Nothing to do with textiles, but such fun! I had never had proper afternoon tea in London, and visiting Ruth seemed like a great excuse to try one – I have heard that the Ritz is overpriced but disappointing, so I had done some research online, and the Orangery at Kensington Palace seemed to please a lot of people.
We got there about 2.45 on Sunday and had a queue of 20 minutes or so. Later on (towards 4pm) the queues were far longer, although our waiter said that weekdays are much quieter. Once seated by our charming waiter (even on a busy Sunday there were plenty of helpful staff), we decided that if it was worth doing, it was worth doing properly, so we went for the Royal Champagne Tea, which consisted of a flute of champagne, a pot of tea of your choice (Darjeeling for me, Earl Grey for Ruth), a selection of finger sandwiches (nice bread, including a delicious seeded brown, and fillings of cucumber and cream cheese, ham and mustard, cheese and pickle, and smoked salmon – very good), orange-infused scones (possibly the best scones I have ever eaten) with strawberry jam which looked home-made, and Cornish clotted cream, and then a selection of little cakes including a divine tart which I think was orange and passionfruit.
The Orangery is amazing – lofty, cream and pale green interior which creates a very classy ambience, huge windows (obviously) with a view across the terrace to Kensington Palace’s gardens. Each table has a real miniature orange tree in a pot! The whole experience is opulent and classy, but very friendly – none of the snootiness that can sometimes mar posh venues in London. The only slight criticism is the toilets, which are around the back of the building and in a prefab – perfectly adequate, but not quite the marble-and-gilt opulence one might expect!
The experience did not disappoint – for a little over £20 each, we had a sumptuous and decadent champagne tea in a beautiful setting, were thoroughly pampered, and came away congratulating ourselves on a real treat – and determined to do it again when we next have something to celebrate! Highly recommended – see www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/Foodanddrink/Orangery for details and also opening times and closed dates.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Weekend in London Part Two - The Selvedge Autumn Fair
Congratulations to Selvedge for putting on a really great little fair! The quality of the items for sale was consistently very high, prices were reasonable (sometimes leaving me wondering how the makers were actually making any money!), presentation was beautiful, and the goodie bags from Gudren Sjoden, including a Gudrun scarf, was a real treat. The whole event was more than worth the £2.50 admission – it would have been worth that just to visit it as an exhibition.
There were so many wonderful stalls that I am not going to attempt a complete review – instead I will just mention a few highlights. You’ll just have to go to the next Selvedge Fair and see for yourself! (In case you haven’t come across Selvedge yet – it is an iconic magazine for textile artists and makers which is published 6 times a year. They also have a shop, and run fairs a couple of times a year. See www.selvedge.org for more details).
Atelier Millinery and their fab hats and fascinators (and free ribbon rosette in the goodie bag!) – in Soho or online at www.atelier-millinery.com – they also do courses so you can make your own hat!
Romney Marsh Wools – enterprising small company from Kent, with a flock of a thousand Romney Sheep and some Merinos. Some of their fleeces go to the Wool Board, but some are retained and processed in Wales to make knitting yarn and also yarn which is then woven into throws, rugs and cushions. They also believe in using the fleece in as many ways as possible, and have therefore developed a range of soap and toiletries which use the lanolin – the hand cream I sampled was lush! www.romneymarshwools.co.uk
The Linen Works almost made me wish I was getting married so that I could set up my wedding list with them – gorgeous domestic linens which I would just love in my home, and at good prices. www.thelinenworks.co.uk
Delicious blankets in luxury yarns from Esk – kintted in Scotland. They are doing stuff to their website at the moment and it all sounds very exciting. www.esk-life.com
Lovely accessories from Rosie’s Armoire (the friend I went with succumbed to a very pretty pendant) www.rosiesarmoire.co.uk
Thanks to www.bluebirdjewellry.co.uk for the comments on Etsy, websites and blogging.
