AN artist has created unique natural burial garments that are biodegradable and can be used instead of a coffin.

Former nursery school teacher Hilary Edwards-Malam has designed two eco-friendly items of clothing - a sleeping bag and a white gown - that will leave no trace.

The resourceful student developed the sustainable clothing as part of her MA in Creative Practice at Liverpool Hope University.

Her burial and creation coverings are on display until Sunday in an exhibition entitled No Fear In Death at Christ Church in Wharton.

“I was very interested in sustainability, ethical production and zero waste, “ said Hilary, from Wharton, who has two grown-up children.

“I wanted to reduce waste rather than recycle.

“I made two burial or cremation coverings that can be used instead of a coffin. One is a sleeping bag, the other is a white gown and is reminiscent of a wedding dress. They are for a Christian woman’s funeral and are a celebration of eternal life.”

Hilary used natural dyes to colour the sleeping bag after discovering that many commercial dyes are quite toxic.

“I used dyes extracted from plants foraged locally or grown in my garden or my allotment at Moss Bank,” she said.

“The excitement of natural dyeing is not knowing exactly what colours will come out of plants. Onion skins, marigold flowers, fuchsias, blackcurrants and nettles all gave an array of colours.

“I made a grid with symbolic emblems and icons in the squares using lots of flowers from the natural world.”

Along the front of the sleeping bag Hilary has embroidered the words ‘This is the power of Christ in me’ taken from a Christian song in gold.

“The idea is that it is completely biodegradable and would leave no trace except for the gold words which bear witness to the woman’s faith,”she said.

Making both garments was a painstaking process which reflects the essence of Hilary’s philosophy.

“Natural dyeing is a slow process but so satisfying,” she said. “A lot of the things we do are very fast, mass produced and cheap. We throw away and buy more.

“My ethos is to take time over producing something. Makers have pride in what they make not just churn stuff out.”

Hilary chose a wedding gown as the bible refers to a Christian woman being the bride of Jesus.

She said:”I hand embroidered a verse from John and picked out key words ‘Jesus’, ‘God’, ‘son’ and ‘eternal life’ in gold lettering that would remain if the body was ever dug up in years to come to show witness to her faith. A bit like ancient grave goods.

“Hand embroidery is a very slow process. All through women’s lives they buy things to cover their bodies that reflect on who they are and make statements about themselves. Yet they don’t do that in death.

“I wanted the inside of the dress to be a really soft fabric. There is an opaque veil over her head. I wanted her dead body to be looked after.”

Hilary carried out research to find out how Christian women in Winsford felt about death.

“Responses were so varied,” she said. “Some had planned their funeral down to the nth degree but hadn’t thought about what to wear. There is a move back towards things that are more biodegradable."

Hilary gained a distinction for her MA and graduates next week.

“I have found this project very challenging, I’ve loved every minute of it, it’s been amazing," she added.

“I hope to entice people to see the exhibition and have conversations about it. It's been difficult to talk about my work.

"You don’t think about the end of life. I’d be happy to have a sleeping bag.”

The exhibition at Christ Church on Crook Lane in Wharson is open on Wednesday 11.30am to 4pm, Thursday 9am to 11.30am, Friday 10am to 1pm, Saturday, 10am to 4pm and Sunday between services.