A Burst Of Fire Opal

#18.

Still hooked on the Clump "setting'.

And the cold has had me gravitating towards colours that I usually wear in the yucky months - hints of burnt orange on dark brown is quite a popular combo.






















So much so that I've "dressed" some of our furniture in those colours too.

And A Burst Of Fire Opal is made from that same length of fabric - Papu by Erja Hirvi, printed in 2002 by Marimekko. Sadly, like some of my other favourite prints by the Finnish textile company, Papu is no longer in print.

I wasn't sure how this piece was going to turn out but as I went along, moving the "gems" around to create some sort of a pattern, I got happier and happier.

I am really loving its asymmetry and the light and shade of the "fire opals".

Product Information:
4All pieces are 100% handstitched with loads of love
4Each piece is a one-off - no two pieces of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels are the same
4The larger "gems" measure 4.5cm in diameter and the smaller ones are 2.5cm
4From the first "gem" on the left to the last one on the right: 28cm
4Length of ribbon-tie: 39cm on each side

~ NO LONGER AVAILABLE ~

A Cluster Of Jade Greenery

#17.

Kind of a back-to-my-roots piece - using Marimekko fabric and green "gems" again! And revisiting the "setting" of the first piece that I've ever made. It feels good!

I've been missing the look and feel of my early pieces and my pal Poochie (the President of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels Fanclub, if the was one) said that she did too.

Not that there's anything wrong with the more over-the-top pieces (she owns one herself) but we both felt that it's time these simple but chunkily loud cotton numbers made a come-back.

It's nice to be working with green, one of my favourite colours, again.

The darker top layer of the necklace is made from this - Tuuli, by one of my favourite Marimekko designing teams and first printed in 1971.

The three lighter "gems" at the bottom are cut from this - Heina, again by Maija and Kristina Isola, first printed in 1957.

I like how two different pieces of their work merge so seamlessly into one necklace.


Product Information:
4All pieces are 100% handstitched with loads of love
4Each piece is a one-off - no two pieces of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels are the same
4The larger "gems" measure 4.5cm in diameter and the smaller ones are 2,5cm
4From the first "gem" on the left to the last one on the right: 28cm
4Length of ribbon-tie: 39cm on each side

*No longer available*

A Clump Of Marble

#16. Another commissioned piece.

For Pamela, my first-ever paying customer (or should I say "client" like all posh jewellers do? Tee hee hee).

When she bought Dewdrops Of Rubies, she also said in her email that she would like to commission a piece that is similar to A Clump Of Granite.

I said to her that the grey jersey piece was a one-off (like all of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels!) and suggested a piece in calico since she was after something in a plain fabric.

A Clump Of Marble was actually something that I had planned to make for myself.

I like the organic rawness of calico a lot. And I also wear a lot of beige and muted browns, greens and greys in the colder months and I think it will look great with all those colours.

But clients' needs come first!

I've used strips of binding for ties instead of the usual ribbons because the "roughness" of the binding coupled with the rawness of the calico really bring the whole piece together.

Pamela also had the choice of beige stitches or brown (for contrast) and she picked the latter. Great choice!

I hope it's what you have imagined it to be, Pam. And thank you again for having absolute trust in me to commission a piece!

#5 And Her New Mommy

My pal Mommy Noi-noi finally had time to take some photos of herself wearing her Clump Of Granite yesterday, after she put her youngest to bed. He likes to grab the "gems" whenever she wears them.

It's obvious that we both have a big love for white V-necks. Tee hee hee.

And stripey things! With frilly bits!

Mommy Noi-noi is a working mom but she's very lucky that she works in a creative environment where she can dress up or dress down whenever she wants.
I think #5 has gone to a good home!

Win A Piece Of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels!

#6 - Cascading Tiger's Eye is up for grabs!






















All you need to do is head over to page 72 of Pocketto, a fabulous online fashion magazine created by Dreamer of AusStyle, and answer a very simple question before June 10!

Good luck!

PS. Oh, the winner has to accede to my usual tiny request - please send me a photo of you wearing the necklace (with your head cropped out if you wish to remain anonymous). Go on, play along with me! xx

For Sale: A Clump Of Silver (Sold!)

#15. And the Clump is back!

Quite a few people have asked about #5 - A Clump Of Granite so I thought I'd make another, this time in silver.

I said when I made #5 that I wasn't going to try using stretchy material again but I love silver jewellery and the only silver fabric (not Marimekko) I could find was this slightly expandable piece coated with tiny silver dots. Almost like Glomesh but in 2-D.

I gave it a go and here's #15 - A Clump Of Silver...reminds me of beads of mercury in science class, Ziggy Stardust, Mylar balloons at kiddy parties, The Jetsons, mirrored balls in Sin Poh Poh-type bars, dressing up as an alien at a fancy-dress do...

Worn on the reverse, it looks like you've saved the foil wrappers from candies and made them into a necklace.

