We visited the new pottery cafe on Northcote Road, Battersea just before Christmas to make some unique presents for family. Lily painted with her feet to create a gorgeous little mug for her Auntie (complete with red London bus stamp on the inside!) and we turned her footprints into butterflies on plates for the grandparents.
*Soft tones of white and shadow greys *Cords and wires attached to nothing *Traces of furniture embossed in the carpets *Faded marks from a wall of postcards *Stripped back to lines, frames, edges and form. bye bye Battersea
The Wallpaper Dress is a collaborative project between Melanie, creator of blog makeitdigital and author of Digital Textile Design, and Sarah, creator of blog postcardsfrombattersea and a textiles trend researcher.
The project explores themes of customisation and emotional attachment, where a found pattern is transformed into a treasured and unique garment using local resources and skills. The journey has enabled Sarah to be part of the entire process from the initial discovery of the print, to the reworking and printing, making, and finally styling in a photo shoot that brings the original and modern interpretation together.
The print originated as a sample piece of hand block-printed wallpaper that was found by Sarah at her local vintage fair in Battersea. Melanie scanned the sample and put the design into repeat using Photoshop, which she then digitally printed onto cloth at Chelsea College of Art, where she is a senior lecturer. The original texture of the block print was maintained by using organic linen that gave a slightly faded and textural surface quality.
Sarah and Melanie chose a dress pattern that was in keeping with the character of the print and worked with Lynn, a local dressmaker based in Herne Hill, to create a custom-made dress for Sarah. As a way of merging analogue and digital techniques, Melanie hand-embroidered over some of the motifs to create subtle placement details that explored themes of slow textiles and of a hybrid digital craft.
The entire process took place in an area of 4.5 miles in South London.
Ok, so it isn't snowing quite this much at the moment, but I love these photos I took in Battersea park when we had the really crazy snowfall earlier in the year. I love the way the snow is sagging and draping like fabric.
