As it Seams: March 2016

World Book Day Blog Tour - My Top Five illustrators

By Victoria As-it-Seams - 15:45

When Rebecca at Dobbins Bobbins invited me to join her World Book Day tour, my sewing imagination hurtled through a zillion ideas.

Then life got in the way, and we had a big family trauma this week and there was no way my One Big Sewing Project would be ready in time.

But I so wanted to take part. Then another idea hit me...

Children's book illustrations are already everywhere on As it Seams.

I grew up with a world of books. I never, ever stopped reading. Anne of Green Gables, Fantastic Mr Fox, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Pippi Longstocking, were alive in my head, pages and pictures that danced through my childhood alongside me.

I 'read' pictures as much as pages. I know these pictures like old friends. Looking through my blog it became obvious just how much Missy's wardrobe has been shaped by great illustrators.

So apologies, I haven't (yet) been able to create something new, but here's five of my favourite illustrators - alongside a few of Missy's creations

1. Mabel Lucie Attwell

Who could not love Mabel Lucie Attwell's chubby babies and fairies? Her Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan are my favourite representations of these characters. Her watercolours are beautiful, but not sugary, and Alice aand Peter Pan become real, solid characters not whimsical 'princess type figures'. Her colors are strong and her clothes have the beautiful drapey silouhettes of the 1920s

2. Cicely Mary Barker

I'm staying in the 1920s, with Cicely Mary Barker, creator of the Flower Fairy series.

Cicely's illustrations may be whimsical, but look at the clothes! Aren't those fairy dresses just an endless source of inspiration?

3. Kate Greenaway

What can I say? She was the first, the great, and her illustrations are a record of Victorian style. I loved these pictures as a child, the soft colour palate, the dreaminess

4. Jan Pienkowski

Oh look! I'm almost up to date. Next up is Jan Pienkowski, best known as creator of Meg and Mog. But it's his fairytale silhouettes I loved most as a child. These are pictures that in themselves told a story, with echos of Russia, Eastern Europe and age-old myths. And I know that I like to create clothes for Missy that create stories too...

5. Mairi Hedderwick

Mairi Hedderwick is the creator of young heroine Katie Morag who lives on a Scottish island where she roams freely on the wild beaches.

Mairi's pictures sing to my soul. Her paintings capture the light and drama of the Scottish landscape. They're full of the quirks and details of a childhood of the late 70s and 80s. She has depicted the memories from my own childhood. I spent every summer playing in the near midnight sun on these remote beaches, creating stories in my head and clambouring over rocks and seaweed. This is my sister and me in 1980 I guess, flying our kite as the sun set at around 11pm...

Little Katie Morag and her Scottish adventures were part of the inspiration behind my as yet unfinished World Book Day sewing project. Here's a sneak peak, to be revealed in its full glory very soon...

As I put this long post together, I realised just how much stories are part of my life. Of course, I am a 'professional story collector', a journalist.

This week has been a very raw one for the As it Seams family, facing a big change. The next chapter for our little family has plenty of blank pages...Daunting and exciting...x

Rebecca at Dobbins Bobbins has some FOUR fabulous prize packages to giveaway with the World Book Tour . And there's a great list of participants. Do click around and see the actual creations this week

Sewn In The Attic