New Designs : Old Ideas

January; a time for sorting, throwing things out, and starting fresh....but isn't it funny the things you find!?

I decided it was finally time to sort through all of my old college and uni work -you cant keep everything so time to be selective. Ah memory lane, all that work! and whats this? my old war project from my first year of college...

Some designs; some samples; a dress and a skirt ...that bears remarkable resemblance to the AW10 pleat skirt I designed!



I remember the original project began with a poem that my sister wrote. It was a reflective poem written from the perspective of a soldier having served through WW2. The pain, the horrors, and most of all the personal sacrifice. I wanted to communicate that juxtaposition of the defiant, hard, determined and austere front that was the national war effort, against the hearts and souls of real people; people that hurt, loved and lost. The real people underneath the shell.

I actually developed the pleat design by re-modeling a heavy, dowdy work skirt that I picked up in a charity shop. I re-fitted it, moved the pleats and darts and embellished the utilitarian fabric with tiny, delicate red silk roses.

Isn't it funny how some things remain in your subconscious. Even though I began at a different point when designing the pleat skirt for Llynfi, I somehow worked my way back toward a design that I loved back when I was 16.

...I wonder what else will resurface

New year, new plans, new label......

New Year - new plans! As we have to order some more garment labels, we thought it a good opportunity to rethink the design.

The Llynfi logo was originally 'Llynfi Angora', referring to my little herd of angora bunnies and the yarn and items made from the fluff. That was over 10 years ago, so it was about time for a revamp. And we have to go to a different company for these labels - as anything going into a certified organic item has to meet Global Organic Textile Standards.

Anyway! This is what we came up with, although the colour reproduction here isn't quite right. But you get the idea:

It was quite a mission to find a company to produce a small quantity at a reasonable price, and I finally found one in Dublin. A bit of a shame, as there are 2 or 3 here in West Wales that I would have preferred to use, but they couldn't fill in the risk assessment form. All gets a bit too complicated sometimes, and much of the organic system is geared towards major manufacture, at least where textiles are concerned.

And it's Snowing....Again!

Here we are all in the grip of the white stuff again. In Mydroilyn it was only possible to get out of the village in a 4-wheel drive - so glad I have a pick-up, even if it is a bit of a jalopy! The snow plough came through last night, so the road is usable with care, but there are steep hills out of the village on every route. And it's a very long walk to a shop!

Getting parcels out has been made more difficult by these problems, combined with the PO shut at unpredictable times - burst pipes, staff shortages, bocked roads - it's all been happening.

But the compensation is all the prettiness. And it is very pretty:

Left: This is the mill pond in it's winter outfit
Below: last summer's sedums disguised as giant mushrooms...

 And snow clouds heading towards the village....

 

Drop-stitch-gorgeous!

Our new mitts are proving very popular this Autumn. While the Hopscotch mitts go on and on, with their warm and practical double layer cuff and two tone colours, the 'DSGs' are perhaps a little more dressy. The scrunchy cuffs are warm and cosy and they still have the same thumb shaping which makes our mittens fit so well. A hit! I'll have to come up with a hat to go with them for next winter....maybe something a bit retro, bit 50's, rummage through my vintage books and patterns. Hmm. Paper and pencil time. Although.....maybe after Christmas!

http://www.llynfitextiles.co.uk/dsgmitts.html

Forms in Ice

 The continual dampness of a watermill comes into it's own when the temperatures plunge. It's been jolly cold indoors - we have yet to turn our attention to the kitchen here and its been 5c in there lately! But there's been enough of interest outside to keep my mind off it.

 The water leaks out from the pond and goes through a pipe over the top of the waterwheel. It splashes down into an old barrel and overflows into the tail race - with freezing temperatures the water is transformed into magical forms.

At the end of the leat (where the water comes down to the mill) there is a water pipe that drains the surface water from the road and the field across the lane. With a drop of about 3 feet, splashing onto rocks and stones, the water again freezes into the most intriguing forms and coats everything around with a layer of ice.

 

 

Fairs and Exhibitions, Design and Development

We have just got back from a lovely two days exhibiting at the Compton Marbling Autumn Fair, in Wiltshire. It was extremely cold, in a barn by an open door! But such a great atmosphere - created by both fellow stallholders and the visitors, who braved snow and ice to get there down country lanes. Many thanks to all! Driving home to West Wales, the temperature dropped to -13 C. Glad to have had a modern vehicle with a good heater.

One of the best things about such events is the feedback on our clothes and seeing them on a range of different people. Standard sizes are just an average and, of course, no-one is an average. When designing a piece we have to decide on the ease, line, style and figure type of the possible wearer. And the more people who try on a finished item, the clearer some decisions and directions become. Making an item in every variation to suit everyone is impossible unless we went down the made to measure route, but constructive comments and detailing issues are noted and taken into account for future developments and evolvement of a design.

We now have one more event in 2010 - at Penpont House , and then we'll be planning for 2011. Already in the pipeline is Wonderwool at Builth Wells in April, and we are considering the International Horse Trials at Glanusk at the end of June. If anyone has any ideas of a good event that they would like to see us at, let us know!

Computer age Dressing up Dolls

Remember those paper dolls that you played with as a little girl? The ones that had cut out clothes so you could mix and match outfits. On the 'Vogue' website I found this link http://gb.looklet.com/create It's the new age version!