"How to..." at the new Open Shop in York

If you haven't visited the Open Shop in New Earswick, York then it's time to take a look.  It's a place where you can meet up, share your ideas, take part in Trade Schools, Public Office sessions, attend workshops or just pop in for a cup of tea.  All events are free to attend (Trade Schools work on barter) and have been created with local people for local people.  To find out more about all the events on offer, click here.
 

Public Office session at Open Shop York

There are two big tables to gather round

I've already dropped off a bag of knitting materials if you want to relax there and do a bit of knitting 
 

Open Shop York

One of the events I'm involved with is on Saturday 5 March 2016.  Here York Makers are running some workshops and all materials are provided ...
 

10:00 to 12:00 Yarnstorming with Hippystitch
Join Hippystitch and have a go at knitting, finger knitting, arm knitting, pompom making and stitching to create a display for the Open Shop.

12:00 to 14:00 Card Making with Lucy Monkman
Lucy will be holding a fun card making workshop for adults and children

Nicola from O'Crumbs will also be there to share her baking tips.
 
You can find the Open Shop at:

20 Hawthorn Terrace
New Easwick
York
YO32 4BL 

which is where the old Post Office used to be.  Tnere is a small car park just round the corner or hop on your bike or the bus if it's too far to walk.  Hope to see you there ...

Just arrived at Ebbing Tide in Neil's Gallery, Filey

Magical Mermaids swim into Filey

Hippystitch goodies are now being stocked by Ebbing Tide at Neil's Gallery in Filey.  So if you've taken a trip to the seaside do take a look - there are lots of lovely things on offer there. 

Don't forget a walk on the beach or the cliff top - pleasantly bracing at this time of year!  Then follow it up with a coffee at The Coffee Shed - fab!
 

People & Places Brooches & Map Pouches

It's always great to take a trip to the seaside.  Go on - you know you want to!

Wonderful visible mending & how to rejuvenate an old coat

The problem

I'm beginning to enjoy visible mending - it's colourful (or can be) and you don't have to be too careful and you can use what's to hand.  So here's the problem - I've got this coat and it's got a ripped lining.  Now you can't see the ripped lining when I'm wearing it but it's a bit of a mess and I know it's there so I want to repair it.

The Coat

Here's the plan.  I've got lots of Liberty fabric scraps - largely from the fabric necklaces I make - so I thought I'd make an interesting patch from a variety of pieces.  This could then be used to cover the ripped part of the lining.  I didn't have to undo much of the lining (just a little on the side seam) then I was able to hand sew my patch in place and stitch the side seam back up.  Was it successful?  Well here's what it looks like ...

Liberty print repair

I think it's a big improvement - you can let me know what you think ... 

Liberty in Fashion - Fashion and Textile Museum, London

Elsie & Felix & typical Liberty florals

This exhibition at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London showcases Liberty clothes and textiles from 1875 when Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened his first store on Regent Street.  It explores Liberty's impact on fashion in the 19th and 20th centuries and its collaborations with designers and other brands.

Liberty embroidery

Liberty produced embroidery designs which could be used as an economic way to embellish clothes.

Smock detail

Liberty was also responsible for the rediscovery of some traditional crafts.  Smocking was one of these and became one of its trademark looks.  Kate Greenaway, children's illustrator and author was closely associated with Liberty's children's wear and her illustrations often depicted children in smocked dresses. 

Smocked Child's "Mab" Dress by Liberty & Co.

In the 1960s Liberty's fabrics were used by many of the new designers who were located around Carnaby Street and brought a particular "Englishness" to their look.

Liberty prints deigned for the Dolly Rockers label in the 1960s

The 1970s nostalgia for the past meant Liberty's floral prints fitted the mood well.
 

1970's Nostalgia

Liberty continues to collaborate with other designers and brands ...

Cacharel 2004

Cacharel 2004

Nike X Liberty 2015

If you love Liberty go take a look.  The exhibiton is on until 28 February 2016.

Quick & Simple Upcycle Project - Suitcase with Vintage Maps

Recently at a vintage fair I bought a little suitcase - mostly for the contents (more of that another time) but also because even if a bit battered it's quite cute.  I haven't got a completely "before" pic.  It did have quite a lot of paint on it and it wasn't till I got it all off that I thought to take the first pic.

Suitcase - bottom

The inside was completely grotty and I have taken a photo of those stained wrinkly insides ...

stained and grotty insides

So having got the paint off the outside and cleaned the suitcase up - mostly with a cloth and hot soapy water I took out all the horrid stained paper insides which were beginning to peel off anyway.  Any bits that remained stuck, I moistened with a damp cloth then scraped them off and gave the whole inside a good wipe out.  Then I left it to dry.

Vintage map interior

A vintage map interior would be just the job, I thought.  Looking through my map collection, Bartholomew's Firth of Clyde seemed to fit the bill nicely.  I cut the map to fit.  One piece was enough for the lid but the base needed 4 pieces - 3 for the two sides and front and one for the bottom and back.  I had to join one piece on one side mainly to get the bits of map I thought would look best - they don't all join together mapwise but they look reasonably coherent.  
 

new vintage map insides

Of course you could have all completely different map pieces if you wanted.

 

I used some new glue that I got the same day as the suitcase.  It had been recommended.  I opened it and was immensely impressed with the design.  In the centre of the jar was a special place for a mini glue brush - how cool is that!  I used it to glue my map pieces in place and it was excellent.  Here's the finished product ...

Upcycled suitcase with vintage maps

I did it all one evening, let it dry overnight and next day it was ready to use.

