New Harris Tweed Necklaces!

Over in my Etsy Shop I've just added some new additions! During the cold snap I've been really looking forward to Spring and with that in mind, my latest Harris Tweed mini embroidery hoop necklaces are inspired by Spring gardens. The bright blue, pale pink and lilac Harris Tweed necklaces are embellished with tiny pieces of colourful upcycled fabric, hand stitched onto the tweed in gold thread- they remind me of gardens in bloom! The mini embroidery hoops are strung on a 24" silver plated chain and hang at approx. 12".

As with all of the pieces in my Etsy Shop, these necklaces arrived package in a beautifully hand decorated gift box, so they are ideal for gifting or as a lovely treat for yourself. 

If you'd like to have a closer look, take a peek into my Etsy Shop here. Have a fab day all!

New Harris Tweed Necklaces Sneak Peek

Happy Wednesday to you all! Here's a little sneak peek at some new Harris Tweed mini embroidery hoop necklaces that I'll be adding to my Etsy Shop in the next couple of weeks. The green and the pink tweed are new colours that I'm pretty excited about. I've been given lots of new offcuts of fabric to use for the embellishments too so I've enjoyed sewing with them. I'll let you know and I'll share more pics once I've got them up in the shop! 

Thanks as always to the fab Hammonds Photography Studio for the great photos!

New necklaces in progress!

I'm up early sewing necklaces for The Renegade Craft Fair using the pieces I machine knitted last night in lots of new colours! Once the bases are finished the next job is choosing the up-cycled fabrics to embellish them with. Looking forward to showing you the finished pieces!

Afternoon in the sun

I'm really making the most of the sun and spent the afternoon outside making necklaces today. As you can see, come rain or shine I always work with a cup of tea! The Raspberries I was snacking on were my first from the garden this year.

I'm aiming to add some necklaces to my Etsy shop soon, watch this space!

Behind the Scenes

I just wanted to share with you some behind the scenes images of new pieces taking shape in my studio...

To make my brooches and necklaces I mostly use recycled wool or wool that people have given me, but working where I do it's hard to resist new things and this is how I have found myself with this beautiful Bergere De France yarn! Luberon is actually a 4ply sock yarn, but it works beautifully through my machine and there is a  lovely range of colours. 

All knitted covers for my brooches and necklaces are knitted by me on my knitting machine!

Brooch bases waiting to be embellished!

New pieces that will be on sale in the Jessica Muir Gallery, Long Melford

Don't forget to check out my new Etsy Shop and visit my Facebook page before the end of June for a free UK postage coupon!

A return to necklace making...

I've spent today in the studio working on some new necklaces which will have fabric embellishment. I haven't made any necklaces for a while because I've been mainly focusing on the brooches, but I thought it would be good to include a couple that tie in with the new collection.

The basic necklace is made from a strip of knit that I make on my knitting machine and then stitch around ribbon strung wooden beads. These necklaces were my starting point in jewellery making, having organically developed from their origins as parts of huge conceptual knitted hanging pieces (I will make a post on those at a later date, all will be revealed!) and they are something I like to return to and continue to adapt in different ways. Here is the navy one taking shape!

Stitching the knit around ribbon strung wooden beads

The base necklace ready to go, alongside the brooch that I would like it to match

I've spent the evening cutting out hundreds of tiny circles of  scrap fabric!

I coat the fabric "sequins" in fabric stiffener to prevent fraying

I'll hand stitch the fabric pieces onto the necklace over the weekend and post a pic of the results!

Latest work

Just a little update- thank you everyone who has liked my Facebook page so far. On Tuesday I drew a name at random to win one of my handmade necklaces- please like my page for more competitions and offers coming soon!

The new collection is gradually coming together and I'm hoping to have another photo shoot soon and then an update of my online shop. Tomorrow I'm going to start work on the knitted brooches and I'm hoping it's going to be another lovely sunny day- sun shining into the studio always helps me work!

New coloured Tweed brooches in progress!

I'm also hoping to get the chance tomorrow to have a bit of an experiment with some old papers (more on those soon) and varnish, with the hope that I can incorporate the results into some future work

Competition, win a necklace!

I'm currently running a competition on my Louise Dawson Design Facebook page to win one of my unique handmade necklaces, pictured below! All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is visit my Facebook page like my page and share my link!

I will draw a name at random in two weeks time on 9th April- best of luck!

The Selvedge Winter Fair

On Saturday 10th November I will be taking part in the Selvedge Magazine Winter Fair at Chelsea Old Town Hall, King's Road, London. It's on from 10am-4pm, do come along and pop in if you're in the area. There will be over 60 exhibitors and I'll have a range of brooches, rings and necklaces on sale-it's a great opportunity to buy some lovely handmade gifts for Christmas, or just to treat yourself! Find out more at selvedge.org

A selection of knitted and felted necklaces I'm working on, embellished with found objects and broken jewellery

Detail of knitted necklace embellished with beads taken from broken jewellery

Hope to see you there!