I've very recently started on a brand new cushion design and the first of 2015. I did write about it in the previous blog post but thought it'd be interesting to come back to it in terms of progress as that subject always fascinates me and like Button Fayre is continually evolving, so does a design.
I, more often than not, have an actual idea in my mind that I stick to but the exciting thing about the design process is that there's always rooms for new ideas to come in at any second and also the fact that sometimes the idea you had in your mind doesn't look so good in reality...yes, this does happen to me.
So, here's a reminder of the first afternoon spent on making a start on this design before I show you the next photo and explain what's going on in it.
From an artist's point of view, it always amazes me how long a design actually takes, sometimes even longer than the sewing itself! So much thought goes into every last detail, even at this stage, from which fabrics to use and where to place them in terms of colour and fabric design...it can get confusing sometimes and I often find myself going around in circles because something just doesn't look quite right and then two hours later I've realised that one tiny piece of the design just didn't look right or one button colour wasn't placed correctly ( and of course, all of this coming from my imagination too because what's right for one person may not be for another ).
Here's the progress photo and I love it, it's really taking shape now.
It may not look as though much has been added but the hours in the thought processes are evident and I love this stage because it brings me back to my roots of art and design which I've always adored with a passion ' placing this here and adding that there ' ......it's so exciting!
I've added the toadstools which have to be freehand machine embroidered but first I'll need to use fabric paint to hand paint stripes to the bottoms to give it an extra touch...I did this in another cushion design and it was really effective.
I need to freehand machine embroider the flowers to the left and right, above the toadstools, and also sew on the main flower stem which will be pretty fiddly. The birds are straightforward enough but I'm mostly looking forward to sewing the main body of the large flower head because it's something different to what I'd usually do and to make sure that each yo-yo flower shape is properly fixed I'm going to machine sew them in to place first and then hand sew each button to the centre's. Oh my goodness, the buttons, oh the buttons. They took me hours to get right in terms of colours and placements. There are extra buttons and sequiins in between it all, that I'll hand sew on, and I was going to add small button centres to the bottom flowers but decided it looked too much and took the focus off the large flower which is of course the main attraction of this design. I'll freehand machine embroider pretty centres to each of those instead which will give another visual feast to look at.
I think this design is fascinating in it's complexity and I can't wait to show you the next progress photo!
Moving on to fabrics....I have so many of them, and love nothing more than to be able to pick and choose which I'd like to use when I'm designing, but there's something quite magical about choosing new fabrics, and then of course receiving them.
A couple of times a year I'm known to have a bit of a fabric outburst where I'll go a little bit mad on specialised websites for new fabrics but these are actually the moments that I can waste money and never use some of them which is such a shame. So, I do tend to be a careful fabric shopper most of the time, only purchasing either something I've seen that screams at me to buy it there and then or something I need. I also tend to only buy a couple of fat quarter's ( half a metre ) at a time to test the fabric out because I can't think of anything worse than receiving metres of fabrics that aren't what I'd hoped they would be. If I love them, and find I can use them easily in my designs, then I'll simply buy more.
I found this recently on one of my favourite fabric websites and fell in love with it. It's nothing hugely special in actual design but a wonderful alternative to the gingham I'll often use as the base. I can imagine it with bright flowers all over it, really scrummied up. What do you think?
Brand new fabrics are so wonderful at making your mind feel refreshed, giving you inspiration and new ideas and so it's great to treat yourself once in a while.
I'd better toodle off now as I've got a few things to sew up and of course the new cushion design to continue working on....the sooner I'm finished, the sooner I can show you all the end result!
Happy Monday!
Lucy x
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