Find me on Instagram

My posts have been fewer and fewer of late and so I've decided that to kick off the New Year and keep things simpler, I'll just be updating my Instagram account from now onwards.

If you want to keep up to date and in touch, then you can find me over at @margueritedesigns

Hope to see you there!

Illustrator for Textile Designers

Yesterday, I finished my course at The Fashion and Textile Museum.  I'm busy updating my skills - things have moved on a long way since I was in college for textile design.  Then, everything was hand drawn and painted, not a computer in sight....  However, that's not a bad thing, since a computer cannot replicate that skill - it's just an aid to make the whole process more efficient. Getting to grips with Illustrator and also Photoshop earlier in the year has been quite something to get my head round but I've done it and it's something  I'm proud of.  Just need lots of practice now ....

Christmas is coming ....

....  It's been a while - but I'm back - you'll be able to read all about my latest make on the www.minervacrafts.com blog, 1 November 2019 :-)

Liberty Open Call - Last Chance to Vote

Today is the last chance to vote for me if you like my design.  Please vote here:

https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/features/design-and-living/liberty-open-call-voting.html

Thanks for all the support received so far :-)

Need your votes please - Liberty Open Call

I’ve been fit to burst with this and have come down with a cold instead ....

I’m a finalist in the #LibertyOpenCall search for the best untapped fabric design talent in the UK, organised by Liberty of London, which is the fabric design worlds’ equivalent to The X Factor.  There were over 5,000 entrants and it’s been narrowed down to a shortlist of 12.

Fabric and design have always been passions of mine - they are something I’ve kept for ‘me’ and my own time around regular employment (as many creative people do ...).

I would be very grateful if you could please vote for my ‘Deco Travel’ design at the following weblink:

https://www.libertylondon.com/uk/features/design-and-living/liberty-open-call-voting.html

My design is based on the Art Deco era – I’ve used a colour palette reminiscent of the time and also incorporated the Liberty ‘housestyle’ colours of purple and gold.  I illustrated it with motifs depicting luxury modes of travel and luggage labels for exotic destinations – in tune with the Liberty ethos.

Although not crucial, the public votes will help the judges with their task of choosing 5 winners.

Each winner will then visit the Liberty studio and have their design translated onto Liberty Tana Lawn cloth.  They will also be taken to Italy to see the design being printed in the mills and it will then be sold in store and kept in company archives.  Winners will also be paid the industry standard for their design and receive 5 metres of their own cloth.

I’m over the moon just to have got this far as the competition has been very fierce.  I’ve been trying to keep calm about it all but it’s very hard!

(Oh – and I might be on the telly – there will be a BBC programme called ‘One Day That Changed My Life’ about the competition, due to be aired next spring J  )

Anyway, thanks and grateful for any votes from you and anyone you know – I quite fancy a trip to Italy in February …..

Macmillan Bake Off Apron

It's that time of year again .... last year I posted about the Tracey Island cake I made for our work coffee morning.  I actually won 'Best Baker' with it!  I'm reluctant to lose my title so this year, I decided to make a special baking apron which could be raffled as a prize and so raise money that way.  I used a metre of Michael Miller 'Home Ec' fabric which I've had in my stash for a while now.  I used a toning purple bias binding for the finishing touches.  I made a couple of changes to the pattern, which is a Simplicity 1940's repro, as I didn't have quite enough fabric to make thicker waist ties but saying that, I quite like how mine turned out ....  I also missed out binding around the whole apron itself but I don't think that matters either - it might have been too much ....  I might add the rick rack which should go on the pocket borders next time I make it, which I will!  I really didn't want to give this away ....  I love the fabric and the apron shape itself is great - it looks like a little dress :-)

Minerva Product Testing - Monogram Bag

You can read all about how I made this initialled bag over on the Minerva Crafts website here  It's my latest product testing project.

I honestly didn't realise how complex bag making actually is ....  It involves as much time and effort as making a whole garment and there are a lot of decisions to be made about how to decorate it, what fabrics to put together, etc etc ....

Anway, I  hope you hop on over to Minerva and enjoy the read :-)