Sunday 25 June 2017

special commission garment


 A few weeks ago I was commissioned to make a garment for one of Australias most well known textile art patrons. My friend had seen pieces of felt and nuno cloth laid out on my work table that I'd made in a workshop a few years ago with Catherine O'Leary and asked if I would use them to make a garment she wanted to gift to her friend Janet de Boer. Janet is one of Australia most high profile personalities in the textile art scene so I felt a bit daunted.....but one is seldom in a position to knock back an opportunity for an open ended commission that will be rewarded with cash payment!

BTW, Janet de Boer was the founder and editor of the magazine "Textile Fibre Forum" and convener of numerous art retreats around Australia for decades. I can't even begin to list her numerous achievements and accolades in the textile arts, except to mention she has been recognised with an Order of Australia (OAM) award....


front of Janets coat

                                                                                                             






button detail
 So, shown above is the finished jacket created to fulfill the commission. It includes not only some of the felt and nuno pieces Charlotte saw, but is almost a sampler for every fabric embellishment technique I know....stenciling, applique, sashiko stitching, applied machine embroidery stitches, fragments of crotcheting and knitting...

I hope Janet likes it....what do my readers think? Would you wear a coat like this? Would you enjoy to make a coat like this?