Christine Maxwell
I have always loved handling fabrics. As a child I loved to make dolls clothes out of scraps of fabric that neighbours gave to me for my scrap box. Nothing much has changed – I still love to spend hours searching through my fabrics to find just what I want to make my next design.
I spent many years making clothes for myself and sometimes for others but although I still like to make items of clothing, shoes and accessories, I like to make distorted, fantasy items that couldn’t possibly be used or worn but just look beautiful.
I completed the City and Guilds Diploma in Design and Creative Embroidery in 2006 and am about to reduce my working week so that I can devote more time to my creative work and to producing work to exhibit with One Step On.
Size: length 120cms.
Materials: calico. magazine paper, sheer polyester
Source: Vogue magazines for the "Written Word" exhibition.
Left: Cocktail Hat
Materials used: Hat canvas, green dupion silk, size 11 green seed
beads and gold delica beads. Hat covered with right angle weave and beaded ball.
Right: Stylized Butterfly Fascinator
Materials used: Sinnamay, dyed veiling, beaded trim using seed beads, delica beads and fire polished beads
Price: £105
Above: Beaded Evening Bag
Size: 20 x 12cm
Materials: silk dupion and beads with hand stitching
Price: £135
Above: Small Cocktail Hat
Size: 12 cm diameter
Materials: silk, beads and hand stitching
Price: £75
Black and gold shoe title - 'Toe heel, toe heel'
Size: height 22cms
Materials - black silk velvet, metallic threads, machined cords, metal base, mounted in perspex cube.
Source - historical shoes, fantasy shoes.
Size: height 16cms, length 26cms
Materials: handmade dyed felt, machined cords, machined metallic lace, metallic threads, soluble fabric, tubular rayon, metal, wire.
Source: historical and modern shoes, all different shades of gold
Title: Hidden Depths
Body shaped panel –
Size – width 41cm x length 107cm
Materials used: sheer fabric, bought shirt and tie, bra base, galvanised steel wire, metallic threads, water soluble fabric, polyester cord, glass beads.
Source – spiral staircase, distorted computer shapes
Title: Top What
Description: Black and silver beaded hat/ hair ornament
Size: 18cm diameter
Materials: handmade sinamay base, machine made lace on soluble fabric, metallic threads, glass beads, sheer fabric, net, silver plated wire.
Source – spiral staircase
Title: Sophie’s Sole
Description: Blue, black sparkly shoe
Size: height 16cm x length -22cm
Materials used: Aluminium wire and sheet. Glass beads, metallic threads, hand dyed sheer fabrics, tubular rayon and threads, knotted machine cords, monoprinted satin.
Source: beautiful spiral staircase and shoes
Title: Black velvet pillbox hat
Size: diameter 17cm
Materials used: black silk velvet, white silk organza
Source: 1930’s hats