Christine Eborall
Since retirement I’ve been designing and handmaking caps and hats and weaving tapestries with discarded plastic. The caps and hats have now taken over, but at BEAT I shall be exhibiting some of my remain tapestries too.
I’ve been designing and making casual hats and caps in my workroom in Ealing, after studying millinery design at Kensington & Chelsea College. My focus is solely on everyday hats, which people often don’t wear because they find it difficult to find anything suitable or that fits. I aim to produce hats and caps which fit, are informal and undemanding to wear yet look stylish, confident …. and fun.
The fit of hats is very important and often overlooked. I normally make in three headfitting sizes (small 55-56 cm, medium 57-58 cm, large 59-60 cm), but can make larger or smaller as well.
I prefer to reuse and recycle whenever possible. I have an extensive collection of unwanted, often donated, fabrics, and most of my knitted hats are made from surplus yarns from fine knitwear manufacturers in Italy and elsewhere in Europe. I sell at local craft markets and on Etsy.
I did tapestry weaving for about 15 years and now feel I’ve taken it as far as I want. Tapestry weaving is an ancient art form, and the techniques I’ve used are the same as those used thousands of years ago. But instead of using traditional weaving materials such as wool, silk or linen, I wove only with discarded plastics.
I’ve used graffiti-inspired and other images to convey my concerns about the wastefulness and non-recyclability of much of the plastic we’re continuing to use.
During BEAT I will be showing tapestries woven with most of the main types of plastic I’ve used. I will also have information about why the Bayeux Tapestry, tapestry kits and Grayson Perry’s woven images are not tapestries.
