hot water bottle

As a part of our final piece we have to somehow include a hot water bottle or a hot water bottle cover into or quilted work. The hot water bottle have extremely evolved over the past years, from being a big, heavy, glazed porcelain to a palm sized, light, plastic little warmer. Personally I don't know how people could have coped with carrying the porcelain hot water bottle. As I want to create a quilted garment also for my final piece I might create a comfort garment where it contains a pocket to hold on of the following hot water bottles, and also contain quilted methods. 

inspirational quilted garments

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/gianni-versace/

 

http://www.treehugger.com/style/can-patchwork-actually-look-cool-one-chilean-designer-proves-so.html

http://makeitdigital.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/mcqueens-patchwork.html

Here are a mixture of differently made garments using quilt making techniques, all very inspiring to me as I am currently thinking of doing a garment using quilt making methods as my final piece. All of these garments are created in a different way and most importantly look very different, which is the most appealing thing about creating my own quilted garment is that it would most definitely be one of a kind.  Out of all of these inspirational and elegantly done garments the two that inspires me the most is the hippy/boho styled skirt and the men's tailored jacket which is just breathtakingly beautiful.

Boro - Threads of life exhibition in Somerset house

This exhibition contained different pieces and some whole garments that was originally created in Japan by poor residents, that over the years made their clothes using parts of old clothing, cloths, cotton and denims and cleverly sewn and patch worked them together as shown underneath. This exhibition brought my attention to how we as people use clothes and any type of fabric for granted as a lot of us simply throw clothes away or burn them after they don't fit or just simply is not in fashion any more. I think this idea of creating new garments out of old ones is very liberating and would love to try it sometime. Personally I would have rather liked to see more of the garments in full rather than some of them that were cut to fit over a canvas. 

http://www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/boro

patchwork samples

These are four different types of patchwork I have done, using a variety of very vibrant, girly, and somewhat childlike fabrics. The top image I have tried creating my own three layered patch which did not turn out how I imagined although I do like the effect of the mesh on top slightly revealing the bottom layer. The top right image is a sample I created using orange satin stitch in a circular shape stitching the printed blue and white fabric onto the synthetic shiny fabric, I also inserted the back of these circles with thin wadding. I really like this sample as it looks more wearable only the synthetic fabric was extremely hard to sow on. The last two samples includes crazy patchwork, The left image sown on sewing machine and the other by hand, I personally prefer the hand stitched sample because I could change the thickness of stitching and the colour and the actual stitch.  

http://gb.pinterest.com/welaao/unit-x-fairground/

pfaff sewing machine induction

These three samples are from my induction on the pfaff machine, showing a wealthy amount of variety stitching that is available on the pfaff machine, my best stitch was the elephants! I am very interested in using this miraculous machine again, maybe using it to create an extra detail onto patchwork or simply to decoratively sow my layers together. 

http://gb.pinterest.com/welaao/unit-x-fairground/

hand stitched quilt making samples

These are my hand stitched quilt making samples, showing different stitching that's possible by simply just using a running stitch. The sample underneath on the left was my first attempt at quit making, this contained two, plain cotton and a thin wadding between both cotton and a variety of simple stitching to keep all layers together whilst also decorating the top layer. The last three images include the same method of quilt making but only using a running stitch. The last image I personally think is more successful as the collaboration between the printed fabric and the hand stitch crosses over each other and looks very illusive and hypnotising. I enjoy doing hand stitching samples and would like to do more on top of printed fabric. 
http://gb.pinterest.com/welaao/unit-x-fairground/

inspirational quilt making from the hobby craft show

I recently attended the hobby craft fair in Manchester, where they showed a variety of crafts including quilt making. Here are some of the quilt making work that was on display and attracted my eye as they all looked extremely colourful and very neatly done. The top left image interests me because I love the metallic look on the fabric used, as it changes colour and creates its own sort of print by doing this, I also like how the artist has matched up the colours on the patchwork. The next two images use the same techniques and although it looks quite simple the attention to detail on both of these work are immaculate. The bottom right image was my personal best as it contained a variety of quilt making methods, it's very bright and lively also it contains a slight narrative feel to it as it contains the little funny shaped people dancing. 

http://www.eventcity.co.uk/whats-on/creative-stitches-hobbycrafts/http://gb.pinterest.com/welaao/unit-x-fairground/