The Puffins are back on the Farne Islands 37,000 pairs of breeding puffin, figures from National Trust site

They are iconic birds with their black back and white fronts, amazingly marked heads and bills. To quote from the RSPB “Its comical appearance is heightened by its red and black eye-markings and bright orange legs. Used as a symbol for books and other items, this clown among seabirds is one of the world’s favourite birds.”

We too have been ‘clowning around’ creating our prototype of this amazing visitor, pictured above on the rocks with authentic bird poo! We have fallen in love with the puffin and decided to make a pattern which is available as a sewing kit for all you puffin enthusiasts (advanced knowledge of sewing required).

Please contact us to talk ‘birds’. Price for a kit: £16 (incl p&p)

12/05/15

Time to confront my blogophobia. Here goes….

I’d like to tell you about my primary school teacher. I can’t remember her name but she was without a doubt my first inspiration in textiles. Not surprising really. It was Ilford 1971, she wore long flowing dresses, no shoes, and false eyelashes which she painted up on to her eyebrows, finishing off each one with a tiny eye (don’t ask me what time she got up in the morning).

That year all my memories of school were of tie dying fabric with mind blowing results, sewing cushions and hot water bottles, making collages and being overwhelmingly happy.

So, not a lot has changed really, although the journey back to the start has been equally as colourful.

My Mum, who like so many other Mums at the time, bought shed loads of the same fabric and laboured into the night making garments to dress her, then three, daughters identically for the next however long until the roll finally made its last spotty dress.

3 sisters, 2 in spotted dresses, I’m the one who wore both the dresses for years after they were handed down.

Many of you may not know what I’m talking about but by now it was 1972ish my little sister was on the way and my evenings were spent “helping” Mum make endless romper suits out of an enormous roll of pink jersey whilst listening to (was it The Scaffold?) repeat “One pound is a hundred new pennies” on the radio. [‪@DaveGorman‪ @b3ta_links “as I remember The Scaffold did a whole series of songs about it. For your sanity do NOT seek em out…”]

The arrival of my sister was heralded by the demise of the old currency and the birth of decimalisation. Yes I still measure my fabric in inches and am extremely confused as to why in the UK fabric width is often measured in inches and its length in centimetres. Change is slow! Desperately repeating The Scaffolds song offers no comfort in this dimension.

Tell me if I am wrong but did I hear that the Messenger mission to Mercury recently ran out of fuel due to confusion between metric and imperial measurements? It would appear that I am not alone.

Grace

The 100% wool gimp (the trim) has now been fixed to the seat, it was chosen so as not to detract from the cover which was hand embroidered over 100 years ago! If you would like to see the chair in it’s various stages of being upholstered, have a look at the previous blog. The antique chair has been reunited with it’s owner, we are hoping to upholster a Chaise Longue next – can’t wait.

Spring sprang and ran away again!

On the upside, the upholstery wing of the business is taking off (excuse all the puns!); window seats, antique chairs and even a vintage Humber Snipe military car.

(more…)

Communal work with fabric, bringing us all together

Do you want to help create a nationwide chaotic collage in fabric? Or would you like to create your own hanging for a community space, school or organisation?

Together, Grace and I have years of experience working with people of all ages and abilities. Working together, could we help you to create something that would inspire future generations?

We have experience working with all students, and years worth of experience with learning disabled people of all ages and abilities, and we would happily organise courses for all needs.

We’ve found that creating art together is therapeutic and rewarding for all involved. Do get in touch to organise something, or just to talk through your ideas!

Photos of the first stage in creating the hanging. Thanks to Alison, Carol, Rose, Marie, Sheila and the children; Jemima, Lucy & George.

(more…)

The maths behind crafts

I thought I’d let you into a secret; Grace is not as dizzy as she makes out! Patchwork design is tricky – I have total admiration for her spiral maths prowess.

1 – For her application of pi using protractors, compasses and a brain (our calculator fell apart) to create the template for the 5 m²spiral hanging which has been divided into 18 equal sections.

2 For Grace’s quilting ability – I had no idea quilting was so mathematical; it should be taught in schools as applied maths!

(more…)

Busy, busy!

I’m not sure ‘feathering our nest’ is an apt phrase for what we’re up to, but we are busy replenishing stock. Silver Moon cushions, accessories such as innovative bags and chic scarves and sumptuous quilts of silk, velvet and cotton are now available. Soft furnishings and upholstery aplenty.

(more…)

What we’ve been up to

The organisers of Redefest, a wonderful local music festival, asked us to repair a damaged 10×8 m2 marquee. Heavy-duty repairs are certainly within our remit. Redefest is a volunteer run festival, with two stages and plenty of activities and workshops. At £6 per adult, £4 per child of £15 per family, I can’t think of anywhere better to be on the 2nd of August!

Source: Redefest http://www.redefest.org.uk/

(more…)

Thanks for visiting our new Dizzy Birds blog!

Hello! We are Katie and Grace, two dizzy birds who first met three years ago, weirdly, through our landlord.

(more…)

We had a really successful pilot session at Tarset, thanks to everyone who came!

(more…)

We have run two free community one-day workshops, the first in tranquil Tarset and second in bustling Newcastle. These were preliminary taster sessions for a bigger project, the Spiral Project, which we hope to roll out nationwide someday as a community event.

(more…)

Newcastle Spiral Pilot

We had a brill time in Newcastle too, for our second community pilot project of the Spiral. This day turned out to be one of surprises. Our expected outcome of the day was that we would produce a large hanging, depicting everyone’s views on what they felt was important in life.

However, as the day unfolded it took on a different guise.

(more…)

(more…)