Bobbin and Thread
Bespoke hand-made lamp shades, stitched pictures and lanterns
This commission was for a shade depicting some of the iconic buildings in Lincoln. These included Lincoln Catherdral, Lincoln Castle and the emblem of the local football club.
This particular piece of work displayed Clifton suspension bridge alongside hot air balloons. The customer required me to use a very particular colour scheme and it was a pleasure to work closely with them to select fabrics and discuss layouts.
This shade consisted of four trees and showed the four seasons. I embellished this shade with small beads which depicted small snow balls on the winter tree.
About my work
I'm Lucy and I live in Oxford, very close to the city centre. I have always enjoyed painting and drawing and after completing my art and design foundation qualification, I trained to be a theatre designer. I worked as a freelance designer for 2 years and during this time I became particularly interested in designing shows for youth theatre. Whilst designing, I also ran art workshops for children and young people and it was during this time that I decided to do my teacher training. I worked in primary education for 16 years before leaving to focus on looking after my family.
I have become increasingly interested in fabrics and textiles and sewing has become a huge part of my life. When making the shades, lanterns and stitched pictures, I use fabric from second hand clothes and also collect unusual embellishments such as buttons and lace which I use to add texture to my work. Most of my work comes from commissions and I really enjoy working with people to create a bespoke piece that can be displayed in their home or given as a special gift. I am particularly inspired by nature and architecture and the textures that are found in natural objects such as shells, moss, seed pods and leaves.
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One of my first ever pieces of work depicted images of the iconic buildings in Oxford and I have continued to make work featuring these wonderful buildings.
I had the pleasure of designing and making a beautiful 30cm diameter shade which was ordered as a gift. I used images of the family home and garden, a local church, wedding bunting, pet ducks and dogs and the family's Land Rover (complete with hand stitched number plate)
I have been commissioned to make lampshades for children and these are often colourful and fun.
This commission was for a shade depicting some of the iconic buildings in Lady Margaret Hall college in Oxford. I hand stitched each building's name onto the shade which added an unusual feature
I enjoy recording nature and natural objects in my work and this particular shade had colourful flowers stitched onto a textured background. I also used buttons and beads to add extra details.
This shade displayed iconic buildings from Venice and Rome. For this piece of work, I used detailed shapes with patterned fabric and contrasted these with very simple stitching.