Frida Kahlo Cushion

It was my Mum's birthday all the way back in February and, just after Christmas, I settled on a project that I thought would make a really nice present. Unfortunately, it took me a little longer than a month to complete and once I was well into making it, I decided this was something I wanted to give to her in person, so it's only now that I am able to share these pictures with you!

My Mum is a mixed-media artist and ceramicist and I was introduced to Frida Kahlo a long time ago and instantly felt drawn to her work and use of strong, rich colours. There was a time when Frida Kahlo's name was spoken of relatively little....up until recently when she seems to have become something of a style sensation! Her love of floral crowns and chunky golden jewellery took off and I see Frida influences everywhere. It seems her preference for a 'fuller-brow' still remains wholly her own, however. 

Since I always have so many projects on the go at once, I decided I would take my time embroidering Frida, and worked on my hoop during my half an hour lunch break at work. Embroidery is my most loved craft-form and I thoroughly enjoyed doing a little bit of stitching each day, while supping a hazelnut latte and nibbling on my lunch from my favourite foxy box.

When the stitching stage was complete, I ordered some of this amazing Alexander Henry fabric from Bolt of Cloth to make the piece into an envelope-backed cushion. 

It was awesome to give my Mum a present in person after so many missed birthdays and Christmases whilst we've been living in New Zealand. I can't wait to see it installed on the sofa in Italy next time we visit :)

Drawstring Bags

Hello, me again! Away for so long and yet back again so soon, ha! Today I've got some pictures I thought I'd share of a few drawstring bags I made for our trip. 

Drawstring bags are so handy for keeping bits and pieces together in a big bag and, as it turns out, super simple to make! I spent barely anything on these little guys as you only really need the kind of materials you'll probably have hanging around anyway as a maker. 

I made a couple to keep all my jewellery in a safe place - using a little bit of linen, some vintage gypsy ribbon as decoration and a snippet of hessian cord. These fellas have kept all my fave items of personal adornment safe and sound and brought a smile to my face each time I pull them from my pack. I love the simplicity of the plain linen with just a pretty bit of ribbon added.

Before we set off on our adventure, I was keen on preparing some ways in which we could keep our packs organised. It's hard enough as it is to live out of a bag for three whole months - nearly four months now since we left our rental property and started staying with friends - without constantly having to re-pack and keep things in different sections etc. 

So I thought we might benefit from having a laundry bag each, to help make life a little easier! I had these two vintage pillowslips lying amidst my fabric collection in the studio and thought they'd fit the bill perfectly. All I had to do was press down the open edge to create a casing for the pull-cord and - hey presto! - job done.

I also made a bag to keep clean 'small clothes' from floating around and getting lost. Again I chose to re-purpose, using a little silk tote bag my Mum had sent over from Italy: snipping off the existing handles, sewing them together and using them as the drawstring. Easy as that!

So that's about it for the travel-related makes. I have one more archived post to publish, then I can start to share some pictures of our epic journey and maybe throw in a couple of tales along the way....does that sound good? Or I could just post some links to the albums on Flickr??