Embroidery

My passion for embroidery was one of the main
reasons i decided to venture into the fashion world
so when i heard about a hand embroidery competition i knew God was giving me an opportunity

and i got even more excited when i found out that i will be competing for
$10,000 USD,
free flights and 4 nights accomodation in Sydney, Australia to
attend the prize giving ceremony,
1 year mentoring by London College of Fashion (how cool can that be?),
1 day course at the royal school of needlework,
work experience at Marion Thomas Studio, and an opportunity to contribute to her next collection

i had a huge zeal after signing up for the competition
i only had
' LONDON LONDON LONDON'
and
'SYDNEY SYDNEY SYDNEY'
on my mind



but
......

i did not manage to get into the finals

well, will try harder next year.

The main theme was :
ECCLESIASTICAL

and under that theme we had to choose either
1. Lady in black
2. 1001 nights
3. Travelling circus

Being very much attracted to the gypsy culture, i somewhat concluded that
gypsy = traveling circus

so wala

i had a hard time understanding the brief of the competition
as my teacher once told me, there is never a 'right' or 'wrong' in art
it all depends on the way you interpret it

The Brief

3.Travelling Circus
A real mix of gypsy, country, Irish (Celtic strap work) and Romanian
craftsmanship. Joyous Pentecostal celebration, a continuation of summer’s
feeling, for item dressing and ‘boho’.
Random fabric mixes-tweeds, plaids, florals, overprinted wools, embroidered
flannels and cords, wool lace and reworked folk flowers, with dull silver
accents.
Craft bright reds, blues, yellows and greens, with sober darks.
A striking worn, lived-in look evoking travelling entertainment and fun,
combining distressed fabrics with heirloom pieces.

So my basic idea was to embroid
patterns, designs, symbols that represents different countries
such as,

China- peony flower as the national flower, the traditional chinese circle

a Cross- like i said, i had a hard time understanding the brief and relating 'ecclesiastical' and
'traveling gypsy'
this cross was done last because i realise there was no elements of ecclesiastical in it

Indian embroidery patterns

Romanian fabric details

Design from the Huichol natives in Mexico

Indian henna prints

and then i combined all the pieces to make a patch work skirt
the whole skirt was suppose to be covered, but
i guess i got lazy

it was a great experience
i managed to practice and polish my embroidery skills


so i guess i'll just try out again next year


oh,
this is the link to all the second stage winners ,
i honestly thought some of them didn't deserve to be there,
but hey, thats the sore me talking

http://www.hand-embroidery.co.uk/comp2007/2ndStage/index.html