Mother of the Bride Handbag

As I have mentioned before, my step-daughter, Erin is getting married June 12. My outfit for the wedding came from Chico's (no, I did not make it myself for this event) but I wanted to make a small bag for my camera, tissues, phone, and keys. Knowing what I want to have on hand for the event helped me get the size just right.

I dug deep in my scrap drawer and found these satin scraps from a past life.
Seriously, the gold satin was the lining for a floor length wool coat I made in high school (won Championship in 4-H that year). The lighter satin was from Job's Daughter's satin robes (also from my school days). Both fabrics had been painted experimentally maybe 5 years ago and stashed away. The scraps were in a lot of odd shapes - left over from cutting around garment patterns! But I managed to get them put together in an interesting way.

I would like to be able to carry a clutch for the wedding (above) - I think it would look nicer, but I am afraid I will be the one holding Breckin (Erin and John's one year old son) during the ceremony, and I am thinking a shoulder strap might come in handy - so I made a narrow one that can be stuffed inside if I want it to be a clutch.

The vintage button is from my collection. It really is vintage - I paid quite a bit for it and it is very large.

I love this paisley cotton I retrieved from another drawer for the lining. I was collecting these intricate prints many years ago when I was interested in Paula Nadelstern's Kaleidoscope quilts.

I added a strip of pockets to the lining - just the right size for the cell phone and camera.

Here's the back.

To give it some extra body - I used a layer of Peltex under a layer of cotton batting. These were fused prior to the quilting to keep things from shifting around too much. The Peltex made it sort of harder to work with, but I think I will enjoy using it more because it will hold it's shape under the pressure of the weight of the camera, etc.

Indigo - The Last Hurrah!

I really love the way this french terry tunic came out. I think I'll be wearing it this fall as the weather cools!

This raw silk jacket and skirt were dipped together in order to insure they would be coordinating. I think this outfit will go into my closet to await some appropriate occasion - maybe an upcoming gallery opening . . .

Ok, this should be the last of the indigo dyeing for me for 2009. After this last group of fabrics and garments were dipped a single time each, the vat died what seemed like a natural death. The 5 gallon bucket will be sealed and retired to a corner of the workshop and we shall see what can be done with it next spring!

Indigo Dyeing - Still Singin' the Blues!

I am pleased with the results of this kanoko shibori on this raw silk jacket with patch pockets on the front.

You can see the nice texture of this raw silk weave. This is my new favorite silk fabric - ordered from Exotic Silks (wholesale). I love it - some of the threads are quite shiny, and it is very easy to sew (for silk). I also really love the variegation I got with the indigo on this jacket - even though it was dipped twice.

Indigo Love

The texture created by irregularities and manipulation with the indigo are very exciting to me.

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It has certainly exceeded my expectations. This is the cotton bog jacket I showed you earlier - now it has been dyed and washed out . . . . and ironed. Love it.

(Please forgive the inconsistencies in color in my images. I am just not up to messing around with the color on all these shots. Not sure why I am getting such variation - same camera, lights, etc.!)

I am really pleased with these three scarves, as well. I am going to have to do more!

I checked the vat this morning - it is still active. Now that I know how it all works - I can continue with confidence.

Indigo to Dye For

Success!
I am really happy with the results of my first experience using indigo. Now that I see how wonderful everything looks - and realize how very simple this freeze dried indigo is to use - I wonder what took me so long . . . .

One thing that is a bit off-putting is the smell. The vat is smelly and there is a smell that lingers on the fabric or garment even after the washout. Joe and I both remember how our new blue jeans used to smell the first month or so. That's the smell.

The image above shows the two pieces of cotton yardage I dyed. One was dipped twice, the other only once. It's pretty obvious which is which.

Just love the texture that was created on this cotton yardage. Must do more!

I'll be showing you more of my results next time.

Paintbrush Piecers Quilt Talk Continued

"Gelatin Print Calendar"
I used first and second printings on a gelatin printing plate to create the border and the actual calendar pages for this piece. I had some cosmos I used for the prints.

Here, I am explaining the first and second prints that result from using plant material for the resist and print making using a gelatin plate.

These are examples of discharged fabric. I used household bleach. The one above was done with a resist paste - can no longer recall what the paste was made from. The one below was pole wrapped before the bleach was applied.

The coat is constructed of a variety of shibori discharged pieces. I am pretty sure this fabric is Kona cotton in black, which pretty consistently discharges to a rusty or peachy shade.
I have not been able to find a black that discharges to white in a very long time. If anyone knows of a good source - I would LOVE to hear about it!

Surface Design Association - Montana Members First Show

Whooping Crones Gallery
508 East Broadway, Missoula, Montana

I apologize in advance for the quality of these photos. I was having difficulty with the color settings on my digital camera. I did feel this event was important enough to blog anyway, even with discoloration. The first meeting of the Montana members of SDA - Surface Design Association was held on November 7 at Whooping Crones Gallery. The group was celebrating it's first show together.

It was so much fun to meet the other members and have the opportunity to see their work.
Above, is Joan Renne from Rollins. She grew up in the Gallatin Valley, same as I and we had a great chat about that. Joan is weaving on a loom using copper, gold, and silver wire. She has gone to making these large structures!

