PASSEMENTERIE IS HOT

On June 26 & 27 2021, I had the pleasure to follow Elizabeth Ashdowns Masterclass of Passementerie. 

What is passementerie ? 

Passementerie is an endangered craft. It is the art of making elaborate trimmings for clothing or furnishing. According to Wikipedia it’s :

Passementerie (/pæsˈmɛntri/, French pronunciation: ​[pɑsmɑ̃tri]) or passementarie is the art of making elaborate trimmings or edgings (in French, passements) of applied braidgold or silver cord, embroidery, colored silk, or beads for clothing or furnishings. Styles of passementerie include the tasselfringes (applied, as opposed to integral), ornamental cords, galloonspomponsrosettes, and gimps, as well as other forms. 

Source : From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Passementerie comes in different shapes and sizes. Normally, passementerie is small so you can sew it onto dresses, jackets, curtains and upholstery.

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One of the most famous passementerie companies is Verrier in Paris. They make the most gorgeous passementerie you can imagine.

Passementerie of Verrier

Because it’s a very time-consuming craft, it has become­ endangered. 

I am autodidact and I tried learning passementerie by viewing the photos on the internet. But that didn’t get me much further. 

I came across Elizabeth’s website and subscribed for her online zoom Passementerie Masterclass. Elizabeth Ashdown MA RCA is an artist based in South East England. She creates contemporary, hand woven artworks using the endangered craft of Passementerie. You should definitely check-out her website and Instagramaccount. It’s a burst of great design and gorgeous colors.

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Passementerie Masterclass – Elizabeth Ashdown

What did I learn ?

Elizabeth starts her course with explaining what passementerie is. How you can give it a personal twist and how to set up your weaving. You can use a frame loom, or as I did, my large 16-shaft Ashford loom.

The sett you use for your warp is very dense. So you don’t see the weft threads for the basic ribbon.

She explains what a picot, scallop and crete is. You weave together with her (and all the other participants) live, your first design. In between you can ask questions and she explains the do’s and don’ts very clearly.

I have woven 2 different designs on a single warp/ribbon.

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Single ribbon sample from IlsePhilips during the Masterclass Passementerie

You can go crazy when you work with different wefts and with 2 warps/ribbons. Is it as complicated as it looks? Well, you certainly need to be very focused on which weft, ribbon, color you will use to make your design look great.

In my left warp/ribbon I used a wider sett then the warp/ribbon on the right. As you can see the right ribbon looks better because there are no ‘gaps’.
Ofcourse, gaps can be a design feature if you plan it carefully.

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Double ribbon sample from IlsePhilips during the Masterclass Passementerie
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Double ribbon sample with a bead from IlsePhilips during the Masterclass Passementerie

Let’s get crazy

With passementerie you can get as crazy as you like. There are no limits to what you can use. Below are a few examples of try-outs. I made them with recycled household-stuff.

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ilsephilips.nl – test samples made with strips of a bag of chips and sanitary napkins.
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Samples made with additional macramé woven in using broken headphone cables – IlsePhilips
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Black & white – made with garbage bag strips and ear-sticks – IlsePhilips

Learn an endangered craft

Bring passementerie back to live. If you like to know more about how to weave it, I can highly recommend Elizabeth’s Masterclass. She’s a fantastic and brilliant weaver, a good teacher and a very nice and helpful person.

Thank you Elizabeth, it was really fun learning passementerie !

Wallhanging Autumn Leaves

A new handwoven wallhanging “Autumn Leaves” for my Botanical Collection. Handwoven in cotton and bamboo. The wallhanging has gradient colours in shades of brown. Hand crochet white leaves in different shapes and sizes accentuate the onset of winter.
Made in a limited single number.

Size : 54 x 100 cm (including fringes)
Prize : 680 euro
For sale at Masters & Crafters

Handwoven wallhanging Autumn Leaves - Botanical Collection Ilse Philips
Handwoven wallhanging Autumn Leaves – Botanical Collection Ilse Philips
Handwoven wallhanging Autumn Leaves - Botanical Collection Ilse Philips - Detail
Handwoven wallhanging Autumn Leaves – Botanical Collection Ilse Philips – Detail
Handwoven wallhanging Autumn Leaves - Botanical Collection Ilse Philips - Detail
Detail of the handwoven wallhanging Autumn Leaves – Botanical Collection Ilse Philips

Kunst-Post in volle gang !

Kunst-Post opdracht Textiel Ilse Philips

De Kunst-Post opdracht is in volle gang en de voorbereiding loopt op rolletjes !
Wijck-Zoetermeer benaderde mij of ik wou meewerken aan het project Kunst-Post. 30 zelfstandig wonende ouderen uit Oosterheem, Seghwaert en Meerzicht ontvangen tweewekelijks een creatieve opdracht aan huis. Verschillende kunstenaars bedenken de opdrachten. Als kunstenaar Toegepast Textiel bij Franx/Terra Artprojects Zoetermeer, heb ik een opdracht bedacht dat de deelnemers prikkelt om anders naar textiel te kijken. Een update volgt zodra de opdracht is uitgedeeld aan de deelnemers.

