Envigilating an exhibition

As I have already posted, I have a piece in the Textile Awards exhibition at Buda.  It was my turn to sit at the exhibition on today.
It was an interesting experience - I met quite a few people who are interested in textiles and who had come to Buda specifically to see the exhibition.  There were also people there who had come to see the house and didn't have a special interest in textiles. They all seemed to enjoy the show.  Most of them put in votes for the People's Choice prize too. The show finishes this weekend, so I expect that it will be announced soon.
I managed to get the names of the winners of the two categories: you can read about the winners here.
Teresa Poletti Glover won the Gold section as well as the overall prize. Chris Beehag won second prize in the Gold section.
Beverley Downie won the Inspired by Buda section and Raewyn Penrose won second prize in that section.  
I recognised Raewyn's style from the workshop I did a couple of years ago.  The coat was lovely.

Part of Raewyn's jacket.

I also met Cheryl Kennedy, a fellow workshop member from a few years ago at the Ballarat Fibre Forum - she has her own exhibition on at the moment, in Castlemaine, at the Falkner Gallery.
Then I met the person who ran a quilting class at a Northcote Community House, it was when I was on long service leave and trying to put together my folio to apply for the Studio Textiles and Design course and she was a big help, so it was great to catch up with her too.

I also caught up with a fellow student from the course who also graduated last year.  So it was well worth the trip and was a very interesting experience.  She took a photo of my work there - you can see the shine on the synthetic fabrics, something I did not get with my photos.

Adding to the jackets

I am still working away, slowly, on my jacket.  I have now sewn up the seams and have to decide whether or not to cut the edges and then sew a blanket stitch around them all.  That is what Raewyn recommended. She said to sew it from the back so that the stitching is not too obvious but still gives an attractive edging.  It will work as a sort of embellishment.
Some of the embellishments that are on the jackets were added as the felting process happened but some were added on at the very end.

You could even add a collar after the jacket was finished, if you wanted to.  I haven't made a collar but may end up making one (I still have enough wool roving to do this) as I think it will look better with one.
Crochet could be added as a further enhancement along the edges but I don't think I have the patience for that.

Still working on the felted jacket

Since I've been home from the workshop I have not done the finishing off.  I don't have that much to do to finish it but I don't have the inspiration of the other ladies to egg me on.  Plus, I am finding plenty of other things that need doing.  I suppose that is one of the huge advantages of going on a 4 day workshop - you are away from all the usual distractions and are with some very focussed people.
I will get to it this week-end - I hope.

It was good to see the felted jackets change from bulky-looking objects - despite the softer than usual drape of the felt - to well fitted garments.

Laying out the felt

Raewyn brought wool from New Zealand for us. She prefers this wool as she says it is carded differently from the wool we get in Australia and it is easier to pull apart.  As I have so little experience in felting, I didn't notice, but the experienced felters in the group were definitely impressed.  I must say, it was definitely easy to lay out.
I can't find any information about the source of the wool at the moment, I will post any information I find.

The laying out took up a lot of room (as felting reduces the size so much) and tended to look like those shaggy carpets that I remember from years ago.  As you can see, there was a wide variety of colours chosen.  We had emailed our colour choices to Raewyn before she left New Zealand.  She also provided a range of materials for us to play with to get different textures.
It was amusing to see the colour choices people had made and how they were wearing similar colours most days.

Raewyn Penrose felting workshop

I have just returned home from a four day workshop with Raewyn Penrose at Crockett Cottage, Mansfield, working on making a felted jacket.  I posted about this event earlier and have been looking forward to it since she visited previously.
Raewyn demonstrated various techniques to use with the felt that give some beautiful effects.  We made a sampler and then worked hard on making our felted pieces, using the techniques that suited our garments.

This was a very busy few days and we were quite tired by the end.
Some people managed to make complete garments while a few of us have some sewing to do when we get home.
We were all very pleased with the workshop and some very happy campers made their weary ways home at the end of the last day.
I will post a few more pictures of works in progress over the next day or so.

I am not an experienced felter and found that there was a lot to learn. Raewyn was very patient and gave a lot of individual help, so I have come home with lots of knowledge and a garment mostly completed.
She has a tailoring background and was able to assist us greatly with getting our garments to fit well.  She made sure that I know what I have to do and that everything is pinned as it should be so I can complete the garment in the next day or so - if I apply myself.

She also has a different technique for felting, from what I have seen, in that we cut our felt fabric to fit a pattern (and she showed us how to make that pattern) and then she fits it to us and we sew it together, without bulky seams.  Wonderful.

Felting excitement.

Yesterday I attended a talk by Raewyn Penrose at the Brunswick campus of RMIT.  She was talking about her felted clothing and had some samples for us to handle.  I couldn't get over the softness of the felt and its drape.  One of the interesting things about Raewyn's work is that she comes from a tailoring background and likes to make clothes that fit well.  So she is not afraid to cut the felt.  The pieces were lovely.

Raewyn has been invited over from New Zealand to show her work in the Fabricate Invites 2010 exhibition being put on by the Victorian Embroiderers' Guild.  It is opening tdoay at the Malvern Artists' Society, 1297 High St, Malvern, Victoria, and runs till May 2nd.

Raewyn is running a workshop in June, at Crockett Cottage 43 Studio in Mansfield and I have booked to attend.  I am feeling even more excited about it now that I have seen and handled her work in person!

Textile Fibre Forum magazine had an article about Raewyn's work in Issue 4, no 96, 2009.