in the studio with Letty McHugh

Long-time Knit Happens readers will know about Letty McHugh. She's an artist and writer who is fearless, funny and also a dear friend. Her weakness for clogs knows no bounds and her approach to creativity always challenges and inspires me. 

At the end of last, year, I visited Letty in Yorkshire. We ate parkin, visited the Bronte parsonage, laughed till we cried, talked each others' ears off and drank tea in our pyjamas. We also visited her studio space in Hebden Bridge and had a very long chat about print, crochet slippers and inheriting textiles skills. Prepare for serious workspace envy. 

So Letty, what do you make?

Oh man, that's quite a question. I make art, I guess, and write things. I do print making and textiles and illustrations.

What's the last thing you made?

I did some illustrations for my blog a few weeks ago. The last proper big project I did was for my MA, called This is Your Inheritance, which was 70m of printed fabric.

Letty and her This is Your Inheritance project

What was the story behind that?

I started with stories from my own family. I had a lot of handmade textile objects that I had inherited from my great grandma. I inherited her treadle sewing machine as well, that my mum and her mum had learnt to sew on. I wanted to make a project that would celebrate them and investigate whether the textile skills that have been passed down to me were a common thing in other families.

How did this come together in a print project?

I did some experiments exposing the textile objects directly on the screen. I also interviewed 130 women online, and researched the idea of spectacle. When people look at doilies for example, they dismiss them.

You wanted to show these textile objects in a different context?

Yes, to transform them enough so they'd be considered in a new way, but still be recognisable enough that they'd retain their original associations. By printing them in an installation the same dimensions as the Bayeux Tapestry, a really significant historical object, it makes people recognise the objects and their meaning. I was keen to work on a large scale and prompt people to reconsider textile as something important, rather than frippery.

The idea was to make people think about the objects and the skills that had gone into them. In my family, these are skills that kept homes warm and put food on the table, rather than just, 'oh look, a pretty doily'. I still don't think we value these skills as a society. If you paid an electrician to come and fix your light, you'd be paying a lot more.

This is Your Inheritance

How long have you been in this studio?

I moved in in February 2013, so four years.

What was the first thing you did after moving your stuff in?

That's when I was doing big, inky drawings and was looking at doing more surface pattern designs.

What are you working on now?

I'm just starting a project called A Seaworthy Vessel about how we recover from trauma.

What form will that take? 
When my grandad was in the merchant navy, he was in an industrial accident and lost two and a half of his fingers. To rehabilitate his hands, he learnt to knit and made slippers for his family. It was less creative expression for him than necessity – he just got on with it. I've been thinking about how we use textiles to cope in our lives. I'm planning to crochet slippers and make them into little boats, possibly screen printing on the sails.

And what's one thing you can't make without?

Music and a view out of a window. You need time to sit about and do nothing to have the space in your mind for ideas. I try not to take work and books on the train with me.

the shop is open!

Guys, I did a thing. Last week I launched my To Be Adorned Etsy shop!

Yep, this is one of the things I've secretly been working on for ages. It's been one of my goals since about 2010 to create my own collection of bits and bobs and launch an Etsy shop. And I've finally done it!  

Inspired by antique jewellery, vintage fashion and my own love of crochet, I've designed a mini collection of handmade accessories with decadent details. Some of the items are wedding focused and some of them are just for feeling a little bit more fabulous! I'm absolutely bursting with ideas at the moment and getting creative in this new way has brought me so much joy, so I'm thrilled to finally be able to share this with you. 

To Be Adorned is basically a newborn right now and I know I've got a lot to learn and a shed load of hard work ahead of me, but here goes! 

I'd love to know what's inspiring you and bringing you joy at the moment. 

Remembrance Sunday

A host of handmade poppies at St Bart's in Bath. Each one carefully knitted, sewn or crocheted. 

A beautiful act of remembrance. 

MimiBespoke: I Couldn't Make Without...

The lady herself, rocking a tricorne hat like it's nobody's business. Photo by Joanna Jacobs.

Fashion design, pattern cutting, sewing and millinery, is there anything Emily can't do? The super-talented creative madam behind MimiBespoke talks weddings, Grace Kelly and Japanese style.

Hey Emily, can you tell us about what you make and how you got started? 

"I make garments and hair accessories for everyday wear and occasions such as weddings. My designs often stem from period fashion, mainly the Victorian and Rococo eras. I think to look forward in fashion we need to look back at those times with fresh eyes and create something elegant and new. I mainly make bespoke wear for clients, but I do have a stock of ready-to-ship garments and accessories too. 

 I've always been creative and liked making things, and my mum taught me the basics of sewing and how to cut dresses and outfits. I've never been a fashion follower per say, but I've always had my own style and I was able to make the dresses I wanted, with my mum's help.