Quilted cushions from India Rose www.indiarosedesign.com which I coveted, but sadly couldn’t justify...
Rebecca Engels of www.rebeccasaix.com had some very interesting French textiles and haberdashery.
Really nice colours and textures in lambswool knitwear from Gabrielle Vary www.gabriellevary.co.uk
Pretty things, including the nicest pincushions I have seen in a very long time, from Ellie Evans www.ellie-evans.co.uk. I particularly liked her labels, which say ‘Ellie Evans made this with her hands’ – you can’t say fairer than that!
And for me, possibly the most gorgeous things of all the gorgeous things on display – vintage embroidered Eastern European linens from Parna www.parna.co.uk – I think all my Christmas and birthday money for the foreseeable future will be spent on these beautiful, tactile textiles.
Altogether an excellent morning out – go to the next one! Get there early, to beat the crowds, so that you can browse at your leisure!
There were so many wonderful stalls that I am not going to attempt a complete review – instead I will just mention a few highlights. You’ll just have to go to the next Selvedge Fair and see for yourself! (In case you haven’t come across Selvedge yet – it is an iconic magazine for textile artists and makers which is published 6 times a year. They also have a shop, and run fairs a couple of times a year. See www.selvedge.org for more details).
Atelier Millinery and their fab hats and fascinators (and free ribbon rosette in the goodie bag!) – in Soho or online at www.atelier-millinery.com – they also do courses so you can make your own hat!
Romney Marsh Wools – enterprising small company from Kent, with a flock of a thousand Romney Sheep and some Merinos. Some of their fleeces go to the Wool Board, but some are retained and processed in Wales to make knitting yarn and also yarn which is then woven into throws, rugs and cushions. They also believe in using the fleece in as many ways as possible, and have therefore developed a range of soap and toiletries which use the lanolin – the hand cream I sampled was lush! www.romneymarshwools.co.uk
The Linen Works almost made me wish I was getting married so that I could set up my wedding list with them – gorgeous domestic linens which I would just love in my home, and at good prices. www.thelinenworks.co.uk
Delicious blankets in luxury yarns from Esk – kintted in Scotland. They are doing stuff to their website at the moment and it all sounds very exciting. www.esk-life.com
Lovely accessories from Rosie’s Armoire (the friend I went with succumbed to a very pretty pendant) www.rosiesarmoire.co.uk
Thanks to www.bluebirdjewellry.co.uk for the comments on Etsy, websites and blogging.
Quilted cushions from India Rose www.indiarosedesign.com which I coveted, but sadly couldn’t justify...
Rebecca Engels of www.rebeccasaix.com had some very interesting French textiles and haberdashery.
Really nice colours and textures in lambswool knitwear from Gabrielle Vary www.gabriellevary.co.uk
Pretty things, including the nicest pincushions I have seen in a very long time, from Ellie Evans www.ellie-evans.co.uk. I particularly liked her labels, which say ‘Ellie Evans made this with her hands’ – you can’t say fairer than that!
And for me, possibly the most gorgeous things of all the gorgeous things on display – vintage embroidered Eastern European linens from Parna www.parna.co.uk – I think all my Christmas and birthday money for the foreseeable future will be spent on these beautiful, tactile textiles.
Altogether an excellent morning out – go to the next one! Get there early, to beat the crowds, so that you can browse at your leisure!
Monday, September 19, 2011
Weekend in London Part One - V&A, The Power of Making
Have just returned from a long weekend in London with my wonderful friend Ruth – we had arranged an itinerary which included lots of lovely things: a visit to the V&A to see the Power of Making exhibition, the wool and haberdashery departments of John Lewis and Liberty’s, the Selvedge Autumn Fair, afternoon tea (with champagne!) at the Orangery at Kensington Palace, and finally a visit to the Handweavers’ Studio, which happens to be just round the corner from where Ruth lives.