Here are two of my pieces hanging on the red wall - Mammograms from A to DD - Breast Cancer Survivors (on the left) and Side Effects (on the far right).

This group includes Gail Cluff, Carol O'Bagy, Karen Burton. They are standing in front of Karen's work here.

Our wonderful host and gallery owner, Judy Hartz is on the left. She is an amazing clothing designer. To die for work. Judy told me that she vended in a lot of American Craft Council shows and had a big following during her tenure as a resident of New York! Now she lives in Missoula. What a treat to have her and her gallery here! Yum!

Well, here is a washed out picture of me with my Winter Birds quilt. This one created a lot of chatter. Everyone seems to love their birdfeeder birds! Note my outfit - a discharged cotton kimono.

Here is a corner of the gallery. Beautiful stuff here.

Gail Cluff is a silkpainter. Her husband built these frames for her incredible silk pieces. The one on the left is painted with Dynaflow paints. The blue one on the right is painted with acid dyes.

Carol O'Bagy created this incredible sculpture using 5000 bullets!

Another corner of the gallery. This is an older house, so there are lots of corners, etc. Charming.

More Handbags

I am still plugging away on the quilted handbags that I make periodically out of fabric scraps. I store all my scraps in a large plastic tub and when I gets full, I sort them into color families and sew together randomly.

Once I have a big enough rectangle, it is quilted, then I add a pocket, zipper, straps, and lining with a pocket. I make a beaded zipper pull for each one. I don't use a specific pattern. I have just worked out my own through trial and error. No two bags are alike. I just make various sizes and shapes, which helps keep me from getting totally bored with the process (it is still pretty repetitious).
This is the black group. Most of them have been enhanced with stamped fabric paints. I've made about 40 of these so far in the past month. They generate a little income through a couple of different outlets.

Scrap Bags

Every once in a while, I try to work on a project to use up scraps. I keep a 30 gallon tub in my studio and all my scraps larger than 2" go into it. After a while, the tub gets too full for the lid to fit and at that point, I try to utilize those scraps in some way.

I really love messing around with random piecing - just putting things together any which way. For the past 5 years or so, I have been making these scraps into one-of-a-kind handbags. These bags are favored by family members for their extreme light weight, durability, and originality. I have a couple of sisters who carry them and all three of my daughters also use them. They sell well in a couple of galleries, including Elements. I think I might try putting some up for sale in my Etsy store, too.

In the past, I have done a lot of detailed quilting on the bags, but this time around, I have kept the stitching fairly basic, and have used stamping and screen printing to enhance them.

Silkwood

It is a pleasure to be able to put closure on a project that has eaten up so many studio hours. Daughter Michelle came over today for a fitting and to model for me so I could get some pictures.
Silkwood is a sculptural wearable representing the contrast between inner vulnerability and external resilience and joyfulness.

It is made of artist dyed habotai silk layered with Thermore synthetic batting and quilted nearly forever. . . .

I began this project with great trepidation but it has been far more successful than I dared hope. There were so many opportunities for failure - working with so many layers of such fine China silk (which moves all over the place and is really challenging to work with!) Replicating the color in my dyeing was also a big challenge, and I used every single inch of the fine silk I dyed for this piece.

After it was all quilted and all the edges were finished - I took the risk of applying paintsticks to the exterior surface. This was very scary - (actually - working on this piece was all very anxiety inducing), but having quilted it all successfully - and without any serious problems - it seemed kind of crazy to take an additional chance by drawing all over it with paintsticks! First, I masked off the branches, but the root system was so complex and narrow that I had to just go freehand.

I plan to do more work with the paintsticks and to add more beads. I expect I'll be sewing beads on this thing for the next several months!

Using up the Dye

I had some dye leftover from the tie dye projects with our houseguests.
My dyed scarf inventory is very depleted, as well, so I took a little time to remedy that situation.

This ori-nui shibori pattern is a favorite, and I enjoy mixing colors directly on the silk. It is a bit tedious, but I think it is worth the extra effort.

These scarves sell for $50. Just last week, I got a phone call from a regular customer who lives about 150 miles away. I selected several I thought might work for her and sent them off via snail mail. She will shop at home and send them back with a check for those she decides to keep. She wanted something specific for a banquet she will be attending next weekend.

Project Runway at Home

Do not try this at home!

If they offered this warning on one of my favorite TV programs - Project Runway - I missed it.
How unfortunate for me. Maybe I could have saved myself a lot of frustration. My 21 year old daughter, Michelle and I began collaborating on this outfit a while back. The dress was put together previously, but I have always wanted to make it a complete ensemble by adding some sort of jacket or coat. I've had about a dozen strong ideas, but finally opted for a very long, dramatic quilted coat of Habotai silk. The colors are her choice - not mine - offering a unique challenge ( I would probably never put these colors together otherwise!).

I want the finished piece to be worthy of entering in a couple of specific shows I have in mind, so I am taking extra pains with it.

I had to modify my original design on account of a fabric shortage. It is taking flippin' forever to quilt. The thread I started with is no longer available in town, so I have had to alter my quilting and design plan accordingly. And yes, I am working under some time constraints. There will be beading, too!