Getting Noticed…Sustainably
A wee story about my wearable art
fashion accessories
One of the most complimentary things to happen to me lately took place at a recent national textiles event. A group of very trendy university design students made a bee-line towards me so they could tell me how much they admired my felted jewellery ensemble. Now, I’m of an age when this hasn’t happened to me for a while, so I felt particularly proud to tell them that I crafted the pieces myself and from my up-cycled felt art cut-offs. They were just as impressed by this as they were for the style and colours of the piece.
I’ve actually received an incredible response from my felted wearable art pieces from folk of all ages whenever I’ve worn them, so I thought I’d describe how this side of my practice developed and the inspiration for these individual pieces.
Enchanted Woods creation in process
It began when I was framing Enchanted Woods. As usual, the wet felted piece had stretched when I was rolling it out, and it now was too large for the
deep frame that I had selected for it. It was painful to even consider trimming it as the edges were just as captivating as the middle of the piece, but then it struck me that I could re-use these strips rather than pull apart the wool, separating out the colours to reuse later, as I had been doing previously to be sustainable.
I took the strips and rolled them into tear drop shapes and felted balls and made my first felted necklace and earrings ensemble.
The next piece started with some bright yellow backing felt, which I rolled into cords, added coloured wool stripes and needle felted ‘matchsticks’. This is one of my most dramatic pieces, but it took three days to make, so I soon realised that this would not be replicated in a hurry. Sorry, this one is nfs
My third felted jewellery ensemble, Mulberry breastplate was created using the off cuts of Flowerpot I had tried a new needle-felting technique and had some gorgeous hand-dyed mulberry coloured roving to hand, and so I created this “breastplate” and earrings set from it.
Next came the Greenleaf Breastplate which originated as the background of Red Oyster, before the final red layer was applied. A variation of the mulberry breastplate, this piece has longer wisps in vibrant and olive greens, teals, blue and soft pink… It really elevates any solid coloured outfit.
Greenleaf Breastplate
Felt Minx
Most recently, I developed the ‘Felt Minx’ breastplate ensemble from the cut offs of a commissioned piece that I made for a Manhattan apartment. I’ll soon be adding this to the “Fashion Accessories’ section, but here is a sneaky peek… . It is a much more neutral colour palette, and lent itself to a contemporary Native American styled breastplate.
Felt Minx …coming soon…
Wearable felt Art as Fashion Accessories
My felted wearable art fashion accessories are meant to be noticed and really do elevate a simple outfit to the next level. If you would enjoy being admired by trendy students and the general public next time you attend a special event or occasion, please select one of my fashion accessories, or request a commissioned piece using your outfit colours. All pieces are unique, one of a kind, completely handmade in Scotland, and sustainably produced.