An Embroidered Country Diary

Category: Interior

Inspiration for the pieces came from ‘The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady’ book, where the author ‘Edith Holden’ illustrates and writes about her experiences in nature. This book has a gorgeous vintage feel along with beautiful and cozy illustrations. I wanted to create a vintage inspired piece, that captured my experiences in nature but using textile art instead of the traditional illustrations of the book. The pieces are large panels with a raw edge to appear as if pages were taken out of a book and stitched into artwork. In my artistic practice I focus on sustainability and using natural materials. The fabric for the piece were all sourced second hand and were originally 100% cotton sheets. I really value using natural materials in my work especially since the textiles industry is one of the top polluting sectors, think its really important to use natural and upcycled fabrics. To sample techniques and process for my final piece I sourced old Irish linen handkerchiefs/sheets. I love the detailed embroidery and vintage quality these feature as well as playing a part in my sustainable practice. To give the piece a vintage quality I stained the natural fabric with the tea/coffee, as well as dying the materials the appropriate season colours. The text featured, is personal stories and memories from each season which was then screen-printed on the fabric in a cursive text. The piece heavily features embroidery (hand and machine) as well as mixed media practices such as, beading, image transfer, screenprint, ribbon embroidery, fabric dyeing, water-soluble fabric stitching and applique. I didn’t want the piece to be like a traditional historical piece of embroidery with flat long satin stitches which look realistic. To give a modern take on embroidery I layered many different techniques to create a 3 dimensional artwork that emerges from the edges of fabric to give that natural aesthetic and feel. The piece is designed to be hung up and displayed as a piece of stitched interior design- very commercial with a traditional theme of animals and nature and nice texture detail.