Archive | handmade

tassels and embellishments
for Vaucluse house

April 5, 2017 by Morrison Polkinghorne handmade Technique Vaucluse House

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One of Australia’s most prestigious colonial properties, Vaucluse house in Sydney, has a revamp! We at Passementeries were asked to help in the reconstruction, specifically crafting sixty tassels and three hundred embellishments for the drawing room , all based on original 19th century designs. We reproduced the tassels from original prototypes at Sydney Living Museums archives of their Caroline […]

new tools for Vaucluse House: part2

April 1, 2017 by Morrison Polkinghorne handmade Vaucluse House

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The spool/mould spinning machine works wonderfully, but an initial problem was that the motor smokes. The first sewing machine motor I bought was not strong enough. Thus I bought a another, and at more expense to replace it. However that smoked as well. Eventually, I was told of another guy who could possibly help — a specialist that actually […]

revamping jute trimmings

March 6, 2017 by Morrison Polkinghorne braid Bullion Fringe Fringe handmade jute natural fibres

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In the early 90’s I started my tassel career making trendy, contemporary jute trimmings, tassels braids fringes and cords. Then the fad faded, but not totally. This past year Passementeries has been approached to create new and exciting contemporary jute projects. In the process we’ve developed stunningly new creations. Natural fiber has always had a […]

Gold leaf making in Myanmar

September 29, 2016 by Morrison Polkinghorne handmade Myanmar Technique travel

Head to Mandalay for gold leaf making. Here, you will find numerous noisy, sweaty and glistening locations. Myanmar gold leaf is handmade in time-honored fashion from 24k gold. In one day a worker at this factory will painstakingly turn 32 grams of gold into about 750 layers of finished sheets of gold leaf. Between the layers of gold […]

designing a new braid

September 23, 2016 by Morrison Polkinghorne braid handmade

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Normally, when I weave a braid I bulk the weft up with a minimum of 4+ threads. But this time I wanted to see the results using two weft threads. So I warped up the trimming loom with a myriad of blue, lime green, russet red and a burnt orange. Look at the fab results!!! […]

how we make 350 identical Pom Pon’s

June 7, 2016 by Morrison Polkinghorne Fringe handmade Technique

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It’s very easy to make a pom pon, or so I thought when I was taught by my mother at an early age. She began by cutting two donut shaped pieces of cardboard, then had me wrap them with threads. Wool was the easiest textile to use, as as it effortlessly made the pom pons […]

How to make Paper Snowflakes

December 3, 2015 by Morrison Polkinghorne handmade Technique Workshop

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I decided this year to make Paper Snowflakes for our Christmas decorations. Simple and fun, but watch out for that dangerous blade. Items required: Card Sharp Knife Metal Ruler Cutting Board Double Sided Tape Scissors Needle and Thread Cut a rectangle piece of card, two thirds longer than the width. The width should be […]

Custom cushion fringe – Bullion Fringe

October 5, 2015 by Morrison Polkinghorne Bullion Fringe cushion Fringe handmade

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Weaving twisted threads with a loom turns into bullion fringe. The term originates from the thick metallic gold or silver fringe epaulettes and cording used on military uniforms. Here at Passementeries® we make our bullion fringe with high-grade mercerised cotton from a collection of some 600 colors.see the available colours here The Bullion Fringe featured on this […]

Two weeks it took to make this ceiling rosette and it took just 10 seconds for my staff to turn it into a hat!

October 5, 2015 by Morrison Polkinghorne handmade rosette

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This ceiling rosette took a laborious two weeks to construct. When it was finally completed, before it has time to be used as a ceiling rosette, my staff grabbed it as a decorative hat. This learnt this technique when I visited Versailles where in the hall of mirrors they have many chandeliers with stunning ceiling rosettes. The basic technique […]

dried lotus, silk embellishments & hand forged nails

October 4, 2015 by Morrison Polkinghorne handmade hardware tassel

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There are myriad reasons why I find a special of joy in living and working in Battambang, a city known for its creativity, musicians, artists and craftsmen. Here are some examples: Dried Lotus: Everyday we go to the market and buy a bunch of closed lotus flowers. We then fold the pedals back to reveal the […]

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