Dress and Mask Combos

During lockdown I sewed some coordinated dress and mask combos; loose cotton shift dresses to accommodate the inevitable weight gain paired with covid ready face coverings. 

The fabrics are my own designs which I get printed to order in the UK by Woven Monkey.

These combos went down particularly well with shop checkout people, bless them, who were pretty much my only outside contacts. One chap in Waitrose complimented my outfit then looked down at his stripy shirt and said “Oh, I’m going to get a mask made to match it!” I really hope he did…

This certainly made dressing for social distancing a bit more fun. 

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Artwork in India (1) – Udaipur

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I got to the train station in New Delhi early with the intention to draw. It was a little overwhelming but a kind man insisted that I sit on his blanket with him and his son which made drawing more comfortable. My train to Udaipur left bang on time at 7pm and I had a good 12 hour journey in a bunked sleeping compartment.

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This is the view across Lake Pichola from the roof of the Moustache Hostel in Udaipur. Rajasthanis have famously luxurious facial hair, hence the name of the hostel. 

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The hostel had lots of wallpaintings left by many guests so I offered them some cockerels…

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They then asked me to paint something in the space above the birds so I drew a design in my sketchbook inspired by a beautiful cow I’d seen on my first morning walk through the city.

holy, cow, sacred cow, holy cow, pen, watercolour, drawing, painting, watercolor, sketchbook, travel, India, rajasthan, udaipur, marigoldsAnd then transferred it to the wall (below) 

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Painting in the reception area was a great way to meet people, and the cow and cockerels got a very warm welcome.

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Here’s a pen and watercolour sketch I made at a little Hanuman temple in the street. The lady selling flowers next door kindly lent me a stool to sit on while I drew.

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This is Yogesh, one of the Moustache Hostel team. He asked me to draw his portrait so I worked in pencil from a photo.

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And here’s a quick pen sketch I made of a lady wearing a sari while she sat in a lakeside cafĂ©. I’m sure she twigged that I was drawing her, she didn’t seem to mind but she did leave before I had a chance to add colour.

All in all a very enjoyable and creative first week here in India. I’m leaving the Moustache Hostel today to go and spend a few days with an Indian family here in Udaipur. 

udaipur, lake, rajasthan, India

Cockerel Dress

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For my latest foray into textile design and home sewing I  made myself a cotton dress to wear to my dear friends’ June wedding in London.

As usual I had the fabric digitally printed by Woven Monkey in the UK having made a white, red and pale green version of one of my cockerel variations; as my dad once said I’ve certainly got a lot of mileage out of that cockerel! 

Click here to see how the original cockerel came to be…

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I decided to finish the hems with red bias binding to match the cockscombs….

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…and luckily enough found a pair of my favourite Fly London sandals in the exact same shade…

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…and finished the ‘look’ with white nails and sunglasses…cockerel, fabric design, textile design, surface pattern, digital printing, woven monkey, illustration, dress making, home sewing, made to measure, cotton, rooster, bias binding, home made, dress

 

The dress stood up well to the festivities – just a couple of armhole stitches popped during the disco phase!

 

And the wedding was absolutley wonderful.

RetroNuevo Tags

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When my friends at RetroNuevo asked me if I’d adapt my cockerel design to make vintage style tags for their hand crafted tapas boards I agreed with relish (pun intended). 

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I’ve long been an admirer of their magic mixing of reclaimed and modern materials with paint effects to make marvellous muebles (= furniture in Spanish)…

 

 

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…as shown in these drawer details above and right.

 

 

 

Making the Tapas Boards

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The wood was ‘harvested’ from century old wild Andalucian olive wood (acebuche) which had been felled naturally by the wind. No live trees were harmed in this process!

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The tapas boards were lovingly hand-hewn from hefty planks, each one unique in shape and grain.

They’re ideal for cutting and presenting food – tapas style, I also see them as works of art in their own right.

