Weekend Project

Don't believe a word I say - I had no intention of doing any sewing work this weekend, but then I say that every weekend! I was having a little dabble with a very simple idea for making baby toys with some of my new printed fabric - it went so frustratingly wrong that I turned to an older project in my sketchbook to prove to myself that I wasn't completely useless!! This idea was taken from a quick couple of sketches in my notebook of Lewis Chesspieces, with the intention of making them into simple wall decorations (in Harris Tweed, of course!)

Yesterday, I set to the idea with ghusto, and was quite pleased with my rudimentary efforts. I really enjoyed the process of transferring my own simple image into an embroidered piece and would love to do more of this. These are really designed with the local market in mind so may appear in my own website or simply pop up at a craft fair. Very much tied in with local culture so whether I would add them to Etsy or not, I'm undecided. I'm saying 'they' as I do hope to make further pieces! This one is approx 3.5 inches x 2.5 inches.

This particular one shows the uppermost part of a chesspiece, so there's lots of scope to make a longer, full-body version or to elaborate further with more detail. It's a nice diversion from my usual way of working where I design an item then reproduce it in different colourways - these would all be completely individually designed pieces, but could be made to order too. The chesspieces were used as the inspiration and this is not an accurate representation of the piece itself (for the benefit of any smart historians out there!).

Shorter posts?? - what shorter posts!!

Happy Monday!