Sun, Moon and Stars

Well all of my fabric has been unpacked. I played with it yesterday, sorting it into different piles. Feeling the softness of the velvet, the slickness of the silk. I forgot how much I had, how many pieces I truly loved What brought me to this place was a post done by a much admired fiber artist that I have followed for almost ten years now. I saw her post on my facebook timeline and clicked over to read it and when I did something happened. I don't know if it was the distress of the day or something else I can't define but I decided I couldn't spend the rest of my life not sewing. Life is too short and I hold it too dear. So right then and there, in the blink of an eye, I told myself enough is enough. It is time to sew again.

She is giving a class that one can follow along with and make something similar to what she is doing. I decided I am going to do this class. It is a way to find myself back to where I was so long ago when I had to put down my needles and 'REST'. Well that advice wasn't much good as I still have the same problem I did when my doctor told me that, so here I go...

She starts with a nine piece square, something I have never done. I picked out my pieces of fabric last night and ironed them all, today I will stitch them together. It is cold out and it feels good, curled up here with my blanket and my cloth on my lap. Good times!

Fairie Bleu

I have been under the weather all week and not able to finish any of the jobs I had planned for the house. It's very frustrating when my body doesn't cooperate with me. All the willpower in the world doesn't help when you have a fever. So I have been spending many days quiet. I have had a lot of nice long naps. I also have had a lot of bowls of oatmeal. It's amazing how comforting oatmeal can be. It really is a healing food! Today I graduated to oatmeal with bananas, I am moving up in the world!

So since I am being so quiet and not really having energy to do anything much, I picked up this piece I have been working on since October. I haven't really had a chance to work on it lately but I really want to get it done because this will go on the wall in my bedroom. I already have the frame bought!


I really love the delicate feel to it and hope to copy this feel through out the room. I know my kitchen and living room are bright and modern and colorful but that is not the only side of me! I have this bohemian hippy chick side hiding but not for long! Someday I will start working in my bedroom and you will get to see a whole other side of me!

Until then I hope you all have a beautiful rest of the week. Remember the weekend is upon us!

DIY Table Runner Made With Recycled Jeans and T-shirts

Today I wanted to show you my new table runner. This actually started out as a plan for my coffee table but after finishing it I decided I like it on the dining room table as much as on the coffee table. The great thing about this piece? It uses up some old clothes. I am all about recycling as much as possible and I have a big cabinet just full of old clothes to use for my projects.

To make this piece you need an old pair of jeans, about 5 t-shirts in the colorway you want. I chose reds, yellow, orange and black, some stiff lining material, another shirt in a coordinating fabric, I had an old stretchy black velvet shirt I used. 

Some shishka mirrors or fancy buttons, 

embroidery thread in the same coordinating colors, some liner material and some backing material. The sizes are dependent on how wide you want to make your piece.

I started out by cutting three rectangles from the legs of the jeans. Mine were 20" long and 8" wide. Then I cut the tshirts into strips from side to side about 1-3/4 inches wide.

I then took the strips and folded each side into the middle and then folded them again, so they are long strips like bias tape. 

I pinned these shut with safety pins so they would be easier to work with. 

I then placed the strip of tshirt at the top corner of thejean rectangle and using 3 ply of  embroidery thread started sewing it on. I simply wrapped the floss over the top, pulled the needle through to the back and came up about 1/8 of an inch further down and do it again. 

This is a very easy stitch to do and I made most of these while watching tv. I made two with the colored t-shirts using black thread and one with the black t-shirt and the different colored flosses. 

I would just sew a long piece of thread and then switch to another color.

After you finish your t-shirt pieces you can make your other two pieces. 

I used a thick lining material like you would use inside a belt, like buckram but you could also use jeans for this. I cut them the same size as the other pieces. I then cut out the velvet about 1/2 inch larger all the way around, I wrapped it around the lining material and slip stitched it all the way around. 

I then took the shishka mirrors and scattered a few across the top and slip stitched them onto the fabric. When I finished with this I took the yellow floss and made simple criss cross stars all over the two pieces.

When all the stars were done I laid the five pieces across my lining material and cut it out to the same size. 

I then pinned it all down (I used a lot of pins to make sure nothing slipped around) I then stitched the pieces onto the lining material first stitching the velvet pieces down onto the striped pieces and then all the way around the edge.

After this was done I laid the piece out on top of my backing material and cut it 2" wider all the way around. 

Then I folded the edge of the backing material twice and then up and over the edge and pinned it down. Then I machine stitched all the way around the edge. 

Voila, finished!

Finished Bag

So here it is, all finished, soon to be on a trip across the sea. I hope she loves it as much as I do. I plan on doing a short tutorial on how to make these simple cotton tassels soon so be on the look out.

