Plastic Fantastic

Some of my melted plastic decorations in my studio window

Last month I did two Melted Plastic Decoration Workshops at The Kirkgate Centre in Cockermouth. I really enjoyed them and it is a lovely place to work with very friendly staff.

In the window at The Kirkgate Centre

All the materials set up ready to go!

The workshops were drop-in sessions and I taught people to crochet using plarn (yarn made from strips of plastic bag.) I then showed people how to melt their creations using an iron to create beautiful, light-weight decorations.

Picture made from melted plastic bag pieces

Flower decoration made from melted crochet chains

There were some beautiful creations; unfortunately I didn't get many photographs as I was far too busy crocheting and melting, which as regular readers will know is one of my favourite ways to spend time!

Another beautiful crochet flower

Melty Stuff

Melty!

I've been up to my old tricks, crocheting plastic bags and melting them. I can't help it, it's an addiction!

Before the melting...

The Mystery Project

The finished piece

The final project in the Art House Co-op's 10x10 series is the Mystery Project. You get sent a theme and a marker and have to make a piece of art and leave it somewhere for a stranger to find. My theme was 'The Future of the Year' and I really struggled to think of something. So, I left it to the last minute! Last night I thought I really should do something as the deadline is today so I thought about what a good future would be like; recycled and handmade, obviously! I decided my signature style of crocheting and melting plastic bags would be good so I made a pretty flower with a chain so that whoever finds it and takes it home can hang it up. A little card explaining what the piece is and it was ready to go.

In my window

Detail

Detail

Crocheted plastic bag flower

The whole thing

Detail of card

The Lace Space Revisited

The new and improved Lace Space

Last summer during Universal, our community arts festival up at The Heathlands Project, I created, with one of my groups, the Lace Space; made of knitted, crocheted, woven and melted plastic bags. You can find the original post and pictures here: http://www.delicatestitches.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/lace-space.html It took a bit of a battering during the high winds of winter and I was never totally happy with the top of the piece so over the past few weeks (months) I have been improving it. I've added a top tier and re-hung it outside on Monday. I'm really pleased with the new section, I think it looks a lot better and it also works better when you stand inside it. Many thanks to all the folks who helped me with the sourcing, cutting, knitting and crocheting of the plastic bags!

Looking up and out the top of the Lace Space

Seen through the trees

Swaying in the breeze

From the side

At the top

Looking up

Crochet detail

Crochet detail

More crochet detail

Lace detail

Looking out through the Lace



Through the Lace

Melty Lace Flowers

Crocheted Plastic Flower Decoration

As some of you may know I love to knit and I love to melt stuff. I have also been known to combine these two interests to create pieces such as The Lace Space which I am currently doing some more work on. The basic process involves cutting plastic bags into strips, knitting or crocheting them and then melting them, this creates quite a rigid piece of fabric which is, of course, waterproof. On a smaller scale my friend and colleague Helen T and I along with help from Susan have been crocheting a flower garden using the same technique. We intend this to be a beautiful outside 'curtain garden.' We also thought that these pieces would make beautiful hanging decorations, either inside or outside. This pair of flowers was made using a discarded plastic poncho and a sandwich bag. I made the pattern up as I went along!

Big flower

Little Flower

Little flower detail

Large flower detail

The Lace Space and Monster Capes

How organised am I? I said I would blog about our Summer Project-Universal-and here I am actually doing it. Anyway, enough self congratulations. Today we have been outside chucking dye onto fabric ready to cut it up and weave it into the Harris fencing up around site. Another of the Creative Textiles projects I'm doing is a space (see drawing) that you can step into created from knitted/crocheted/woven plastic bags, melted and attached together. It's beginning to concern me quite how much plastic I have to knit before Thursday but I'm not alone, my able assistants are more than pulling their weight.

The Lace Space-Concept drawing

Knitted and melted plastic bags

Crocheted and melted plastic bags

One of the Costume projects I'm doing is monster capes. I made a pattern for a simple hooded cape and then decided the hoods would be good with eyes and teeth to make them into monsters. Which is what you see below. The second one even has eye holes!

Monster!

Monster with eye holes!

Stay tuned for more fun fabric based frolics!