emmylou valentine

up and up...

2009-04-14T08:11:00.000+01:00

Hazard and Velma

2009-04-12T18:54:00.000+01:00

2 little monsters, very much in love.

small steps on new paths

2009-04-08T16:45:00.000+01:00

Waterloo beach

2009-04-07T12:42:00.005+01:00

Visiting London yesterday, on the beach on the South bank were www.dirtybeach.tv, sculpting and singing and filming and smoking, check them out, they're pretty amazing...

Love is awesome..!

2009-04-07T12:25:00.005+01:00

An exhibition in February for Valentines day that I took part in, with three awesome chicks and lots of time spent knitting in the gallery space, with gifts given to monsters and more giggling and pies than I've ever experienced in one week. And some work of course...

new drawing...

2008-11-18T21:18:00.000Z

...which will become a new piece of work for the exhibition.

Futuristicish kimono

2008-10-29T12:59:00.003Z

As a change from our scheduled viewing (and my carefully constructed list!), here is this...

a futuristic-ish kimono made from fleece for warmth and snuggliness!

Well, it worked pretty well last time...

2008-10-22T21:20:00.005+01:00

Time for a new list I think, as I have woefully failed to do very much work in the last few months and now I am going to have an exhibition with the lovely Miss Felix in February. So a new direction too, rather than dresses and costumes, there will be...

1. Monsters! First boots and clothes for my girlie, who is as yet unnamed, and then to finish her slightly effete lover (also sadly sans name).

2. 1 of 1 long overdue t-shirt as a beginning. (next week when I have time and printing facilities)

3. emmylou valentine printed labels. (also next week)

4. some printed badges (guess what - also next week)

5. a drawing which will become another drawing and then a wall piece.

6. ongoing corsetry (I think I need t achieve some finished bits to give me the impetus to start these so lets see how they go).

7. web space still.

8. professional flickr account.

The beginning of Miss Melanie's wedding dress...

2008-06-22T19:45:00.000+01:00

Mel has asked me to make a very understated dress, based on a dress she currently owns and likes very much indeed, so here is the beginning, making a pattern from the dress as is, I like to do this by draping and pinning and cutting the fabric onto the existing garment (see below), from this I will then make a paper pattern for reference and ease of making the final thing. I think I am going to make this in some kind of sandwashed silk, so it will have a slight sheen but be luxuriously matt at the same time! It is a faux wrap dress and so has a lovely tie waist which I am going to make up in a bright pink colour so Mel can see what it looks like.

Fairytales and dreams...

2008-06-17T21:50:00.000+01:00

Here is the latest ticked off item from my ever updating list! A grown up fairy dress of green and gold and sparkles! This is what all the leaves were for, just in case you'd not guessed!

The interview went very well, I have tentative hopes and even maybe the beginnings of shiny new dreams for September.

So, in order of when they'll be done...

1. Mel's wedding dress. This is going to be a fairly sedate wedding dress so I want to make it as beautiful as possible by using the most luxurious fabric I can, the wedding is in September, I want to get the toile complete by the end of June...

2a. A series of corsets. I have the measurements for model 1 and have begun to create a toile.

2b. My monsters. These are coming to my interview with me tomorrow, also I am feeling less and less like knitting the hotter the world becomes, but I really want to keep going to my beloved knitting group, so I think that perhaps the way to spur me on to working on these and to occupy me at knitting is to create some knitted things for them, so lets see!

3. A website to showcase my work - first step is purchasing the domain name and some hosting space. To be done once the first corset is ready, so that here is something to go up there!

4. A selection of printed t-shirts. I am gradually building up all kinds of slogans for these and sourcing organic, fair trade cotton t-shirts, thanks everso to the lovely Claire, so when I have printing facilities these will be go, go, go.

Whole lotta leaves

2008-06-03T12:03:00.000+01:00

Fairy Dress.

2008-05-28T11:30:00.000+01:00

Third post in a day - actually unheard of! This is my current project, a "nature fairy" dress, this is just the base, to come are lots and lots of leaves made from several different slinky, shiney, sparkley, crinkly fabrics, these will be applied around the neckline and around the bust area, with some sprinkled over the cloak and skirt too.

This dress is made from a bias shimmer viscose, gold and teal, the inside of the sleeves is lined with pale gold sparkley viscose, and it will lace up the back with golden ribbon.

The cloak is made from a shimmery gold crystal organza and gathered at the shoulders to give the impression of wings.

Wedding Dresses

2008-05-28T10:55:00.001+01:00

As I have never posted images of my wedding dresses and I am sorting them out today, here are a couple for you to peruse!

Firstly, the ineffable Miss Madgwick/Mrs Connell, this dress was made from gorgeous Duchess Silk Satin and Hand Made Chantilly Lace, the bodice is cut in such a way that no underwear is necessary as there are built in cups for comfort, support and confidence.