The Power of Making was very thought-provoking, and I am glad to have been able to go early in the day, because by 11.30 the queues stretched across the foyer. It was good to have time to linger over the exhibits, and read the notes in detail. There was a bit more technology/robotics/3D printing than I had been expecting (I suppose subliminally I had been thinking of it as ‘the power of hand-making’), but several of the objects caught my attention particularly.
Dalton Ghetti’s ‘Alphabet pencil tip sculpture’ looks at first glance like a nice retro kitch piece of domestic wall art, a kind of 3D collage in a box frame. But – look closer, and you’ll see that the hand-sharpened graphite tip of each pencil is carved into a tiny letter, almost like the typeface of an old-fashioned typewriter, from A-Z. Incredibly skilful (I have enough trouble sharpening a pencil to an ordinary point!) and a nice lesson in actually looking.
Textile-wise, there were quite a few goodies. The Korniakow Cooperative from Poland used to make lace for ecclesiastical linen. However, the market for this is in decline, and they have diversified. The item on display here is a gorgeous cream crochet lace G-string - very beautiful and not at all sleazy, despite the inevitable titters from some of the visitors.
The Casdagli father and son’s embroideries have received a lot of media attention, so I won’t describe them in detail – but the differences in style were interesting, and bore out Captain Casdagli’s comments about the contrast between his work and his father’s. The son’s work was a delicately coloured and dynamic sampler of images and text from the Just So Stories. His father’s, by contrast, was symmetrical and severe – stereotypically masculine, arguably, or indicative of the need for security and order in the context in which it was made – a Nazi POW camp. I thought it was a shame that the notes did not mention that there were hidden anti-Nazi messages embroidered in Morse code around the border – I knew about this from the media reporting, and I think the curators missed a trick not mentioning it.
Alyce Santoro’s ‘Voidness’ woven dress was woven by her mother Jeanette Santoro using Polyester thread and cassette audio tape, using a 1940s dobby loom. This was intended as part of an interactive installation, but it made a really attractive fabric, and looked genuinely wearable.
As a feltmaker I was amused by Heleen Klopper’s ‘Woolfiller’ – the use of needle-felting techniques to ‘darn’ holes in knitwear. The next time the moths get to my woollens I will give this a try!
But the accolade of ‘star of the show’ goes jointly to two objects. Christien Meindertsma (being half-Dutch, I was intrigued to see that many of the makers were Dutch!) had created large wooden knitting needles (a couple of inches thick and maybe 4 feet long) to knit a wall-sized giant Aran rug – using cream wool as thick as a broom-handle, which apparently took 18 merino fleeces to produce. The traditional cable designs, scaled up to several feet high, were so effective – I wanted to take this home and hang it on my wall!
The other star object for me was Susie MacMurray’s ‘Widow’ dress. A base of black napa leather was pierced by over 100,000 adamantine dressmakers’ pins some 3 inches long, giving an effect not unlike silver tinsel. The dress was an elegant evening dress, sleeveless and sweeping to a train which puddled on the floor, but lethally prickly. It is intended to be a ‘psychological portrait of a widow’, simultaneously ‘invitingly sensual and stand-offish’. Very disturbing and so beautiful.
While at the V&A I also had a look at the Jameel Prize shortlist. The Jameel Prize is a biennial award for contemporary art, craft and design inspired by Islamic tradition. I was most struck by the installation by Bita Ghezelayagh – she uses the basic idea of the felt capes and tunics widely worn across the Middle East and Asia by shepherds and others, but embellishes her tunics with embroidered text, woven metal wire, and hundreds of tiny metal charms – keys, tulips, crowns, and small rectangular charms with the image of a hero of the Iran-Iraq war printed on them. I loved the way that this artist subverted a traditional skill and garment by adding images and symbols of conflict taken from Iranian post-revolutionary popular culture. I could hardly tear myself away from this exhibit...