I studied art and design at the Arts Institute in Bournemouth, which is now called the Arts University of Bournemouth. That's where I got my first taste of historical and theatrical garments. I was fortunate enough to do work experience with the costume department of the university. I fell in love with costume and wanted to create those beautiful garments and see them up on stage.  My love of theatre and film has not diminished, even though I have taken a different turn and gone down the fashion route rather than the costume route. Isn’t fashion a form of costuming anyway, as we all wear a style to convey who we are? I chose the fashion route because I feared losing my love of theatre. I've seen what it does to people with my own eyes when they work from morning till night on a production! Also because I met my lovely husband and a life in the theatre is not always a good one for relationships, especially if the other half is a chef! After uni, I went to work in a bespoke bridal salon where I cut all the wedding dresses out for 18 months. I learnt a lot from my time there about cutting. All of these stepping stones are what have got me on the road to starting my own bespoke occasion wear line. I was very fortunate to find what I enjoyed most and what I was best at from a young age.

Victorian-inspired dress and fascinator. Photo by Poole Portraits.

You have such a variety of fab designs, what inspires you? 

Lots of different things inspire me! I'm always researching different eras, at the moment I am loving 1920s and 30s fashion - its simple elegance really stands out. Other things that inspire me are art and theatre, nature and Japan. I love Japanese fashion, it's so fun and fresh but also draws inspiration from the past. In Japan, it's not about blending in but standing out and showing your personality. 

A 1930's-inspired bias cut gown from her new collection. Sigh. Photo by Emily. 

How do you stay motivated? 

What keeps me motivated is my clients, finished garments and how happy they are wearing the garment on their special day or event they are involved in. It gives a sense of accomplishment. The other things that keep me motivated are learning new skills and experimenting, I have been working on and off now for a year on fascinators and period style hats. I have done courses in millinery and I hope to do more, I love learning new skills and improving the ones I have. The best feeling is looking back at your work and seeing how far you have come in the last year.

You've made some really stunning gowns. What's been your proudest making moment?

 It's hard to say. I'm generally proud of my work because I put a lot of effort and time into each piece, with the help of my business partner. If I were to pick just one dress, it would be the one I made for a client the summer just gone, it was a beautiful vintage-style dress. It reminded me of Grace Kelly, it was demure but sophisticated and suited the bride perfectly. 

Endless lace and tiny buttons? Umm, yes please. 

And finally, what is the one thing that you simply couldn't make without?

 It would have to be a good pair of sharp scissors, without accurate cutting you can’t make a perfectly fitting dress. The cut is the most important aspect of the garment, if that's not right then the rest of the garment will not go together easily and will not look as beautiful as it should."

Gah! So fabulous. MimiBespoke is on Facey B at https://www.facebook.com/Mimibespoke so you can see what Emily's been stitching and snapping lately. I'm off to gawp at her gowns and appreciate my scissors.

Off the hook (again): crochet ring pillow

I did it! Two and a bit weeks to go and I've finally stitched up the ring pillow. It's rather dinky and just a little bit wobbly and I'm 100% fine with that. The best men will have to fight over who has the honour/embarrassment of toting the world's tiniest cushion. Bazinga. 

As usual, the details are all on Ravelry (come and say hello). I was toying with the idea of maybe adding a picot or scallop edging. What do you reckon? Too much? 

the summer of making: little bird how-to

Hey internet lovelies, remember three weeks ago when I said I'd post a craft project every week?  Well, me and The Chap kinda moved somewhere without internet - oh dear. Anyway, broadband is go at long last, so let's put that dark time behind us and get making! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm not a great sewer, so this is my super-easy, super-cute, idiot-proof how-to for a little hanging bird. 

You'll need to lay your hands on a pair of fabric scissors, pins, and a needle and thread.  Then roll up your sleeves and raid your nearest fabric scrap bin for ditsy prints and vibrant florals.  Find some toy or cushion stuffing to fill the birds, but additional fabric scraps could work too.  And of course, a nice bit of ribbon is a must. 

Believe it or not, this is the bird template

1.  Print or trace the bird image above, or you could draw your own.  Cut it out.  This will be your template or pattern piece.  

2.  Pin the template onto your fabric. 

3.  With the fabric scissors, carefully cut out your bird shape, leaving a gap of about a centimetre and a half all the way around as your seam allowance. 

4.  Remove your template from the fabric.  Flip it over and repeat steps 2 and 3.  You should now have the two sides that make up your nightingale. Stitch fabric or ribbon scraps in place as wings. 

5.  Sandwich these two pieces together so that the brighter (right) sides of the fabric are inside and the duller (wrong) sides of the fabric are facing out. 