The owl will soon take flight!

I have been busy the last month on finishing the two bags for a custom order. I wrote about the Mermaid Bag last week and showed you some pictures. Today I plan on finishing the second bag, a treasure bag. I am so happy to finally finish these two. It was an enjoyable work. It has been a long time since I embroidered and it was good to do it again. I plan on doing a lot more now!

Where did the time go?

Wow I can't believe I haven't written in my blog in three months! How did that happen? I thought I made posts...did the internet eat them?

I think maybe I am unconsciously avoiding this blog. It needs a complete overhaul and I really need to do that soon.

Anyway. I have been busy. I spent the Christmas season cross stitching away. I made several things:

A few Christmas ornaments,

A New Adventure

     

  As many of you know, I have been down ill for a month and a half. One afternoon feeling a tickle in my nose blossomed into a full fledged bronchial attack with all it's complications. After three (really four)antibiotic treatments, allergic reactions to two and many side effects I am slowly coming back to myself. It's amazing the difference you can feel in such a short period of time. I spent weeks in a brain fog where i couldn't even put 2 and 2 together! I am working hard on regaining my health and getting back on track.

The Dreaded Scourge

Last time I talked to you I was happily plugging away, making all kinds of pretties and just generally being happy. Setting up my studio, unpacking boxes I haven't opened in a year and really enjoying seeing my studio come together.
Since then it has been anything but! I have been down now for over two weeks with a terrible nose running, throat burning, lung congesting, head pounding, stomach plummeting flu. UGH!
But...I am recovering, hooray!
The last few days I have been waking up with less and less congestion and not as many head spinning headaches. I may survive after all :)

Change in the Wind

Hello all, once again I find myself being lax with this blog and once again I apologize. I have been lost in thought lately as life is going to be changing a lot around here. I am not sure in which direction I am going to go with my work and it has caused a lot of indecision on my part. I really miss making huge intricate pieces of fiber art. I know they don't sell. I know they take countless hours and really they are priceless in my mind. That does not take away the desire to create them. They are my true art. They were never about the money and the few pieces I did sell felt like I was parting with my children. I am just not wired to make simpler works. Even when I tried to just make simple tarot bags they ended up being overly elaborate if only in the fact that I would satin stitch things by hand, taking hours to do something a machine could do. I like having my little shop on Etsy and selling some fabrics. It gives me a bit of pocket money and makes me feel productive but it is also not filling that hole inside me that wants to be filled with tiny stitches and sprays of beads flowing down a swirl of color. It simply cannot replace that. So where to go from here?

We are at a moment of possible big change here. A move is talked of. The start of a new business. The possible start of a dream. I think for now I must be patient with myself. I also think I need to pick up my needle again.

Going Forward

Thank you all so much for your kind words on my last post and Anne I will heed your words of wisdom. I can see where that could easily happen!

I have been very busy with my embroidery floss. I dyed a lot of it the last few weeks but continue on to refill my stock. I was amazed to see how low it was.

 So yesterday I spent the day wrapping skein after skein of floss and setting it to soak in the soda ash. Today I will be mixing dyes and hopefully get all these lovelies steeping in their colors.

Last night I decided to take a rest and play with some fabric. I am loving how this is coming along...

Blackwork Fill and Eye Surgery

First off I just want to say that yesterday my eye surgery went without a hitch. I am already feeling much better and even the light sensitivity is almost gone. I am so glad to have that chapter finished and behind me! I get the jeebies just thinking about someone touching my eye so you can imagine how difficult it was for me.

Last weekend we did manage to make it to Mulhouse and not only did we look at an apartment, we looked at four! We ruled out all but one for various reasons and applied for the other. Unfortunately there are other applicants so we have to sit back and cross our fingers, hoping we get it. I know I don't want a repeat of last weekend searching when it comes to my hip. No matter how much I think I am healed up any kind of strenuous activity and I am right back down again. One thing I have noticed though is I seem to heal back up quicker now so I guess it is all just a process. I know I will never again take for granted the ability to walk. It is a precious thing indeed!

So I wanted to post a few pics of my progress on the coif. I have started filling in the area that I outlined and I am loving it. I get reminded over and over how much I love the blackwork effect. Hubby has decided that he likes it too! I am loving this thread a lot more than the other too. I am so glad I decided to dye this batch. It is much smoother and stronger than the commercially dyed thread I bought, and really isn't hand dyed better...even when it's black?

