Canal lock gates might not seem an obvious source of inspiration, but Deb and I both liked the way a jungle of plants had managed to grow within the wooden structure. This was one of the first photos I took on our holiday, and I thought the patterns of textured wood and leafy plants would be perfect for embroidery. The colours, however, were going to need a bit of artistic licence - even in sunlight, lock gates can never be described as vivid.
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| Plants growing against all the odds. |
I had set up my hoop to make a companion piece to the cogs and wheels embroidery, but thinking about the jewellery quarter in Birmingham had suggested the idea of a jewellery box, and this thought proved difficult to dislodge. I decided on an easy cube shape, using a strip of fabric about 12 inches long to make the four sides. I would worry about attaching the base and lid later on.
I'd popped into my favourite shop, Boyes, earlier that week, and come out with a loosely knitted tube which, judging by the illustration, was meant to be worn as a neck warmer. Stretched out, it had a lovely open texture, and so was cut up for a higher purpose! I used this with some lacy fabric that I bought with Mum in Chester to make a base for the embroidery. I machined it onto backing fabric with some difficulty, as it refused to lie flat and unravelled itself every time it was moved. It was finally tamed with firm rows of zigzag stitch in blending colours.
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| Wool and lace gave texture to the background. |
The plants were made by chopping up tiny scraps of wool, net, velvet and sheer fabric in light and dark green. Then I let loose with free machine embroidery in lovely shiny threads. The result was a bit flat, so I dug out the dreaded invisible thread to sew on tiny beads.Threading the tiny needle took longer than sewing all the beads on, and the whole thing nearly went in the bin when the invisible thread got an invisible knot.
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| Machine embroidery and beads. |
I chose a blue lining to represent the water ( a far cry from the murky grey reality). For the lid, I wanted a wood effect, sewn in back stitch over more of the woollen mesh and I was quite pleased with how this turned out. I decided to leave the lid loose, rather than give it a hinge - partly because it was so much easier! The bottom of the box is felt, attached with fabric glue which kept it in place while I secured it with more invisible thread. Inside, the box has a shimmery bottom, with scraps of blue and white velvet, netting and lace, heavily machine embroidered, because this can get a bit addictive! I like the idea of it secretly shimmering away to itself inside.
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| The secret bottom of the box |
The final box is about a three inch cube, and, with all the layers of texture and embroidery, stands up firm and square. Now I just have to find something to put inside it.
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| The finished box. |
