‘To the Dark Lady’ by MagpiesLaundry

My thoughts and my discourse as madmen’s are, At random from the truth vainly express’d;For I have sworn thee fair, and thought thee bright, Who are as black as hell, as dark as night.

Bride’s White Rose Hair … BabyClay $36.00	Original Vintage 1930s/ .40s… violetandfrais… $380.00
30% off holiday sale, silver… ILoveHoneyWill… $32.31	If only I could see you agai… tiinateaspoon $27.50
Shakespeare Brass Cuff Quote… JezebelCharms $40.00	Vintage Scandinavian Book Pa… MaisyandAlice $15.00
ME and YOU – Vintage Letterp… HandmadeByAlis… $46.00	Glass Heart Necklace – Gunme… CeeGeeJeweller… $20.00
Original ink and wash drawin… bylykiard $20.00	Wuthering Heights Necklace K… AlteredEras $19.00
Black Heart Decorative Card … anissalee $2.00	A Dark Love Story – Original… ArtByO $45.00
Pieces of my heart silver ri… AlexisSoutham $55.00	Natural Rustic Driftwood Hea… TidalCreations $40.00
Ebony Rose Necklace – Black … Chameleonite $22.00	VALENTINES DAY TOTO – As soo… RebelRoseDesig… $1.50

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

I went for a rummage in the local charity shops this morning … what I was actually looking for was a casserole dish with lid that I can use for a compost bucket, a wine rack, and a little cupboard to complete my downstairs bathroom makeover.

I didn’t find any of those things … but I’ll keep looking – slow decorating is what we do round here! When you’re after vintage finds, patience is absolutely the key.

What I did find, though, was these little lovelies …

Yes, oh yes, Hornsea spice jars.

mmmm. Love that colour, the shiny glaze, the black pattern. The shape. Oh, everything!

It’s a shame that the ginger jar is badly cracked, but the others are all in perfect condition. I am a happy camper today. I think they look great on the top of the cupboard with my battered old Tower weighing scale …

And I am trying very, very hard not to mourn the GLORIOUS G-Plan sideboard I saw … stunningly beautiful, in perfect condition, and far, far, too big for *anywhere* in this house. Unless I throw out the sofa.

There’s a thought. Who needs a sofa anyway?

I’ve had a lovely – if busy – start to the New Year! I was so happy to get a commission to create a cushion from a couple of bridesmaid dresses – and even happier that I’m allowed to talk about it – most of my commissions are so personal that my customers prefer me not to share them. A wonderful way to start the year … I think I’m at my happiest when I’m working on something special for someone

The dresses arrived … such gorgeous fabric, and sumptuous colours …

Something simple, that makes the most of the fabric and the colours. Something contemporary, that won’t look dated or old-fashioned. Something that still evokes the memories of a very happy day.

Stripes …

The dark purple dominates, with the lilac strip from the skirt bordered from strips of the ivory dress – on one side, the sash – complete with the little flowers – and on the other, the the organza skirt fused onto the lining.

And on the back – an envelope closure … with a lilac strip that lines up with the one on the front.

I used the buttons from the bodice of the little dress.

I am so happy with the finished result … it will be going home in the post tomorrow.

Do you like it?

What could I do for you? Do you have a special dress, a suit you can’t part with, a collection of baby clothes that you’d like to free from the cupboard, transformed into something you can see – and use – every day?

If you’re interested in commissioning a piece of work, please do get in touch for a free consultation – I’d love to hear from you.

I’m participating in the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge for this year, and the first stitch for 2012 was fly stitch. *happy sigh*

I’ve used fly stitch before, and I think it’s a great stitch for natural forms … here it is in my Anthriscus piece, massed and layered:

And I used it again in my boro moonflower skirt  to create a more chain-mail sort of effect with stitch.

With the Take A Stitch challenge, I hadn’t really set myself any parameters before I started … just setting an intention to explore the stitch in whatever way appealed to me at the time – whether that be a straightforward band sampler exploring variations, or something with a little more in the way of a narrative.

And while I was mulling what to do with this week’s challenge, my eye was caught whilst taking the children to school, with the sun just coming up, and bare-branched trees sihouetted against a vivid sky. And then I noticed the gorse on the heath, and the stiff stands of dried grass by the roadside … and I had a starting point.

