
Cherrilyn Tyler ' How fashion influenced my work'
Our last meeting of the season was very informative & gave an understanding of what makes an artist create their work. The ladies enjoyed a fun workshop the next day & although they were a little daunted by the title, it was very enjoyable & providing a new skill of transforming photos etc in to pictures with stitch.
It is a shame I was on holiday!

 

 

 19 June - Jayne Huskisson
 'My Journey around the Palette'
Travelling from her home in North Wales,  Jayne gave us an insight into how she transferred her talents from a flourishing fashion student to her passion for the North Wales/ Anglesey landscape through her painted silk medium.
Graduating from art college she then had a successful lingerie period with Charnos in Paris with some additional commercial success. Her subsequent RAF family life led to her own bridal, children's & then soft furnishing business, but it was her community project The Big Picture  which saw her continue her love of silk painting. She loves the simplicity, colour & movement on the silk & her living landscape has enabled her to hold regular exhibitions & win various tourism & craft awards. Sorry I don't have any photos of her popular landscape work!!

 

 

15 May - Maralyn Hepworth

Joining us from Shropshire,  tapestry weaver Maralyn has a keen emphasis on sustainability through a variety of her interests . Shropshire's rich industrial heritage has fuelled her passion for flax & linen & she gave us a fascinating insight in to how the cloth is created from seed to finished material. From her research into buying the actual seed through to growing the fibrous plant in the garden & via friends,she talked us through the various processes including our own  experiment demonstrating the fibre from a dried plant. It was also interesting to learn some of the phrases the industry used, which still have a meaning today- albeit an alternative one! eg 'toe-rag', 'hackling'.

Through her 'Flax to Fabric' project Maralyn is working tirelessly to see the Ditherington Flaxmill & Maltings in Shrewsbury re-opened in the future, for the benefit of the nations industrial heritage.
www.flaxmill-maltings.co.uk

 

      

 

17th April - Marilyn Pipe

Marilyn gave us an interesting & amusing talk about she developed her talent & passion for textiles which have taken her around the country through to recent workshops in Egypt. From innovative early jobs, she spent 11 years at the wonderful Rainbow Silks, combining this with the exhibition circuit leading to current teaching posts including Denman College. With a diverse list of textile interests she calls herself a 'textile junkie' & she demonstrated some of her current works. Would you believe what you can achieve from a cooling rack!

Katie Purson -  March 2013

These photos do not justify the exquisite detail, technique or passion portrayed in Katie's beautiful work. From an initial desire to be an archaeologist, Katie told us how she followed her heart & instead undertook a degree in Costume Design which lead to a career in the theatre & ballet world.

Her continued passion for traditional embroidery hand skills saw her achieve an enviable apprenticeship at The Royal School of Needlework & she guided us through the skills learnt . These included silk shadowing, gold work,black-work, white-work, pull & drawn thread work, cut work, mount mellick work & her favourite of fine white work!

    Katie concluded her talk with details of some of the work opportunities which have followed, from historic conservation work, religious creations to the simple repair of a toybear!

   

 Anne Menary - February 2013



Anne's talk on 'Fabric of the Universe' took us on a journey into Space visiting planets and outer space though her quirky ,hand stitched pictures and postcards. She researched and designed all her work through her sketchbooks and altered books before creating her amusing 'Time Traveling' images. She used a wide variety of fabrics from crimplene to tyvek and hand dyed and painted pieces. Nearly all her work is hand stitched using all the traditional old stitches and , so that they are reasonably commercial , she produces postcard size pieces including a textile print of the postage stamp. This was an amusing and interesting talk.

 

 

 

Next YE Meeting 9th April 2013

The next YE meeting will be on Tuesday the 9th April from 10.30 am to 2.30pm at Chelford Village Hall,

We are going to be making a colourful collage on paper first and them transferring it on to fabric and decorate it further.  You will need to bring some photos, images and colourful paper so you can make it really personal to you.

Here are some examples of scrapbook pages off the internet for inspiration.

Please contact Maria Walker if you want to reserve a place.

 email : maweeha@yahoo.com

Young Embroiderers February 2013

For our February meeting Becky Smyllie, a talented embroidery student from Manchester Metropolitan University ran the workshop for us.  She showed us how to make these wonderful three dimensional letters which the young people decorated to make these colourful letters.

