Brighton Pebble

In my last post 'Chesil Beach' I promised to return to this image (or a section of it to be precise). This orange pebble has been an inspiration for two projects. The Brighton Pebble is one of them.

Since the question of 'Why do some pebbles on a beach colour orange?' has stayed unanswered, its presence has been nagging deeply in my mind ever since. At that time, I once again collected a lot of carrier bags (the same as for 'Hammock Chair'), this time from Sainsbury's. This is why, having been surrounded by orange Sainsbury's carrier bags and having the shape of the pebble locked in my mind, I made a connection for a storage design.

I used the same weave as for the 'Hammock Chair' and after a lot of carrier bags (and a lot of patience) the Brighton Pebble started to take its shape. Since the pebble itself has a round shape, I just weaved round and round...

However, I felt that a perfect ball would not justify the intricacy of nature. Therefore, the design started to take a slightly skewed shape.

As you may have noticed, I tend to look for multiple functions (e.g. Hammock Chair turned into a backpack to be carried around) in my designs. And this element became obvious when creating a lid for the Brighton Pebble design.

My lid becomes a bowl that houses loose balls of wool at the moment. However, one can use it to carry anything one wishes.

Originally, all I wanted was to create storage. This has been achieved well since I store carrier bags inside. However, during the design process I gained extra 'storage' - a bowl.

How great it is to end up with a surprise (in a form of a multiple functionality) by the end of a project. Now the question is: Is this the end? I believe that more can be done to perfect it. Therefore, watch out for a completion of Brighton Pebble on my 'Updates' page.

In the meantime, have a great weekend and see you soon on my 'Updates' and other pages. Kx

Chesil Beach

Since we have a mini heatwave now (as they call it), we paid a visit to Chesil Beach near Weymouth yesterday. Apparently, in 2001 this Jurassic Coast was designated the UK's first natural World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Chesil Beach is a part of a 152 km long coastline laid with pebbles. Unlike a sandy beach, every step one takes is accompanied with quite a deafening noise. Despite that or probably because of that, I enjoyed making myself heard with every step (being a city girl now, I do not have such an opportunity).

As I was (sometimes) descending into the mountain of pebbles, I remembered this image taken years ago on a Brighton beach. I wondered than how come that some of the pebbles are orange. As if standing out in a crowd. And I still wonder. The tonal difference created by nature is worth observing.

I did take some stones from Brighton home as a keepsake. This time, having visited Chesil Beach, I also brought home a couple. They are two white pebbles smoothed down by the sea.




I wonder if there is going to be a project referring to the two white pebbles... Previously, two designs came out of the Brighton pebble. To share this information I will see you in my next post. In the meantime, enjoy the mini heatwave while it lasts. As we know, it never lasts in England. Kx

Fold Dress

Do you remember this image? It is the one from 'What lies beneath' post published last week. And this is the progress so far.


1. To start, I reached for an old pair of jeans that has been laying around for ages and cut it to pieces. For this project, I am using the trouser-legs rather than the pockets (these will find their use somewhere else).






2. Next step is to use the visual from the image above and apply it to the two pieces of what is now my material. For one piece horizontal fold has been applied when the second piece will benefit from next step - vertical fold.

By purely playing with the imagery, my design starts to take its shape.



3. Now I cannot wait to pin it all together and end up with some sort of a mock-up.

At the moment, the dress is more pins than one can imagine and can be quite painful to be tried on but this does not deter me from realising the design. What stops me right now is the lack of tools - a sawing machine to be precise. Therefore, Fold Dress is on a stand-by for now and I will turn my attention to the rest of the cut-up jeans - the pockets. For this, I will see you in my next post soon.

In the meantime, enjoy the weekend and sunshine.

Update: Sunday, 3 July 2011

Fold Dress

And finally, here comes Elena wearing 'Fold Dress' made out of an old pair of jeans. This dress was inspired by an architectural element on a side of a bridge that connects Kensington Gardens with Hyde Park.

Similarly to the 'Belt-strap Handbag', it also carries a 'KPDECO' logo seen on its bottom-left (just under the hole). Why have I not mended the hole? you ask. I decided to keep to the final state of the original piece. This part used to be the bottom fold of the trouser-leg of the jeans.

To shape the top part, I have learnt a lot about sewing for a female figure. It was slightly challenging, yet I had a good time making it.

I would like to draw your attention to the two pre-existing lines in the top's upper part and the back of the dress that had originally been made for the jeans.

I have never mentioned it during the process (maybe because it was not my making - it was already there). This bears a reference to another image from 'What lies beneath' post. Do you see the way these lines run and bend in the stonework? In my design, the lines also bend and run continuously.

The final touch on the 'Fold Dress' are the beads. A friend of mine gave me a jar of various beads and I just knew that sooner or later, I would find use for them. And 'sooner' is the case.

During this project-devided-in-three ('Web Top', 'Belt-strap Handbag', 'Fold Dress'), I have felt touch guilty for not using the intro image. Can you see the pebbles at the bottom of the river? And so, I have used this visual and transferred it onto my dress.

First of all, I colour co-ordinated and kept to the blue colour. By doing so, the beads both blend with the surroundings and at the same time, stand out. As it comes with nature, its randomness goes hand-in-hand with perfection. Therefore, I used this element and sewed the beads in less than geometrical order. And it works giving the dress extra touch of glamour.

Yet again, I have made myself rather proud. This dress came out of a section of a bridge decoration. Isn't it amazing to see how far one can go if an idea is allowed to float freely to create such an outcome?