Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Frayed edges

Over the Christmas holidays I played around with a bit of fabric origami. On Sunday I finally got around to trying out an idea I've had in my head since then.

Instead of the usual neat edges and precision folding, I opted for a more rustic approach - deliberately fraying linen and using the raw edges as a feature. The folding and stitching was anything BUT precise and the effect is... rustic! (But the beautiful Japanese print lifts it out of the realm of the hayseed... I think).

...so it doesn't look out of place on a black linen Evening Bag (my pattern). This bag was made using 12mm polyester boning in the strap and it has interfacing and wadding to give structure to the bag body.
I have a few other ideas to play with along the lines of origami.... can you hear my brain ticking?
On a completely different note - the wee girl and I had a lovely evening out yesterday, celebrating the launch of this book with lots of wonderful crafty types....

Well done, Pip and Co. It's a great achievement! (And sorry the wee girl talked all through the interview so nobody up the back heard a thing....).

14 comments:

Karin said...

I love it. It's so right.

I must see if I can find this book. It looks wonderful.

Nicole, you don't know me but I mentioned you and your wonderfulness on my blog today - after I attempted my first bag. Thank you for all you do. Your work is really inspirational. Thank you.

Pinktulip said...

I cannot believe how gorgeous the flower looks on such a formal bag! What a great idea. I visit your blog (and shop) daily now and you never fail to inspire me.

Kirsty said...

I think the frayed linen absolutely makes it!

méri said...

I do love that flower! For long I like the rustic effect of linen
I think I'll try to make one...not so perfect, of course.

That book seems to be sooo good!
xx

Anonymous said...

The flower is great Nikki - I'm not sure about rustic! The linen combined with the Japanese print looks terrific. More cleverness from you! Jealous that I couldn't make it to the launch last night though - sounds like you had fun.

Anonymous said...

Hi Nikki
The flower looks great. Fantastic photo. Meet me At Mikes is beautiful book to look at. The photography is amazing.

laura said...

Now that is different!!! (I mean that in a good way).

Christy said...

I really like the accent on that bag...it just makes it pop. Well done, as always.

CurlyPops said...

Love the fabric origami! It would make a beautiful brooch too.

flickettysplits said...

I agree with Curlypops - when I saw the first photo I thought it was a brooch! It wasn't til I scrolled down that I realised it was a decoration for the bag. You could definitely make these into jewellery.

Michelle said...

and a flower like that would look great on one of your hats....lovely

Bernadette said...

It looks fabulous, love it on the black bag!

Cathy {tinniegirl} said...

I love it. The combination of the fabrics and textural element with the fraying are just fabulous.

9crafty11 said...

Ok I have seen a glimpse of this black Japanese fabric ( you saw my clutch in the purple version on flickr), & I would love to see it in all it's glory. However, it still looks great here as the origami flower...what an awesome idea!