The Fabric of Britain

I recently had the good fortune to discover a series of documentaries being broadcast on BBC Four about different aspects of Britain's textile heritage.

I just happened to come across the series by accident when I was looking for something interesting to watch on the BBC iPlayer and I'm glad so I did! Unfortunately I missed the first one, which was entitled, "Knitting's Golden Age" - as you can imagine, to say I am disappointed to have missed it is a massive understatement. However I was able to watch the subsequent one, called Fabric of Britain: The Story of Wallpaper.

This proved to be a fascinating insight into the origins, history and development of wallpaper from the 16th century right through to the present day. As a textile graduate, I always gravitate towards this sort of thing. When I was a student, we had the opportunity to explore three different disciplines - print, weave and knit. The ones I instinctively felt an affinity with were print and knit.

So I did have a personal connection with the subject matter, as through my studies I learned about pigment, the science of colouration and gained an appreciation of different substrates, dyes and printing processes. I feel really lucky to have had the chance to create my own silk-screened designs.

I thought it was great that the programme explained and demonstrated several printing techniques such as lino printing, etching, block printing and even gave an insight into how flocking is created. I remember one of my favourite techniques to do was devoré which is a nifty process used to create patterns whereby a chemical dissolves one of the fibres in the fabric to produce a "burn-out" effect.

I also liked the exploration of the development of different styles over time or patterning and how the fashions in wallpaper have changed - often from heavily patterned to simple clean designs and back again. I love that William Morris designs were featured, especially those stating they were "Arsenic Free"!

If you have access to the iPlayer, I suspect the final instalment, "The Wonder of Embroidery" might be worth a watch... if you're based outside the UK and/or don't have access to the BBC iPlayer, you can still see some video clips of each of the programmes here.

The Fabric of Britain series is part of the wider "Handmade in Britain" set of programmes - made by the BBC in partnership with the V&A (Victoria & Albert Museum in London). More information here.

S.W.A.L.K.

"Sealed with a loving kiss" - the S.W.A.L.K. acronym apparently originated during WWII when soldiers wrote letters to their sweethearts back home. Just a nice thought to get you in the mood for a little Valentine's day romance!

On that note, I have a few little wrapping ideas for romantic gifts for you to try.

Materials to look out for:

- plain or patterned tissue paper
(try stationery/art shops, department stores or the supermarket)
- deco tape
- plain, striped or printed ribbons
(I got these from local fabric shops/haberdashery or a cake decorating shop)
- lace trims
- washi tape with hearts and other motifs
(I got mine from Paperchase - just noticed they currently have a 3 for 2 offer on washi tape!!)

I also re-used little scraps of fabric, tissue, ribbon and strips of white tulle fabric I had around the house. Nothing wrong with a bit of eco-friendliness on Valentine's.

Ideas

• Try layering different colours of tissue paper to get a pretty effect - I layered pink under red with a little flash of the pink left visible, or pink tissue underneath a white patterned tissue (mainly so that it's not completely see-through as white sometimes can be).

• Instead of boring old plain clear sellotape, why not try using cute patterned washi tape or another type of decorated sticky tape! You can even use washi tape on plain tissue paper to create really cool decorative effects.

• Create your own "ribbons" by tearing or cutting up strips of fabric - I found white tulle worked really well for this.

• Gifts can be tied/wrapped with all manner of ribbons, raffia, trims or twine and you could even try using two or more strands to get different effects.

• You can write little messages of love or draw romantic doodles onto red tissue paper with a white coloured pencil.

• Lace trims look lovely over coloured tissue paper - a nice way to show off their pattern.

• Even simple ideas can work well: try decorative washi tape on plain brown wrapping/parcel paper (kraft) or use rubber stamps to print on it & make your own wrapping paper!

Looking for more DIY Valentine ideas? Inspiration ahoy:

- Check out these cute printable cards/notes from Mochimochi Land

- A set of modern & colourful printable Valentine's day cards on the Papernstitch blog

- Or, for the Star Wars fan in your life, how about a Vader-y Valentine?
(Found via "Death Star PR"!)

Also check out my previous Valentine's blog post for even more ideas!

My Sketchbook Project - Part 1

Good news - I did indeed manage to finish my sketchbook on time for the Sketchbook Project (but only just!). Now that it's done & dusted - and has safely arrived at its new home in the Brooklyn Art Library (yay!) - I thought I'd show you a little bit more of it.

I really enjoyed working on this project because I treated it as a kind of fun exploration of pattern and texture via drawing, painting and collage. It so was nice to do something that was about inspiration and an exploration of creativity (and not about making a product for sale, for a little change).

If you haven't come across the Sketchbook Project, it's an annual art project open to everyone worldwide which encourages people to get creative with a standard sketchbook.

The brief is really up to you (there are suggested themes, and my chosen one was "It's winter where you are" but I used it fairly loosely and really as more of a starting point!) and the final submissions go on tour, eventually being housed at the Brooklyn Art Library in New York.

For more information, and to see the dates of the 2012 Sketchbook Project world tour, visit the website.

Paper Dreams

Now, just so you know, I don't consider myself particularly a fan of Paloma Faith...but I stumbled across this, entitled "In all the World I Dream in Paper" and it intrigued me, what can I say. I very much like the idea of paper as a medium for sculpture, dreams and inspriation. Enjoy!


Art Direction by Petra Storrs.