New embroidery kits

I've just designed a couple of new embroidery kits for sale through my Etsy shop. Here they are pictured below, they are now available for sale from here...

http://www.etsy.com/au/shop/KasiaJacquotShop?ref=l2-shopheader-name

and delivery to anywhere in Australia is free :)

 

The patterns are very easy to embroider. You can do the whole thing in a single colour and a single simple stitch, even the running stitch will look good! Or if you're fairly experienced you can cover the whole image with a myriad of stitches and colours. A design that is also easy for kids to follow. Just get a hoop, some threads and a needle. I'd love to hear from you with photos of your finished pieces. Please send me your pics to kasiajtextiles@gmail.com

Screen prints on hemp and linen cushions

Here was a most unusual commission. Three years ago a friend asked me to create a set of cushions for their lounge room neutral and earthy in colour and using natural, hardwearing fabrics. Easy. The designs on the cushions? African animals... mixed in with my Polish folksy motifs... errrr ok...

I admit I took a moment to let that sink in. This was going to be a challenge. But since my friend Valerie was confident about the result I decided to be confident too! So using the traditional folksy elements of floral and decorative motifs as well as symmetry, I married lions, zebras, a cheetah, gazelles and a boab tree together with the decorative elements that I know and love so much. All the designs were cut out of paper and silk screen printed onto hemp and linen. After three years of loving use the cushions look fabulous, they are soft and look like part of the family. So thank you Valerie, Carrington and Billy (and Scruffy I'm sure has had an afternoon nap or two on them) for this fun project!

 

Please contact me at kasiajtextiles@gmail .com for details and quotes on commissioned work.

Painting on fabric

 

This is an old painting I did a few years back and gifted to my auntie in Perth. (she loved it :)) The full shot is at the top but I also included some close ups which I absolutely love and feel that they could be artworks in themselves. The texture comes through with such warmth and the coloured layers give it such a happy and light feeling.

Pocket embrodiery

 

 

I have recently added some simple orange embroidery to an old linen dress. It's really given this dress new life. I added the word "here" on one pocket and the word "now" on the other pocket to remind myself that I should be spending most of my time in the present moment :)

Beaded necklace made from berries

 

Autumn is not far away. Last year I made some lovely necklaces out of autumn berries that grow on my street. I'm not a jewellery maker and it took me some time to work out how to get that clustered effect going. The necklace looked stunning and more importantly felt amazing to wear. It's so rare to wear something natural against your skin. Try making some out of the myriad of things that grow on trees and bushes. If you're not up for this style you can make a simple single strand necklace. Oh and the other lovely thing about this was that as the days went by the berries dried and changed colour. I didn't photograph them but they looked quite magical.

Painted floor

 

 

This was by far my absolutely favourite job in 2013. I was commissioned by a fair trade shop in Lane Cove to paint their floor. It's the biggest canvass I have ever had and took about 60 hours of painting to complete, not counting the design work ahead of the job. The shop, called One Village, stocks fair trade, ethically made products from all over the world. Joanna Gurung (owner) wanted this reflected in the design of the floor. I decided to represent each culture by a small design element inside each circle on the floor. The designs I used came from places like India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, Uganda, Spain, Turkey, Pakistan, to name a few. I was given free reign of the design and loved every minute despite having a very sore back at the end of the week of painting!

 

For comissions and quotes please contact me at kasiajtextiles@gmail.com

Embrodiery with tapestry wool

 

Luscious, tactile and warm. Whenever I find a piece of open weave fabric I always go for thick, brightly coloured tapestry wool. The effect is stunning and so quick to achieve. The wool being so much thicker than 6 ply yarn gives very quick coverage and is really forgiving if your stitches are not too even.

Embroidery on hemp/silk

 

 

 

This is the first time I've done a fairly detailed embroidery on this stunning fabric. It is a blend of raw silk and hemp. Unusual that's for sure, but so luxurious and soft. I used a 6 ply cotton yarn and the colours were inspired by the ocean during a trip to the south coast back in 2013. I have not yet decided what I will turn it into but stay tuned...

 

The fabric can be purchased from www.hempgallery.com.au in Sydney.

Woodburning

 

 

 

 

Recently I bought myself a wood burning tool from an art supplies shop. It's very much like a little soldering iron. I have not tried wood burning before so this was very much a trial and many of the lines on the wooden serving platter up above are quite wonky. I'm very happy with the overall effect. It has certainly given the platter an interesting look. I drew the design on with a pencil and then followed the lines. It was a lot of fun so I decided to decorate one of my embroidery hoops too. I love it!

Embroidered cushion

On the 13th February 2013 I marked the 30th year of my life in Australia. I did this by creating a beautiful piece of embroidery sourcing the design from traditional patterns and colours that appear on costumes from my region in Poland; Rzeszow. Here is the result, I'm very happy.

Paper cut outs

 

A small selection of my paper cut outs which I often use to screen print through.

Magic reindeer project

 

 

In November 2013 I was invited by Lane Cove council to take part in a collaborative project with 5 other artists and create a reindeer for a public Christmas display in Lane Cove. The reindeer were to be made of recycled materials and express each artists individual style. I used a whole heap of old heavy weight curtains which I embroidered with a mix of colours, styles and designs. The frame of the reindeer was made by a very talented scrap metal artist called Jodhi Doyle (pictured with me above). I described to Jodhi what I needed and he created a stunning frame out of scrap wire, old bits of metal piping and a spectacular set of old cast iron table legs for the reindeer antlers. You can see more of Jodhi's work here http://thescrappysculptor.com/

 

 

And here I am pictured with Angela van Boxtel (right) (www.greenwithenvyideas.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/reindeers-shine.html) and Anne Marie Cummins (left).