Blackwork Coif

Hello Everyone! I have been a bit under the weather but am feeling better now. I wanted to make a quick post to show you the beginning of my blackwork coif. I traced part of the design onto a piece of linen and started the outline of the design. I am using a fairly heavy silk thread and using the split stitch with this. The thread is so heavy it actually resembles a chain stitch which is fine by me. That is a common stitch from that time. I wanted to use the heavier thread for the outline to create a nice contrast with the blackwork fill in that I plan on doing later. All in all I am quite satisfied with how this is coming along so far. I feel so unsure of everything I am doing with this. I want it to be as authentic to period as possible but with never having the opportunity to study any pieces up close myself I find myself questioning everything I do from the fabric to the weight of the threads to the stitches. Hopefully some day I will have the opportunity to see some pieces myself up close and personal.

This weekend we are going down to Mulhouse to look at an apartment, or possibly more than one if we get calls back on any others. If not then we will spend the rest of the day exploring the city. I am getting excited about the move. I am slowly packing to make it easier on me. The studio is a room of boxes and now the packing is moving out into the other rooms. This week I took the trellis down and trimmed back all my vines. They will be going with me to my new home where they can grown with abandon hopefully! I will try to keep updating this blog as i go along but things are a bit crazy around here so it probably wont be often. In the meantime I hope you have a wonderful creative time at whatever you are doing :)

Project Updates

Thought I should do a catch up post since it's been awhile since I have updated the blog. I have managed to pack away most of the studio, after going through all of the material and tossing several garbage bags full of stuff. It was a good feeling knowing I will be moving with a lighter load. I still have the other five rooms to go through but they aren't quite the challenge my studio was. It is now a room full of boxes with one corner still reserved for any dyeing I have to do. I will pack that at the very end.

In the meantime I have found time to do a bit of stitching and planning although the jacobean bunny project ground to a halt. With the sewing machine not being set up anymore I will probably not work on it until we are moved. I did change my mind on the material I want to use with it. My wild sense of color took over with the embroidery and the piece I had intended to use just didn't seem suitable anymore. I chose this piece instead. It looks like I made it for it I think!

I finished up the blackwork cuffs and collar and think they turned out very well even though I didn't like that silk thread. I have since dyed some new thread to use with my new project. I hope the new doesn't want to snag like the other. I had to use shorter piece and change frequently to keep this piece looking good.

I worked for several evenings on this flower study, sketching pieces from the painting that I mentioned previously. I wanted to get the feel of the style. I found it very fantastical and that pleased me much. It was much looser and more free form than I expected and so I started my new piece with excitement.

My new design is very much based on period motifs. Although the placement and overall design is mine I made sure every form and shape is used in this period as well as the overall feel is in keeping with this period. I just didn't want to copy some piece from a museum or from a painting. After all I am sure people from that period didn't want the same thing as their neighbor either. They all wanted something new and different. I wanted to keep with the feel and look yet make it different enough that it could be considered an original piece.

Now I just need to get started on it. I have dyed two different weights of silk for it. I plan on doing the stems and outline of the flowers in the heavier silk and then do fill in black work patterns with the lighter thread. I don't want to venture into gold work or spangles yet. I want to get the techniques down with these two and then I will investigate what I need to do more elaborate work. My next piece after this will probably involve gradient colors which were often used in the 16th century also.

So that's what I have been up too besides looking at apartments non-stop. It looks like we should be able to find a decent place without too much effort. The prices seem reasonable there and lots of nice big places. Now just to hope I can find a place with a bathtub, a dishwasher connection AND nice big balcony or garden. *fingers crossed*

Blackwork Cuffs and Collar

Hello Everyone! The embroidery on Jacobean Bunny is finished. I haven't taken a photo yet but will soon. I am thinking about doing a tutorial and drafting out the pattern for anyone interested IF it comes out ok. My first stuffed animal so not sure what the results will be. I am quite happy with the embroidery part though.

In the meantime I have started on my blackwork. I just couldn't wait. Since the studio is a mess with packing I had an excuse. I cant even get to my sewing machine right now! I haven't done black work in years so I decided to start with a practice piece, but one that could be useful anyway. I picked out a set of cuffs and collar from Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion View 12 the 1580-1600 Men's Shirt. I realize that the entire piece is embroidered but to start out I thought I would stick with something small and simple. I chose a few geometric fill patterns and combined them to make a band pattern. I think they go well together and I am already zipping along with it.


I laid out the two cuffs on one piece of linen with plenty of seam allowance around them. The linen I am using is not perfectly even count. I prefer this and my reasoning is this. I highly doubt that weaving methods in the 16th century were exact enough to produce perfect even weave linen. this linen is barely off but just enough that I feel good about it, if that makes sense. I can't remember the exact thread count but I believe it is 52x54 per inch. I did my stitches over four threads. this seemed to be a nice choice making the motifs small but not TOO delicate. I already have ideas bouncing around for designing a coif based on the blackwork in this painting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Elizabeth_I_Jesus_College_Oxford_1590.jpg I just love the free flowing flowery vines and the blackwork fill is just exquisite!

