Appliqué Characters - Fairytale Princesses

I thought I would post a little patchwork of details from my Fairytale Princess designs today. I quite enjoy creating fairytale designs with castles etc but have to keep reminding myself to keep it simple - it is very easy to get carried away with turrets and flags!

I hope to be able to do a really detailed fairytale princess design at some point that will be a framed artwork. I would like to spend lots of time on it and focus on detail such as fancy windows and rambling roses climbing the castle tower. I will probably use the traditional poses of the princess in the tower and the prince on a horse but will try to make the overall effect quite different from what I have done before.

Appliqué Characters - Mermaid

These images show details taken from my mermaid appliqué artwork. The colours are fresh, the characters quirky and overall I like the effect. I carefully selected the fabrics for use on this design and have made use of some really nice textures including metallic sheers for the mermaid tail and rip-stop fabric for the jelly fish. The bubbles have been created using transluscent sequins with a tiny bead at the centre. This design would work well for either an interiors collection or stationery.

Children's Embroidered Illustration

Today I am posting a couple of sunshiney embroidered and appliquéd children's illustrations. Firstly a summertime picnic and secondly a unicorns design. I like the fresh colours I have been able to source for these designs and the rainbow as a focal point. I think I shall use rainbows more in my children's designs as they are great for a splash of colour.

Accessories - New Bags

I have two new bags to share with you today. The cream bag at the top is a trial of a new pattern I have developed this summer. I am happy with the size and shape. It works well as a book bag or extra shopping bag. Once again I have made use of a really lovely Shinzi Katoh print and have plenty more where that comes from so keep your eyes peeled for more bags in the future.

The bottom bag is a re-vamped linen bag that I was sent as a free gift. The bag was huge and I could not think of a use for it so I cut it down in size and added this lovely Liberty print lining. I have folded the lining fabric over the top of the bag to create a border and then disguised the seam with a satin ribbon. I added a button to fasten the bag and hey presto - a spare bag to keep with me ready for emergency shopping trips!

Appliqué Artworks - Cats and Dogs

Having recently sold another children's animal design I thought I would post some of my avaiable cats and dogs designs. For the patchwork dogs design above I have kept the number of fabrics used down to make it an easy design to reproduce in bulk production.

For this design a really soft brushed cotton has been used for the kittens. The patchwork fabrics are all is pastel colours making this design suitable for younger children - possibly a nursery design.

I have produced this cats design in a more classic style and colour palette to target an older children's/ adult market. The shapes have been kept very simple but hopefully capture the character of each cat.

All images shown are small details of larger appliqué artworks.

Cushions and Bags

Today I am taking a break from my embroidered artworks and have decided to post images of recent items I have been making for our home. I am really pleased with the cushions above, not only because they look good in our sitting room, but also because they gave me an excuse to use some of the lovely wool fabric I bought in Shanghai and a great Shinzi Katoh print I bought from nuno (http://www.nuno-plus.com/). I have only recently discovered the Shinzi Katoh's fabrics and am completely hooked!

These little storage boxes have been made from bags I no longer used but had been refusing to dispose of (yes, a girl CAN have too many bags!). The blue one is a Cath Kidston book bag that I had used so much I had worn out the handles. The purple one is a TopShop bag I was given a couple of years ago when I bought a dress there - much nicer than your usual plastic bag. I simply altered the shapes to the size I wanted, lined them with contrasting fabric, turned the top over and trimmed the edge. I am pleased with the result, they are great for storing all my notebooks. I seem to be slightly addicted to nice notebooks and have loads - I do use them all though, promise!

Appliqué Artwork - Emergency Services

I have been doing a lot of work on designs for girls recently so thought it about time I did some more gender neutral designs/designs aimed at boys. My first in this new collection is an emergency services design.

The images shown here are details from a larger appliqué artwork. I have tried to keep all the shapes quite simple and avoided detailed features on the characters to make this design an easy one to reproduce in bulk production.

Appliqué Artworks - Tea and Cakes

This afternoon tea and fancy cakes inspired appliqué design is aimed at both the kitchen textiles and the greetings card and stationery markets. The cupcakes have been given added detail with applied flower motifs, beads and buttons to make them more fancy and good enough to eat!

This appliqué artwork has been specifically designed for the wedding stationery market. I have used a very traditional and limited colour palette and made use of luxury fabric textures such as velvet, silk and metallic sheers. The cake decorations and champagne bubbles are created using ribbon flowers, flower motifs, sequins and beads giving the design more depth. The different fabric textures and added detail on this design will make it look luxurious and maintain the depth of the design when reproduced graphically.