Found some Mood/Theme boards from previous projects today. I love layering sketches, drawings, fabric samples, prints and mixing textures together to create these inspirational starting points. Laser cutting acrylic was also pretty fun – the triangles and floral shapes were designed and cut out on gold, black and purple plastics.
A few photos taken as the sun was setting over Weston-Super-Mare. Dismaland was a thought provoking exhibition/sort of sarcastic ‘fun’ fair with a selection of some of my favourite artists’ work (Damien Hirst and David Shrigley to name just a couple). An impactful, awe inspiring exhibition showcasing incredible talent and insight with some hard-hitting messages. I love that materials from the site were reused in the ‘Dismalaid’ project to help build housing for refugees in Calais.
This was the result of a 2 hour graffiti workshop I completed at the Upfest Gallery on North Street. It was so much fun! Using a calligraphy cap and paints which were supplied by the gallery we had a play in the sunshine on the walls of the galleries own outside space. Highly recommended! Please visit The Upfest Gallery Website here for details and info on other upcoming events.
The sun is out and I am thoroughly loving the chance to wear many of my San Francisco Vintage and Goodwill finds. It’s great to have these unique items as you know that you won’t be rocking up to those first summer BBQs in the exact same outfit as someone else. Below are a few of my favourite items purchased from the glorious shops along Haight Street, CA. I only visited in March but I am already wanting to go back and pick up some more Vintage gems!
Original Brown Leather Shoe. I love these shoes but find that they don’t compliment my wardrobe so I’m dying them black!
Remove Laces, make sure leather is clean and dry. An inconspicous test patch is recommended to make sure that the dye works.
Stuff with newspaper to keep the shape when wet
Paint on the leather dye
Repeat if necessary!
Make sure you get in to all the creases for maximum coverage
Shine with black leather polish
New Shoes!
Words cannot express what a great time I had visiting friends in San Fransisco. So I’m going to sum it all up with a few of my favourite Instagram pictures!
Last week saw the return of London Design Festival with exhibitions, talks and events dotted all over the city. I was spoiled for choice as to which design shows to go to. With just one day to take it all in, I started with ‘Tent London’ at the Old Truman Brewery, visited ‘Design Junction’ then finished at the V&A.
The shows were fantastic. There were some absolutely mesmerising pieces. Alongside clever furniture and product designs sat intriguing textiles. Being a textiles graduate myself, I couldn’t help making a beeline to the intricate prints, soft chunky textures and innovative fabric based products on display.
I listened to a talk on the use of colour/future colour trend analysis at Tent and also chatted to many of the designers about their inspirations, processes and use of materials. Here are some stand-out pieces, stalls and designers. More detail on particular designers to follow.
Over the summer months I have been helping local company Cameron Balloons. This is one of their busiest seasons and orders flood in from all over the world for hot air balloons, large scale promotional items and even a white orb-like roof for an outdoor opera venue. I have been using industrial sewing machines, seam guides and reading complex specifications and have also been checking my sewing work for quality (as we are making aircraft, stitch work has to be spot on so that the product is aerodynamically safe and sound). I have really enjoyed this time, I learnt a great deal and also worked with a great team. Thanks guys! Below is the first balloon I worked on. I sewed the red artwork on to the white balloon pieces and then sewed the gores (vertical strips made up of individually sized rectangular pieces) together. Also included are photos of some other stitch work which I was involved with including an internal shot of a promotional piece.
A little while ago I was invited to take part in the ‘Out of Print’ fashion show at Bookbarn International. The challenge was to create on outfit constructed mainly from recycled books and along with 10 other design teams I exhibited the work at a catwalk show at Bookbarn international.
I spent months designing and crafting my outfit and was so happy to find out that I had won the competition! Me and my talented model Charlie have been treated to a fancy lunch at Ston Easton Park as our prize. Another highlight of the evening was meeting Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones star) who was a celebrity judge on the night. The outfit included book page panelled A-line skirt with chunky woven fabric and paper bodice. The book bag and fascination was also made by me in navy, gold and paper colours.
When popping back in to collect my entry yesterday (they were asked to be retained for an exhibition) the Bookbarn staff were lovely and mentioned that they had had quite a lot of interest in my Book Bag. Someone even asked for just a hollowed out book to put their keepsakes in! I really enjoyed creating these and am happy to make more so feel free to get in touch with any ideas/commissions. I do love a new challenge!
Thanks
Shelley Ward @ Beautiful Plumage
Hi everyone! Hope you’re having a great summer so far, feel so lucky with all this beautiful sunshine :). As well as working as a full time seamstress making aircraft (yes you read that right – more on that later!) I have been keeping busy by whipping up a few little bits and pieces to sell. Below are my latest creations which I have been selling on ebay and in local stores. Perfect for summer, these eyemasks are really useful when camping, catching some zzzzz’s at festivals or just relaxing at home. I’m still developing other styles, including some in thick gold taffeta silk (soooo luxurious!). Would love your comments on which sort of styles you like best….so far the monochrome dotty one is proving most popular.
Beautiful Plumage. 