The Power of Making was very thought-provoking, and I am glad to have been able to go early in the day, because by 11.30 the queues stretched across the foyer. It was good to have time to linger over the exhibits, and read the notes in detail. There was a bit more technology/robotics/3D printing than I had been expecting (I suppose subliminally I had been thinking of it as ‘the power of hand-making’), but several of the objects caught my attention particularly.
Dalton Ghetti’s ‘Alphabet pencil tip sculpture’ looks at first glance like a nice retro kitch piece of domestic wall art, a kind of 3D collage in a box frame. But – look closer, and you’ll see that the hand-sharpened graphite tip of each pencil is carved into a tiny letter, almost like the typeface of an old-fashioned typewriter, from A-Z. Incredibly skilful (I have enough trouble sharpening a pencil to an ordinary point!) and a nice lesson in actually looking.
Textile-wise, there were quite a few goodies. The Korniakow Cooperative from Poland used to make lace for ecclesiastical linen. However, the market for this is in decline, and they have diversified. The item on display here is a gorgeous cream crochet lace G-string - very beautiful and not at all sleazy, despite the inevitable titters from some of the visitors.
The Casdagli father and son’s embroideries have received a lot of media attention, so I won’t describe them in detail – but the differences in style were interesting, and bore out Captain Casdagli’s comments about the contrast between his work and his father’s. The son’s work was a delicately coloured and dynamic sampler of images and text from the Just So Stories. His father’s, by contrast, was symmetrical and severe – stereotypically masculine, arguably, or indicative of the need for security and order in the context in which it was made – a Nazi POW camp. I thought it was a shame that the notes did not mention that there were hidden anti-Nazi messages embroidered in Morse code around the border – I knew about this from the media reporting, and I think the curators missed a trick not mentioning it.
Alyce Santoro’s ‘Voidness’ woven dress was woven by her mother Jeanette Santoro using Polyester thread and cassette audio tape, using a 1940s dobby loom. This was intended as part of an interactive installation, but it made a really attractive fabric, and looked genuinely wearable.
As a feltmaker I was amused by Heleen Klopper’s ‘Woolfiller’ – the use of needle-felting techniques to ‘darn’ holes in knitwear. The next time the moths get to my woollens I will give this a try!
But the accolade of ‘star of the show’ goes jointly to two objects. Christien Meindertsma (being half-Dutch, I was intrigued to see that many of the makers were Dutch!) had created large wooden knitting needles (a couple of inches thick and maybe 4 feet long) to knit a wall-sized giant Aran rug – using cream wool as thick as a broom-handle, which apparently took 18 merino fleeces to produce. The traditional cable designs, scaled up to several feet high, were so effective – I wanted to take this home and hang it on my wall!
The other star object for me was Susie MacMurray’s ‘Widow’ dress. A base of black napa leather was pierced by over 100,000 adamantine dressmakers’ pins some 3 inches long, giving an effect not unlike silver tinsel. The dress was an elegant evening dress, sleeveless and sweeping to a train which puddled on the floor, but lethally prickly. It is intended to be a ‘psychological portrait of a widow’, simultaneously ‘invitingly sensual and stand-offish’. Very disturbing and so beautiful.
While at the V&A I also had a look at the Jameel Prize shortlist. The Jameel Prize is a biennial award for contemporary art, craft and design inspired by Islamic tradition. I was most struck by the installation by Bita Ghezelayagh – she uses the basic idea of the felt capes and tunics widely worn across the Middle East and Asia by shepherds and others, but embellishes her tunics with embroidered text, woven metal wire, and hundreds of tiny metal charms – keys, tulips, crowns, and small rectangular charms with the image of a hero of the Iran-Iraq war printed on them. I loved the way that this artist subverted a traditional skill and garment by adding images and symbols of conflict taken from Iranian post-revolutionary popular culture. I could hardly tear myself away from this exhibit...
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
New project, new blog!
