The Rag Rug Sea: James Rennie

Working on the green section

I was back at James Rennie School on Wednesday working on our rag-rug sea project again. The students have done really well and we had a lovely day working on the sea, finishing off pom-poms and making some lovely collaged fish to swim in the sea!

Working together

Beautiful work

Preparing strips

Helping each other

All working together

These pictures all show the back of the work, it can be difficult working from the back so I think the students did very well and it looks great from the front! It was great to see that some of the students had really got the hang of the techniques and they were very good at helping each other and working together. The piece is really starting to take shape and I think it will look fantastic when it is finished.

Finished pom-poms

Collaged fish, ready to be sewn together

Collaged fish, ready to be sewn together

My sample fish

Detail

The Sea: Rag Rug

Finished Piece

This week I finished my rag rug piece inspired by the sea. I began this piece when I started working with Jame Rennie School on a textiles project inspired by the sea and have been doing bits and pieces on it since. It's a very relaxing thing to do, like knitting it is simple and repetitive but produces a beautiful fabric.

The back at the start

Starting off

Growing

Originally I had intended to make it into something practical but I actually like the back almost as much as the front so I think I will probably mount the piece between pieces of mount-board and use it as a teaching sample.

The almost finished back

The finished back

Detail of the back

Detail of the front

The Sea: Textiles Project

Tie dye and fabric pom-poms

Recently I've been working with KS4 at James Rennie School. I've come in as a textile artist to work with the students to produce some work based around the theme of the sea. There are two groups, one group are doing their entry level qualifications so the work I've been doing with them will count towards that which is really exciting. A couple of weeks ago we did some tie-dye to produce interesting effects on fabric and this week we began making stuff!

Finished pom-poms and an almost finished one

Pom-pom detail

With the first group I did fabric pom-poms. These are so much fun to do and look really great when finished. It's also a lovely sensory experience as the more different textured materials you use the more interesting the pom-poms are to make and the better the finished piece looks and feels. I really enjoyed this session and I think the students did too; the atmosphere was calm but productive and it was good seeing everyone have a good search through the materials to find something they liked. The finished pom-poms look great and hopefully they will hang in front of the rag-rug piece the other group are making, which will look very effective.

Pom poms in progress

Pom pom detail

In the afternoon I worked with the qualification group. We discussed our ideas about design from the last session and I taught them the basic 'proddy' technique of rag-rug making, using wooden pegs I'd carved to a point. Each student made a sample piece and we began on the larger group piece. It was a very enjoyable afternoon, the students were quick to learn and engaged really well with the activity. I can't wait to go back and see how they get on with the final piece!

Working on individual samples

Working on individual samples

Working on individual samples

Starting the group piece

Rag Rug Wall Piece

Rag Rug Wall Piece

Over the past few weeks I have been working on a group piece with my Heathlands Textiles groups. I have been teaching them basic rag-rug making skills and we have each made a sampler. I asked each person to choose one colour and use just that colour. The finished piece then has a range of colours but they are all contained within the individual samplers.

Detail

Each sampler is worked in a circular embroidery ring and by last week I had enough samplers for us to start putting the piece up. My friend and colleague Helen Tuck started putting the rings up on Thursday and as more people finish their samplers the piece will grow. I love the different textures in the pieces and it's something the guys have enjoyed doing as it is quite easy and relaxing and grows quite quickly.

Detail of cream sampler

Work in progress

Work in progress

Work in progress

Rag Rugging Creations

Standing Wool Creations

All in a days work

I've spent a lovely day today learning about rag rugging. For my Mum's birthday I bought her a workshop and obviously I couldn't let her go alone so today we've been busy creating wondrous things under the guidance of crafts-person Gill Curwen. It was a really good workshop which introduced us to several different techniques including proddy, hooking and standing wool. We were encouraged to try each technique and then spend some time developing a small piece of work or a sampler. I particularly liked that as well as introducing us to the basic techniques Gill showed us ways to take things further. She also showed us lots of examples of her own work which were really beautiful and inspiring. We came away keen to take things further and feeling full of enthusiasm. You can find out more about Gill and see some of her work on her website.

Proddy and Hooking Techniques

Detail of proddy work

Proddy work

Standing wool

Detail

Standing wool-first attempt

Standing wool and shirring

Detail