Three years since my 1001 beads - not that I counted!

In June 2012 I was part of a team of artists who created textile and mixed media pieces for an initiative under the...

Posted by Azra Momin on Wednesday, June 24, 2015

This and that...fabric jewelry.

I'm in the middle of an exhibition, so not much work done lately, except for these...

A felt flower lariat from a scrap of felt a felt artist at the exhibition gave me.  I got out my needle felting kit and did some felting...and then laid on the beads.  Not finished yet...

Golds, blues, reds...I'm happy!

Pale gold braiding with blue and glod brocade...not sure what chain to use...

I like this piece - ruffles all the way down, and my favorite color combo of blue and green!

This cuff is royal!  Fuschia with gold, need I say more?

An accidentally discovered texture 'technique' for fabric work- layer upon layer free-stitched, then embellished.

More later!

And Now There Are Three!

well, sort of...still working on this green and brown one...

Funky Fabric Rings

I have three shows coming up soon, and hope to show my jewelry in two of them - the third one is an art show where I will show only my paintings and my framed works in fabric.

So here's some more of my boho-chic jewelry...I need a hand model, or one of those eerie cut-off-at-the-wrist ring display hands, though :)  It's hard to depict in pictures how quite large these pieces really are.

All of these funky fabric rings are one-of-a-kind pieces and are on adjustable bases to fit all sizes.  They are made from new reclaimed fabric and then adorned with hand-sewn embellishments - a bit of eco-friendly, bohemian fashion for your fingers!

Custom Ring

Black and white - YUMMY!  I'm almost tempted to keep it for myself.

Black cotton with white embroidery, white seed beads and translucent white beads, and a few tiny silvery sequins on an adjustable ring.

Sometimes a piece of work just gets stuck, and I begin to wonder if it's gone to Never Land (as in never to be retrieved).  Sometimes, though, it suddenly falls into place after a long, long time in limbo.

That's what happened with Perpetual Astonishment, and that's what happened with this piece.

I call this one Comet.

And you can get it here!

My favorite blues...and they look amazing in that dark wood frame. 

I think I need some red now, though!

In The Bag!

OK - not completely: I'm still learning how to make a little purse, but sitting down (a lot of sitting down!) and actually making one taught me a couple of things that I now know how to fix in my next one.  Like sewing the lining part separately from the outside part and then inserting the lining into the outside part, and then sewing them together!  I also didn't have a clasp available so until I put one in (I'm thinking just a plain magnetic closure) this purse doesn't close...

But this was a weekend's worth of work for me - all those little bits first patched together, then the outlines to each shape, for which I used a variety of methods: handsewn bunched up strip of fabric - those puffy ones that you see - cord, twisted bits of fabric and well, more cord.  I tried riboon too but the width didn't look right so I took it off.  Also I could have used more layers of fabric sewn together for the handles but my back was starting to give out and I just used wide brocade ribbon instead.

And oh yes, each side has its very own metallic brown rose!

I love crazy quilting, and this was my very first time doing it.

I'm so happy with it!

My very first bag, and that too a crazy-quilted patchwork one!

YAY!

Lara Cameron

Although it seems there's a small clique of fabric designers with a huge following, I am sure there are tons of indie artists we know little or nothing about who also do wonderful work.

I came across one such designer and just looking at her fabrics makes me so happy! Australian Lara Cameron's website says she is "a designer of all sorts of things - visual identities, promotional materials, websites, and last but not least textiles."

It was really hard to choose from this multi-talented artist's work, but here's a snapshot:


















And here's what she makes with them:

Bags and cushions


Moo mini cards


Moo note cards


Moo stickers


Notebook covers


Letterpress cards


Beautiful, simple and inspired by nature - aren't they lovely? Check out Lara's website and her blog for more about her. There are many, many more goodies there, along with insights and tutorials.

Experiments in fabric

A company in Toronto printed out this sample for me. The fabric is silk de chine and I really like its drape.




now
what
will
I
make?

(I have a few ideas :))

but suggestions are welcome!