I've mentioned these before - but the good news is that the woollen coffin industry sounds like it's thriving! Sales have risen by 700% in one year!
The wonderful Eirlys has some upcoming Spring workshops - the poster is available here (Download Crockadoodledo upcycling sewing season spring 2012; PDF). They look great! There is even a discount for bulk booking and one for Mothers' Day :)
Here's some info from her about the first one:
Anyone care to join me to make beautiful necklaces out of Liberty lawn scraps? Crisp new fabric scraps, mind you! Well, mostly; the odd deconstructed lightly-worn garment may sneak its way in. And wooden beads. Lots of fun, really satisfying, and surprisingly fast. Takes place at Crockadoodledo, Larkhall, 10.30-1.30pm, Thursday 29th March.
Sadly, just an advertising campaign: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/9036278/Twitter-users-angered-by-Rio-Ferdinands-Snickers-adverts.html
The BBC's series on tweed was excellent but sadly no longer available. This video is lovely though! :)
On the subject of tweed: some Scottish friends recently told me about Studio Gnu. Isn't it beautiful? I'm a zoologist by background and I love the way Studio Gnu combines taxidermy, tweed and ethics into pieces of art. One for the wish-list.
The 'Handmade in Britain' fair is in Bath this weekend at the Assembly Rooms. The list of exhibitors is here - looks a great line-up again!
Millie Moon, Frome
2nd July, 10.30am-1.30pm (£20)
New Oriel Hall, Bath
9th and 13th July at 10am-1pm (£25)
The Makery, Bath
24th July (see their website for more details)
These are booking out quickly - please contact Eirlys for more information about the New Oriel Hall classes, and the Makery and Millie Moon about their classes.
Butterflies in a specimen-case, crochet and a community project...what's not to like?
The Cool To Knit group run by textile artist Wendy Freebourne is looking for knitters to take part in a project with a recycling theme, with all proceeds going to the Genesis Trust (a charity that supports vulnerable people facing homelessness, addictions and the effects of poverty).
My copy just arrived through the post and has given me a happy lunch hour. A troll-fighting, 11-yr old, Orthodox Jewish girl that is learning to knit....what's not to like?
I've only recently got into graphic novels, after watching Persepolis (based on a graphic novel of the same name).
Hereville's a lovely and touching tale, suitable for children and adults: I highly recommend it.
If you also like words, this is a treat as it intersperses English with Yiddish (which, luckily, is translated in footnotes).
And, as a Gentile, this was a beautiful insight for me into some of Orthodox Judaism (did you know that on Shabbos [the 7th day of the week] no work can be done and the day before they do everything in preparation...........even pre-ripping the loo paper...?)
Oh my, I ♥ this idea. A lovely message to someone, support for Macmillan, and some political campaigning - three valuable things, wouldn't you say?
It's on the corner of Quiet Street and Queen Square in Bath. They sell Italian wools and also do clothing alterations; the owner, Heidi, is a weaver (Wendy tells me).
It's like buses, none will come for ages...then you get two at once! ;-)
Lovely wee interview with Karl Lagerfeld on the Today programme - fashion is often more interesting in times of economic weakness. (Guess we shouldn't wish a further economic slump...?)
The knitting group in Bath meets in the Crystal Palace Tavern (Bath BA1 1NW) at 19.00 on Tuesdays. All abilities are very welcome!
If you have any queries - please email me...
There is limited on-street parking around the shops (click on the above photo, right) and nearby car parks on Manvers Street and Avon Street. The nearest train station is Bath Spa and there are several Park and Ride systems in operation in Bath.
Delighted to see that Jennie the Potter's work is thriving and one of her sheepy mugs was featured in Rhinebeck!
I bought some from her some 3 years back and they make me smile every day :-)
When we were last in London I pootled along to the Fashion and Texile Museum's 'Horrockses Fashions' expo. Horrockses Fashions Limited was the manufacturer of one of the most well-respected, ready-to-wear labels of the 1940/1950s and, with their dresses often costing a month's salary back then, were extremely coveted.
As some of you may have picked up, I ♥ the 1950s with a passion. The boldness of the prints, the fullness of the skirts - aaah, beautiful! What's more, the Horrockses dresses were produced at Ivy Mill, in Failsworth, only a mile or so from where my mum grew up and where I lived when I was wee - so I felt even more of a connection to this expo for that reason...
Here are some of my favourite pieces (click on pics to enlarge). But there's plenty more to see, if you have time to pop along to the FTL itself.
