From Trash to Trainers

I shared this article with my Textile students, so I thought I would share it here to:

Adidas Make Sneakers from Ocean Trash

Adidas are working with an organisation called Parley for the Oceans to create a recycled sneaker made from discarded plastic and illegal fishing nets.  In this way, not only are Adidas making good use of recycled materials and helping to keep the oceans clean, they are also finding a use for nets that are confiscated from poachers:

"The Sea Shepherds, a sea-bound environmental activism organization, captured roughly 72km of illegal gillnets after tracking illegal poachers wanted by Interpol off the coast of West Africa for 110 days."

Here's a description of how Adidas will use recycled materials in the project:

The shoes’ uppers will be created with recycled plastics and actual green net fibers, while the base will use other sustainable materials. Adidas has been accused by Greenpeace of environmental pollution in the past, so this will hopefully represent one of many steps in the right direction. The shoes may or may not be produced, but they vow to start using recycled fibers by early 2016.

Check out the whole article at Bored Panda using the link above!

Having a cross stitch: Big Brownie Birthday Edition!

As I have mentioned I am a member of Girlguiding UK and this year marks 100 years of Brownies. This event has spawned a lot of projects and keepsake items and one that caught my eye was cross stitch patterns. There was a set of patterns for a Brownie, a Rainbow, a Guide and a Guider published in Cross Stitch magazine designed by Lucie Heaton. They were great but they didn't really represent my uniforms... So I adapted them!

Cross stitch isn't my usual medium of choice but I have done it in the past. I thought I'd give it a go for this project and attach the results to my new camp blanket. So far I have started my Guider and I will keep you posted on my progress :-)

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Let's Get Back To Business!

Hello my dears!  Yes, yes, I know it has been a long time.

2013 into the beginning of 2014 was a super busy time for me with my work which put a bit of a dampener on my crafting time.  I had some great experiences but some great challenges as well.....

.... As you might notice above the blog has had a name change.... I can no longer call myself a crafter at sea because I am no longer at sea!  That's right, my land legs have called me home and I am now a land-locked sailor.  I am currently looking to get into the theatre scene here in England.  It's all a bit scary but what I needed to do in life.  It has given me time to craft and catch up the blog though!

I have a few projects on the go right now and I have a few things to catch you guys up on that I worked on but didn't get chance to blog about.  Keep your eyes open in the next few weeks for posts on the following projects:

I finished adding the second layer to my beer cap belt.

My friend had a baby and I made her an embroidered gift.

My friends got married and I made them an embroidered wedding album.

I played around with eco-dying some fabric from natural elements I found on a walk.

I made a necklace organiser for my travels.  It is now going to be very useful at home as well!

I have an embroidery based on a song by The Band Perry... this is still a work in progress....

And finally, I worked on Legally Blonde: The Musical.  It was a very interesting challenge but I made it work!

I am also working on some online courses which I would love to share with you so there is a lot to come!!

Exhibition Report: Passing Reflections

Today I wandered over to Rochester to see Rosie James' latest exhibition Passing Reflections.

As always, Rosie's work is beautiful in its simplicity and impressive in it's scale. I am always excited by the way she chooses which lines to stitch and how these lines really capture the figures. On her larger pieces I like the smaller details she includes that really adds to the character and personality of the people.

Trafalgar Lunch

I particularly liked Trafalgar Lunch in this exhibition and Indian Ladies at the Gurdwara. James' use of not only line figures but also silhouettes in brightly coloured fabrics add to the sense of place and culture in these pieces.

Detail - Indian Ladies at the Gurdwara

I was very glad that I got to see Rosie's installation of hanging stitched figures. I had not yet been able to see these pieces in the flesh and being able to view them in this intimate setting was a joy.

The exhibition is open in Rochester until April 13th. If you are in the area I urge you to go see it. You can find out more info here:

Exhibition Report: The Sketchbook Project 2011!