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Making the Tags

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These are the steps I took to make the cockerel side of the tag in Photoshop:

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  1. Scan a luggage tag to make a template in Photoshop
  2. Cut out the rivet and surrounding circle and place in separate new layers, make sure the rivet hole is the same size as the hole punch and ‘age’ the surrounding circle using scanned wax seal image
  3. Place the cockerel image above the background layer and below the rivet layers
  4. Deepen the colour of the cockerel image by duplicating the layer and changing the mode to ‘multiply’. Scan a vintage letter and place it above the cockerel layers in ‘multiply’ mode to add interesting stains
  5. Add the RetroNuevo logo
  6. Put a broken layer of white behind the logo to make it stand out
  7. ‘Age’ the edges of the tag by adding extra layers of parts of the vintage letter in ‘multiply’ mode

graphic design, cockerel, retronuevo, vintage, tag, tapas, wild olive, wood, chopping boardThese are the steps I took to make the reverse side of the tag in Photoshop:

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  1. Scan a luggage tag to make a template in Photoshop, see above
  2. Add the rivet and surround as above
  3. Scan a vintage receipt, cut and paste lines in layers
  4. Add the scanned vintage letter in a ‘multiply’ / ‘soft light’ mode layer as above to add texture and colour
  5. Cut and paste the border from the vintage receipt. Download a vintage stamp from the correct era and add in two layers – multiply + soft light
  6. Add text and RetroNuevo logo
  7. Age the edges of the tag by adding extra layers of parts of the vintage letter in ‘multiply’ mode as above

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The double sided tags were printed locally on 300g watercolour paper to give them good heft and texture.

They were then cut, perforated with a hole punch and had their cut edges ‘aged’ with a brown felt tip pen before being strung with rustic twine.

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These gorgeous and versatile boards will soon be on sale with other delightful RetroNuevo items such as wardrobes, doors, benches, vintage crates, fittings and other reclaimed treaures at the pop-up shop in San Ambrosio, near Vejer on the 9th, 10th and 11th of December 12-3pm . 

Click here for the exact location

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Cushion Covers

Here are my most recent home sewing projects: making cushion covers from light cotton canvas fabric that I’d had digitally printed with my illustrations.

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This one (left) features a white on black version of my extra large cockerel circle design.

The cushion cover has an ‘envelope’ style closure and measures 38 x 35 cm, comfortably accommodating a 40 x 40 cm cushion.
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The two covers on the right feature my Two-Tone 2CV design, measure 50 x 30cm and have a zip closure.

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Click here to contact me about prices and availability.

Cockerels on Canvas

Two of my latest batch of digital fabric prints…our old friend the cockerel in two sizes

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Cockerels for Terry

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Having recently refurbished the chimney pipes for his wood burner in preparation for winter, Terry asked me if I’d paint some cockerels for him in the alcove behind the stove.

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Stenciling in there was a bit of a tight squeeze but they turned out rather well.

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…roast chicken all winter!

Click here to see photos of my cockerels stenciled in other locations in my Signs and Murals gallery

Stickers!

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Moo.com had a sale on so I couldn’t resist ordering a set of stickers emblazoned with my ‘circle-friendliest’ designs.

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Yay! As they say in the world of Moo…stick ’em up!

Cockerel Cushions for La Casa del Arco

rooster, cockerel, cock, fabric, cockerel fabric, textile design, surface illustration, digital collage, sewing, cushions, handmade These cushions are my latest cockerel fabric creations, made with love for Blanca and Alain, my dear friends and neighbours at La Casa del Arco in Vejer de la Frontera

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Click here to see a photo of the cushions in their new home

Cockerel Skirt

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 This fabric design evolved from a stencil project I started in 2012,

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since when Mr Cockerel has adorned numerous hard and soft surfaces.

Last year I spent many happy hours in the Photoshop turning the original image (above) into several repeating patterns (below)

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 the last of which got made into a baby cushion in light cotton canvas.

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I’ve been really keen to make myself an item of cockerel clothing ever since, so I ordered custom printed fabric samples in several cottons until I was totally happy with the size and colour of the design, and then got cracking with sewing an A-line skirt.

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 It’s had a very enthusiastic reception and I’m cock-a-hoop!