This was designed by wonderful Ursula Hertz in the 1950s – it is unusual as it is printed across the width of the fabric and was particularly effective when styled as a skirt:
Dress design by Pat Albeck based on costumes from the opera La Traviata:
The designs in this pattern book were produced by various printers for Horrockses Fashions produced at Ivy Mill, Manchester. Printers, designers and studios are indicated as well as the printing technique used:
Unpicked skirt in a design of newspaper headers and magazine images (designed by Ursula Hertz). The design is printed lengthways on the fabric, which means the skirt only has one seam (almost 5 yds of fabric make up the skirt’s width!!):
Strapless sundress and bolero jackets in cotton with a repeating pattern of food and drink (from 1952; food rationing remained in place in the UK until 1954):
I was listening to this Radio 4 programme earlier today...can it really be nearly a year since the floods hit? It made heartbreaking listening :(
There is talk of a surreal situation whereby the stock of a small wool shop (located near to the point where the river banks broke) was flooded out, unravelled and tied the entire town together.
Apparently it caused problems as it hindered the rescue boats but, in a sense, the imagery of the whole town being physically bound together (as it must have been in spirit) is quite lovely.
I've been browsing a friend's vintage sewing and knitting magazines today - had a happy lazy Sunday here.
Thought you might also like this recipe I spotted for a thimble pie...what a lovely idea! :0)
(If you are in a baking mood, click on the image to enlarge and read...)
For any of you nifty needlers out there looking for work!
I always pop to the V&A when I'm east - even just to potter about the beautiful corridors, gaze at the wonderful Victorian toilet tiles (left) or have a coffee in the Gamble Room (right). The Fashion & Jewellery collections are vast and exquisite [but will be shut from mid-Nov 2010 til Spring 2012!!! :( ].
Whilst we were there we saw the 'Fashion Fantasies: fashion plates and fashion satire, 1775-1925' expo. (I had to ask 3 members of staff where it was as no-one seemed to know...so I guess it's not that popular - but it's a wee gem in my opinion! It's in Leighton, room 102 (which is acutally a corridor).)
A lovely little collection of satirical fashion giggles - here is my favourite:
Punch kept a long-running campaign against the crinoline, claiming it was an example of female frivolity and excess. Here a fashionable woman confronted by the ghost of the over-worked seamstress who stitched her enormous and elaborate dress. [The Haunted Lady, John Tenniel (1820-1914)]
If you have a spare 90 mins, I'd really recommend watching this programme about this history of cotton and textiles: 'All Our Working Lives'. The first hour is a replay of the original 1980s episode, with the last 30 mins being an update of the years since.
Beware: it's remarkably moving. The footage of the men smashing up the unwanted weaving machines was almost too hard to watch...but then, as the daughter of a Lancashire man, it was always going to feel close to home for me...
It's astonishing to think some 700 miles of yarn were produced weekly at each mill back in the day: and all these mills were concentrated in a few square miles around the NW of England.
(For those of you not able to watch it, I'll watch it again with a notepad and pencil and write it up here in due course...watch this space please..!)
Last year a lovely vintage row counter (inside this wee waxed-paper packet) came into my possession. It is my favourite colour (Cornishware blue) and had a teeny-tiny tape-measure in the middle of it...
Does it sound like an overreaction to say that it's transformed my life..? Never again will I be found rootling around the house for a ruler, or using the quirky thumb-joint-equals-an-inch trick on the train...
I cherish it dearly...
A Todmorden knitwear company has launched an entire bridal collection made of wool :-)
At least it'd keep the bride turning blue if it was brisk weather!
Delighted to see that Friday's Woman's Hour featured three of my favourite things :-)
[Listen again until 20/08/10.]
I've long reached for a pint of dark over a G&T - which does occasionally seem to raise some eyebrows. Especially in Manchester - my hometown - which, until recently, seemed to mind girls drinking a pint nevermind a pint of ale.
"Synopsis: Mine's a pint: - why more women are
reclaiming real ale as their drink of choice. Beer and real ale is
going through a revolution. The industry, which had been awash with
cheap and cheerful lager, is welcoming back local micro-brewers . And
the complex and crafted flavours combined with a sophisticated
marketing campaign - and a proven track record to contain less carbs
than wine - are winning over the thirsty women of Britain. We will be
looking at why the number of female ale drinkers has doubled in the
last two years, and Jenni will be making her own mind up, as she tries
some of Britain's best flavours.
Bluegrass from Devon - The Carrivick Sisters are twins Laura and
Charlotte who play the traditional mountain music of Appalachia, with a
west country twist . They've been playing since their early teens and
this week-end they're appearing at Saltburn festival in North
Yorkshire. So what's the appeal to these young sisters of the American
Roots Music made popular by the film Oh Brother Where Art Thou? Hear
their Bluegrass fiddle and banjo live in the studio.
Knitted Lives - an exhibition of everyday objects knitted by women in Newcastle."
Some more info on Knitted Lives expo is here....smashinng stuff.
Fascinating and inspiring listening on Radio 4's Coast and Country.
(Makes me miss Scotland even more than ever...)
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