In process, a vest pieced from the prettiest colors of kimono silk.
I didn’t count, but I think it totaled about a bazillion little squares and rectangles, at least it seemed to be that many. It took many hours of podcasts, news stories and audio books to sew them all together.
So close! Soon, for my next show, a brand new vest.
And by the way, that will be in February for ACC’s Baltimore show. Until then, I’ll be focusing on my favorite thing, making and sewing new work.
kimono silk
Organizing
I’ll admit it, it’s what I love to do, organize.
Everything else may be out of control, but here in my studio, all is order.
The reds are together here and the blues over there, sheers on top, solids and patterns, so many ways to categorize.
Which is why I had such a good time last week.
The first step to make one of my pieced scarves is to put together fabrics that go together. And even better, go together so that each piece enhances the next and will look beautiful as a whole.
Looking through my leftover scraps of silk, laying them out into some sort of order, following along, led by accident to new combinations and connections.
After a while, what was once an odd, disorganized pile of scraps is now orderly stacks of color coordinated fabrics. Instead of leftover odds and ends, they are almost, not quite yet, but soon, brand new scarves.
Pick Up Sticks Skirt and Jacket
A beautiful navy kimono silk with scattered silver dots inspired this full skirt and jacket.
I sketched out an idea:
Which wasn’t quite what I was after.
Sketch #2 was closer to what I wanted, little skinny lines scattered along the bottom edge of the skirt.
Kind of like this:
Direction established, I cut and sewed, recut and re-sewed the bits together, cut some more and sewed until there was enough for a full skirt.
The front half.
Final step: Sew into a skirt and make a jacket to match.
And Voila!