The petticoat was made from silk tulle for comfort and froth factor! Mrs Connell is a petite lady, so it was very important to make sure that the skirt wasn't too wide, or she would have looked unbalanced, I wanted all of the fullness of the skirt at the back and to keep the tummy flat and flattering.

This is the completed dress in my old studio, the flamingoes couldn't resist joining in too!

Detail of the bodice back, showing the terrifying to cut hand made Chantilly lace, I matched the lace all over the bodice, following the line of the bodice bottom with the scalloped lace edge. The lacing was designed to be more open at the top as the bride has a lovely back and wanted to show it off, and the purple ribbons are because she absolutely loves the colour and there was no way she could have got married without a little bit at least - the world may have stopped spinning!

Another bodice detail shot, this time of the sleeves and the front, the vertical casings on the bodice contain plastic boning as the bride has a lovely figure and needed no compressing!

The bridesmaid's wore complementary purple dresses, really setting off the purple accents of Mrs Connell's dress.

I just love this one, it sums up the bride and the day, both of which are very dear to me.

And this one too, the castle in which the wedding took place was spectacular, as you can see.

A dancing shot, it's essential to be able to dance in your wedding dress after all!

And secondly, the lovely Mrs Crossley, her dress is made from silver and purple (again - these brides seem to love it!) satin and my brief was to create an elven/Lord of the Rings dress which would be traditional enough to please the brides parents, see what you think.

The full length completed dress, it was fully lined in purple so flashes were visible whenever she moved, particularly at the wide sleeves. The bustling effect had to be very carefully thought out as the lacing down the back of the dress was a large feature in itself.

A silver lace overlay on the sleeves added a little touch of interest.

The sleeves had a small lacing detail at the elbow to complement the lacing down the back of the dress.

The first finished try on, it made me a little bit emotional!

On the day, the bustling effect seen to it's full advantage.

And the fullness of the sleeves, as requested.

The train all spread out.

A little bit of off the shoulder sexiness!

The happy couple! I made the petticoat too, it has a dagged edge which overlaps and again I kept all of the fullness at the back.

Tardiness is creative!

2008-05-28T10:25:00.000+01:00

Having not written in this blog for almost 2 months, I hang my head in shame somewhat! Lots has happened, I have stopped working for the publishing company I was working for and so now have no job, which is a little scary but fear is good for the soul - right? I do have an interview tomorrow actually, so more about that if it's a good result I think!

In terms of my list I have ticked off a few things, see below...

3 bridesmaids boleros, for 3 very differently sized and shaped bridesmaids, made from acetatey satin, which I really dislike, but necessary as it matched the purchased bridesmaids dresses. Finished, for a lovely wedding in which several speeches made me cry!

A whole set of clothing for a king. Finished too and a great success, providing warmth and battlefield glory - what more do King's need really? here is the surcoat, which was the most challenging of the pieces. Contructed with cotton and cotton batting for warmth and breathability, the whole thing was quilted and hand embroidery applied to the front panel.

It was then sewn together and the collar/shoulder pieces added

The finished article was lined with more cotton and some purchased clasps applied, which I'm not massively sure about but they can always be changed!

So, things that are left on my list are below, with some new things too!:

1. A series of corsets. I have the measurements for model 1 and have begun to create a toile.

2. My monsters. These are coming to my interview with me tomorrow, also I am feeling less and less like knitting the hotter the world becomes, but I really want to keep going to my beloved knitting group, so I think that perhaps the way to spur me on to working on these and to occupy me at knitting is to create some knitted things for them, so lets see!

3. NEW ADDITION! A Nature Fairy Dress. A commission which has already been started - I am really enjoying working on it so far, made of shimmery fabrics and with lots of separately applied leaves.

4. NEW ADDITION! A waistcoat for the consort of the aforementioned Nature Fairy. To match her dress, so will include all kinds of leaves and stuff too.

5. NEW ADDITION! Mel's wedding dress. This is going to be a fairly sedate wedding dress so I want to make it as beautiful as possible by using the most luxurious fabric I can, the wedding is in September, I want to get the toile complete by the end of June...

6. A website to showcase my work - first step is purchasing the domain name and some hosting space. To be done once the first corset is ready, so that here is something to go up there!

7. A selection of printed t-shirts. I am gradually building up all kinds of slogans for these and sourcing organic, fair trade cotton t-shirts, so when I have printing facilities these will be go, go, go.

Update, a little dull for you, but pretty motivating for me!

2008-04-04T09:59:00.000+01:00

1. 3 bridesmaids boleros. 1 complete, the other 2 to be finished this weekend I hope!

2. A whole set of clothing for a king. Fabric is purchased and plans are done - I am desperate to start this! Hopefully I will get the embroidery part of this done next week, as I am away for work and will have evenings in a hotel!

