All that technical and internet research which I mentioned in my last blog, must have taken its toll. Last weekend, for whatever reason, I started experimenting with some small pieces of tweed, which resulted in what might be described as 'jewellery' (but only very loosely!).
I love to hand-sew - I decided to hand stitch two circles of Harris Tweed together using blanklet-stitch. Another disc was blanket stitched onto this and eventually I decided to 'embellish' this with some french knots which I've never done before (and this is very obvious!). I haven't done much in the way of embroidery stitches but it's a very rewarding and relaxing pastime.
I love anything which creates texture, particularly where Harris Tweed is concerned as it has such a lovely feel. Here's the disc which I finished with a brass eyelet (courtesy of my O.H. - "other half" who seems to accumulate all sorts of tools/gadgets, etc. for some unknown reason but which comes in very handy sometimes!). That reminds me, I think I was looking into creating some keyrings and was delighted by the addition of the brass eyelet - small things .... etc.
I photographed the disc on top of a small wooden trinket box which seemed to complement it quite well. I didn't have any pink embroidery thread so used ordinary thread instead. It was an interesting exercise and took me back to the basics of sitting down and making something entirely by hand ..... which is always nice!
Other than that, this week - on the advice of a family member, I decided to have a go at designing some 'practical' items! Being a very unpractical person but not someone to turn down a challenge I set to designing a range of home accessories which comprised of: draught excluder, tea-cosy and matching egg-cosy, and the possibility of more to follow .... I thoroughly enjoyed this new challenge, but I won't post the pictures quite yet! I will possibly try them out on some poor unsuspecting passers-by at the next craft fair! (It's a far cry from toy-dinosaurs, but variety is the spice of life?!*).
