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...

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!

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!

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

Pink Fizz charity sale

I was delighted to be able to join Hermione Long and 50+ others for a Pink Fizz Tea at Rogerstone today - I had a stall there, together with Stephanie Keates (descended from a line of Witney blanket-makers, so with a good textile pedigree!), who was selling her gorgeous hearts, flowers and seriously cute owls - with 25% of sales going to the two nominated charities - the A21 Campaign which works to eliminate sex-trafficking, and Newport Women's Aid, which runs the women's refuge.

I had a number of lines for sale - felt corsages, mostly made from Blue Faced Leicester wool dyed by Carole Webb of Brecon and Freyalyn in Yorkshire, and incorporating handmade lampwork beads by Doris John of Jewlls4U. I also made some of her beads into matching earrings, with sterling silver findings.

Since last year I have been knitting fingerless mittens in spare moments, and I took a few of these along too, and despite it being August I sold some!

New kid on the block was the Fabrikant Bear - entirely hand-made, from undyed BFL felt and stuffed with waste wool, with boot-button eyes and embroidered features. These collectors' bears take many hours to make - from fibre to bear - so they are only made to order - this was the first time I had taken one to a public event, and there was quite a lot of interest in him. The pic shows his little cousin - I have found the smaller size bear just too fiddly to make, so am now making a larger size, approx 10 inches tall. I need to meet some teddy bear collectors who will really appreciate these bears! The do not have safety eyes, so are not suitable as toys for children.

I will be listing some new stock in my Folksy shop over the next few weeks - check out www.fabrikant.folksy.com to see what's new.

More delicious beads

I visited Doris John of Jewlls4U this afternoon, and came away laden with more of her delicious lampwork beads in a range of colours to suit the colourways of corsages I am planning to make in the next few weeks. Also some small seed beads to work into some of my British natural wool wall hangings, which are also on the agenda for the summer. She really does make and retail some lovely things. The challenge now is to get on and make some felt to use these fabulous beads with! Doris has now started doing one-to-one demonstrations and lessons - google Jewlls4U to see website.