lace is fantastic

while glancing through a piecework magazine i came across some needlelace. i'm always entranced by needlelace when i see it; it's really pretty, with delicate webbing, curving arabesques, tiny areas of transparency. venetian rose point lace, italian reticella, 17th/18th century italian lace, coraline, 17th century gros point de venise, point de neige, punto in aria, are all gorgeous examples. i decided to try my hand at making some, and found it quite mesmerizing, with lots of possibilities (you can't get more travel easy, it's just a needle and thread). my first tries are a little wonky, but i find them charming anyways.

one of the pieces i wove awhile back needed something more; needlelace in green would be just the thing. i went for a bit of playful flora, and attached it with a small brad which i painted with nail polish. i find it strange that antique lace was mostly made in white thread (some exceptions being black lace for mourning, and spanish mantilla lace). it would make it easier to change between clothing, and it would be punchier against the rich hues of the fabric, but i think lace could be so much more modern if it were done in color.

wrapping

since watching the movie "the tourist", i've been infatuated with the wrap angelina jolie's character wore in the first half; so elegant and warm. when i was in asheville, i picked up 3/4 yd of double faced wool coating with the intention of making something similar.

i wanted it to be reversible, so i sewed the pieces together with a zigzag stitch so there isn't a seam. for some shaping i added a pleat to the back.

the wrap is off centered for flair, and i'm thinking of adding magnets as a closure, but i'm not 100% sure. for now, it's too hot to wear it, so i can keep collecting ideas.

quilts as comfort food

i finished the quilt yesterday, and was quite proud of my work. the entire piece was hand quilted, as well as the binding. it went surprisingly quick despite my none traditional quilt stitching method. i love the feel of a quilt; it's warm, and bumpy, but soft despite that.

i photographed it on my bed, but that's not where it's staying; my cat meiko is having hairball/bulimia issues right now, and let's say she does a bit of sleeping in my bed. in fact, that's her right there in the top photo. sneaky kitty. i had to stand on a chair to get all of the blocks in the photograph. they remind me of birds, some going that way, and some going this way.

i incorporated a lot of my favorite prints into the pinwheels, quite a few of heather ross, and some nani iro, along with several prints i've had for over 10 years (originally intended for my dollhouse as the prints are small). these are my favorite blocks, i think it's the colors. not that i don't like the others, but that's the thing with the rainbow, we all have a favorite group of hues we're drawn to.

while i was quilting, i thought it would be nice to make quilts out of silks, linen, my own woven cloth; something tactile, more neutrals and subdued colors. i've been on the hedge about getting the book 1000 artisan textiles but perhaps it would be really inspirational, and if nothing else it may be able to help me take better textile photos.

i need to get out more

i've been wrapped up in my quilting (timewise and literally) for several days now, and find myself sad to leave it to do other things. one of those things was attending the scad fibers open house on friday, and forgetting to bring a camera. however, i saw some really amazing work, grabbed some business cards, and made an indigo dyed bit of shibori fabric to remember it by.

in quilting news, the triangles and squares have been machine stitched together (otherwise i would still be hand sewing the top still) and i have the top, batting, and back done and basted together. one of the goals of doing this quilt is to hand sew it together. thanks to my lovely new thimble and a bandaid, my hands are pain free, and one of the things i can rest assured about is that after having the quilt in my lap for some time it is definitely warm and cosy.

today was a sunny, breezy kind of day, and with trees budding i thought about picnics in the grass and soaking up the daylight while lying on my quilt. a pin popped that idea, as i was reminded about grass stains (thanks mom!). but still, the idea is a good one, but perhaps an old blanket would be okay too.

blue velvet

i created a second cushion pin the other day, with embellishments of swarovski crystals; because a touch of sparkly goes so well with the softness and dappled light of velvet. the other side of the pin is of humble natural linen, which is my queen of all fibers.

during the day, i have begun work on my weaving project, tying off areas that are not to be dyed, and mordanting the fiber. today i will dye the fibers, and hopefully i will be ready to start weaving sometime next week. first, though, i have to finish the sample piece which is on my loom now.

isn't this little guy adorable? he's definitely up to something mischievous, though. very likely a sprite in disguise. he once belonged to my great aunts, but he's mine now, as they are both gone. you could say, "further up and further in".

stitching together

well, i decided to go ahead and just do some simple stitching on the mini quilt to finish it. there really weren't any disastrous needle incidents; besides the moment i sewed my thumb, but luckily there was no loss of blood involved.

i quite like the rippling texture, it's very much like viewing the crops lined up in fields while one is in a plane overhead. the backside came out okay, but not really photo worthy. i decided to create the whole piece by hand sewing; it's so small as to be a completely accomplishable task.

will i do another one? i'm not really sure, perhaps not anytime soon. but there is a stack of wheat and lavender fabrics i've been collecting.

mini quilt in progress

i was a little bored the other day, so i put together the lottis jansdotter lavender sachet i received as a subscription gift from selvedge. the linen is so soft and fine, i wish i could have more of it.

i also started on a miniature quilt that i had been mentally processing for awhile. i felt it was time. so i cut the scrap pieces i had, rather randomly into squares and rectangles, arranged them nicely and hand sewed them together. it went together quickly and i was able to reuse the natural linen pouch my gift came in as the backing.

now that i have it pinned together i'm rather at a loss for what to do. should i quilt it with little crosses, use a sashiko technique of scallops, hand stitch rectangles and squares in mimic of the patches?

part of me wants to save it for the long plane trip i have ahead of me in four weeks, but part of me wants to just go ahead and finish. i think perhaps i shall set it aside for now, let it simmer in the recesses of my mind, and come back to it when the time is right.

taking apart and reassembling

several months ago i sewed a shirt together without a pattern and added some decorative elements to it. i liked different things about it; but i also disliked several things. so, i decided to remove the silk scales from the pockets and sewed them together into a necklace. i like it ever so much more.

pretty polly

echo needed a new frock for the holidays. and as i have been neglecting the poor little sprite i felt it was time to make her one. i had some small scraps left of the nani iro coururiere fabric, even after these three projects i have still a tiny bit more.

drawing inspiration from the dress i spoke of yesterday, i went about cutting and sewing. there were some moments i had to pick up my seam ripper, but after some time a finished garment was made. luckily i was done minutes before i had to head out the door to work.

i love this color against her skin. it's really soft but bright; the salmon goes wonderfully with her skin and face tones, she really warms up as her current hair is like corn silk and makes her quite pale. all she needs is maybe a pretty bauble and she can be off to enjoy winter solstice.

a dress for the party

well, in my convalescence i was able to finish the dress i started a month ago. i'm really very thrilled, a lot of it was hand stitching, with some machine stitching along the skirt and waist connection. i was inspired when i saw the above photo in vogue a couple of months ago. the print reminded me of the nani iro coururiere fabric, and i thought "i can do this...but not this short".



surprisingly, it turned out just as i had imagined when i started. the sash is a piece that i made during metals casting, i used the lost wax method; it's of an ammonite. the ribbon is in one of my favorite colors, chartreuse. overall it's a very bright dress, i love it. i have a wedding to go to next summer and i'll wear this, as well as my birthday next month.