Woven Matchboxes, and Knitted Treasure Chests

Right so I thought I'd show you some of my work that I have done on the Foundation Course, since starting textiles.

I'm currently working on a project called "Can I Touch It?" Rather dubious sounding name I know, But it relates to the fact that people always ask permission to touch my work, which I find silly as it's made from fabric, it's MADE to be touched! So I'm still in the research stages at the moment and have very little to show for it except sketches and such, which I may put up at some point. This project is my Final Major, and will be the last I ever do, so I thought I'd show you some of my previous projects!

So this is the "Matchbox" brief we were given over Christmas. We were asked to produce a piece of work using a matchbox, and we were allowed to do ANYTHING, as long as it used the box, or matches, or was inspired by them. This was my solution to the brief....

Weaved tartan matchboxes. I used normal sewing thread and a needle. I pierced the trays down the side at equal distances, to create the warp. I then followed to colour patterns to create the weft, and displayed them in the corresponding matchboxes. I bought the boxes from eBay.

The next project was "Hidden Gems". We could take the phrase in any direction we liked, I decided to take it as literally as possible and begun by hand knitting gem shapes. I came up with new ideas and developed and developed until I came up with the final outcome...

The box is hand-knitted using strips of brown fabric, which was very hard on the fingers, I must say! I then weaved into the middle of the box using gold cord, to suggest the "hidden gems". The box greatly resembles a bird's nest, and because of the colours is very well camouflaged in the bush when closed. When it is opened the gem (made of duck egg blue Angelina, to represent eggs hidden in nests) and the gold cord glitter brightly, making it very obvious that it is there. It is a hidden gem, as it is barely visible when closed, but once opened everyone sees it. I have done more projects than these two, but these were the two most successful, and I love them both!

Any comments would be appreciated, and I will begin updating on my current project very soon!

Ciao for now! :)