Thistle Journal Cover

   I am hoping that if I actually get caught up with the Christmas rush and customer's orders, I make the time to finish up a couple of my own projects. First of all, I would like to finish this journal cover I began probably three months ago.
   It never fails, what begins as a simple little project takes on a life of its own in no time at all. I always find it amusing that what some people consider to be obsessive attention to detail is to me absolute mindless bliss.

   I began with a beautiful blank piece of linen that was prewashed. I lightly marked the center spine area of the cover, the perimeter, and then a few circles that I wanted to leave open except for the stitching.

I painted the images with my Thistle Stencil and began working the hand embroidery around the outside of the circles. I photographed the piece, printed it out, and then began drawing on the image with pencil to help me decide what to do next.

I really enjoyed every minute of working on this. There were many evenings when I couldn't wait to settle into my old chair, surrounded by wisps of brightly colored thread and needles poking out everywhere, and watch a good film. I finally realized that I needed to stop stitching on this piece and begin something else before every speck of linen was covered up!

It Must Be Spring: Almost a Tutorial

     I have been thinking about bright happy colors lately. In my weekly ongoing for art class with the fabulous Mimi La Plant, we have been doing color studies for the last several weeks. We have been doing LOTS of mixing, and learning to use warm and cool versions of each primary color to create the perfect mixable hues. It is challenging and rewarding.
     Mimi is such a great teachers, and color happens to be a specialty of hers. I am so happy to have the opportunity to study with her and learn from her vast experience as both a painter and an art professor.
     So, I am challenging myself to work in new color palettes and spread my little wings. Pink has never been a favorite of mine, but now for some inexplicable reason I seem to be drawn to it.
     This project was supposed to be a tutorial on painting, but as often happens I was too anxious to get started. I forgot to take a beginning picture of this t-shirt that I purchased for $8.00 at an outlet store. And then, by the time I started painting, I completely forgot about the tutorial. In case you wondered, I never ever get distracted.
Stencils used are my Textile Design Stencils, and the paints are from Jacquard.

I painted the pink strip down the center by drawing the curvy shape on freezer paper, cutting out the center section, and ironing it to the shirt. Next I just placed my stencil over it and painted. Once the paint dried a little, I peeled off the freezer paper and repeated the process on the sleeves.

Now I am starting the embellishment. I recently received a shipment of hand overdyed embroidery floss and pearl cotton from Weeks Dye Works, and I am in love with this stuff. The colors are gorgeous. It's interesting in these photos how different the colors of the floss look on the white background of the first photo versus the way the colors look on the green in the second photo.
 This is a sample for a workshop I am teaching next weekend at the CNCH 2014, a fiber artisan's conference, that will be held at the Oakland, CA, Conference Center. I am so happy to have been invited there, and there are already 19 students registered!
 I am participating in Nina Marie Sayre's Off the Wall Friday blog roll, so please check out her site along with the other artist's involved. Thank you.

Ferns: Making Progress

Here is the latest version of my fern piece. As you can well guess, I didn't finish it in time to give away at Christmas. However, I did fall in love with this little piece somewhere along the way.
Since the last photo posted, I repainted the background with more Setacolor. I am much happier with the color now. I darkened all of the areas between the ferns with a russet and a teal paint and then added more gray and turquoise to the sky to get rid of the distracting white.
 I then dug through my stash and found this raisin colored silk that came from an old kimono. It was too bright, so I wadded it up and splashed some dark brown and black paint on it and set it in a window to dry. I am much happier with it now.

And the dragonfly is a female Halloween Pennant ( Celithemis eponina) that I made using metallic silk organza for the wings and dupioni for the body. I added the detail to the body with Tsukineko inks and my Identipens and then hand appliqued the body on.
The "streamer' like pieces are simply bits and pieces of different silk stitched onto solvy which was then dissolved. I call them kite tails.
 I am anxious to get back to work on this piece, but now I am too busy with work, so it will have to wait for a while.
When I occassionally find the time to create my own work I am reminded of how much I love doing this and why I started in the first place.
 In case you wondered, I picked another piece from my inventory to give to my friend so that I didn't feel too guilty about keeping this one for myself.

Upcycled:My Little Black Dress

As some of you know, years ago I began creating wearable art clothing. It has been so incredibly long since I have made any garments that it feels really strange to do so again. It feels as if I have never done this before, and I seem to have forgotten the majority of what I once knew. However, I am very persistent, and I hope that some of that knowledge eventually creeps back into my brain.

The Beginning

This is the second upcycled piece that I have done in the last couple of months, and I am having so much fun doing these pieces. The fact that these garments were destined for the trash is very liberating for my creativity.

Rough Production Sketch



My  New Little Black Dress
This piece was painted with my Passion Flower Stencil



I used Lumiere  and Neopaque fabric paints which are both made by Jacquard. The commercial  pattern that I started with was Butterick # B5673. This is my first little video that I have created by myself so please let me know what you think. I have wanted to create video tutorials for a very long time, and I have been working diligently to learn the process of  filming and editing. Once I master the basics, I will be free to focus on creating better content with more detailed information. I would love to hear any feedback that you have to offer.

Old Brown Dress Reborn

For quite some time I have been saving old clothing that was too nice to either toss or donate. Periodically I will take things out of the closet and think about  how I could rejuvenate these tired old garments. This is one of my first pieces of repurposed clothing, and I had so much fun creating this piece that I can't wait to make more.

Before

  I started with a very drab, dowdy looking brown dress that was made in a cotton lycra knit. After dyeing the dress a darker shade of chocolate brown, I chopped off the bottom of the dress. Next I took the side seams apart so that the dress would lie fairly flat .



I had enough fabric left to cut small godets, triangular shaped pieces, to insert in each seam to give the skirt a little more flare. I printed these with my stencil in a coral color.

Back Detail

Next I used my Fuchsia Stencil on the front and back center panels of the dress. I mixed an orchid pink and a coral rose color for the flowers, and I used a taupe colored metallic paint for the leaves and the scrolls.

      This is the beginning of the stencil process on the front and the back of the dress.

     After the stenciling was finished, I heat set all of the painted areas with a hot iron for 3 minutes. Then the garment is washable in cold water.

     I sewed the godets into the princess seams of the dress and then sewed up the side seams.

     The last step was to finish the sleeves and the hem. This is a technique called lettucing. I once worked with a designer in Canada who was very fond of this technique, so it is probably one of the techniques that I will never forget how to do.       You simply use a zig-zag stitch close to the edge of the fabric, and then continue going around the hem stretching it a little more each time so that it stretches out. I went around mine three times. It works beautifully on either knits or bias cut fabric.      

     This project  took me a total of eight hours to complete. Instead of using that old brown dress cut up as cleanign rags or some equally mundane purpose, I have a new piece of clothing that is fun, colorful, and clearly represents my personal creative style. Now maybe it is time for you to go rummage through your own closet and see what forgotten treasures await you there.

Painting and Printing with Setacolor Workshop

Here are some of the images of student's work here at my studio last summer and fall. I was very happy with the variety of results that people achieved. Setacolor is such a great medium to work with. I am posting student work first, and then mine.This was a piece by Molly Miles

Time and Place: Mendocino Art Center

April 19-20, 2008

800-653-3328

http://www.mendocinoartcenter.org/

Sproule Studios, Fortuna, CA

June 21-22, 2008

(707) 725-9124

http://www.sproulestudios.com/

This beautiful piece was by Lorna Saner.

This is a piece by Lynne Sarty.