Saturday 2 December 2023

A new zigzag book

I discovered reels by Sue Bulmer on Instagram where she was making a new zigzag sketchbook using dressmaking patterns.  As I had just found a stash of patterns I thought I would have a go.

I started by tearing up the dressmaking patterns into smaller pieces and using matt medium, glued the pieces randomly onto both sides of an A2 piece of cartridge paper.  Surprisingly for me, I didn't take photographs!

I folded it into 4 in landscape format and into 3 in the portrait format.   I cut along these 3 folds to make the pages of the zigzag book.

I joined the 3 strips together with the packet the pattern came in.


I made covers from the thick card from the back of tracing paper pad and used the roll off paper from the gel printing I had done for my Australian Connections project.  The finished size is 15x14.5 cms.

I used copper coloured texture paste through stencils and sequin waste.

I used watercolour to colour the joins.  They look really yellow in the photos but matches the tissue better in reality.

Using ink pads I stencilled the Austalian plants.

I used a Posca pen to put dots to join all the pages.


I am thinking of putting the lyrics of Australian songs or possibly just random words from the songs.   I've got the lyrics for Waltzing Matilda, We are Australian, From a Land Down Under and Australia Fair.

I'm actually making it up as I go along as I have no idea what the finished book will be like!

Thanks for joining me today.
Bernice


Tuesday 28 November 2023

Coventry

Last Saturday we went to Coventry.  It was a beautifully sunny but cold day.  I had a meeting but arrived a bit early so had a wander up to and around the ruined Cathedral.






The Guildhall


22 & 23 Bayley Lane


More of the Cathedral



Loved the blue of the sky through the leaves.

While I was in the meeting, Roger went to the Transport Museum.  Then we met up and went round the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum.  It had an excellent gallery on the history of Coventry.



In one of the other galleries was this beautiful piece.


This was the back of the upright panel.



And then we had lunch in the Golden Cross Pub.

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice

Saturday 25 November 2023

O Sole Mio

Do you remember the advert that used 'O Sole Mio' to advertise an ice cream?  It is from 1981 so you might not remember!  Click on the year if you don't know what I'm talking about!

Anyway, back to the fabric.  In my last post 'In the compost bin' I showed you what I had done with my Venice child's costume.


I  cut up the pieces again and using Mistyfuse and Lisa Walton's Fantastic Fusion method to make squares.

 
I cut up the squares again and using mistyfuse, fused them to a piece of dyed and printed cotton that I didn't like.

 
Then got stuck again.  As I was driving to a friend's for coffee I remembered that when I made the Venice dress my alternative 3D suggestion was to make a cone.  You can see my sketchbook from 2019 on my Containers post.  To see the cone research you need to scroll down the post.

Back to what I did!  I cut a cone shape from the collaged fabric.  Then realised I should have put a more attractive fabric on the back.  It would have been easier to do it before I cut it up!  But never mind.  I bonded the fabric onto the back.

 
I also machined it with preset stitches

 
I took the cut off pieces and added them to the cone shape with the sewing machine.  I hand sewed the join.  I remembered that I had this block of wood with a dowel rod in it that Roger had made me for a different project and hadn't used.

I painted the stand.

Back to the beginning.  The original music 'O Solo Mio' was written about Naples.  However since 1981 the song with the advert words has forever been associated with Venice.  When I put this piece into an exhibition I shall call it O Sole Mio or Just One Cornetto.

Which name would you choose?

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice