Showing posts with label brass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brass. Show all posts

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Challenge : Morocco


The challenge of the European Street Team for these two weeks is from creationsbyeve and is called "Morocco".

Source: Fibula [Morocco] (1981.5.2) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The first week I had no idea what to make; then I decided to look at my postcards with traditional costumes from Morocco. And the inspiration bubbled in my head. There is a very striking piece of jewelry, called a fibula, that is part of the Moroccan Berber costume. Fibulae were decorative, symbolic, status indicating, and functional. They were used as clasps to keep capes, mantles and other garments in place. Fibulae from the Islamic period consist of two triangular endpieces, which are pinned into the clothing, and a chain that connects them. The inverted triangle represents the female form.

Source: Fisher, Angela. Africa Adorned. London: Collins, 1984


So, I started to make a fibula from buttons. I made two triangles from heavy brass buttons by sewing the buttons together with strong brown yarn. They are connected to a golden-coloured chain at the bottom and two large golden-coloured metal rings at the top. At the back of each triangle, a golden-coloured brooch pin is sewn. It's for sale in my P8 Button Art and Accessories shop on Etsy.