Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow

Hare Today
Gone Tomorrow

I have been making a hare for quite a long time.  I learned the wirework armature technique at a workshop with Jo Smith in summer 2021.  

Preparing the hare armature

I didn't finish making all the armature body parts at the workshop but I did finish them quite soon after...

Hare Armature Body Parts 

Then they languished for quite a time until spring 2022 when I finished preparing them for the next phase...

The fire pit part

which involved fire in my old barbecue (which we'd used as a fire pit and still had some wood in) and lots of newspaper to keep the fire going.  The fire burnt off all the support for the wire leaving just the wire structure.  It took quite a long time but then I had all the parts...

I finally wired them together to make the completed hare armature...

Completed armature

Then came the task of partly covering my hare in fabric which I stitched on. It became much easier once I started using a curved needle...

Using a curved needle made stitching easier 

His paws have a bit of stitched detail and he is partly covered in a collage of stitched fabrics... 

He is only part stitched as I wanted some of the wire to be visible.  His stitched half is standing on some knitted grass with stitched dandelions and his wire half on a bare brick.  He could represent the present and the future if the destruction of the environment takes hold or he could just be showing how he is made - the interpretation is yours.

My Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow exhibit will be on display at the York Embroiderers & Stitchers(YES) exhibition  "A Celebration of Stitch" at the end of June 2022 - details here.   Do come along and see him for real!

Embroidered Tree at A Celebration of Stitch

Embroidered Tree

One of the items I'm exhibiting at the York Embroiderers & Stitchers exhibition - A Celebration of Stitch, is a 3D embroidered tree.  The tree canopy is made up of lots of different shades of green felt with a variety of different stitches...

Star stitch, lazy daisy stitch, chain stitch, backstitch edging & bullion knots

Blanket stitch, fern stitch, backstitch edging

French knots, backstitch edging, cross stitch

and there's also sheaf stitch, fly stitch, Danish knots and a woven spider web.  The other side of the tree canopy is all seed stitch...

Tree canopy reverse - seed stitch

I used a bobbin with brown thread for the trunk and mounted it on a handpainted reel that I think probably originally had ribbon on.  I made a label to go on the reel it stands on...

tree tree tree label in backstitch

Label reverse

Come along and see it at...

A Celebration of Stitch: 24-26 June 2022
Tithe Barn, Nether Poppleton, York, YO26 6LF

Free admission

It's a wide ranging exhibition of traditional and contemporary embroidery featuring work on a theme of hedgerows and lots more.

Friday 24 June 2022 & Saturday 25 June 2022 10:00-16:30
Sunday 26 June 2022 10:00-16:00

Light refreshments, sales stands, free parking, disabled access

Pond Life Yarnstorm - Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group

Frog - Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group

 

The Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group are celebrating pond life in their yarnstorm this year. You can find it in the arbour by the tennis courts.

Water Lily - Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group

The Pond Life craft display was originally thought up by Rosemary Bentley who is much missed. Although she is no longer with us, the craft group wanted to continue with this theme in her memory.

Duck - Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group

Spider - Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group

Bird in Tree - Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group

 Pond Life - Friends of Rowntree Park Craft Group

Check it out when you're next in the park and see what you can spot!