As a starting point, I pulled a small strip of black lace, and some sheer sari chiffon from teh stash, and fused them onto a piece of scrap cotton – old curtain lining, and then away I went.

Starting with the trees, layered fly stitch in different sizes, a mix of perle 8, and stranded cotton from 3 down to single strands, in stark black ….

Then onto the gorse … a broad skeleton of fly stitches, then worked over the top of those lines in massed, layered and minute fly stitch …

In hindsight, I wish I’d stuck with just black for this, with the grey highlights … I’m not sure about that green – I think it disturbs the balance of the image, but  I chose it because I thought the black would get lost against the lace, but now … well … there you go.

And the grasses …

A tale of two perles … 5 and 12.

I think overall I’m pretty pleased with this …

At the start of every year, it’s a little tradition of mine to have a good sort-through, clear out and tidy up of my workroom … not that I don’t keep it tidy generally (OK -  I’ll put my hands up – mid-project it can look like a bombsite!) but the tidying in-between projects tends to be rather cursory sweep up of what’s leftover.

Anyway, while it was all tidy and organised, I thought you might like a little tour?

Come on up ….

Some little treasures lurking on the stairs ….

All those glass bottles have been dug up out of our garden …

The baby gowns are family history – the one on the right was my Dad’s christening gown, but I think is much older.

My parents went to Hong Kong and brought me back that little chop and ink pad. I love the pattern on its box

Up at the top of the stairs I have my two cupboards of fabrics …snugged in between them are the vintage suitcases I use for storing finished pieces, and a rail of unfinished objects … some will get finished, eventually, some will be absorbed into other projects, and some will end up back where they started!

I did the painting on the left when I was about 7 … the oldest nestling did the collage on the right when she was the same age … I do like them there together.

I’m not one for wasting – either space or objects – so the top of the cupboards does duty, too …

On one side I have an old white-painted fruit crate filled with fat-quarter size pieces of fabric.

And on the other side I have another old fruit-crate – this one is filled with rolls of smaller pieces of fabric – the not-quite-scraps. Useful little bundles of inspiration … most of it will probably end up as boro cloth, one way or another.

The tins? Oh, they’re full of fascinating odds and ends – old keys, garment labels, ends of embroidery floss, and the like. And yes, I do have something in mind for them …

Being a loft, it’s a long and narrow space, particularly where the stairs come up … the space was unusable, so the bookcases and my tapestry loom don’t get in the way …. the rug was a wedding gift from my sister-in-law.

I keep a TV and DVD player up here – reluctantly – so that when I have small visitors they watch that rather than get into all my boxes.

And I have a lot of boxes …

Ribbons, yarns, embroidery floss, jars  old watches, boxes of dolly pegs, dried flowers … I improvised the shelving with a few brackets and just plain timber … it makes the best use of that odd space next to the chimney flue.

And here’s where I work …. the other machine is under the desk!

I love the little shellfish box … I found it in an antique shop and had to have it – Budleigh Salterton is the village next to where my parents live in Devon, and Budleigh Beach is one of my favourite places in the whole world.

I got those little ballerinas-with-attitude from Etsy – love the way they lift the plain old drawers (from IKEA) and remind me what’s inside – embroidery floss! Beads from old costume jewellery fill the jars, and the little Singer box is jammed with more bits and bobs – pendants and chains and findings.

One of the challenges of such a small space is getting genius with storage … the garden bracket lets me hang the giant basket of yarn over the stairs where it’s not in anyone’s way, and gives me somewhere for my embroidery hoops, too.

I love that vintage knitting needle box – it came from my husband’s grandmother and sits on the TV, with my peg loom.

And no proper workroom would be complete without a comfy sofa …

although in retrospect white wasn’t such a brilliant idea … but who knows – one day, I might get around to recovering it! In the interim, that vintage grey wool suiting fabric hides the worst of the mess, and it is very comfy for sitting and doing handwork …. it’s got the window above it, so the light is fantastic.

The rug on the wall came from Ecuador … a souvenir of a trip out there and to the Galapagos in the time before children.

And the pennant is a strip of vintage Obi silk. I adore the colours, but am anxiously watching it, as I’m afraid the sunlight is going to fade it badly.

So there you have it. Small, compact, but properly organised and has everything I need.

I hope you have a very happy and creative New Year!

How do you organise your workspace? What New Year rituals do you have? I’d love to hear about it …