Bonnet for Eliza

I recently attended a textile workshop where I tried out a few new ideas. One of the items discussed was the use of shellac to seal pens, inks and colours into fabric. This took me back to the days at school when we threw ourselves into the restoration of our desks at the end of the year. The wooden desk top was home to all manner of graffiti. With pen, pencil and ink, designs and pictures were scratched deeply through the varnished surface. Each desk was identifiable by the signature designs of its owner. Come Christmas or sometimes another term end, we were armed with sandpaper and the teacher watched as we obliterated all signs of the boredom which had caused this detriment to the furniture. Dust rose in the air, covered our hands and choked our throats as we sanded deeper and deeper. Finally, we were confronted with a pale smooth, clear and light surface. On went the shellac which soaked into the wood and left a golden and shiny glow. Once dried, we polished till out muscles ached, each student vying with the next to  create the more perfect surface. Finished at last, we knew with satisfaction that there was a clean slate for the new term.


Roses for the Heart, Eliza Downey



At my workshop we explored a couple of different methods of transferring designs onto fabric. It led me to finally finishing off some more bonnets for the Roses from the Heart project. This one is for my great, great grandmother Eliza Downey who married Thomas Smith. Eliza was a nursemaid in Dublin before being transported and was a dressmaker at the time of her marriage to Thomas. The tiny buttons represent the babies she cared for and the clothing her occupation at marriage. The boots represent her children, Thomas and Charles who were shoemakers and the daughters Hannah and Sarah who wore the boots. Thomas was the father of Ivy Smith who became the wife of Roland Doe