Back Side

WIP Update

Jacobean Bunny is coming along well, in fact I am on the edge of finishing it! It has been a crazy last few weeks and my mind has been elsewhere but each night I try to spend some time stitching on this piece.


I love how it has come alive and I can't wait to put the piece together and make my bunny.

After this is done I will turn my attention to the Blackwork stitching. I have everything ready except my decision on where to start *grin*

I will have to squeeze my stitching in though, as I will be packing once again. Yes, we are off to a new home, this time I get to take my time though!

Bunny Update

I have been lost in blackwork research. Reading pages and pages on period pieces and looking at examples till I feel like I am going blind. Put a few questions out there on forums but answers are slow in coming. I hope to start on a piece soon. Just getting my ducks in a row so to speak

I am not allowing myself to do anything though, not until the Jacobean Bunny is done. Fortunately he is coming along great and I hope to have the embroidery done soon. I am really enjoying this method of embroidery. I have learned several new stitches and that's always fun. If I keep going at this pace I will have a bunny before you know it~

Antsy

Yesterday was one of those weird days where I just couldn't settle. D slept late so I couldn't go finish my purse I was working on so I drifted about the apartment feeling all out of sorts. I messed with the Fimo. I laid out some wool to felt...but never felted it. Finally I decided to start the celestial paisleys.
I wanted a backgound of a sunny day. I wasn't sure how to achieve this. I didnt really want to sew a background. It would be to thick and heavy on what will eventually be a thick and heavy piece without that. I looked through my fabrics but nothing really suited what I wanted. I finally decided to paint it. I just wanted a simple background, no details to speak of.


So here is my background. Reminds me of something I would do in kindergarten *hehe* I think it will suit its purpose though. I also like how it makes the fabric somewhat stiff. Gives it a bit more structure then usual.

I've cut out my paisley pieces and I'm working on adding them to the background cloth..then I can be on my way!

Tomorrow D and I have talked of going into town. I haven't really been out of this house in ages except to go to doctors appointments and the grocery store. I have mapped out several craft and fabric shops in the city and I want to go wander down Rue Saint Catherine (the longest pedestrian street in europe). I would like to visit as many as possible that are near there just to get an idea of what each carries. I am tired of internet shopping, although truthfully things seem cheaper out of France for some reason. I did find two shops online today that are IN France that sell carded merino in different colors. They are even close in price to the places I buy from in England. Now a real dream come true would be to find a wool shop in Bordeaux. *crosses fingers* I want to teach myself to nuno felt...as always...wanting to know more and more!
Hope you all have a great Friday!

I'm a little bit melencholy today. I have went and caught D's cold with all it's bells and whistles. Fever? check. Nose stopped with a cement plug thats impenetrable? check. Sandpaper throat? check. Ominous rumblings in the nether regions of my lungs? Check, check, CHECK! I'm not the only one with this malicious germ either. Everyone I have seen this weekend has been in the grip of this beast >.< I just want to feel better! I want the cold gone! I want the doc to give me a treatment that fixes everything. I want to be able to sleep at night and not hurt all the time. UGH!

OK. Rant off. Sometimes you just have to let it all out, ya know?

I have been stumbling along with these ideas I have running around in my head. I'm not sure that I'm pulling them off. They look so good on paper but when I start putting the pieces together I sometimes have to stop, scratch my head and wonder what I was thinking. I spent yesterday peacefully stitching some of the embroidery parts onto the pieces and then I stitched up a few of the components. This will be a sewing set. Somehow. How it will all come together in the end I'm not sure.
I had envisioned a sewing organizer that you would put over the arm of your chair. I wanted it to be customizable. I'm not so sure what I had in mind will work out in reality. Maybe it's just my head refusing to work under these conditions *hehe* I really don't blame it if it goes on strike.

Returning

I spent last evening in quiet stitching.


Slowly filling the spaces with imaginings of underwater things.


I also made this fun fringe for the bottom of my bag.



Soon this project will be done. I already have plans for many more. My head is always overflowing with ideas it seems, but never enough time to make them all. What's funny is all the times I come up blank...where do they all run to when you need them? *grin*

Today was my first day back to class. It was a difficult morning. My body made much protesting about the abuse I was putting it under. I made it there though and back again. It is hard to go back after so long away. The teachers words all ran together and I looked back with a blank stare. Fortunately he is a patient man and I think he understands the shock of returning. I think the activity is good for me. I have been too long indolent. Hope you all have a great Monday. I am resting this afternoon and trying to convince myself that I can do this all over again tomorrow :)