Wearable Art Jewellery - a New design

2015-05-14T17:29:34.769+01:00  Another piece of wearable art in the making

I started with choosing the colours and the main feature

The yarns I selected were caramel slubbed cotton, cream silk yarn and stone silk and wool. I wrapped white cotton jersey strips with the cream and stone yarns

A rough sketch of my design idea

This beautiful fossil stone pendant was the featured element and I covered aluminum wire with the caramel slubbed cotton to attach it to the main necklace and for some decoration.

So far so good but it has taken hours to get this far!

Now you will have to be patient, I will blog the finished necklace as soon as it 'comes off the drawing board'

Corsets, Crinolines and Codpieces 7 Women in Action

2015-04-23T19:38:48.062+01:00

Womens fashion in action....Making a Splash

From historical records we know that humans were no strangers to water but it wasn't until the Victorian era in England that women were allowed to enjoy swimming in public.
This photograph ( thanks to Roland Unger)  comes from a 10,000-year-old rock painting of people swimming and was discovered in the Cave of the swimmers near Wadi Sura in Southwestern Egypt.

In Europe sea water was regarded as therapeutic rather than a place to enjoy a swim.

It seems we had to wait until the 1800 in England before woman started bathing in the sea.
The introduction of the railways made it possible for many more people to travel to the seaside.

It was still unfashionable to have a tanned skin or to expose too much of the female body in public
At the beginning of the 1800's walking dresses for the sea side were designed. These were usually of light cotton with a high neck and long sleeves and worn with cotton trousers, gloves, scarf, bonnet and sandals or light shoes.

By mid 19th century dresses were being designed for bathing, these were made of heavy flannel worn over bloomers to the ankle in the same fabric .The ensemble included stockings, shoes and a hat or turban.
At first they were made to completely cover the whole body and were cumbersome to wear and extremely heavy when wet and often were worn with a special corset designed for swimming.

From American Harper's Magazine 1858

Bathing Dresses 1864

Corset for swimming, American

 Bathing machines were also invented , these were changing huts on wheels that were dragged into the sea by horses and later included a hood over the front so that the bather could leave and return to the machine without being in the public eye.

By the late 1800 the costume design had changed to allow more freedom but were still made of wool. The sleeves of the dresses were short and puffed worn with knee length bloomers and often black stockings.

1864 FASHION

 Shoes were a necessary addition to protect the feet from pebbles, rocks and glass. Shoes for the beach could be purchased near by, usually made from canvas or toweling with straw or rope soles. They were often embellished by the wearer.

By the end of the century mixed bathing was permitted and with it less restricting fashions, the bathing machines became redundant.

In 1912 swimming became a recognized sport for women and they were allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time.

in 1920 figure hugging jersey suits with no sleeves lower necks and short legs.

 In 1926 Gertrude Ederle, an American, was the first woman to swim the English Channel

  More Women in Action fashions to follow

 

Apple Blossom latest jewellery design in my Etsy Shop

2015-06-21T16:46:16.771+01:00

Wearable Art Jewellery

Apple Blossom Necklace and Earrings

Now for sale in my Etsy Shop

Apple Blossom Necklace
 € 130.00 
  Pretty apple blossoms and pink glass pearls, make this a very summery necklace.
I used natural slubbed silk and butter milk coloured yarns to wrap cotton jersey material to make the necklace and wrapped aluminium wire to make the spikes. The spikes are decorated with glass pearls in shades of pink attached with silver wire.

The necklace measures 55cms. end to end and is fastened with a silver plated hook and ring.

Apple Blossom Earrings 
 € 30.00
 S shapes in aluminium wire covered with natural silk yarn and below three glass pearls in pinks and different sizes hang on silver plated wire
Made to compliment the Apple Blossom necklace in my shop.
Pretty and lightweightThe earrings measure 5 cms. from hook. The hooks are silver plated, nickle free.

Sarah Robinsonhttps://plus.google.com/1013476877881924224220

Wearable Art - New Design - complete and ready for sale!

Sarah Robinsonhttps://plus.google.com/1013476877881924224220 2015-04-13T16:33:36.670+01:00

Wearable Art Necklace and Earrings 'RUSTIC'

...At last they are finished...If you were following my blog about this set...there were several features I was uncertain about!
The first was the basic necklace

The original design was too unbalanced

...so back to the drawing board..I redid some of it

I was much happier with that arrangement

The next problem was how to decorate it...I chose the leaves and added wooden beads and more finer wrapped wire

 ..and then I attached it to the basic necklace

Now for some earrings to compliment the necklace
I couldn't decide so I made two pairs!

 and

All these will be for Sale in My ETSY Shop soon 

https://www.etsy.com/ie/shop/Mouflon

Wearable Art...new design!

Sarah Robinsonhttps://plus.google.com/1013476877881924224220 2015-04-03T18:04:24.990+01:00

I have begun another piece of wearable art jewellery.....

I chose some stone white coloured silk and wool yarn with a slight slub and used as a base white cotton jersey material.

As always it took ages to do the wrapping, the design gradually evolving as I worked.

...added more 'ropes'....not sure if its too busy now?

 

I have made the fixing at the back of the neck.

...and now I am trying to decide how to finish it
I have two ideas

The first is another stone from Morocco.

 attached with yarn covered wire

 or perhaps brown oak leaves and wooden beads and seeds?

 WATCH THIS SPACE FOR THE COMPLETED NECKLACE!!

 

Essaouria, Morocco

2015-03-14T16:44:33.251Z

...just returned from Morocco

We spent three wonderful days in Essaouria

The Medina Walls

Rough seas crashed against and went over the medina walls!

The small Fleet

The weather was hot and very windy.
We stayed at the  Riad le Grand Large in the Medina, excellent, definitely ticks all the boxes. 

Third floor of the Riad

From the third floor looking up to the terrace

Waiting for the weather

Although most of the fishing boats were unable to go out some fish was still landed

Gulls after scraps

Fresh fish on the quay

So we were able to have fresh sardines for lunch at our favorite restaurant Safran in the Old Grain Market

Lunch at Safrans

 For Irish readers...you can fly Ryanair Dublin to Marrakesh twice a week. The Supratours coaches opperate from Marrakesh to Essaouria six times daily http://www.marrakechtickets.co.uk/supratours-bus-tickets/ Booking.com has many places to stay including the Riad le Grand Large

Wearable Art... Moroccan inspired Jewellery

Wearable Art

'Rissani' Necklace and Earrings

As my inspiration for this set I used a beautiful piece of polished rock from the Tahiri Fossil Museum, Rissani, Morocco.

I used silk yarn to wrap cotton jersey material to make the necklace and wrapped aluminum wire to make the tendrils and the earrings.

The earrings measure 5 cms. from hook. The hooks are silver plated, nickle free.

The necklace measures 51cms. end to end and is fastened with a silver plated hook and ring.

If you would like to know more about this museum or fossils in Morocco here are two links you may like to follow.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6nmhP7j01Y

http://www.aramcoworld.com/issue/200902/morocco.s.trilobite.economy.htm