Jenny Unsworth  - January 2013

We start the New Year going back in time with a talk on 'Reconstructing Costumes from History'. Dressed in a reconstructed Tudor sack dress and wig, Jenny Unsworth introduced us to her hobby of recreating historical garments. Not surprisingly very few original dresses exist as most were altered and recycled, as fabric was so expensive. Jenny described how fashion through the ages has influenced and been influenced by so many outside events. The discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum, for example, started the fashion for all things Ancient Greek and Roman, thus the simple shift dress became very fashionable. It was made of cotton not the favoured silks and satins of the Tudors but the industrial revolution kick started the desire for cotton. Fortunately, Janet Arnold has extensively researched old clothing and taken measurements and created block patterns which are a great help to the modern-day conservers.

Jenny’s 2 hard working models continued to show us various fashions through the ages whilst Jenny described the undergarments and influences which inspired them. As ever it was a very lively, fascinating and informative talk.

 

 

 

 

 

The Button Project Macclesfield Museum

Here is an opportunity to take part in a local project which may be of interest

Call For Artists

The Button Project - Exhibition

14 June – 8 August 2013

The Heritage Centre, Macclesfield Museums

Artists and makers are invited to put their creative imaginations to work and make a button for a vibrant exhibition, The Button Project, at the Heritage Centre, Macclesfield. 

Your button will be part of a stunning display of over 100 highly collectible contemporary buttons launched as part of Macclesfield's Barnaby Festival, Visual Art Trail,14 - 30 June, 2013. They will be presented alongside Macclesfield Museum’s internationally important silk costume collection – that also includes a fine display of Macclesfield Silk Buttons.

Macclesfield was the heart of UK’s historic silk industry, and silk-related businesses are still active in the town. Handmade silk buttons was where it all began.  From a cottage-based enterprise, it grew into a flourishing silk industry and helped to make the town what it is today. The four sites that make up Macclesfield Museums - the Heritage Centre, the Silk Museum, Paradise Mill and West Park Museum - are an acknowledged treasure, showcasing all aspects of silk use and production as well as a range of changing contemporary and historic exhibitions.

Barnaby is a popular Festival of arts, culture and fun - a recent reinvention of the centuries old tradition of celebrating the feast day of St Barnabas, and held in the town centre. 

Your button will be a tiny work of art in its own right. You might want to take this opportunity to explore the Barnaby Festival theme this year, ‘metamorphosis’.  However you play it, this is a fantastic chance to showcase your artwork in the UK’s premier silk attraction and celebrate our skills and heritage.

Every button received by the deadline will be exhibited at the Heritage Centre from 14 June to 8 August 2013. The buttons will be on sale to the public, and commission from the sales will go towards sustaining the Museum collections.

Your button should be 1.5 to 3cm wide x 1.5 to 3 cm high, and up to 3cm thick. It doesn’t have to be round, but it must have a shank on the back or two or more holes in the button itself so that it can be fixed to a backing cloth.

Detailed specifications can be found on the 'Expression of Interest' form, downloadable from www.barnabyfestival.org.uk.  To take part in The Button Project, email a completed form to info@victoriascholes.com by 4 March 2013.  There is no charge to submit work.

Expressions of interest should be received by 4 March 2013. Finished buttons can be accepted until 4 May 2013.

A collaboration between locally based glass artist Victoria Scholes and Macclesfield Museums, the exhibition will be publicised as part of Barnaby Festival's, Visual Arts Trail.

For more information, contact Victoria  info@victoriascholes.com or 01625 425049

STOP PRESS  :  STOP PRESS  :  STOP PRESS  : STOP PRESS


                                          EG Summer School
                                          Alston Hall
                                          Longridge
                                          Preston

                                          11-14 July 2013

             Speakers: Isobel Hall on books & Pat Barratt on stitch theme.

                                   Booking opens : 15.1 .13

                              For more info contact: Sue Widden
                                          Tel    : 01524 67678
                                     Email: sueandmart@o2.co.uk
                                                         

Young Embroiderers Next meeting 19th Feb 2013

Happy New Year from the Young Embroiderers Group.

Papermaking at Chelford Young Embroiderers. Photo by Jenny Lester

Papermaking at Chelford Young Embroiderers. Photo by Jenny Lester

Papermaking at Chelford Young Embroiderers. Photo by Jenny Lester

Jenny has just been sorting out her photo's and has found these stunning images from the paper making meeting, which Carol Stow and Julie Fleming ran in October 2012. It was a brilliant workshop and we had a record 16 children attending (girls and boys). We made the paper from scratch so the children became acquainted with the whole process. Carol did a sterling job ironing the wet sheets during the dinner break so the children could work into them in the afternoon and we have Julie to thank for working out the method. Thank you ladies!!

The next meeting will be on the 19th February and we are planning on making stunning three dimensional letters using recycled materials. Please contact Maria Walker if you know someone who is interested in attending. Email: maweeha@yahoo.com