Joanna Cox Marshall Creative Blog - EDITH GRACE DESIGNS

Joanna Cox Marshall
Creative Arts Blog

Here is my creative arts journey, which started in 2012. I wanted to start a new path within arts and crafts, a career I was unable to take as a young person. I started my City & Guilds in 2019, which progressed to a degree in 2024. I have documented everything in this blog.

I retired from the professional ballet world at the age of 50 years in 2021, and have never looked back.

I hope my blog inspires others and encourages them to find their creative outlet.

Nativity Scene Dolls Knitting Pattern

11/3/2025

Nativity Scene Dolls Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/4397959392

The dolls are between 15cm & 16cm in height. Baby Jesus is 5cm tall, and the Manger is 8cm x 5cm.

The dolls are knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Hand Embroidery with Rust-Dyed Fabric

10/20/2025

In this piece I hand embroidered onto cotton calico using straight stitches. I decided to hand-dye the fabric to see the contrast between the embroidered lines that caught the rust-dyeing and the lines that did not.
I added some rosemary, nails and steel wool when hand-dyeing, to add texture to the final piece. I am delighted with the results.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Nativity Wise Men Dolls Knitting Pattern

10/1/2025

Nativity Wise Men Dolls Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/4379763311

The dolls are 15cm, knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Nativity Shepherd Dolls Knitting Pattern

9/28/2025

Nativity Shepherd Dolls Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/4327517453

The doll is 15cm, knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Katherine of Aragon Doll Knitting Pattern

8/28/2025

Katherine of Aragon Doll Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/4325317160

The doll is 16cm, knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Hand Embroidery with Herbs

7/31/2025

In this development, I have take some rosemary from the herb garden and used it within my had embroidered samples. I used linen which was hand-dyed in rosemary for 72 hours. In the first sample, I have stitched the rosemary just using DMC embroidery thread, making a 2D visual sample. I went a step further, incorporating the rosemary into the linen. I finished with making the photograph of two pieces of rosemary into a kaleidoscope photograph. These images could be used as a base to develop the samples into a larger piece of hand embroidery which could also incorporate rosemary leaves into it.

Year 1 - Creative Arts: Module 3

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Bluebell Flower Doll Knitting Pattern

7/25/2025

Bluebell Flower Doll Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/1887142240

The doll is 16cm, knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Diagonals Stitch

7/23/2025

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Line Embroidery Development

6/23/2025

Earlier this year, I visited Hever Castle in Kent. I used one of my images to sketch, and then broke it down into mark-making, while thinking about the words I had selected. From here, I made a small sample using a thread on a card.
I have been bulk hand-dyeing fabric this year, so I used one of my fabric pieces for this development.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Celebration Flower Doll Knitting Pattern

6/17/2025

Celebration Flower Doll Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/1888984491

The doll is 15cm, knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Seed Ridge Stitch Knitting Pattern

6/16/2025

Tutoring Project: Dressmaking

6/11/2025

A beautiful 1990s blouse, which uses tailoring skills to finish the garment. This project took two weeks to complete, with some sewing done at home.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Tutoring Project: Dressmaking

6/4/2025

Here is a 1980s blouse completed over two weeks. Below are a few images showing the completion of the blouse, from cutting out to top stitching the neckline, and finishing the garment by making the buttons. There are no shortcuts in dressmaking; this includes using the correct equipment, which includes dressmaking scissors and pins.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Rust-Dyeing with Fabric

5/31/2025

I was excited to start rust-dyeing this year, now that the weather is much finer and I can leave my dyeing outside.
I hand-embroidered onto linen with Pearle embroidery thread; the linen is a square cut from a disused tablecloth. I added some wire wool and wrapped up the square tightly with a piece of string. I left the square to soak in salted water for a few hours before transferring it outside into a small plastic bag.
Seventy-two hours later, I was able to unwrap the small square and was delighted with the result.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Experimenting with Hand Embroidery

5/27/2025

Experimenting with Hand Embroidery - 2025
In this exercise, I experimented with different thread weights using the same embroidery stitch to show size, form, and texture. I used a variety of shades of green, so the viewer is not distracted by the colours used.

Year 1 - Creative Arts: Module 2

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Tutoring Project: Dressmaking

5/23/2025

Ruby Tour Shirt - 8th to 22nd May
Private lessons enable the learner to have flexibility, and through lesson plans, this can allow the student to work on their project at home and reduce the lessons needed. Private lessons should fit in with your budget, experience, and schedule. Here is a rugby tour shirt with a matching hat. Well done, Mrs T.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Tudor Cardinal Doll Knitting Pattern

5/12/2025

Tudor Cardinal Doll Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/1870208976

The doll is 15cm tall including the hat, knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Double Moss Stitch Knitting Pattern

5/5/2025

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Hand-Dyeing Fabric with Onion Skins

4/30/2025

As the weather is much finer, I have started to hand-dye fabric in bulk. Today I have hand-dyed fabric in onion skins; the fabric does lighten after it has dried, but the colour is still warm.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Victorian Christmas Carol Singers Knitting Pattern

4/28/2025

Victorian Christmas Carol Singer Dolls Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/1345788212

The Gentleman doll is 17cm including the hat & the lady doll is 115cm tall , knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Ridged Rib Stitch Knitting Pattern

4/22/2025

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Tutoring Project: 1970s Wrap Skirt

4/17/2025

Here is a 1970s Wrap Skirt, it is perfect for summer. Vintage patterns are easier to follow than modern patterns, and the fit is better once adjustments are taken into account, which was not needed with this skirt. Vintage patterns follow basic dressmaking techniques and can help build on the foundations of dressmaking.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Tutoring Project: Basic Sewing Machine Skills/ Drafting a Pattern

4/9/2025

Here is a finished project that combines basic sewing machine skills & drafting a pattern to line these two metal baskets. Scrap fabric and ribbons were used to rejuvenate these baskets.
All photographs used in my posts and on my website are either mine or the work of my students.

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Embroidery Homage to Starry Night

3/31/2025

Embroidery Homage to Starry Night - 2025
In this second exercise, I have embroidered a piece in homage to Van Gogh's Starry Night. The focus of this piece is on a place where I live and a feature that never alters. I have made Brackley Town Hall the focus of the piece, an imposing building that dominates the Market Place. Around the Town Hall, I have added Van Gogh's swirls.
I used a piece of fabric that I hand-dyed with fabric paints from January this year. The colour is blue, which is exactly Van Gogh's colour palette, with the salt and mustard seeds highlighting the darker areas of the hand-dyeing.
I am really pleased with the final piece and feel it captures Van Gogh's style, which makes it very personal to me.

Year 1 - Creative Arts: Module 2

©Joanna Cox Marshall

Daffodil Flower Doll Knitting Pattern

3/28/2025

Daffodil Flower Doll Knitting Pattern by Edith Grace Designs
edithgracedesigns.etsy.com/listing/1873040943

The doll is 15cm tall including the hat, knitted in double knitting wool & worked flat.

This pattern can be purchased as a PDF Digital Download from Etsy, Love Crafts & Ravelry.

©Joanna Cox Marshall