One last look, a few snap shots of jackets I sent off at the ACC Baltimore craft show.
“Leaf”, sewn from two different kimono silks. I sewed on the little coral beads as though they were veins in the leaves. The natural coral looks like tiny irregular sticks.
Pink and grey, I love that color combination!
A fabulous shibori for the collar.
‘Stripes’, a jacket made from a wonderful splash print. How about the subtle staccato feeling created by the narrow strips of the black and white flower print? I do like the irregular cropping that happens when you cut into a print.
I love applique, I love the work of it and I love the look of it. Little invisible stitches holding shapes in place.
A turquoise kimono silk jacket with appliqued, cloud blue colored squares.
A pieced ‘Jet’ jacket, sewn from an amazing woven kimono fabric. This particular one broke my silk only rule. It is a light weight wool.
But how could I resist? Look at that design! A fuzzy grid. The woven grid adds a very cool, extra feeling of movement to the diagonal design.
Thank you Jane Miller for the question you asked 3/13/12:
“Beautiful – thanks for sharing the details. How long did it take to appliqué all those turquoise squares:)??”
My answer:
“Hmmm, how long? Well, first I cut out and iron each square, then [and this is the fun part] I lay them out so they have the look I’m after. Then I baste them in place [unless there are only a few, pinning is too dangerous. Though getting stabbed by pins is an occupational hazard, I try and avoid it when possible.] Finally stitching in place, making sure the squares are lined up properly as I sew. Stitch, stitch, stitch up one side, down the other, around the corners and back to the starting place. One square. On to the next. it becomes a rhythm, before too long, they are finished.
The real answer to ‘how long?’? I’m not actually sure, often an audio book, movie or long running TV show is on in the background. Time is flying by and simultaneously, standing still. It’s magic!”
I’m posting Jane’s and my comments this way because instead of clicking on the “leave a comment” at the bottom of the whole post, she first clicked on a photo, then on the comment icon. For some mysterious reason it wouldn’t show up……
The mechanics of computers are so Alice in Wonderland. Too literal. No nuance.