Les Soeurs Anglaises

A couple of months ago I had the good fortune to be invited to an event held in the fabulous haberdashers that is Raystitch on behalf of Les Soeurs Anglaises, an outfit who run high end textile workshops in a stunning location in France.

I drooled over their workshop programme and accommodation set out in their lovely brochure and chatted with fellow crafters. I met the lovely Lottie from Lotts and Lots who wore an amazing necklace she'd crafted herself - do hop over to her blog to get an eyeful of handmade jewellery loveliness. 

LSA were also hosting a Textile Jigsaw of Words competition: the brief was to embellish a piece of fabric in the shape of a jigsaw with a quote of your choice. LSA would then combine all the pieces into a quilt which would be auctioned off for the Cambodian Children's Fund.

I'm always up for a challenge and as the prize was a place on one of their wonderful workshops abroad, I set to work ...

My jigsaw was one of many entries that day and the standard was awesome ...

Sadly I didn't win, but my piece did get a 'best of the rest' mention on Les Soeurs Anglaises website later that month. Here's the winning piece crafted by Claire Sounes -

Wonderful.

Handmade Tea Cosy, Carmen Miranda Style

I’m not sure what possessed me to turn my entry in the Tea Cosy competition for a small Tea Room in the Peak Distirict into an homage to Carmen Miranda … I suspect it had something to do with cosies resembling hats, often sporting flowers.

However once begun, there was no holding me back ...

I used a lightbox to trace a design that I could transfer easily to linen and then embroider.

With fabric from the stash I cut a shape for Carmen’s headscarf with iron on adhesive paper – the double backed type for applique.

Once ironed into place, I handstitched around the edges. 

I drew out a very basic cosy pattern, a universal ‘coverall’ with no openings for the spout or handle. 

The appliqued front was quilted with a contrasting lining fabric, as was the colourful back piece. 

I had a go at machine freehand embroidery around the fruit, I’m still getting the hang of this and need a bit more practice.

For added swagger I added a dash of pom poms. These can be quite tricky to sew – you need a million pins to hold the pom pom fringe in place prior to stitching. 

The pom poms were sandwiched on the inside, the quilted cosy back and front pieces being pinned right sides together. 

I inserted a loop at the centre top at this stage, stitched all around the curved cosy edge, then turned the finished cosy right side out.

That’s all there is to it really – a little bit of hand stitching along the bottom inside edge to make a neat cuff.

Of course it wouldn't be Carmen-worthy if I hadn't added a spectacular knitted lily for good measure.

And an earring!

So there you have it - my entry for the Tea Cosy Comp which will be displayed in the Tea Room at White Peak Embroidery, Derbyshire during July 2013 ... and subject to a public vote! 

Wish me luck.

I am posting this link on Handmade Monday Linky party - pop over and see what other people are making this week.