Novelty Brooch Friday - August

August's Novelty Brooch Friday is kindly donated by Janine Middlemost. Janine’s company Middlemost Design creates a range of products, just one of them being brooches. Janine has kindly answered 5 questions for us which gives a great understanding of her ethos and approach to her creative process.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself and your shop Middlemost Design? 

I provide handmade clothing, jewellery and accessories made using vintage and recycled fabrics and found objects. Each piece is made by hand in my home studio, surrounded by vintage fabrics and other inspirational vintage pieces.

You work with a lot of different materials, in particular the brooch you are offering as a giveaway is cross-stitch, is this technique something find appealing? 

The brooch featured in this giveaway is made from a vintage embroidered table cloth. 

What materials do you like working with?  

I enjoy working with vintage fabrics, sheeting, table cloths and tea towels.  All fabric scraps from my clothing are kept and used for smaller items like jewellery, purses and labels.

Where do you get your inspiration from and do you have any creative ethics?

I am inspired by fabric prints and textures, colour and vintage children's books.

Are there other jewellers/artists you admire and inspire you?

Tractorgirl (Julie Gibbons) Betty Jo Designs (Liz Jones) Liana Kabel who all work with up cycled materials and found objects. Melanie from Textile Allsorts, Gay abandon body parts and Kurt Saggers from The Cats Pyjamas.

We are so pleased to be showcasing Middlemost Design's brooch for August's Novelty Brooch Friday so for your chance to win this cute brooch just post a picture of yourself on Instagram with your favourite brooch, entries can be submitted on any Friday from now up to and including 23rd August with the hash tag #noveltybroochfriday and we will announce the winner (randomly chosen) on Monday 26th August. Open to everyone, you can enter as many times as you like, either new or vintage brooches.

Each month Erin and I will take it in turns to showcase those sellers of vintage brooches and designers we admire and love to wear ourselves.

*If you are a designer or sell vintage brooches (worldwide) and wish to donate a brooch for an upcoming month and have your shop showcased, please contact me at tunabake@hotmail.com