Today, appropriately enough during Wool Week, sees the start of my new project - felting with British wool, exploring the properties of undyed British fleeces and designing and creating felt pieces to celebrate this amazing material.
Rather than blogging on this blog, mixed up with my other activities, I have decided to create a separate blog, with regular links from this one - http://FeltingBritishWool.blogspot.com - which will follow the whole project from first fleeces, through washing, preparing the fleeces, sampling to learn about their properties when felted, design, creating felt pieces and (hopefully) exhibition. I aim to photograph every stage for the blog.
The project will probably take me well into next year, as I don't have a lot of time around the day job. I hope you will follow me through the process!
Rather than blogging on this blog, mixed up with my other activities, I have decided to create a separate blog, with regular links from this one - http://FeltingBritishWool.blogspot.com - which will follow the whole project from first fleeces, through washing, preparing the fleeces, sampling to learn about their properties when felted, design, creating felt pieces and (hopefully) exhibition. I aim to photograph every stage for the blog.
The project will probably take me well into next year, as I don't have a lot of time around the day job. I hope you will follow me through the process!
New project, new blog!
Today, appropriately enough during Wool Week, sees the start of my new project - felting with British wool, exploring the properties of undyed British fleeces and designing and creating felt pieces to celebrate this amazing material.
Rather than blogging on this blog, mixed up with my other activities, I have decided to create a separate blog, with regular links from this one - www.FeltingBritishWool.blogpspot.com - which will follow the whole project from first fleeces, through washing, preparing the fleeces, sampling to learn about their properties when felted, design, creating felt pieces and (hopefully) exhibition. I aim to photograph every stage for the blog.
The project will probably take me well into next year, as I don't have a lot of time around the day job. I hope you will follow me through the process!
Rather than blogging on this blog, mixed up with my other activities, I have decided to create a separate blog, with regular links from this one - www.FeltingBritishWool.blogpspot.com - which will follow the whole project from first fleeces, through washing, preparing the fleeces, sampling to learn about their properties when felted, design, creating felt pieces and (hopefully) exhibition. I aim to photograph every stage for the blog.
The project will probably take me well into next year, as I don't have a lot of time around the day job. I hope you will follow me through the process!
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Folksy Shop - coming soon
To supplement the Etsy shop (which hasn't sold much lately - I think my stuff just disappears in the deluge of listings from the USA) I have opened a Folksy shop - Folksy is kind of a UK equivalent, although it's not the same company. Have a look at http://fabrikant.folksy.com in a couple of weeks, when some new stock will be for sale.
Exmoor Fleece Fair and Woolcake
Just got back from the Exmoor Fleece Fair - a really great event organised by Lesley Prior http://devonfinefibres.wordpress.com/2011/08/30/exmoor-fleece-fair-update-and-directions/ and bought a couple of fleeces - one Herbidean (dark and fluffy) and one Wensleydale (ringlets). I need to wash them both before I can start to use them for feltmaking, although I don't want to overdo it with the Wensleydale as I want to keep the gorgeous ringlet structure for texture and interest in my felt.
I was especially glad to meet Julie and Debbie from Woolcake, their yarns and designs are just gorgeous - I tried on their garter stitch long cardigan/coat and was inspired to buy the yarn and pattern to make it - I had been thinking only the other day that I needed a new knitting project for autumn evenings! I chose 'Val', which is a darkish brown Shetland chunky worsted, so soft and scrummy, and I am really looking forward to it. For more on this wonderful company, check out http://woolcake.co.uk
I was especially glad to meet Julie and Debbie from Woolcake, their yarns and designs are just gorgeous - I tried on their garter stitch long cardigan/coat and was inspired to buy the yarn and pattern to make it - I had been thinking only the other day that I needed a new knitting project for autumn evenings! I chose 'Val', which is a darkish brown Shetland chunky worsted, so soft and scrummy, and I am really looking forward to it. For more on this wonderful company, check out http://woolcake.co.uk
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