New Patchwork Embroidered Heart Brooches

I've been busy making some new pieces and I'm pleased to say that they are now available in my Etsy Shop! Introducing my new patchwork embroidered heart brooches! Each heart is made up of a patchwork of fabric scraps, hand stitched with gold thread. Along side the fabric scraps I have used pieces of a vintage embroidered tablecloth, overlaid with my own hand embroidery. They are backed with soft felt and a brooch pin.

I came up with the idea when I was experimenting with different ways of using fabric scraps and I have really enjoyed the process of developing these. I'm looking forward to making more of these brooches- each one is unique and one of a kind, so it's a bit like making lots of different fabric collages!

Now I'm off to make one for myself!

New in my Etsy Shop- Fair Isle Brooches

I'm just stopping by today to tell you that I've just added some new pieces to my Etsy Shop! I had a great photo shoot last week with the always fab Hammonds Photography Studio and I'm gradually adding the pieces to my shop. I hope you like them!

The first pieces I have added are these three Fair Isle triangle brooches. They are hand knitted in Shetland wool to my own Fair Isle design and they are finished with a pom pom. I love making these, they are so much fun to create! I have made Fair Isle brooches and necklaces in a lot of different colour combinations but these are my favourite so far. I'd love to know what you think!

New Button Brooches

Just stopping by to share a little shop update with you all today! I'm working really hard to add new pieces to my Etsy Shop at the moment and I'm photographing all the pieces myself, so it's a learning curve, but one that I am enjoying very much. This week I added three new button brooches- two knitted ones in a lilac and a pale blue and a lovely mustard toned Harris Tweed one. They are all handmade by myself and embellished with tiny pieces of upcycled fabric, stitched onto the brooches in gold thread. 

The button brooches look equally lovely worn on their own or as a group to brighten up your favourite cardi or jacket.

Thank you for letting me share these with you today, I hope you have had a fab week!

Louise xx

New Work- Fair Isle Brooches

March has been a strange month as Mr Writer was away for most of it- he worked in Korea for 4.5 weeks and this was the longest we have been apart in the 13 years we have been together. It really was so strange to be so far apart! Whilst my family and friends were so great at keeping me busy and distracted (thank you to you all!) I lost a lot of motivation and positivity and sadly didn't achieve as much as I would have liked to. I was so surprised at myself, I thought I'd achieve so much with all of that time on my hands, but I really underestimated how much Mr Writer motivates and encourages me. Thankfully he's back now and is having a good rest and I'm once again making and loving my work. I've got a week off from the day job and I'm looking forward to making a start on some new things and planning new content for the blog. Watch this space!

Today I thought I'd share some things I've finished so far this week...

I'm really enjoying making these hand knitted Fair Isle brooches, designing the Fair Isle patterns and hand knitting them using Shetland wool. I'm learning more about Fair Isle with every one I make- I'm seeing this as an evolving project and a learning process

I'm hoping to take these particular brooches to show a potential new stockist of my work- fingers crossed!

When I first started making Fair Isle brooches I made them rectangular, but as I'm finding that these new square shaped brooches are getting a really good reaction, I'm going to go ahead now and always make them square, unless requested

Although I plan the patterns on knitter's graph paper, sometimes the design doesn't really pop until you knit it up. I had previously knitted this design in other colours and I thought I'd try it using different colours- it's one of my favourites. I don't intentionally try to make the patterns look like anything, re. flowers etc, as I like to design in a more spontaneous way, but I think this one looks like little houses!

Thank you for letting me share an insight into life lately- I'll be back later in the week to share my Instagram photos from March and also sharing a sneak peek at what I'm up to on my week off. I've also got a floral Spring themed How To in the planning!

Hope you've had a lovely March and wishing you a happy week!

Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

At the weekend I gad a great photo shoot at Hammonds Photography Studio in Chelmsford for some new jewellery pieces. I'm now working on adding all of these pieces to my Etsy shop- watch this space!  Here is a sneak peek at some photos from the shoot...

