Month: April 2010

Birdies at the Barbican

Hopefully you can all see this embedded video of the finches at the Barbican in London – an installation by Céleste Boursier-Mougenot. We went on a little trip yesterday evening, and had an absolutely magical time watching and listening to a room full of little birds and musical instruments.

The video is of a previous incarnation of this installation, so the environment isn’t quite the same. The floor at the Barbican is wooden decking, with little islands cut out of it which are filled with sand and grass-type plants. The guitars and cymbals are mounted in these islands. The rest of the room is white, and there are roosting boxes high up on the walls so that the birds can hide away if they want to.

The sound at the Barbican isn’t quite as dramatic or as loud as it is in the video – unless the birds were just in a particularly quiet mood yesterday. The speakers are mounted well away from the individual instruments, so it’s quite hard to tell exactly where the sound is coming from. This makes the experience slightly more surreal, and presumably helps the birds not to be terrified that they’ve just made a bass guitar go CLANG.

The birds do fly free, so if you’re nervous about that it might be a bit stressful.

But you can get really close to the finches, and pay real attention to them as they go about their birdy business. I stopped noticing the sounds after a little while, but it’s really interesting how the noises that the birds make blends in really well to the constant little feedback sounds of them landing on the guitars or the microphone cables. Every now and then there would be a flurry of activity on a cymbal or a guitar, but for me the excitement and magic of the room was getting to see the birds up close and personal, interacting with one another. The whole room was filled with quiet, respectful, smiling people. You could see that everyone was dying to get really close to the birds, but everybody kept their distance – and if you got too close, the finches would simply fly away. At one point a finch sat on a man’s foot, and he looked as though he might explode with joy whilst standing extremely still.

Paul spent ages watching and listening to one little finch that liked to sit on the cable of a microphone that was attached underneath a cymbal. His little feet made scratchy pickup sounds as he shuffled back and forth. The cymbals were really lovely to listen to. They were mounted upside down, and two were filled with seed and another with water. As the birds pecked at the cymbals to eat the seed, there was a beautifully gentle ringing sound, like the softest gong.

I spent ages watching one little finch that had fallen asleep on the neck of a guitar. He looked so comfortable, perched on the strings! His eyes were shut tight, and he was gently rocking back and forth as he slept. Bless. There were also a pair of birds that had made a nest on another guitar. They were making a lot of noise as they rearranged all the strands of grass to their satisfaction. They were also quite defensive, and would sing loudly at anyone who came too close.

The Curve Gallery at the Barbican is open from 11am-8pm every day, and until 10pm on Thurdsays. We went at about 6:30pm, which turned out to be ideal. We only had to queue for about five minutes (sometimes the wait is up to three-quarters of an hour), and we spent around an hour inside. They only allow 25 people inside the exhibition at a time, so it never feels crowded. Entry is free, and sadly you’re not allowed to take photographs inside.

I only wish I lived close enough to go back again and again.

Summer shoes

So, the weather’s just starting to get to the point where it might be warm enough to take off my Doc Martens, and start looking for some pretty shoes for the summer. A colleague came into work today wearing a pair of these. I was very well behaved, and didn’t wrestle her to the ground and steal them – if only because they would have been too small. (And I’d have been fired.) They’re from Shoon, and I find them sorely tempting. The double straps make them easy to fit, and that scalloped edging is the perfect detail.

The Inga from Sweden website reveals that the clogs come in eight different colours, but I haven’t yet managed to discover where I might be able to buy them in the UK – beyond the black ones that they have in Shoon.

I know I’ve written about my love for swedish clogs before, and seeing this pair in Schuh yesterday has definitely set it off again. The temptation to grab as many pairs as possible while they’re fleetingly fashionable is very strong.

Originally I’d planned to buy these lovely pink comfortable summer shoes from Clarks. Unfortunately for them, the customer service in my local branch was so poor that I left without buying them. I’m still vaguely thinking about buying them online, but I’m very torn now between these and the clogs.

Dotty Dress

McCalls 9456

This is incarnation number two of McCalls 9456. (Here’s the first one.)

As you can see, this is a knee-length version with short sleeves. The fabric is a viscose/cotton jersey which is just hovering around the edges of being too fiddly for me to work with. It’s very light and drapey, and even using the differential feed on my sewing machine it did have a tendency to drag. I edged the sleeves and hem on the overlocker.

This is the second glorious weekend in a row that I’ve been stuck indoors sewing, instead of making the most of the weather and getting out into the garden. The reason this time is that we’re having a new kitchen delivered this week, and that means putting the entire contents of the existing kitchen out in my sewing Shed. I won’t be able to get at the machine or the cutting table for two or three weeks, so I wanted to get this little dress done first.