2015 & Cornelia Parker - Part 2 at St Pancras & the British Library

This is Part 2 of my journey through 2015 with Cornelia Parker ...

One More Time - Cornelia Parker

(Quick recap - I have already admitted that until 2015 I hadn't really come across Cornelia Parker - and then suddenly her work seemed to be everywhere.  Parker (b. 1956) is known for her large scale, often site specific, installations.  She works in a variety of mediums and collaborates with many bodies and institutions. Part 1 dealt with her exhibition at the reopening of The Whitworth, Manchester)

To continue ... in 2015 Cornelia Parker also had work on display in St Pancras Station, London.  Here as part of the Terrace Wires public art programme, where artworks are suspended from the Barlow Shed roof for a period of 6 months, she had "One More Time".  A replica working DENT clock in black and silver was hung 16m in front of the original station clock.  For arriving passengers, the artwork gradually eclipses the original station clock.  The work is meant to promote thoughts on the passage of time, life and mortality.  The clock was made by DENT, who also made the original (& Big Ben).  Hope they find somewhere in the station for it permanently - even if not serving its original artistic purpose - it's a very nice clock!

Magna Carta (An Embroidery) - detail

Then just down the road at the British Library, I found "Magna Carta (An Embroidery)" which at almost 13m long is a hand embroidered replica of the Wikipedia entry of 15 June 2014 for the Magna Carta (its 799 anniversary). Embroidered by 200 people, it was created to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta and acts as a contemporary interpretation.  (In case you don't know - Magna Carta, which means "The Great Charter", is one of the most important documents in history as it established the principle that everyone is subject to the law, even the king, and guarantees the rights of individuals, the right to justice and the right to a fair trial.)

The piece was displayed flat under glass

To create this, Parker captured the Wikipedia entry on 15 June 2014 and printed it out onto cloth (half panama cotton).  It was then divided into 87 sections and dished out to various people to complete.  The bulk of the text was done by Fine Cell Work, a social enterprise who train prisoners in needlework and provide paid employment for the work they do.  The pictures, logos and emblems were completed by members of the Embroiderers' Guild (EG), the Royal School of Needlework and the embroidery company, Hand & Lock.  The Royal School of Needlework then put it all back together again.  At Parker's invitation particular words and phrases were completed by a variety of people from many walks of life for which that aspect of the Charter had some special resonance.

Doreen Lawrence embroidered "justice", "denial" & "delay"

Jarvis Cocker embroidered "Common People"

It's a fantastic piece of work.  Here are just a few highlights.

1225 Magna Carta issued by Henry III stitched by Ann Carrick & Elaine Dunn (EG - North East Region)

Pope Innocent III stitched by Anthea Godfrey (EG - Eastern Region) - it took 450 hours to complete!

You can even see what it looks like underneath

Jurist Edward Coke stitched by Shirley Smith & Zita Szabo (EG - Yorkshire and the Humber Region)

King John signs Magna Carta stitched by Janet Payne (EG - Eastern Region)

Page from a 14th Century manuscript stitched by Jane Drummond (EG - East Midlands Region)

You really need to see it in all its glory to get the full effect.  It is currently travelling around the country.  If it comes your way do go and take a look, it's well worth it!  And here are all the people who helped make it ...

A masterly collaboration! You can watch a YouTube video about it here.

2015 & Cornelia Parker - Part 1 at The Whitworth

War,Peace (recto) - Hand embroidered by prisoners in HM Prisons

I have to admit that until 2015 I hadn't really come across Cornelia Parker - and then suddenly her work seemed to be everywhere.  Parker (b. 1956) is known for her large scale, often site specific, installations.  She works in a variety of mediums and collaborates with many bodies and institutions.  Here are some highlights from my year of CP. 

The Whitworth

It began with the reopening of The Whitworth in Manchester in February (quick aside - well worth a visit - do go and until the 31 January there is an Art Textiles Exhibition which I would love to go to!).  Cornelia Parker was one of the opening exhibitors.  Here's a taster ...
 

Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View 1991 - Cornelia Parker

Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View 1991 (detail) - Cornelia Parker

This is a shed and its contents that was blown up by the Army School of Ammunition in Banbury using semtex.  All the pieces were then collected and reassembled with the smallest pieces closest to the light and the largest pieces furthest away.  The title of the piece and the installation itself are an attempt to formalise an explosion in a pseudo-scientific way.  The choice of an explosion came from the constant threat of IRA bombs in London and the violent comic strip imagery of the 1980s and 90s.
 

Love, Hate (verso) - Hand embroidered by prisoners in HM Prisons

Here words with opposite definitions have been embroidered on the same piece of linen such that you have to read the mirror image of one meaning to get the full picture.

War Room - Perforated paper negatives left over from production of British Legion Remembrance Poppies

War Room (detail) - Perforated paper negatives left over from production of British Legion Remembrance Poppies

The rows of empty spaces in War Room, created from a left over remnant from the 45 million remembrance poppies made each year, echoes the endless symmetry of war graves.  The two layers of paper hung closely together create a double negative effect.
 

Composition with Horns - Cornelia Parke

Flattened by a 250-ton industrial press the objects appear folded in on themselves giving a new symmetry.

The Distance (A Kiss with String Attached) - Auguste Rodin's The Kiss, a mile of string

The shed is fascinating, the embroideries and War Room thoughtful and the instruments, interesting however I'm not sure that the mile of string couldn't have been better used elsewhere - you may disagree.

Part 2 at St Pancras (One More Time) & the British Library (Magna Carta - An Embroidery) coming soon ...