BARAKAH LIFE handmade

Textile Design

Pillows handmade by Fatima and Saliha
6 & 8 years

I recently started a wonderful textile design program in Berkeley. Every class is filled with loads of new ideas and information. I find that what I'm learning from both the design and business side of the program is applicable to what I'm already involved in.

One of the projects was creating Scribble Flowers. She had us all bring in flowers, there must have been 25-30 and we made very quick sketches of each of them. She then looked at each of our sketches and choose the ones she wanted us to use for our project. Here's the one she chose of mine.

After that I reduced my drawing and pasted the flowers on to a large sheet of paper into what is called a tossed pattern.

Next I made a tracing of the entire sheet and then my teacher choose the section she wanted me to create a rough from.

The rough of the design is created to show as a sample of the pattern. The design is then traced on to a background and then painted. It's so exciting to begin to understand the types of patterns as well as the process of creating them.

I've taken this same concept into the studio with my hand sewing students. In recent class I asked them to draw some quick sketches and then we chose one to use as a pattern. We cut the flowers out of felt and then they pinned them on to the wool fabric in a tossed pattern.

Their pillows turned out wonderfully and they were so happy with them.

Posted at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Cotton Florals

Solid Framed Flowers

The images on these simple pillows were created from photographs copied on to cotton copy sheets. The sheets were them framed with white cotton both on the front and back with a side zip added.

Posted at 08:45 PM in Sewing | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

The Kindness of Strangers

Today I received an unexpected gift made with love and prayers from someone I do not know. It was a prayer shawl from TMC Hospice program.

The shawls are created all over the country and then sent to different organizations that help individuals with loss. What a beautiful & lovely thing to do.

From their web site.....Whether they are called Prayer Shawls, Comfort Shawls, Peace Shawls, or Mantles, etc., the shawl maker begins with prayers and blessings for the recipient. The intentions are continued throughout the creation of the shawl. Upon completion, a final blessing is offered before the shawl is sent on its way. Some recipients have continued the kindness by making a shawl and passing it onto someone in need. Thus, the blessing ripples from person-to-person, with both the giver and receiver feeling the unconditional embrace of a sheltering God!

Posted at 05:02 PM in Textiles | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)