Laura Ashley prints at Uniqlo

Image from Laura Ashley blog

Uniqlo has launched a spring collection in collaboration with Laura Ashley. They’ve used a number of Laura Ashley’s archived prints from the 1950s until the present day. They’re very pretty and make me think of spring just to look at them.

I learnt of this collaboration by accidently strolling past the launch party on Oxford Street and was excited because it combined two of my favourite clothes ‘designers’/retailers.  I went in on a different day to get my mother a present and ended up leaving (like I always do in Uniqlo) with a bag stuffed full of goodies.

Image from Laura Ashley blog

The collection includes scarves, t-shirts and tunics. I think these will sell out fast so I recommend hop-skipping over to Uniqlo and picking up some pretty Laura Ashley prints at a reasonable price.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a portrait I made of my mother last week. I'm giving it to her this year for Mother's Day. The green coat is iconic.

Venus of the Rags

Venus of the Rags, Michelangelo Pistoletto

This is kind of what my flat looks like at the end of a work week. There are less naked marble statues though. This piece is currently installed in the Tate Modern and is one of my favourite art works there.

I Spy: Embroidered Stains

By Elvis Robertson

Whilst wandering the interwebs I came across this amazing project. That isn't an incredibly dirty table cloth in the above photo. Those are embroidered stains. I know. Amazing right?

Here's a close up of a different but similar piece of work:

This is all the work of Elvis Robertson. I found his/her (?) work on the blog lovely textiles. Sadly it seems this is no longer an active site as it hasn't been updated since last year. This may be due in a large part to the fact that the artist has a new commercial website here. Wonderful work though. I'm going to have to read through the blog's whole archive I think. It looks well worth a flick.

Book Review: Fa la la la Felt by Amanda Carestio

This book is full of amazing Christmas decorations you can make at home. The editor, Amanda Carestio, has gathered together ideas from designers all over the world. You can make tree ornaments, stockings and miscellaneous 'decorations'.

Designer: Cathy Gaubert

It has some lovely, inspiring pictures and very clear instructions. There are also templates for all of the items at the back of the book.

I was given this book as a Christmas present and it really is fabulous. It's a great book for beginners I think as the steps are very easy to follow and it also provides clear instructions on how to do a variety of stitches.

It's available on amazon, and I'm sure other places too.

A self-portrait in felt

Attack of the felt goldfish

Felt goldfish attacking a bemused lady.

I've spent the last few weeks making a swarm of felt goldfish. I now have nine. This is how many I could cut out of one square of orange felt. I do have more felt but I think it would be mentally unhealthy to make more. I've found myself cackling in triumph as I add each new fish to the swarm. Best to step away now I feel. I'm already pondering what I will do with nine felt goldfish.

The pattern for the fish is from Fa la la la Felt edited by Amanda Carestio. The designer of the fish was Lisa Jordan. It's an amazingly simple pattern. You can probably copy it just from these photos. More impressive is the idea itself which comes from the book. These are recommended as Christmas decorations, which I just love as an idea. What's more Christmassy than a flock of goldfish peeping out from your tree?

Close ups of four fish

They are actually 3d. Both sides of the fish are decorated and they're stuffed, which isn't immediately obvious from these photos.

I'm going to have a go at making some more of the things in this book and then I will give it a proper review. I just wanted to share my fish. My numerous, beautiful and terrifying fish.