Flower Bed

     Whilst rummaging for inspiration in the loft, I came across some pieces of old bunk bed, which I decided could be used to make a sculpture. For this piece I simply positioned the two pieces of bed opposite each other amongst the flowers in my garden, to make a 'flowerbed'. Clever eh. I thought so. ;)
     This work plays on the idea of location as beds are not typically located in the garden, although it is also a play on words so the location is quite appropriate.
     The photos are below

  

Beanbag Swing

     As a follow on from the 'Clarify' project, where I focused on my strength, textiles, I have been working on the location of the textiles work for my Location project. My jeans beanbag (Jeanbag) was my favourite piece from the Clarify project and I am creating ways for that and other works to be used in a new location.  
    The first creation is a swing, which consists of a welded frame - my first welding attempt, which supports the doughnut beanbag and can be hung from various locations. I rolled the metal rods, welded them, angle grinded any rough edges, filed, painted and painted again before hanging the swing in my garage to test it. The photos of this process are below.

 Measured the rolled steel hoops for welding

 Angle grinded the steel bars to get better surface area to weld

 Positioned pieces ready to weld

 Welding

 Electric sanding to remove splashes of weld and smooth welds

 Base coat of paint

 Coat of blue paint to blend in with denim beanbag

 Hung frame in garage to test, used 6mm climbing rope

 Beanbag hanging in frame

 Testing of beanbag swing

 Testing of beanbag swing

 Testing of beanbag swing

 Handy pockets to hold phone!

 Covered roped with jeans for aesthetics

     Base view of beanbag

Ties Footstool Commission

     After seeing my upcycled upholstery work on my blog, I was contacted by a client asking if I could cover an old foot stool. We discussed possible fabrics and materials which I could use and she decided that ties would be the most effective and appropriate material to use.
     I first had to remove the broken top off of the stool using pliers, before I could re-cover it. In order to make the foot stool strong enough to be functional, I had to use a strong fabric as a base for the ties, which I attached with staples and tacks. The ties were then arranged in a weaved pattern and I experimented with what would be the strongest way to weave the ties to best fit the stool.
     Colour combinations also had to be considered as I had a lot of ties to choose from and I decided on a vivid, clashy colour scheme, appropriate for the nature of the garments. I used tacks and a hammer to attach the ties to the stool, for a strong hold in order to achieve the best finish. Once all of the ties were attached on one side I carefully checked the arrangement of the weaved pattern in order to make it as neat as possible, with the varying widths of tie.
     Overall I am pleased with how this piece turned out as it will now be a functional item with a vintage feel but a contemporary twist. Below are photos of the process and the finished foot stool.

 Sewed hems on base fabric

 Tacked base fabric to stool

 Tacked base fabric to stool

 Tacked ties to stool

 Tacked ties to stool

 Cut off excess ties

 Finished foot stool

 View of base

     Footstool and ties cushion with sofa