Alison brought in a very delicious rhubarb and ginger cake.  We didn't have a knife to cut the cake, so we used my 24"steel ruler - well, you do have to be adaptable!!  ExTeXtra is a group of 8 students from past Experimental Textiles courses, affectionately known as ExTex. We are now running ExTex4 and I am currently sorting the dates for ExTex5 which will start June 2016. The name ExTeXtra will probably change as the group work together and start to book their own exhibitions. This newly formed group will have have 4 more weekends together at The Old Needle Works in the IDC studios between now and March 2016. The group are learning to negotiate between themselves and me to decide what we will be doing, discussing and working on during this time. I am now mentoring this group and guiding them as well as teaching any techniques, skills they think they need.  Playing with white cartridge paper and staples, having a look at 3D. It had been decided thr

A delicious combination of colour and glitz. Apologies for the lack of posts recently - I seem to have run out of steam . . .  I will be catching up over the next week or so as I still have some fabulous work to show you from my Experimental Textiles group and a class I taught at Denman College earlier this month. The workshop for the Cotswolds Guild was A New Starting Point - combining the heaviest iron-on interfacing S133 with layers of torn newspaper, painted Bondaweb and all kind of glitz. Using the heavy interfacing as a backing the decorated samples can be cut to shape with a die cutting machine.   Brooch blanks cut from this sample. Some of the layered samples before they were cut to shape                  . . .  and here are some of the layered samples before and after they were cut to shape.                      Faux chenille is also a part of this workshop, it always amazes me just

Slip covers for the books that were pictured on the blog yesterday.  Decovil - new iron-on interfacing, dyed and then decorated with layers of newspaper, painted Bondaweb and gilding flake. First I was girly - and now I am being dainty - very unusual for me. I have managed to finish 2 book covers and make some more jewellery. I seem to have sold most of my first batch. The cover on the left is finished with acrylic wax and the one on the right was covered with a sheet of Lamifix gloss, hence it is shiny and wipe able. Lamifix also comes in a matt finish if you don't want your work looking tooooo shiny. Here is the dainty part - I have been drilling my jewellery pieces to make them into longer earrings with the tiniest drill bit. I have now managed to get it down to a fine art AND remember to breathe.    Layered newspaper and painted Bondaweb ironed onto Heavy Pelmet Vilene Plus  www.nid-noi.com then cut to shape on a die cutting machine. My lovely fr