I’m going into hospital at the beginning of May, and I’ll be on crutches when I come out again, so I wanted a simple little dress that I can wear for lounging around. Wearing this one should cheer me up nicely… and if I get bored while I’m recuperating, I can always embroider something in the spots!

Altering some new trousers

H! by Henry Holland

I like Henry Holland, and he had some trousers in Debenhams, and they were pink tartan, so obviously it was compulsory for me to buy them.

(Yes, I know they look ridiculous. I have every intention of wearing them anyway.)

But!
Because these are tapered trousers, the legs were much too tight in my usual size. So I tried the next size up, which were much more roomy in the legs but ridiculously enormous around the waist.

So I looked at the trousers and came up with a solution.

H! by Henry Holland
First I carefully removed the fake pocket welts from the back.

H! by Henry Holland
Then I wrapped the resulting strip of fabric around a length of elastic, and sewed them together many times.

H! by Henry Holland
I tucked the elasticated strip underneath the belt loops, and sewed it into place. Now the trousers can’t do that annoying gappy business at the back!

I also slipstitched down the inside pleats on the front, so that it didn’t look as though I was carrying inexplicable balloons in my pockets.

Ta-daa!

New trousers.

Letters

Painted envelopes

Apparently spring is Birthday Season around here, because I suddenly discovered that I needed to send out a whole bunch of birthday gifts at the same time. A few of us have been enjoying writing actual physical letters to one another recently, so I decided to put together some letter sets.

They’re bigger than they look – what you can see in the picture is five A4 envelopes. Inside each one is a set of ten sheets of A4 Conqueror writing paper in a lovely deep creamy colour, with five matching DL envelopes. I also put in a few little “thank you” cards, a gel pen, a mini propelling pencil, and a couple of Airmail stickers.

The outer envelopes looked a bit plain, so I decided that a spot of hand lettering was the order of the day. You can’t really tell from this photo but they’re painted with metallic acrylics, and then outlined with a very fine marker.

I really enjoyed painting these – I spent a very pleasant afternoon watching endless Eddie Izzard DVDs as I wielded my very tiny paintbrush.

A Different Path.

Longleat Forest

Today I made an interesting decision. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, but today seemed like the right time.

I telephoned HM Revenue & Customs, and told them that I was no longer self-employed. I have one last tax return to fill in and one last bank account to close, and that’ll be it. No more business.

I thought I’d be really sad when this moment came, and for a while I did feel as though I was failing. Had failed. Couldn’t earn a living wage through any of my endeavours, no matter what they were or how hard I tried.

But then I got a job. A job that I’m really, really happy with, even though it seems to be changing and expanding by the minute. Sometimes it’s a bit tricky, sometimes it’s a bit stressful, sometimes there’s lots to do and I just have to get on with it. I’ve only been there for a few weeks, but I’m really enjoying it. I’m doing web work, print work, information wrangling, and I’m actually using the skills I learnt on my degree course. I’m part of a team again, which I hadn’t realised I was missing so much.

I’ll still be sewing and knitting and making jewellery and growing food and taking photos. They’re some of the things that I really enjoy, so I won’t stop doing them just because I’m away from my Shed most days. But I’ll be looking at all of those things in a new light because, for the first time in almost a decade, I can finally do whatever I want. I don’t have to worry about what other people will like, or what might sell. I can simply please myself.

I’m really looking forward to it.

I made a doll.

A while ago I decided I’d like to make some dolls.

Shortly after that, a friend sent me a book about making dolls by Patti Medaris Culea.

For what is possibly the first time in my life, I decided to try and make something exactly according to the pattern, so this is Doll #1. (Okay, I couldn’t do it. She’s also got the face stitching from Doll #3.)

She’s made from plain white poly-cotton, and I’d call this passable, for a first attempt.

First Doll

(More pictures over at Flickr)

She’s poseable at the hips and shoulders, and sits up quite happily by herself. From bum to head she’s about 9″ tall. If she could stand up straight she’d measure about 22″ to the tips of her very pointy toes. The next pattern is jointed at the knees and elbows too, and although I love the beautiful shape of the legs on this doll, I’d definitely like to make one that moves a bit more.

I haven’t stitched in her fingers yet, mostly because I don’t seem to have a foot on my sewing machine that allows me to actually see what I’m doing on such fiddly work. (This is also why she’s got a bit of a bump on the top of her head, and one on her right calf.) Maybe I need some kind of quilting foot. Or just to be a bit more careful!

The actual cutting out and sewing part took less than an hour. It then took about FOUR HOURS just to get the stuffing in (next time I’m leaving a bigger opening in the neck!) and maybe another hour to assemble all the bits. I had two goes at stitching the face. The first attempt was a bit small, leaving her with the most enormous chin. I like this one better. She looks smiley.

