Thrift and Thread

Not long till my exhibition opens! Click on the image in order to read the text closely.

Tie skirt

This is a wrap round skirt which fixes anywhere with the corsage pin and therefore fits any size.

Recycled men's ties.

Pegswood Surestart

We have been making brooches to pin on to our sock creatures.

Manchester Antique Textiles Fair

Here are some of the bits that I picked up last Sunday in Manchester. I am always looking out for examples of thriftiness combined with beauty and think the mosaic and crazy patchwork in these pieces demonstrate how you can combine tiny scraps of material and make something special.

Harris Tweed combo

Combining 2 Harris Tweed jackets

Unpickings

Still unpicking

I have recently unpicked another stable boy quilt. The quilt was a straightforward patchwork of tweeds held together by multicoloured tufting. Very moth eaten and unusable but I could feel there was probably an older quilt inside and I eventually managed to reveal it through carefully undoing the tufts. It revealed even older tweeds hand sewn together in a diamond pattern and held together by red tufting. Backed with a brown fabric also showing considerable wear and tear but containing its own beauty. I now need to wait for better weather so that I can wash it and air dry it flat outside.

These are the tweeds used in the top layer of the quilt. Probably suiting and jacket samples.

The back of the "inner" quilt

Red tufting revealed

Front of "inner" quilt showing hand stitching.

Diamond pattern and red tufting. There are some tweeds and other workwear fabrics.