The softness and stretch in the fabric makes this piece quite fragile, a lot more than my other pieces, so please treat it with loads of tender loving care if you decide to buy it.

SOLD! You can see the "jewels" on their new mistress here.

A Disc Of Amethyst

#14 - A commissioned piece for my pal Poochie. I made her #2 as a gift and she came back for more, as a paying customer, of course.

She would be the President of the unofficial The Empress Dowager's New Jewels Fanclub, if there was one, for she's been constantly sending me inspiration boards and links ever so enthusiastically since Day #1.

Her brief for this piece was "something ferfes" (our word for her favourite colour purple) and "I'm so in love with the Lanvin pieces (see here) so maybe something along that line?".

The ferfes bit was easy - I had a small piece of dotted Japanese wool sitting in my box of scraps.

The Lanvin bit, on the other hand, gave me quite a headache and a few pin-pricked fingers.

But, hey, it's a challenge! Interpreting something made out of tiny beady things into a piece made out of fabric, with "gems" a minimum size of 1.5cm (simply couldn't sew anything that was smaller - I tried!)

The other challenge was trying to cut as many "stones" out of the fabric as possible to make a decent-looking necklace - one aim of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels is to use up as much of my collection of off-cuts as I can before buying new fabric. Notice the two darker pieces of "gems" at each end? Well, I ran out of the dotted one and had to make them out of some Marimekko scrap.

Anyway, here it is, A Disc Of Amethyst, Pooch. As inspired by the "statement" Lanvin necklaces as I can get with "gems" a hundred sizes up from the miniscule lacquered crystals on the original!

Working on your next commissioned piece soon with a bigger piece of fabric to play with so I can get more "gems" out of it for more drippy-drapey layers and hopefully a little bit closer to your dream piece. xx

A Queen And Her Empress Dowager's New Jewels

Earlier on in March, Queen Marie from The Kingdom of Style wrote about her love for green, in particular, the shade of chartreuse.

I had just completed #7 - A Delicate Cascade Of Peridot then and was looking for a good home for it. Who better to send it to than someone else who loves green as much as I do?! As a small give-back to the classy lady with exquisite (sometimes quirky - good quirky!) taste for sharing her great finds and for entertaining me on the blog that she writes with the equally-stylish Queen Michelle.

A few emails and a package later, here she is...Her Royal Highness wearing The Empress Dowager's New Jewels with her very pretty yellow and green Marni dress. I love the colours against her flaming red hair!

Thank you, again, Queen Marie! For the photos and for your Royal Seal of Approval! xxx

Edit to add: Maybe I should bribe Queen Marie to take all the product shots from now on! Click here...she has got the clean clean lighting that I so love down pat!

File Under "Sparkly Flashes"*

My pal Poochie and I used to work together in advertising film production so we know the importance of good inspiration/mood/look-and-feel boards (we've made many ourselves for presentations to directors and clients). Done right, they not only can be very effective mental stimulus for all involved but also very useful and important points of reference.

She's recently commissioned me to make two more pieces of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels for her and these are what she sent to inspire me...

Lanvin necklaces (click on photos for a better view)...

More Lanvin necklaces...

We are both loving these "nude" ones A LOT...

Scan from Elle (there's the orange Lanvin again)...

More clips from magazines.

* "Sparkly Flashes" (of brilliance?) is the name of the inspiration folder of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels.

For Sale: Ruby Tsunami (Sold!)

Catalogue Item #13. A number that's lucky for some and not for others. And there are those who don't give a hoot.

But fear not, if you are from the superstitious camp!

Miss Ruby Tsunami here is made from the same luscious red "gems" that have brought me supremely good luck - the same that I used to make her half-sister, Dewdrops Of Rubies.

This cute 100% cotton Y-print soft furnishings fabric from Ikea...

...and these three pieces of handprinted (I think) linen-y scraps from my collection of off-cuts.

The curvy red lines reminded me of those Japanese woodblock prints of waves thus the name Tsunami.

One of the aims of this little project of mine is to use up as much of the tiny bits-and-pieces of fabric that I have amassed so I'm happy to bid Tsunami bye-bye.

Like all of the other Empress Dowager's New Jewels, Ruby Tsunami can be worn short, long, mid-length...even back-to-front.

SOLD!

First Sale!

I was going to wait until the lovely Pam sent me photos of herself with her Dewdrops Of Rubies to break the news but I can contain it no longer because I'm so over-the-moon that there's someone out there (besides myself and my pals) who sees value in my fabric "gems"!

Pam emailed me over the weekend asking to buy #10, paid almost immediately and she should be receiving the "gems" in her mailbox today.

She'll be showing them off at her friend's birthday drinkie-poos this weekend - I love that she bought them to wear for a special occasion!

Pam is going down in the tomes of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels as the very very special first ever customer. Yay!

Thank you, Pam, for allowing yourself to be "swindled" and for gamely playing along! I hope you'll have as much fun with them as I had making them. xx