Have had to tear myself away from the TV and the Olympics to put Chapter Five on the blog. Have been absolutely addicted to it all. The TV has been burning away almost 24 hours a day and not much sewing has been going on! Luckily I had completed most of the tassel before the sport began but have been very lazy in gathering everything up together etc. Wish we had applied for tickets now especially the cycling - amazing!

As I was going to be a couch potato for a couple of weeks, went out and about to some gardens and the village flower show. Managed to take yet another photo of an urn, (I think I'm turning into an urn nerd) and a beautiful dahlia which won a prize at the flower show (not mine I hasten to add).The thing with urns is that they are always just in the right place and beautifully composed.




Majestic Urn -Taken at Hinton Ampner. The thistles will look great when they come out and red brick walls are always lovely. I like the silvery tone of the urn and thistles contrasted against the red of the brick wall.













Textured Tassel

Page 72 of Module 2

I chose this image from my stash of pictures as it reminds me of Grinling Gibbons style of work and is an image I had hoped to use at some time and will probably use again.  I love the way the flowers begin to emerge and cascade from the enfolding leaves (don't know what these are called).  It seems voluptuous and graceful at the same time.  The dew drops on the ends of the petals/leaves are beautiful.



This is my chosen image for creating a textured tassel



Creating the tassel top shape

Page 74 of Module 2



Drawing from original image. 



Different shapes taken from the full drawing of my chosen image.  I decided to work with the piece that has a cross on it as my chosen shape.  This is a piece taken from the shape of the full flower in the original picture and initial drawing. I tried the second drawing along but this did not work very well.





Final five sided drawing for mock up using the chosen shape above.



Mock up of the tassel

Page 78 of Module 2

After putting together just three shapes to the tassel top, I decided that it was not wide enough so opted for a five shaped piece.



Three shaped mock up



 

Five shaped mock up with skirt.  The top is now wider at the bottom



 

Complete final mock up



Experiment

Page 80 of Module 2

These are the experimental automatic patterns and threads which I practised with.

Stitching the tassel top

Page 82 of Module 2

The cable stitching in these shapes incorporates my favourite automatic patterns from the practise piece above.  I began with finer thread in the bobbin layering thicker bobbin thread as I progressed to add texture to the shapes.  I chose a similar top thread colours in case the underside of the tassel top was on view at any time.



Three out of five stitched shapes for my tassel top



 

Reverse side of the stitched tassel shapes .





Putting the tassel together

The skirt

Page 84 of Module 2



A machined cord and paper beads that I made from Val Campbell Harding's ' Edges and Finishes'  There are so many wonderful ideas in this book.





Some cable stitched sari silk for the skirt



Completed Tassel

Page 85 of Module

I have tried to scan the image as best as I could and have taken photos as well.  I couldn't scan the whole of the tassel so have taken scans of various bits.  I think the skirt should have been filled out more.  Having done a five sided tassel top there is room for more filling out from the skirt.  The reason I didn't do more of the skirt was because I thought I didn't want too much and thought it would be more elegant with less, but I can see it needs more and elegance doesn't equate with lusciousness.   It would have been a good idea to have made some more beads and machined some thicker cord but I was concerned the beads would not thread through a thick cord.  However, I loved making the beads and the cord.  On reflection I have been very conservative with the tassel skirt and can see now how I could have incorporated so many other things e.g. shells and feathers and knots. (I see that in Val Campbell Harding's book 'Edges and Finishes' she recommends a book on knots.)  However, I do love my tassel top and it is everything I wanted it to be which is rich and voluptuous.  (I also forgot to sew some glass beads on to it to represent the dew drops!!! (Annoyed with myself).

This has been another really enjoyable chapter with so many ideas to carry forward and incorporate into other chapters.  I very much like going through the whole design process and discovering that one doesn't have to faithfully produce an image but that it acts as a springboard for a whole range of ideas and journeys onto different paths.