6.  Cut a length of ribbon about 30cms long.  Knot the ends together to make a loop.

7.  Place this loop inside your ‘bird sandwich’.  The knot should be peeping out the top, just behind the bird’s head.  Pin it in place.

8.  Pin your ‘bird sandwich’ together, and then it’s ready to be stitched!

9.  Thread up your needle and sew all around the edge of the shape in small, neat stitches, making sure you leave a 1.5 cm seam allowance. 

10.  Don’t sew all the way around!  At the end, leave a gap of about 5cms.

11.  Cut notches into your seam allowance so your birdy keeps its shape.

12.  Using that little gap you left, turn the nightingale out so the right sides are facing out. 

13.  Stuff the bird with your filling, and then neatly stitch up the hole. 

Give your bird a beady eye with a French knot or vintage button.  You could even add some lavender to your filling and make a whole fragrant flock! Your bird can brighten up your wardrobe, sock drawer, or that weird drawer of bits you don't really know what to do with. You know, the one with the old batteries and keys to things you no longer own.

Say I'm a bird!

GIVEAWAY - (at last) sew fab

It's high time we had a giveaway around these parts, right?

If you're a Knit Happens regular then you're probably well aware that, despite a textiles degree, I'm actually not much of a sewer (sewerer? sewist?), particularly since the sad demise of my sewing machine in '09. Yup, knit, crochet and embroidery all the way. As such, it seemed only right that my nonsensical sewing stash go to a much better place - your sewing table. 

I've got three sweet sewing patterns up for grabs - that means three winners - yay! Scroll down for more details on each of the patterns. They are all uncut, as new. 

To enter, all you need to do is be following Knit Happens and leave a little comment below letting me know which pattern you'd like and a way I can contact you. Feel free to tweet or share the giveaway on Facebook for an extra entry. I'll pick the winners on Monday 24th June. 

Pattern 1 - Audrey

A simple, summery empire line pattern with a full, a-line panelled skirt. Versions D and D of this frock are delightfully 50s and Hepburn-esque with their high necklines, but it can also be made with straps or a halter. The New Look pattern is for UK sizes 8-18 and is in English, French or Spanish. 

Pattern 2 - Florence

A pretty, floaty and super-versatile pattern. Work pin tuck detailing in knee length, calf length or maxi. You can make one of four different variations of the dress, or one of two cute tunics. It's a New Look pattern for sizes UK 10-22 in English, French and Spanish.

Pattern 3 - Meryl

A vintage Butterick beauty from 1994. No kidding, I actually thought the model on the front was Meryl Streep at first glance! Make a quirky, knee-skimming panelled 90s gown and cute cropped jacket.  The pattern is for UK sizes 12-16 and is in English and French. 

Bonne chance!

gosh, darn it!

My debut darning attempts

In May I got my Make Do and Mend on and went along to Scrapiana's brilliant 'Strictly Come Darning' workshop. Read all about it on the Simply Knitting blog. I certainly learnt a thing or two, and have since found that pretty much all of my socks and tights could do with a strengthening darn on the heel. I may have my work cut out! Do you dare to darn?

bonnet boom

"I shall wear a large bonnet, and bring one of my little baskets hanging on my arm.  Here, -- probably this basket with pink ribbon."

Emma

Jane Austen

I was commissioned to trim some more bonnets!  This time a couple of Austen-style bonnets for little ones.  I used straw hats for the bases again, trimmed with bias binding and lovely grosgrain ribbon.  They're covered with vintage cotton in cute floral prints.  Considering the sewing machine threw a bit of a wobbly so they're hand stitched, I'm pretty pleased with them.  

I even used the melty technique for the first time to stop the ribbon ends fraying. Just trim your ribbon ends diagonally, then hold over a flame (think candle/lighter, not bonfire) for a few seconds so it melts a little, forming a seal.  No more fraying!   

Sewing, snoods and other magic

This week: my internship turned festive (see above), there were handmade treats in the post from Gina (see below) . . .

Look - aposable thumbs!  Perhaps they will save me from this yellow wall . . .

and I finally finished the snood 2.0!  Huzzah!

For the pattern check out this blog post.  I used size 10 needles, cast on an extra 10 stitches at the beginning and worked six more rows at the end. It's super cosy and Nan friendly.  One Christmas present down, heaps more to go. 

What's been magical in your week?

A handbag?

Hooray! The reticule turned out well. I finished off the sewing while nursing a nice chai latte in town. Who needs Mulberry when you could make yourself one of these babies? Not sure if I could take it clubbing though.

The workshop was thoroughly fabulous. Check out http://www.charlotterainecorsetry.co.uk/ for more info. While trawling the web for anything similar, I came across this hilarious knitting pattern http://janitesonthejames.blogspot.com/2009/07/are-you-crafty-create-your-own.html