I managed to get to the opening of the Sketchbook Project 2011 opening at the Brooklyn Art Library the other week. I was very excited to see my sketchbook in amongst the thousands of others contributed by artists from all over the world!

The Brooklyn Art Library


Checking in with your library card


The check out desk where you select the sketchbooks you want to see


People enjoying our sketchbooks

I didn't find my sketchbook right away as I had apparently forgotten what the spine looked like (I thought it was orange but it was actually grey and red!) but after a thorough search I found it proudly in the Jackets, Blankets and Sheets section.

Right in the middle of the shelf!

I looked through a few other sketchbooks while I was there. I was particularly taken with Rachel Smith's and Jennifer McBrien's books. Rachel's was all sketches of people as she wants to be a fashion illustrator. I connected with Jennifer through her sketchbook, half way through she wrote about how she is in a creative job but is trying to make herself be more artistic and the sketchbook was a way of doing that. I used the Sketchbook Project for a similar reason and found her work very relatable and beautiful. I have found her on Etsy and am going to message her. Please check out her wares as they are as beautiful as her sketchbook here: JennyJen42

Left: Jennifer McBrien's Sketchbook Right: Rachel Smith's Sketchbook

I am very proud to have my work in the Sketchbook Project 2011 and would love it if you, my readers could go see it. The tour takes it to the following venues:

March 12th: Austin Museum of Art, Austin TX (during the SXSW festival)
March 30th: April 2nd: SPACE Gallery, Portland ME
April 8th-9th: The Granite Room, Atlanta GA
April 11th - 30th: Transformer Gallery, Washington DC
June 10th-12: Form/Space Atelier, Seattle WA
June 18th: 111Minna Gallery, San Francisco CA
July 14th-17th: Hyde Park Arts Center, Chicago IL
July 29th - 31st: Full Sall University, Winter Park FL

Just ask for Joanne Donn's Sketchbook and they'll find it for you!

Sketchbook Project: The Final Few

Here are the final six pages of my Sketchbook Project. I think these are some of my favourites as they are less literal and much more artistic.

Page 13 – Blood Spatter

This is one of my favourite pages. This is because I leave the interpretation up to the viewer. Sheets made me think of the word blood. But where does the blood come from? You must make up your own mind on that. I used layers of watered down acrylic paint to create the blood spatter on my cotton sheet. I then hand embroidered the shape of a blood spatter pattern into it. I added the words ‘birth’ and ‘innocence’ to the piece. Is this the creation of innocence, or is it being taken away? What is being born?

Page 14 – Illness

Not all imagery that came to mind on this theme was positive or light. Combining ideas related to jackets and blankets made me think of padded rooms and straight jackets. I diagonally quilted this page with machine stitches then added repurposed shoe buckles and straps to show restraint.

Page 15 – Between the Sheets

Sheets make me think of certain activities. For a while I have wanted to create a piece around an adult theme, and sheets seemed to call for it. Between the Sheets shows a couple together in bed – literally between the sheets. They are hand embroidered in white, melting them into the sheet, not only becoming one but becoming part of the sheets as well. The title is hand embroidered in pale pink to express love, rather than lust.

Page 16 – Family

Going back to the idea of quilts I wanted to create a page that looked at the artistry that can be put into quilt making and the generations these items can encompass. Family is a quilted family tree – four generations of my family are represented in the hand stitched names on the leaves. They dance around the solid trunk showing how we are individuals, but are also part of a whole – my family.

Page 17 – Snow

The phrase ‘blanket of snow’ started this piece. While thinking of snow I also thought of the phrases ‘snow white sheets’ and ‘winter jacket’. I combined all of these on a piece invoking the colours and sparkle of a winter scene. Silver sparkle snow flakes adorn the background surrounded by scraps of white net decorated with silver sequins. A layer of silver net secures them in place with free form machine embroidered squiggles in silver thread. The phrases are hand stitched over the top in a light grey tone.

