When I looked for ideas to stitch the face on a toy rabbit, I couldn’t find a great reference. So, I made a collection of designs for rabbit faces on embroidery and soft toys. The designs are all intended for embroidery stitches – so the focus is on simple lines and expression. I found that… Continue reading Rabbit faces for embroidery and soft toys
A new hoppity friend has been hanging around – its Harold Rabbit! He’s a soft toy made of an old shirt and some fabric off-cuts. Harold has a cheeky crooked smile, grabby ears, bendy knees and a cute, round tail. Harold has been reading a lot about the big wide world lately. Ginsberg, Rand and… Continue reading Hoppity home, Harold Rabbit!
Polish needlework from Embroidery by Mary Gostelow It’s the annual Auckland City Libraries book sale this week – only $5 for a bag full of books. Treasure hunting time! I’ve made some wonderful crafty scores, including an amazing book about traditional embroidery styles from around the world – Embroidery by Mary Gostelow (1979). This… Continue reading Crafty book finds at the Auckland City Libraries book sale
Day of the dead: brain dead. Its the end of school term and I am completely exhausted, so embroidery fills the gap. All I’m good for just now is punching needles and thread. In, out, in, out, re-thread, in, out. This piece has been stretched around a hoop a few times and isn’t looking so… Continue reading Dia de los Muertos embroidery update
Mother Eagle is the latest textile artist to fuel my obsession with biology-inspired design. I’ve mentioned Mister Finch recently, who does awesome things sculpting birds and other creatures from fabric. The mysterious Mother Eagle is into moths too, and has been working on a collection of embroidered Lepidoptera. Look at all the French knots in… Continue reading Inspiration: Mother Eagle
There is fabric back in the hoop and needle in hand! I’ve been working on a Dia de Los Muertos sugar skull embroidery pattern, designed and screened by my friend Mandy. I was going to leave the face and teeth as blank cotton, but now I think I’ll satin stitch the whole lot and backstitch the… Continue reading Dia de Los Muertos embroidery – a crafty gang patch
It is with much aroha that I’m posting this week’s Local Love. The Native Agent shop in Ponsonby’s Brown Street is the brand new home for design work ‘made with hands and made with love’ by Rona Ngahuia Osborne and friends. Rona is also a friend of mine; her Kingsland shop closed a year or… Continue reading Local Love: Native Agent
I found this beautiful brass and enamel Country Women’s Institute badge today, once awarded to a New Zealand lady for her ‘good service’ for home and country. Isn’t it sweet? We were in Helensville, a small rural town just out of Auckland, for a kids’ birthday party and called in at a couple of second… Continue reading Good Service for Home and Country
My graffiti embroidery has been getting some attention – with a “Stitchgasm” feature on the stitching website, Mr X Stitch. It damn nearly gave me one too, when I saw what was going on. What a compliment! The Mr X Stitch website is a real source of inspiration for me – amazing artists from around… Continue reading I got featured on Mr X Stitch! (the coolest embroidery site around)
There are some incredibly inspirational textile artists out there. One of the artists rocking my boat just now is Lauren DiCioccio. In her “Sewn News” series, Lauren encased pages of the New York TImes in muslin and then picked out parts of the photographic content using embroidery. In her description of the work, Lauren says… Continue reading Inspiration: Lauren DiCioccio
caroline larnach 