REGINALD – The CAE Portrait Prize for Softies

It's the craft world's version of the Archibalds - the Reginalds!

You are invited to make a Softie Portrait of someone you admire/appreciate and send a photo of it together with a photo of the person that the portrait represents.

A Softie Portrait (soft toy) is a handmade soft sculpture/toy made from fabric or yarn, incorporating hand and/or machine stitching, knitting or crochet, which emulates a specific person or pet. Your Softie Portrait MUST be your own original work.

Judges Pip Lincoln (left) and CatRabbit (right) with their Reginalds

The judges are Cat Rabbit, nationally and internationally revered soft sculpture/textile artist, and Pip Lincolne, Melbourne crafter, author and Meet me at Mikes blogger. They will select 10 finalists who will then send in their actual softie portraits for a fabulous exhibition, to be held in the CAE (Centre for Adult Education) info shop in central Melbourne.

The Reginald winner, selected by Cat Rabbit and Pip Lincolne, will receive:

• A Brother NS55 Sewing Machine, valued at $699
• A commissioned soft sculpture by Cat Rabbit
• Inclusion on Pip Lincolne’s ‘Meet me at Mikes’ blog
• Inclusion on frankie magazine’s blog
• Subscription to frankie magazine

In addition, there will be a People’s Prize awarded, as voted by the general public. Chosen from the ten finalists, People’s Prize voting will be online and in person.

Photographic entries must be received by 7 March 2014. DON’T SEND ACTUAL SOFTIE PORTRAITS!

To enter the Reginald competition follow the instructions and fill out the entry form which you will find here.

Look up @reginald_cae, #Reginald and #makingareggie on Instagram to see other people’s entries.

Spotlight: Enid Twiglet

beautiful bird + creative soul

We got a chance to catch up with the ever so lovely crew over at Enid Twiglet, and asked a few bits and bobs about the work that goes on behind bird-filled doors. Enid Twiglet creates a lot of hand-embroided work, as well as some beautiful laser cut pieces! If you like all things quirky, botanical and possibly a feather or two in your tea then Enid Twiglet is for you!

Describe Enid Twiglet in three words

Handmade. Unique. Quirky.

You say you hand embroider a lot of your work. How long does it take for you to finish a piece?

The really small pieces take about 1 - 2 hours and the larger embroideries can take anywhere up to 40 hours.

What is your biggest inspiration?

I am a self confessed “bird lady” and am constantly inspired by anything to do with ornithology, (so much so I am thinking of studying it next year!).  We live with three very entertaining birds: Nigel the budgie and Colin and Barney who are cockatiels. We also have three rare breed chickens who are great fun to hang out with.

Colin is my constant companion, and spends most of his time perched on my shoulder and he enjoys unpicking my stitches as I embroider. I also love dusty old books and forgotten things found in other people’s trash and op-shops.  I am drawn to unusual subject matter such as human anatomy and most recently my hand embroidered insect collection.  I enjoy creating things that may not conventionally be seen as beautiful or appealing!

What kind of process does your work go through to become a tangible product?

I spend some time researching the subject matter then do up a quick pen drawing in my sketch book. From there I either trace or re-draw the outline onto fabric using a fabric pen.  My hand embroideries are free hand stitched. I normally have a pretty good idea of how I want something to look in my head and just take it from there. I have never used a pattern for my work and this makes every piece completely unique.  

Once the embroidery is finished I photograph it and then Mr Twiglet takes over to produce our laser engraved pieces. We have a laser cutting business as well as Enid Twiglet which means we have creative control over all of our creations and nothing has to be outsourced.

Is there a favourite product of yours?

Oh gosh this is hard! I get very attached to all of the larger hand embroideries purely because I spend so much time with them.  If I am stitching an animal or bird I create little personalities for them and the anatomical work I stitched last year for my exhibition was so personal and I definitely have some trouble letting those pieces go to new homes.  Right now I would have to say Mr Octopus. Purely because he challenged me right from the first stitch. Tentacles are hard! I am so attached to him I have decided to keep him for myself. 

If you had an infinite amount of money to put towards EnidTwiglet, how would you use it?

I would love a separate work space that isn't in our home. A solid brick and mortar studio space with a little retail outlet would be awesome. Oh, and I would love an assistant who would do my paper work for me! 
Mr Twiglet would love a huge studio where he could spend all his time designing, making and laser cutting.  We would both love to quit our day jobs and focus purely on working for ourselves. We are slowly making it happen!

What do you feel attracts customers to your products?

I think people enjoy the story of how our products are created. We make absolutely everything ourselves (including our labels) and I think our customers enjoy hearing about the processes involved. Plus the fact we are both ginger seems to make people laugh!

Have you ever thought of tackling a sewing machine and expanding your range?

I would like to learn how to use a sewing machine so I can make my own clothes but I am not interested in learning machine embroidery. I have seen some amazing embroidery work done on sewing machines but I get so much pleasure from working with just a needle, thread and my hands I don't think I would ever want to change that. 

What are your products made out of?

The embroideries are just sewing thread stitched onto cotton either presented in an embroidery hoop, laser cut pendant/brooch frames or glass bottles. We laser engrave my embroidered images onto glassware, wood, leather and acrylic.

If our readers mention this article can they receive 10% off at the upcoming MOTL market?

Yes of course!

http://www.enidtwiglet.com/