Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Dog fur to shawl !! ...



In April this year, we lost our German Shepherd (pictured left) & at 14 she'd lived a long life despite having several recent health issues as well as a skin condition for many years which involved having regular baths. For any non-pet owner - long-haired GSD's have double coats & are constantly loosing fur!!! With the extra baths, this generated a lot of fur which I collected over the time we had her.






On an experimental textile course several years ago, I came across references of spinning pet fur & over subsequent years tried to locate a local spinner. Unfortunately I had no luck but still continued to collect all our dog combings & by April I had a large cardboard box full. Now living in another part of the country, I decided to try again & find a spinner.


After sending samples to 2 different spinners, one retuned exactly what I had in mind - pictured right is her test swatch of my combings. It was perfect for what I had in mind.



I located my old 'wool winder' (see left) in readiness for when my fur was spun & skeined.

My next series of posts here will detail this 'knitting journey' as it slowly takes place in between my other activities.



Thursday, December 4, 2014

Wedding dress details ...



Finally, all information has now been included for the making of the Black Wedding Dress (click if you want to find out all about it) & a special "THANKYOU" to the bride 'K' who permitted me to do the write-up & use photos.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

One of my special designer touches ! ...


One of my special "designer touches" is to stitch the wedding date into the dress - a nice easy finish with freehand machine embroidery! This was completed for the black wedding dress currently detailed here: Black wedding dress

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Boning a bodice ...

A boned bodice is being made for the wedding dress - if you want to find out how it was done, please click boning a bodice. If you'd like to see more about the making of the actual dress that the bodice was made for, then click how the Halloween dress was made


Friday, June 20, 2014

Diary Date: Hobbycraft ...



I'll be here in Bristol at Cribbs Causeway) between 11am & 1pm - Friday 4 July.

This time I'm having an "Advice-cum-Open Surgery" session so if you want to bring along any stitchery problems that need help or guidance, I'll be pleased to help - if you can, bring the stitching with you too!

Alternatively, I'll be able to just provide some in-store advice or answer a textile related query you may have.

See you there!