I’m not quite sure what to do with her now! She definitely needs stripey tights, although I’m not certain whether they’re going to be sewn or painted. I’ll paint her face, and I think I have a bit of roving lying about that I’d like to try and use for her hair. As for clothes… no idea. Perhaps I should give her something that I’d love to wear myself, but wouldn’t want to make in an actual human size. So many choices…

Rowan Tapestry Clapotis

Rowan Tapestry Clapotis

Exactly a year since I finished the first one, here’s my second Clapotis!

The yarn, Rowan Tapestry (now discontinued) was a Christmas gift (thanks Jenny!), and I started knitting the day after Boxing Day. Here it is completed, just in time for Easter.

I only made one amendment to the original pattern, and that was to repeat the increase rows five times instead of six. I didn’t count how many times I repeated the straight rows. I simply made a note of how much yarn it took to knit the set-up rows and the increase sections (one ball, as it happened!), and then knitted on (and on…) the straight sections until I had just enough yarn left over to complete the other end. Simple!

The Tapestry looks absolutely beautiful now that it’s finished and blocked. It’s ever so soft, and it catches the light just slightly. It’s 70% Wool and 30% Soybean Protein Fibre, which feels a lot like silk. Unravelling the dropped stitches was a bit of a challenge though, as the 70% wool part of the yarn is quite hairy, and has a tendency to stick to itself. It’s much more satisfying to drop those great big ladders when you have a nice slippery yarn – although it’s a bit more hair-raising to knit, in case you drop a stitch by mistake!

I complained like mad about this while I was actually knitting it. At six feet long it seemed to take forever to knit the straight middle section, and I would be looking at the amount of yarn still left in despair. But despite the mind-crushing, wrist-wrenching boredom, I would definitely knit this pattern again. There is a small part of me that wants to follow Emmylou Valentine’s lead and knit an absolutely ENORMOUS Clapotis… I know it would look amazing, but I’m not completely certain that my poor wrists could handle it. We’ll see.

Andrea Katz Objects

This afternoon I went and had a little look at the Vogue Patterns website, to see whether they had any patterns I could modify for a dress idea I was thinking about. Before I’d even got that far I discovered that the new season’s patterns have been released, and this is one of them.

It’s a jumpsuit by Andrea Katz, who has a few designs with Vogue at the moment. Andrea’s clothes are described as “Architectural Objects for the Body”, which is precisely what I love about them. The jumpsuit is originally from Andrea’s Spring/Summer 09 Collection, which also contains such beauties as this bustled coat and a draped dress with the most bonkers pockets I’ve ever seen.

I can imagine it in plain black linen, or the chocolate brown herringbone linen I’ve ben using lately, or maybe a lovely soft wool crepe. I can imagine it with knee socks and brogues, or tall Doc Martens and stripy sleeves.

I know perfectly well that people will probably point and laugh at me in the street if I make and wear this jumpsuit. The question is – do I care?

To be honest, probably not.

Although my husband has just kindly informed me that “it looks like a clown outfit. From the eighties.”

*sigh*

REME Museum of Technology (Part 2)

Beautiful Bedford

The second building at the REME Museum of Technology is where all the vehicles are kept.

Obviously we saw tanks, and a helicopter (with the Easter Bunny as the pilot!), but I was particularly interested in the seemingly endless variations on the Bedford lorry. Not only were they used to transport both personnel and equipment, but also to rescue and maintain other vehicles.

Bedford radio truck

This one’s kitted out as a self-contained communications base.

Bedford workshop truck

This one has a complete workshop inside, so that new parts could be manufactured to repair equipment. If you’re stuck in the middle of Africa, not to mention stuck in a war, you can’t exactly pop down to the local garage for spare parts for your tank. Vehicles like this allowed REME to make their own.

I have to confess to a certain fascination with lorries like these, with completely self-contained and often unexpected worlds inside.

I’ve been reading The Hermitage lately, whose author Rima used to live in a converted Bedford horse box. I’ve also been re-reading Wind in the Willows, and enjoying the colourful illustrations of Toad’s ill-fated Gypsy caravan. Which reminds me that I haven’t visited the Gypsy caravan at Blake’s Lock Museum (or what’s left of it) in far too long… and that reminds me that Carter’s Steam Fair is in Reading this weekend.

I’m not sure where this fascination with moveable houses comes from. Anybody who knows me would laugh at the thought of me being a traveller – I don’t drive, and I loathe being trapped in a car or on a train. The last time I ventured onto an aeroplane was thirteen years ago, and I get sick on boats. But there’s still something about the possibility of just pulling up your roots and moving on, whilst taking all of your belongings with you, that I find very attractive indeed.