New Fair Isle brooch designs, hand knitted to my own designs in British wool

I have chosen three spring like colours that I haven't used before to make new Harris Tweed Button Brooch designs

There will be several new Fair Isle necklace designs coming to my Etsy Shop soon. These are hand knitted in Shetland wool

Teal Knitted Necklace with Upcycled Fabrics- I haven't made this style of necklace for some time but I really miss making them, so I will be re-introducing this design to my shop. I'm going to include the option of making custom orders if you'd like to choose a particular colour for your necklace

Harris Tweed Button Bookmarks with upcycled fabrics

I've been making these "Half Moon" necklaces for some time now but have always sold them before they've made it into the Etsy Shop, so I'm pleased to say that these will be up in my shop soon! These are a labour of love which I so enjoy making- I love embellishment and for these necklaces I have used Swarovski Crystals, Freshwater Pearls, Mother of Pearl and beads upcycled from broken jewellery.

Thank you for letting me share this sneak peek with you today- I'll let you know when I've added all the new pieces to my shop!

New In My Etsy Shop- Hand Knitted Fair Isle Brooches!

I've just added some new hand knitted Fair Isle brooches to my Etsy shop! I love working with British materials so I have hand knitted each piece in beautiful British wool to a Fair Isle pattern of my own design.They are a lovely way to wear British wool and are the ideal Autumn/Winter accessory to brighten up your coat or cardigan, Take a look at these and my other Fair Isle brooches and necklaces in my Etsy shop here

Each brooch is aprox. 4cm x 4cm and very light weight to wear. They are backed with greyfelt and a round, gold toned brooch back

Fair Isle brooch hand knitted in pink, grey, blue, mustard and cream British wool

Fair Isle brooch hand knitted in pink, blues, mustard and cream British wool

Fair Isle brooch hand knitted in pink, blue, mustard and cream British wool

All my jewellery pieces arrive presented in a hand decorated box, making them ideal gifts

Photo Shoot Sneak Peek

At the weekend I went along to Hammonds Photography Studio in Chelmsford for a fab photo shoot for some new pieces I've been working on and today I wanted to give you a sneak peek! I've been working on some new Harris Tweed and Knitted Button Brooches embellished with upcycled fabrics and I'm so pleased with the photos! I'm about to start adding them to my Etsy and Folksy shops and I'll be sure to let you know when the shops are restocked with these new Autumnal toned pieces- they make lovely stocking fillers or a treat for yourself to brighten up your jacket on blustery days.

WIP Harris Tweed Button Brooches

Sharing my latest work in progress- I've added some new colours of Harris Tweed into my Harris Tweed Button Brooch range and I'm busy making these to add to my Etsy shop soon. I wanted to add some more autumnal colours to the range and I'm now busy choosing which upcycled fabrics to add to them, Watch this space!

You can check out the knitted and Harris Tweed brooches in my current range here

New in my Etsy Shop

This handmade Harris Tweed Button Brooch is new in my Etsy Shop. All of my Tweed brooches and rings are made from off-cuts of beautiful Harris Tweed (this one is a lovely blue/green/brown mix) and embellished with colourful pieces of upcycled fabrics. Take a look at my other brooches here

New collection in progress!

I'm currently making a new collection with a focus on my recycled fabric "sequin" idea as the main focus. I firstly came to the idea after having a move around in the studio and realizing how many materials I have that I never use, and forging a new determination to use them! I'm lucky that people know me as a bit of an avid recycling fan/hoarder (!) of wool and fabrics, so I get given lots of things and in that respect I'm never short of something "new."

The basis for the badge brooch is a self-cover button with the wire loop removed, and which I then cover with Tweed, Felt or Knit (I've tried using recycled Sari silk pieces, lace and other light weight fabrics but I find the heavier weight fabrics give a more substantial backing to be stitched onto).  I then hand cut all my little fabric sequins from any type of fabric that suits my colour way for that particular brooch, then coat them in fabric stiffener to prevent fraying. Once dry I can then stitch them onto the button.

It only makes a tiny dent in my fabric collection but I'm glad that I'm making good use of what I have, turning unwanted materials into something new to be kept and treasured! It's also been a good way to introduce more colour into my work- I'll always love and return to my white and cream but I'm pleased I've found a way I'm happy to use colour!

Some new colour ways (pre-stitching) using Harris Tweed off-cuts as the backing fabric

Lovely new Tweed!

I'm trying out some new colours for my Harris Tweed and recycled fabric brooches...

Beautiful off-cuts of Harris Tweed that I received last week!

I have so much fabric so I tend to try out various colour combinations before I get stitching! I'll keep you posted on the results. If there are particular colours you would like a brooch in, please get in touch!