3a. A series of corsets. Model 1 is visiting this weekend, so discussions will be had and maybe drawings will be posted next week.

3b. My monsters. These are well on their way!

4a. A website to showcase my work - first step is purchasing the domain name and some hosting space. To be done once the first corset is ready, so that here is something to go up there!

4b. A selection of printed t-shirts.

Some knitted things!

2008-04-02T08:52:00.000+01:00

Two finished things (well worthy of a little finishing dance!)

Firstly, the world's biggest scarf/wrap, made from the ever popular Clapotis pattern from knitty. This was very easy to knit and I would encourage everyone to try one. I used yarn which was far bigger than suggested but used the same number of stitches and repeats, all along stating my desire for a massive scarf. I really did get what I wished for! I used Wendy Fusion, which is a lovely yarn containing a fairly high wool content as I split spliced all of the ends together, leaving me with 2 ends to weave in (yet more dancing!) in several different shades, Bouquet Garni being the one I used most of which is blue/purple/pink/green and is sadly now discontinued, also a couple of balls of each of Juniper Berries (purple, pink and grey) and Cardamon (grey, black, sort of purpley).

And secondly, something from my list, (even more worthy of a dance!) a knitted Dalek teacosy, adapted from this pattern, called amusingly, Extermaknit! by the very talented Penwiper! Easy to knit, easy to adapt, if a little fiddly around the body area, and provoked much discussion whenever I knitted it infornt of anyone else. It's knitted in Rowan Wool Cotton, due to washability needs.

I Dig Chicks.

2008-03-28T16:19:00.000Z

I have been going to a knit night, on Tuesdays at the splendid RISC centre in Reading, the food is divine, the staff are lovely, and the knitting people I have met are interesting and stimulating and all kinds of fun! Every time we meet it feels like we are brimming with potential, I am very glad to have met them.

The experience has further consolidated my long held view that groups of women are very powerful things indeed. That is not to infer that adding one, two or many men to this particular group or indeed any group would not enhance it infinitely in many ways, but just to say that sometimes the company of women is just what I need. I have many male friends, and my very closest friends were almost exclusively male from leaving school until a couple of years ago, with several very notable exceptions, and a couple more just as notable in different ways.

I have in the past found it hard to develop friendships with other women, I think due to the friendship groups I have being pretty geeky and male dominated, women almost becoming a prized commodity and either embracing this and becoming extremely competitive in their femaleness or becoming very critical of femininity. I have been both of these types of women, and as neither of them have I relished closeness or the company of other women. I think this may have been a bit of a mistake, because really, women are spectacularly awesome, in many different ways.

I other news, my projects are going very well, order slightly rearranged:

1. 3 bridesmaids boleros. 1 complete, 1 nearly complete, the other partly complete.
2. A knitted dalek tea cosy. Nearly done.
3. A whole set of clothing for a king. Fabric is purchased and plans are done - I am desperate to start this!
4a. A series of corsets. I have my first model lined up, and plans are made for this too.
4b. My monsters. These are well on their way.
5a. A website to showcase my work - first step is purchasing the domain name and some hosting space. To be done once the first corset is ready, so that here is something to go up there!
5b. A selection of printed t-shirts.

In the last few weeks I have also made a massive knitted scarf and 2 pairs of little knitted shoes for 2 little babies.

..&

2008-03-10T16:15:00.001Z

Misses Freja & Erin love their hoodies!

Conservation

2008-03-10T14:03:00.000Z

After floundering for some time when I finished university (and by some time I mean about 5 years spent working mostly in bookshops) I finally decided a couple of years ago that what I'd like to do with my life is to be a conservator of textiles.

After some fairly lengthy research I discovered that the usual way this happens is through a period of postgraduate study and I decided to visit and subsequently apply to The Textile Conservation Centre (TCC) at Winchester School of Art to begin study in September 2008, unfortunately this happened and for now and indefinitely there will be no home for the TCC, this is rubbish, and a number of other people think so too, owing to the large amount of signatures (3,240 and counting) on this petition to the Prime Minister to stop it's closure.

Well, I was crestfallen on finding this out last year but decided to apply to the Royal College of Art (RCA) to their conservation MA, which had a number of places specialising in various types of Textiles Conservation and was linked to the V&A, and then, again, unfortunately, this happened.

There is now nowhere in this country to study Textiles Conservation at Masters level, which is completely and utterly rubbish, it seems that right now is the single worst period of time to be trying to start out as a textile conservator.

However, I seem to be undeterred, I have been in contact with several organisations and museum services and I am hoping to visit the conservation rooms of The Hampshire Museums Service next week with a view to potential work experience, and I am also going to visit the textiles collection at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) with a view to more work experience, both of which have come about purely through the kindness of current practitioners, and for which I feel very lucky.

