Minus Sun

28 03 2012

hair scrunchies

Here are the hair scrunchies I’ve made for the Selvedge Spring Fair coming this Saturday.

linen hair scrunchies with hand crocheted silk trimmings

I have done two types of trimmings

embroidered cotton hair scrunchie
this style has more volume when worn because of the frill

embroidery close up

knotted tie linen hair scrunchie with hand crocheted silk trimmings

close up of the trimming and Minus Sun original resin button
It has my hand written logo on graph paper trapped inside.

24 03 2012

the Smart Girl’s blouse calico ver.

This is the Smart Girl’s blouse in calico for my new collection. The hand stitch details are again, drawn in with a fabric pen and the handmade resin buttons are all with red sequins and sparkles inside.

crocheted collar with a ladder to match the running stitch on the pocket and the hem

breast pocket in the shape of the Great Square of Pegasus with stars at the corners and dashed lines to join them, which will be embroidered in the final garment
square buttons are used to go with this square pocket

the hem to be hand stitched in running stitch representing the movement of a star, a star will be embroidered of course (travelling around the hem!)

20 03 2012

the Controlling Girl’s shirt dress calico ver.

This is the calico version of the Controlling Girl’s shirt dress of my new collection. The embroidery details for the final version are drawn in with fabric pens instead. Colours are kept to black and red only for the calico version. Therefore the handmade resin buttons used for this one are all red. In the final one, buttons will be representing planets in different colours.

breast pocket has a detail of the waxing of the moon

The pattern used in various areas represents stars

pocket inside pocket and the cuff detail

The elbow patch which is actually hand stitched represents graduation for direction

16 03 2012

galaxy necklaces

Hello, I am still alive.
I’ve been busy looking for a job(no luck) and preparing for the Selvedge Spring Fair, 31st March.
I am working on a new collection of clothes and my theme is “minus the sun, night all day”. I will create a proper story to go with it but basically, it’s about the night and the night sky. A few garments are on the way but before them, here are the resin encased sequins and sparkles necklaces. On a silk string with matching colour beads by the clasp. There are only four of each and of course none of them are exactly the same.

red galaxy

gold galaxy

aqua galaxy

25 02 2012

finished fabric doll

Here is the finished fabric doll with an embroidered face and implanted hair. The seams are done with the same colour thread as the fabric so it is less visible. The stitches go through each part to join them together so that they are attached firmly but this means it’ll have a stitch on the surface. I’ve incorporated gold sequins instead of just having stitches so it prevents the fabric from being pulled in and breaking. It looks nicer as well when they look like metal screws rather than having a trying-to-hide visible stitches.

embroidering the face, even my signature beauty spot is stitched

implanting hair using silk floss, takes a lot of time

even when there is enough hair, the skin of the head is too visible when parted so I have coloured the gaps in with a fabric pen afterwards

the finished hair and face

the joints with gold sequins

finished doll front side

back side

from the side

she can sit on her own

on my palm, this is how small she is

I’ll think of a special way to keep her in a good condition but she can stay in one of my garment samples’ pocket for the time being.

20 02 2012

knitted hat with crocheted pom-pom

I’ve made this knitted hat for my friend’s birthday. She is a hat collector who has a lot of fashion hats but not much hats for daily use. Therefore, my concept was to make a cute warm hat which goes well with different outfits. I’ve used mocha colour alpaca wool for the hat section and off-white colour silk and wool mix yarn with bits of mohair and polyamide for the pom-pom section. I think it’s great and I wish it was mine.

I’ve made the folded up ribbed section wide to keep her ears warm (and just because I like rib stitch). I tried to make the hat not too deep otherwise it will keep coming down to cover her eyes as well!

The main part of the hat is done by moss stitch which also adds some thickness for warmth by its waffle-like texture.

Although I was planning to make a basic hat, I couldn’t resist adding something different. So I’ve decided to make a crocheted pom-pom. I think it looks like a pine cone, cute. Hmm, I might be doing crocheted pine cones for next Chirstmas…

And inside, I’ve added my personal label with her birthday. It’s a curse so that my friend can’t throw it away easily. But luckily, she is in love with it so it shouldn’t be a problem. Happy Birthday!

14 02 2012

fabric doll prototype

Happy Valentine’s Day, I’m in love with her!

After I’ve realised that there’s no way for me to get a working visa while being self-employed, I felt very disappointed that I will have to stop selling my work when my visa expires in 2013. I will have to be employed or I will have to leave UK as well… Although I will continue stocking up my stockist and consider doing craft fairs until then, I lost some sort of motivation to make things for sale. So, this is what I’ve been up to, making a fabric doll for myself. When I don’t think about the price of my work, I can spend time as much as I want and make something really special. This is just a prototype so it’s not complete but here are the images of the process of making my doll.

First, I made a doll using air hardening modelling clay.
In this way, I can create the patterns for each part by moulding fabric around them.
I can also use it as a guide to compare it with the fabric prototypes of each part.

I have done about a hundred prototypes in total to get the patterns right. I tried to make my doll look like a ball-jointed doll with movable joints so it is made out of 15 parts. I paid attention to the curves of the body and tried many combinations of how to attach each section together and where the seams are.

And here is the finished prototype made with calico, filled with toy stuffing.

You can see that she is not flat but made with gentle curves.

The back of the body. She is very flexible and able to do many different poses.

Very cute, she can perch on my palm.

Maybe you’ve noticed already but her design is taken from my girl illustration.
This is it for now but I will blog again when I finish the final doll with her face and hair.

05 02 2012

trapped embroidery resin cufflinks

I’ve made resin cufflinks again but in a smaller size, red and black.
There are eight designs each to mix and match.
I wonder if there are shirts for women which have French cuffs.

30 01 2012

Valentine’s rings and hair slides

Happy New Year! I am still alive.
What shall I do this year… get a job (can anyone help me?), start selling online, find more stockists, enter more competitions, do more craft fairs, make some friends…perhaps all of them.

So, anyway, I have made some trapped embroidery resin jewellery for Valentine’s day. I usually don’t do hearts, birds, flowers, butterflies and such (because I feel embarrassed to wear them) but I guess a tiny one could be alright. I’ve only made 6 of each, rings and hair slides, so run to my stockist “Circus” in Brixton Village. They will be in stock this weekend.