Welcome - this is the site of Caroline Homfray, a British craftsperson and artist. I specialise in embroidery and working with fabrics: see what I'm working on now and view the embroidered jewellery which I developed over the last ten years. Recently I've been experimenting with block printing on fabric, and wood-engraving.
I've been learning tambour embroidery, and went for a course at a small workshop in london, Couture Beading. Tambor beading is worked with a small shrp hook like a crochet hook, stitching through fabric. This is a sample I started before I went, and have since completed. Read more »
I've been building a new portfolio as a showcase of my work, and have been raiding my own and friends' cupboards for examples of my work over the years. I've found some interesting things- here are a few.
The oyster bag was made in 2000, I think. The silk shaded rose I made this year.
Some images from the class I ran on the 1st/2nd October at the Royal School of Needlework. See more about it at www.twin-needle.co.uk. The course was about trying lots of different techniques with fabric and learning how to modify your clothes to fix a problem or to suit your style.
I was keenly interested to see the Royal wedding on Friday, with a special reason: I was privileged to be part of the team at the Royal School of Needlework, who created the lace for Catherine Middleton's dress, designed as everyone now knows by Sarah Burton. It was intricate work, and a beautiful design. I'm only just beginning to realise what a privilege it was to get to work on such a one-off project. Read more »
A joint venture with hand-embroiderer Sarah Homfray. Get creative with your clothes!
Tired of your textiles? Bored of your clothes? Learn how to revive them and turn something old into
something new! This class will introduce you to different ways of customising your garments and
furnishings, and stamp them with your style. Learn to assess your clothes and furnishings for their
potential; gain the skills and ideas to make the changes.
I've uploaded some images from my collection of jewellery designs overthe last ten years - some just a few left, others no longer available. The represent my most successful designs: those with flowing design lines, and those whose colours I most liked. There'll be more images being added over the next few weeks.
I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm reading Lewis Hyde's 'The Gift', about the problem of making a living from creative pursuits. As I make it out, he argues that a society increasingly dominated by markets breaks down the emotional bonds between us. Buying something concludes the transaction; there's no bond with the vendor. Giving creates bonds, and there's something in that that is beneficial to artists, creative talent being a sort of gift. Read more »
combining my embroidery, art and clothing construction skills with my sister Sarah Homfray's hand embroidery expertise in a new workshop running next year at the Royal School of Needlework, Hampton Court.
A little bit of website development this evening; I've uploaded some sketchbook images taken from different books over a number of years. It's been fascinating looking back over them: I remembered places and people very vivdly as I looked over my own interpretations of them. These pictures interest me more than finished works in some ways - I got into difficulties at one university interview in the mid-1990's for saying that! Artists' skectchbooks are so immediate and lively.
I
'm working on a commission at the moment: it's a project for a set of jewellery based on freesias, a very challenging flower for my technique. I've worked the deisgn so that each bud of a flowering stem is supported as much as possible by surrounding parts such as stems or leaves. I need to avoid having a part of the design hanging out in space where it can get distorted. It takes a little while to get back into the rythm of such intense stitching - I had forgotten how much I need to hold the image of the design in my mind as I work. I do have a pencil outline to follow, but it soon become obscured once I start stitching.
I am also planning a sewing workshop with my sister, the hand embroiderer Sarah Homfray . It's to take place at the Royal School of Needlework next year and will be a new departure for us both. We're looking at ways of modifying clothing creatively, using hand stitch, print, applique and machine embroidery. At the moment I'm having a great deal of fun experimenting with printing motifs.
Read more »