I am also waiting to see which specialisms will be represented in the Heritage Lottery Fund internships presented in association with the Institute for Conservation (ICON) when they are announced in April.

All in all, a little bit of a tricky situation, but not so full of despair as it might be, little glimmers of hope provided thanks to the niceness of people I don't even know!

Hooray!

2008-02-16T14:28:00.000Z

I have finished one of my projects!! A little knitted hoodie for Miss Erin, my lovely god daughter's sister, and here it is, knitted in wool for warmth and fuzziness for fuzziness sake!

It was originally supposed to be a Christmas present, which is just a little bit late, and goes with this other little hoodie for Miss Freja, my god daughter, this is the second hoodie of this type I have knitted for Miss Freja, and the first was so well received and worn so very often and there were so many sighs when it got too small that I thought it was only my duty to make a replacement!

This is very exciting as I feel like I've not finished anything for ages, it appears that writing things down is working pretty well, now I just need to work on the whole sketchbook drawing aspect..!

Here is the list of my projects now, mostly for my own benefit, changed, as this is a working list of course.
1. 3 bridesmaids boleros. Toiles begun today.
2. A website to showcase my work - first step is purchasing the domain name and some hosting space.
3. A knitted dalek tea cosy.
4. My monsters.
5. A whole set of clothing for a king.
6. A series of corsets.
7. A selection of printed t-shirts.

A list of my current projects, in sort of the order I plan to complete them - though please don't hold me to that.

2008-02-11T09:54:00.000Z

1. A small knitted hoodie for my god daughters sister, to match the one I have already knitted for my god daughter, these were supposed to be Christmas presents! Rubbish emmylou! Though this should be finished this week.

2. A cardigan very loosely based on the Anthropologie Inspired Capelet by the very clever Peony Knits. This too should be finished this week.

3. A knitted dalek tea cosy as a gift from some friends to their friends for a wedding at the end of March, based on this pattern by the talented Penwiper who has lots of other fantastic things on their website. Needed for the end of March.

4. 3 boleros for the bridesmaids at the wedding of a friend, I have the fabric already - a warm cream colour, which matches the sashes of the bridesmaids's dresses - the dresses themselves are a dark red. The wedding is April 26th, and I would really like these to be done by the end of March.

5. A whole set of clothing for a king - 2 surcoats, one leather (for battles), one cloth and embroidery (for best), 3 undertunics, 2 pairs of trousers. These are needed for 1st May.

6. A series of corsets which are part of my long term aim, I have several models already lined up for custom fittings and I really just need to get on with it! I am making these my main priority when all of this other work is finished. I will not be taking on more work whilst I do these, this is a very important point as I have put this off several times now. Styles I want to make:

A burlesque/cheesecake style underbust with a matching bra - possibly with some kind of polkadot theme!
A set of 17th century stays.
A faux front lacing overbust in the theme of the french court - Marie Antoinete style ish - I know what I mean!
A leather hunting nymph style corset with leaf motifs.

7. A website to showcase my work - first step is purchasing the domain name and some hosting space.

8. A selection of printed t-shirts - again, this is a very long running project which I really want to kick start.

9. My monsters - another long running project definitely deserving of a post all of it's own!

10. A jumper for my beloved Mr K. which has been begun but is sadly hibernating right now!

Lets try this again then!

2008-02-11T09:23:00.001Z

The amount of times I have begun to write a diary, blog, whatever in my life is, well... a lot. And most of those times I have spent an awfully long time trying to decide what to write, how to begin, how to present myself to the world, even when writing in the endlessly collected notebooks of my childhood I wanted to make sure that each page was perfect, that each meticulously prepared, carefully considered, read and reread and incredibly polished note would give just the right impression, should my journal be discovered/I die horribly etc. etc.

Well, not this time!

This way of doing things usually means I am terrified to write in them, for fear of a wrong note, a badly put together sentence, shock of all shocks, a postcard stuck in the wrong place! my most successful notebooks have been my art school sketchbooks, during my final year when I really let go, really embraced the life of an art student, wearing the same pair of (unwashed, stiff with paint and the sweat of my artistic endeavours) broken combat trousers, and a rotation of 3 enormous fleece jumpers and 3 vests for a period of 9 months straight. I wrote, collaged, drew, painted and spat upon those notebooks, every day, religiously. I always had somewhere to put the interesting receipts/bits of wallpaper/labels/declarations of love received by text and made up of slipknot lyrics (maybe that's a story for another day!) and I want that again!

So, I have purchased a book (well, claimed one of the many that I have in my possession already - stationary whore that I am) and I have begun this new journal too. I would like to combine the two, posting some images from my lovely pristine new notebook/sketchbook to this blog. My main purpose in this whole notebook/journal exercise is to keep a record of my creativity and ultimately to have a web presence for my work, so here goes...