To have and to hold

 

One of the 'treasures' I discovered when clearing out my mother's house as she moved into residential care was this Simplicity dress pattern. It was not used for my mother' wedding gown but I think for the bridesmaids.  The pattern pieces for view 2 had been cut out. I wanted to use the pattern tissue as one of the materials for my piece.

This formed my inspiration for the 'Monochrome' theme for the Out of the Fold exhibition in September 2022

Married in 1962 my parents had a wonderfully happy marriage which only ended after 47 years on the death of my beloved father in 2009

The words of the marriage ceremony really does reflect their life together through the many up and downs of life. 

At a three day workshop with Amanda Clayton earlier this year I discovered silk crepeline fabric for the first time - the lightest sheerest silk I have used. This has been combined with the paper pattern tissue, silk organza, cotton organdie and nylon tulle as the materials. All stitched with white cotton thread. 

Experiments with paper lamination also played a part as did pojagi piecing  techniques and the Amanda Clayton method of joining sheer fabrics (but by machine and not by hand)

Stitching onto such lightweight silk fabrics and net was a new challenge for me. Using soluble fabric and a washaway pen proved useful.  

The piece changed many times during the making; emerging from the planned wall hanging into a full sized three dimensional mixed media piece of work. 

'To Have and to hold' will be exhibited as part of the Out of the Fold exhibition at the Pond Gallery, Snape Maltings, Suffolk IP17 1SP from 30th September until 5th October 2022