Page 26 - The Digital Cloth Issue 3

In the beginning...
I’ve always had a great interest in textiles,

and now even when I look at photo of me
as a young child I can see clues to the way I
would touch the hem of my skirt, or hold the
ears of my soft toys(cotton fabrics were my
absolute favourite, especially when they were
old and pressed flat). I was also the kind of
kid who loved making things, not craft kits like
my Nana used, but it was more fun for me to

make my own patterns up from scratch or
try to replicate toys that were popular at the
time. I would copy patterns, stuff my own
designs, embroider expression on to the
faces of my dolls or experiment with 3D
scenery on calico with beads, paint and
embroidery stitches for added texture. I
loved different textures of textiles and
although I studied pattern making at
university I never wanted to fall into fashion. I
found myself having fun with soft sculpture at
first as gifts for friends and later for my own

enjoyment and interest - to see if I could
make sympathetic soft sculptures as a nod
to nature - not that I am trying to make them
look realistic per say. What I’m trying to
achieve is simply to combine a lovely set of
embroidery stitches that bridge the gap
between real and textile worlds. I always
hope that people can focus just as much on

the simplicity of the blanket stitches that hold
them together, as on the texture of the fabrics
that I use for the wing and tail detail.