YOU ARE PURCHASING ONE FABRIC WALL HANGING, NOT THE ENTIRE COLLECTION OF 8. DRIFTWOOD LOG AND STRING NOT INCLUDED.
This unique wall hanging has an army green background to which faded red, olive and pale pink shapes representing pressed seaweed have been added then further embellished.
It is long and narrow and may hang ceiling to floor. It could be ideal for adding decoration to staircases or double height spaces and adding texture to your wall. It would suit a coastal home or one with a natural theme. The muted tones of olive green, faded red and beige would complement many home colour schemes.
Starting from the top, the first seaweed dyed shape is embellished with wool dyed pale yellow with goldenrod, and acrylic dark red yarn stitched down to create loops and texture. The faded red shape is given structure with olive green stitching, and is overlapped with a light pink fluffy cord in a seaweed leaf shape. Below, the pale green and pink printed fabric is outlined with pink threads, taken from a chunky twisted cord, to bring out the pink in the fabric. The army green negative of a leaf is embellished with shiny copper thread to add sparkle. The below faded red shape is outlined in red wool to show the structure and overlapping leaves. At the bottom is a heat pressed image on cotton fabric dyed with seaweed, and embellished with gold sequins, cut outs to soften the straight lines, and threads to join pieces together. The bottom edge has an army green frayed fringe.
There are grommets on the top edge so that the hanging can hook over nails on the wall, or as seen here, hung with yarn from a piece of driftwood.
Approximate measurements:
232cm length
33cm width
Materials:
Cotton, polyester, wool, acrylic yarn, sequins, metallised thread
Cleaning advice:
Spot clean with a damp sponge if dirty
Blow with a hairdryer occasionally to keep dust free
Keep away from fire
How this Wall Hanging came to be
My collection of seaweed inspired wall hangings took shape over a number of months.
The starting point to my project was discovering a collection of pressed seaweed on postcards (see image on Home page), which had belonged to my great grandfather. Through research I discovered that these postcards were likely from the Victorian era, as collecting and pressing seaweed was a very popular woman’s hobby during this time. The colours of the pressed seaweed survived well, and I was inspired to use them as my colour palette. I wanted to base my project on a coastal theme whilst not being generic and predictable, by choosing seaweed as my subject matter, which is often overlooked for the more appreciated, prettier shells and seaside creatures. I value the fascinating natural textures of seaweed and aspired to show this through my collection.
I enjoyed learning new skills such as pressing seaweed, dyeing with seaweed and other natural plant dyes, heat press techniques, using bondaweb, and couching. I also expanded on my existing skills such as crochet, shibori, fabric manipulation, beading, melting plastic to make fabric, water soluble fabric embroidery and machine embroidery. I have always been attracted to dyeing fabric and used seaweed, tea, coffee, madder, goldenrod, walnut leaves, and birch bark to dye fabric and yarns, which I used to decorate my wall hangings. Having previously enjoyed pressing flowers, I taught myself how to press seaweed which enabled me to use actual seaweed in my designs. For example, I made prints using the heat press of pressed seaweed which I appliqued onto my wall hangings.
A major part of my project’s ethos was using recycled and scrap materials as well as ensuring the authenticity of my project by using the seaweed itself as much as possible. I aimed to create a unique and sophisticated collection of unconventional coastal wall hangings, which are designed and handmade with reused fabrics and authentic use of the subject they represent.