Cloth Collection Exhibition

Today I have finished putting up my solo exhibition of textile work.
The exhibition is called Cloth Collection and guess what its about - yes CLOTH !
What else could you expect from a textile lover?
Heres a few photos for you to peruse.






Cloth Collection is essentially about Cloth - which we take so much for granted every day of our lives. But it can have this amazing presence and is so important to us in all its guises.
Some of the 14 pieces are simply a look at how we manipulate and decorate fabrics and other pieces are personal reflections and recollections of cloth that has been part of my own life. One of my aims for the work was to enable the viewer - you, to remember perhaps long forgotten memories about your own lives through cloth.





The exhibition is on for one month 2nd Nov - 2nd Dec at UCMK, University Centre MIlton Keynes, Bucks, UK. The private view is on Thursday 11th Nov 6.30. So if you get the chance please come along.
And of course I had to include a very ART Art doll.

Procion Dying

Ever tried dying your own fabrics with Procion dyes?
It is great fun, you get a bit wet but end up with a pile of lovely coloured materials.
I had two days last week of playing with colour mixing.
It fun to select your fabrics,- I don't just choose white pieces but a mix of printed and coloured, as its interesting to see what happens with overdying these. The dyes work best on natural fibres , silks, cotton or linens ( for wool you need a different kind of dye). They don't work too well on man made fibres. But its good to select some fabrics that contain man made such as polyester or nylon as the dye will react on the cotton or silk and not on the poly so interesting results happen.



This is the easiest method - dying in a plastic bag from Helen Deighton. The mess is kept to a minimum using Helens techniques.

I love the dying and colour mixing bit but the rinsng is a real pain and takes ages!

But then the ironing bit comes and its much more fun than like doing the household stuff. The fabrics really come to life once they are all crisp and clean. The colours sparkle ready for you to use them in lots of textile projects. Mmmm will have to use some on my travellling doll.




Do try dying with Procion dyes, you will be pleased with the results.