Ik stel de opdracht samen, werk ze uit en zet ze klaar. Via de (besloten) Facebookgroep Kunst-Post zullen we begeleiding geven aan de deelnemers. De deelnemers ontdekken nieuwe en andere kanten van zichzelf. Samen met de andere kunstenaars hoop ik zo bij te dragen aan minder vereenzaming. Blijven leren en ontwikkelen draagt bij aan een positieve zingeving. Het eindresultaat is 6 kunstwerken per deelnemer en een expositie in de wijk.

Kunst-Post opdracht Textiel Ilse Philips
Voorbereiding | Kunst-Post opdracht Textiel Ilse Philips


Er wordt in dit project samengewerkt met Franx/Terra Artprojects Zoetermeer, Palet Welzijn, CKC & partners, Wijck-Zoetermeer en wordt mede mogelijk gemaakt door Lang Leve Kunst en Naoberschap.

Weaving and Ceramics

Wallhanging and ceramics

Weaving and ceramics go together perfectly. So besides following colleague weavers, I love to be inspired by what other artisanal workers do. Becoming friends with Juliette happened at the right moment. Keramiek Juliette makes gorgeous ceramics. You definitely should check her website.
A few months ago, our mutual friend Ronald brought us into contact with each other. We had a lovely inspiring chat and found out that we both would love to try out a collaboration. Neither one of us has done this before, so we had to set a few goals for ourselves. That’s why we decided to make a wallhanging.
A double weaving and ceramics. Both handwoven and handformed of course.
If you are curious about what we’ve accomplished, just stay in touch and check out our websites to see the final result !

We are so excited that we can’t wait to give a small sneak peek ….
In a later post we will share more details and info about our collaboration and the process. More of my weavings can be found here and here. More of Juliette’s ceramics can be found here and here.

IlsePhilips & Keramiek Juliette

Table runner “Jul”

Table runner Jul

Table runner “Jul” in typical Christmas colours red, green, white.
…….It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…..
Double weaving blocks on 8 shafts. One side has light background, the other side has a darker background.
Fully reversible.
Material : Cotton
Size : 100 x 50 cm
Colours : red, green, white
Ships in a gift box.
Price : 70 euro incl. shipping costs (in EU)
Email me if you are interested.

Looking for some special art to give ? You can find it here, here, here and here.
If you’re having problems with Christmas decorating, Anna from L’Essenziale has some tips for you.

Table runner "Jul" in typical Christmas colours by IlsePhilips.nl
Christmas colours by IlsePhilips.nl
Table runner "Jul" in typical Christmas colours by IlsePhilips.nl
“Jul” table runner in typical Christmas colours by IlsePhilips.nl
Table runner "Jul" in typical Christmas colours by IlsePhilips.nl
Table runner in typical Christmas colours by IlsePhilips.nl

4000 wefts krokbragd tablerunner

4000 wefts of krokbragd is what it took me to finally finish my tablerunner in this gorgeous Swedish technique. The table runner is 1 meter long and 27 cm wide (without fringes).
More than 4.000 wefts in merino, wool, acryl.
A while ago I wove a rug “Lollipop” in the same krokbragd technique. It’s a fun technique, but very very time-consuming ! Monique Hakkennes and Kelly Casanova have good weaving lessons in this technique.
Ships in a gift box.
Price : 150 euro, incl. shipping (in EU)

4000 wefts of krokbragd by IlsePhilips
Swedish krokbragd by IlsePhilips
4000 wefts of krokbragd by IlsePhilips
4000 wefts of krokbragd by IlsePhilips
4000 wefts of krokbragd by IlsePhilips
4000 wefts of krokbragd by IlsePhilips

Vintage moose wall art

Weaving a vintage moose wall art on my 16-shaft loom was always on my to-do list. I finally decided to spend some time designing this in a 16-shaft summer & winter technique. Eva Stossel has written a nice blog about this summer & winter technique. Summer & winter is a Scandinavian block weaving, woven with 2 shuttles. It’s special because the front and back are inverted. In the old days, plaids woven with this technique were very common in Sweden. During winter they showed one side of the plaid, in summer they showed the other side. So a wallhanging, plaid or table runner made with this technique can be displayed both ways. Because I wanted to have an ‘old Scandinavian’ vintage look, I choose green alpaca for the pattern and unbleached cottolin for the ground cloth. The moose are separated by a ‘green lawn’ in silk yarn.

Price : 430 euro 
Size : 180 x 35 cm
Contact me for more information

Special art and fun weavings : passementerie, flower garden or connected art object.