Wednesday 11 November 2015

What Happened to All Those Poppies?

A pile of crocheted poppies of different designs.
Did you guess the number of poppies
in this pile?
The answer is in June's blog entry
 "Poppies Shaping Up"
 


 
In June, I was busy making poppies for a special project.

Today, Remembrance Day, poppies come into prominence again.  These poppies were used in a commemorative project so today is an appropriate day to show you the results.


The fate of these poppies could not be revealed earlier in the year because of confidentiality around a competition entry at the annual Sheepvention in Hamilton, Victoria (Australia).

Every August, this event celebrates everything about sheep!  There is a Sheep Show (exhibiting up to 1000 sheep including Heritage and Merino breeds and featuring Corriedales in 2016), ram sales, farm dog competitions and wool fashion parades including the Australasian Young Designer Wool Awards and that is where my poppies come in!

They were made for young emerging fashion designer Madison Prime whose entry in the Young Designer Wool Awards commemorated the Centenary of the First World War.
A black and white design sketch of Madison Prime's "Remembrance Dress" design.
One of Madison's design sketches.
A coloured version is on Instagram.


 

Last year was Madison's first year at Sheepvention where she was awarded an honourable mention for that year's design entry which was featured in the 2015 Young Designers Booklet (page 9).

This year, she was hoping to improve on that result. Competition is fierce in 5 categories:
  • Corporate Wear
  • Race Wear
  • Evening  Wear / Formal
  • Fantasty / Theatrical
  • Streetwear / Sportswear
All entries must be of original design using at least 80% wool. The idea is to show off wool and woollen products to their best advantage.

Sheepvention gives young designers the opportunity to showcase their designs and receive critiques from industry judges.

Madison did not win the competition this year but her finished design is stunning!   
She is a very creative and talented artist and designer. 


Black evening dress with fishtail skirt and embellished with crocheted and knitted poppies. The model is wearing her hair in a low bun decorated with a poppy.
"Remembrance Dress"
designed and made by Madison Prime.
I love the finishing touch of a poppy in the hair.

You must visit Madison Prime's truly.madleigh.deeply page on Instagram to see her style: https://instagram.com/truly.madleigh.deeply/

I am so proud of Madison and it has been a pleasure and a privilege to help her achieve her creative vision by crocheting lots of poppies!

Thank you, Madie!
And to everyone else, I say:

Watch out world - here's comes Madison Prime
"Truly Madleigh Deeply"



Links & References


Australasian Young Designer Wool Awards, Sheepvention, Hamilton Pastoral & Agricultural Society Inc., Hamilton, Victoria: http://www.hamiltonshowgrounds.com.au/competition-single.asp?ID=14

Australian War Memorial, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: https://www.awm.gov.au/

Hamilton Pastoral & Agricultural Society Inc., Hamilton, Victoria, Australia: http://www.hamiltonshowgrounds.com.au/index.asp

Lupey Loops:

Prime, Madison, Fashion Design Graduate, Emerging Australian Designer:

Sheepvention, Hamilton Pastoral & Agricultural Society Inc., Hamilton, Victoria:  http://www.hamiltonshowgrounds.com.au/sheepvention-single.asp?ID=1 

14 comments:

  1. That's amazing! the dress is so beatifulx

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    Replies
    1. I agree, Michelle. Madison has some amazing design concepts and has made some stunning garments. Thanks for taking time to say hello. I'm glad you got to see this dress.

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  2. Wow, it looks stunning, the poppies really make it! x

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    1. Indeed! I had the same reaction when I first saw that dress. "Stunning" was the word that came to mind. I have been so impressed with Madison's designs. They have been unique and intricate but also very wearable. As I made those poppies, I had no idea of how Madie was going to use them. It wasn't until they were done that I saw her concept sketch.

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  3. Replies
    1. It surely is, Amy. Since you do sewing yourself, I know you would especially appreciate the work involved in Madison's Remembrance Dress.

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  4. Wonderful dress !!!! Thanks for sharing that event with us ... Have a lovely day !

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    1. Yes, Géraldine, I agree. I think all of Madison's designs are wonderful. The Remembrance Dress was a bit big for the young model here, but you can still see the structure of the dress. This was the last year that Madison could enter the Sheepvention Young Designers Wool Awards as she was still a student. It is my understanding that the competition is not open to fully qualified designers because it is as much for emerging designers to showcase their work as it is to showcase the possibilities of working with wool, something most of us like to do with our crafts! :-)

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  5. Lovely post for Remembrance Armistice Day from Belgium.

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    1. It is interesting that different places have different names such as Remembrance Day, Armistice Day and Veteran's Day. You have some interesting photos and history on your blog, Louisette. I wish I could read French easily!

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  6. Interesting links, greeting from Belgium

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    1. Merci, dank U wel & thank you for visiting Lupey Loops - welcome! Greetings back to you from Australia, Louisette. I'm glad the links are useful.

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  7. That is a stunning dress, and so appropriate you posted it today. That sheep festival sounds amazing - I HAVE to get to Australia sometime soon. It sounds like my kind of place.

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    1. That would be awesome, Mary Anne! If you come to Australia and you like sheep, you would probably like New Zealand as they have a lot of sheep too! I love watching the sheep dog trials and demonstrations at the agricultural shows. The bonds between sheep dogs and their owners are amazing and their communication astonishing.
      The whole district gets behind Sheepvention. There is a famous Australian author named Mem Fox (who comes from Adelaide by the way) and she had a very popular children's book called "Where is the Green Sheep?". Because of that, Mem Fox went to the Sheepvention festival as a guest speaker where she conducted workshops and talks about the importance of books and reading to children. (Mem Fox was a teacher in case you couldn't tell!) That was in 2014. I am sure I read about locals making sheep/wool-inspired art installations to line the roads into the area as well to publicise and celebrate their Sheepvention. The farmers take it very seriously. If you want to go,you will need to book your accommodation very early. It is often sold out.

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