I was there I saw him do this! I also met him afterwards and got his autograph <3 James x
(via billy-kaplan)
The first embroidery was the quote that inspired my project. “There is not in England a more irregular spot of ground than on which this town stands”
(Wardle & Bentham, 1814)
To do this neatly I stenciled the writing onto tissue which I pinned in place. I then stitched over the letters and when done tore away the tissue
My felt base consisted on 6 layers of wool each laid in the opposite direction to the one before, brown Manx Loaghtan for the bottom half and a mix of Baby Blue and Ice Blue Merino wool for the top half. I did this on a sheet of bubble wrap. The final layer included a mix of greens and browns to represent trees where the two halves joined and Teal wool for the 3 rivers of Stockport in the lower half. I sprinkled shavings of olive soap on the 3rd layer and on the top layer. I had also laid a piece of cotton mesh in-between the layers at the very top to give added strength and then looped this section over itself with a piece of plastic in-between to create an integral loop. I then had to wet the wool with hot water and covered it with a 2nd sheet of bubble wrap I then rubbed over it in circles to create a lather between the layers. I then rolled the whole thing round a sturdy card tube and rolled it back and forth a number of times, I unrolled it and rolled it from the opposite direction and repeated and then turned the whole thing over and did the same again, rolled it from both ends. When I could see it was partially felted or half-felted I rinsed the whole thing to remove some of the soap and let it dry. This all took several days.
I then laid out the design I had decided on using previously made pieces of half-felt in mainly natural wool colours used to represent the different shades of stone that steps are made from. The only non natural shade was a terracotta one I used for brickwork. After laying out my design I then had to tack all the pieces down, this took about 2 days. I then had to felt the whole thing again, I sprinkled more olive soap, wet it again and laid it between bubble wrap again and worked it to create a lather. I turned it over and added more soap to the back. I then rolled it around a fence post and tied it tightly with string. I rolled it 37 times for about 2 metres, unrolled it and rolled it from the other end another 37, then unrolled it and flipped it and rolled it another 37 times from each end. Each time it was re-tied with string. This took about 2 hours. I then rinsed it and took it home and tacked the whole thing inside a duvet cover and washed it in a washing machine on a woolen setting. I let it dry then ironed it. This tightened the whole thing and made a strong felt.
The final stage was the decoration, see posts to follow.
You pass the “Glass Umbrella” Market Hall and the South side pavement but do not turn onto it.
After going past the top of Vernon Street Castle Yard where Stockport Castle once stood you turn left and pass the top of Bridge Street Brow. Here you can see steps to the left that join the pavement along the west of Market Place. On the brow itself there are multilevel shops with their own steps.
The next stage of The Big Step Trail is to go down the north side of Market Place, past the aptly named Staircase House, the oldest house on the square having parts dating from the 1400s. The pavement is raised on steps all along this side.
Finishing laying out all the pieces of the design, steps arranged to lead you up the piece.
This is how Folley appeared around 1901, a street full of houses and maisonettes that could house more than 100 people.
This is Folley, the tiny street off Millgate that is now more or less empty apart from the remains of a gas lamp post. The wall to the right is the churchyard retaining wall. This is it in 2014 looking very unloved and overgrown.