Page 18 – Picnic

Blankets are not only used on beds – they can also be taken outside of the home. This final page was inspired not by the word but by the fabrics I found. The right side of the piece uses a fabric that made me think of tree bark and the outdoors – which in turn made me think of picnics. I combined it with a subtle floral print fabric in a sunny yellow and used it as a chance to practice some floral stitches. The woven roses are stitched in harmonious colours and the wells in the bark fabric are emphasised by a subtle backstitch.

More photos of my Sketchbook project can be seen in the Sketchbook Project photo album here

Sketchbook Project: Decoration

Back to my Sketchbook! Here are a few more pages for you to peruse!

Page 9 – Pattern….. 1

Some words have double meanings, even with this theme. Pattern is one of those words. In this piece I look at printed patterns in fabric. These can be used to advantage in clothing and linens. I took a busily printed piece of cotton and emphasised parts of it with gold and silver free form machine embroidery. The lanterns now sparkle in the light and the birds and flowers are gilded by their gleam.

Page 10 – Pattern… 2

Another type of pattern adorns this piece – a jacket pattern. I chose a fabric in a tartan print which would be a good choice for a jacket. I shrunk down a dress-making pattern for a jacket and hand embroidered the lines onto the fabric. The thick black lines emphasise the contours of the jacket pattern and show its shape, what it will become, its potential.

Page 11 – Buttons

From materials we turn to function. Buttons are mainly associated with jackets here, but can also be used for decoration. I took inspiration from trimming on 60’s jackets for this page – simple, clean lines that make an impact. The black buttons against the yellow background also catch the eye.

Page 12 – Pocket

What can be found within the pocket? Lint? Money? A forgotten note? A key? So many things can be hidden within a pocket, or forgotten, then found again. Pockets are simple, functional additions that we cannot be without.


The date for the first stop of the tour has changed - the Sketchbook Project tour will now begin in NYC on February 19th - go check it out :-)

Sketchbook Project: Materials...

More pages from my Sketchbook Project! These pages start to look at materials and decoration...

Page 5 – Quilted

Quilted is another word that can be used for both jackets and blankets. Here it is for blankets – the kind we find on our beds that have been passed down through the family or made by our mothers to keep us warm. I chose fabrics in warm colours with a simple feminine pattern and created a basic quilt pattern. The piece is even backed with batting like a real quilt. I hand embroidered the word ‘quilted’ in a harmonious orange tone and used a rounded font to evoke the idea of children and family.

Page 6 – Embroidered

This page was the first one I completed. I looked at jackets in fashion magazines and found images that I liked and inspired me. I found a current trend for embroidered detailing. Embroidery can be used on jackets, blankets or sheets and is obviously very important to my work. I took inspiration from one particular jacket and created a flourishing design based on natural elements. I used free form machine embroidery to build up the design in several harmonious autumnal colours. I included the image that had originally inspired me in the piece, free form machine stitched in place under gold sparkle netting. Embroidery on jackets can be ornate and historical costume is a good source of this. I used this idea when hand embroidering the words on the piece in gold embroidery floss.

Page 7 – Skins

I thought about the materials that could be used for the manufacture of Jackets, Blankets and Sheets. Animal skins have been used for centuries as body covers and for warmth at night. I made an abstract piece incorporating synthetic leather and leopard skin, inspired by the idea of detailing on jacket collars, cuffs and pockets. Floating on the surface are the words ‘skins’, ‘leather’ and ‘fur’ that helped me to realise the piece.

Page 8 – Wool

Continuing looking at materials I also thought of wool felt. Another animal by-product, though more humane, wool can be transformed into entire garments or blankets or just embellishment. I took this as an opportunity to practice some needle felting techniques. I used quilt batting as a base and needle felted wisps of wool to it in varying shapes and contours. I would like to continue this practice, perhaps as decoration for a garment, in the future.

The first leg of the Sketchbook Tour opens on February 11th in Brooklyn, NY so come check it out!