Autumn Cottage Diarist

Snip, Stitch, Clickety Clack!

It started for me when I was five...when I took apart the drapes on the doll cot that my grandmother had laboriously made for me for Christmas. I was severely reprimanded and told how 'destructive' I was (the first of the litany of reprimands with which my childhood was littered) - when my intention was only to see how it had been constructed.

I have always been entranced by fabrics - textiles of any sort - woven, embroidered, printed, felted...stitched into garments or soft-furnishings, decorated, embellished, and then used for more of the same, making my (or others') interior environment just that little bit more beautiful, enticing, welcoming. (Is there some genetic memory passed down from my ancestor - a merchant in the textile-trading part of London in the 1770's? I like to imagine there is....)

But for easily the last ten years, my sewing machine and embroidery threads have been tucked away, as I have engaged in and been distracted by other ups and downs in life, and more cerebral activities have taken the place of the work of head, heart and hands combined.

Pressing in between stitching...much more patience to do this these days - one of the benefits of being older?

Until last week, when I needed to amend the length of a pair of curtains, just to add the finishing touches to the interior painting and decorating done by my son. Out came the (possibly rusty) sewing machine, threaded up (with the aid of a little bit of black paper so I can see the hole in the needle these days!!) And tested...in with the fabric, down on the foot pedal and wheeee.....away we went, and back came rushing all the joys of creativity with fabric and thread that I had forgotten I loved so much.

Yes - the old machine does need a bit of oil, and my technique needs brushing up - but it is not being packed away again...but installed in the sunroom, I think in pride of place (everyone else probably thinks 'in the way!' :-)) - and all the stitching (and mending!) that has been ignored and neglected for the last decade is being brought out and enjoyed once more - alongside that ignored part of myself that - I now realise - also needs to come out to play. I write and I think and I discuss, yes - and I RELISH those activities...but I
also garden, and cook, and stitch, and paint. ALL components are necessary for me to fully live - as I believe they are for us all.

What do YOU need to live your fullest life? Is there any languishing creative pleasure back in the recesses of your own memory that could be brought out again to play?

The next project already waiting - curtains for the little sitting room

Today We Need a Little Bit of Venice

.

NOT, thankfully, the floods which hit la Serenissima a couple of weeks ago - but these gorgeous dolls - Pantalone and Colombina from the Commedia del' Arte which I bought last year at Ca' Macana - one of the few studios in Venice still making their own masks and other items in papier mache.

Pantalone

These dolls are made entirely in paper sculpture. It seems that they are built on an armature - so there may be a foundation of wire beneath, but faces, hair, clothes....all paper, which looks as if it has been soaked in some sort of glue and then left to dry and stiffen. The painting afterwards - especially of the faces, is masterly - but it is the underlying structure of paper modelling which creates the initial character.

Colombina

I am longing to discover how to make these sorts of figures...I guess I could just work it out by trial and error - but if anyone knows of any web sites, books, or tutors, I'd love to hear about it.

And now I have the taste for Venice on my lips today - and am suffering severe withdrawal symptoms anyway, having not visited this year....here are just a couple more images to counteract any surfeit of Christmas-Tacky-Itis that may already be starting to overwhelm you...

I'll take these for Christmas presents, please...handmade journals, leather-bound

And this will do nicely for my Christmas dress

A Bit of Scrappy Fun

Ploughing on through the big book-sort-out here at Autumn Cottage, I discovered this book of genuine, old Victorian scraps which always attract me. These were immensely popular as a Victorian pastime, being sold as pre-cut sheets, which only needed to be separated from one another. I particularly love the draught screens that one sometimes sees in antique shops, covered with these scraps – how many winter’s evenings did some of those take to make, I would like to know?

For any of you who enjoy playing with old crafts, the image above is high resolution – click on it, then right click on the image to save it, print it out, cut it out and play with it - perhaps even send me an image if you do anything fun with it!). (Tip – the children make lovely dummy boards for dolls houses).

Happy Scrapping!

Girls Just Gotta have fun!

After a ladies lunch with my dear friend Fiona, I returned home to spend the afternoon with Liz, the friend with whom I will travel to Venice in October.

We both own dolls houses, so today we had a very happy few hours making "Fimo Food". Liz created some lovely confections – "flans" made in bottle tops, and I tried my hand at creating the foundation of a choux pastry/profiterole pyramid.

Don’t we look as if we are having fun? We were! (I wonder if the wine glasses accompanying us have anything to do with that?). We have now designated Friday afternoons as "girl time" when we will get together to play crafts, go antique shopping, generally pamper ourselves. Well, who else will do it for us? And girls just gotta have fun! (Though not too much – the chockkie bikkies and glasses of wine do no favours for the figure – something of which, Fiona – with a rather marvellous weight loss of – ahem – a LOT – is a great reminder. Girls might have fun – but a svelte figure (plus gorgeous, long blond hair) look rather like fun as well.)

Here is my effort – still awaiting acrylic "chocolate" and applied fabric roses. I made the serving tray our of a foil catfood tray.

Unable to resist it, here is today's cat picture - of Lissie, preparing herself for travel - i.e. rolling herself in bubble wrap plastic! She normally sleeps on top of it (it is normally used to separate cat from scanner) - but today, she decided a little variety was in order. ( I promise that I do not edit these photographs - she really does get herself into these contortions!).