an aristocratic lamb : how to create texture with fabric
An aristocrat, from the tips of his well manicured hooves to the perfectly coiffed curls of his head. I can see his whole world – the crumbling manor house, stern ancestors glowering down from the walls, the dim and dusty library, his ever-present walking stick and far away gaze. The once stately gardens are a little more overgrown every year but he either does not notice or does not care. All is well, he has his books, his tea, his evening walks and his memories of his youth and the sea.
I will probably not make another like him – his luxurious texture has been tormenting me – it took ages. I’m never doing it again. I might do it one more time. I like the technique and use it often for small things but there was a lot of lamb to cover here. If you would like to similarly torment yourself I took some progress shots along the way.
I start with long strips of light fabric – a cotton voile in this case – and about 1 and 1/4 inches wide. My old White Rotary has an awesome ruffle attachment or you can achieve the same effect (on light fabric) by turning your stitch size to the largest and the tension to the highest setting. I stitched just off center.
Fold the ruffled strip over at the seam, press and start stitching it on – whip stitching over the seam. Row after row, around and around. In the photo below you can see how much space there is between rows. This varies depending on the size of the project and the ruffle – for my fancy lamb it is between 1/4 and 1/2 inch – I get a little closer in curvy places.
And at last the fun part. When he was all covered I gave him a serious haircut. Holding the scissors parallel to the ruffled surface start snipping. You can do a little or a lot – I did a lot.
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sketchbook 3/5 – 3/11
please meet vivienne and work on a new rag doll experiment
Entirely nude, but for a threadbare whisper of a nightgown.
The gown is made from the sleeve of an Edwardian lawn gown – so simple to make. I just hemmed the top edge – gathered across the front side and added ribbon ties that go around her neck – halter style.
She sits serenely, in her nightgown, silently judging that little ant who admires himself so constantly.
Update 1/6/2019 : There is a nude rag doll pattern and kit in the works – you can sign up here if you’d like an email when it is available.
And something new on my worktable – an evolving rag doll creature. The texture thing is pretty ambitious and I’m not sure I’ll ever do it again, it’s labor intensive even by my standards. But I do like the effect on him.
lovely feature in Maries Ideer magazine
Welcome, good people of Denmark! I had an intriguing conversation with writer Katrine Sivkær Pettersen around Christmas last year and the resulting article appears in the March / April edition of Maries Ideer Magazine. We talked a lot about creativity, imagination and papermache – 3 of my favorite subjects and there are lots of photos.
A side benefit of photographing my place for an article is that I have to spiff it up pretty thoroughly – nothing like a credible threat for motivation – and the resulting tidyness has pretty much stuck. There are a few photos from the December shoot below.
The photo above looks like I have ghosts floating around doesn’t it? I would not be surprised – or it might be a smudged lens filter….. Probably ghosts.
And there is a tutorial! For a little paper mache boat – just big enough for a tiny rag doll. It’s all in Danish but each step is illustrated with a photo so I think you could accomplish it without understanding the text. I’m not sure where it might be available in the US – but I will inquire and update here.
sketchbook 2/26 – 3/4
recreational patchwork and 18th century songbirds
After working on something small, detailed and intense I like to give my focus and brain a vacation. One of my favorite ways to do that is something I call recreational patchwork. I started a Fortuny patchwork piece today. I have lots of very small swatches and some longish strips – drapery scraps. It is good daydreamy work. It requires just the right amount of my attention for letting ideas percolate. It’s a peaceful, gentle state.
I work quickly – making strips and then sewing them together – log-cabin-ish I guess. Nothing is planned – I just grab pieces randomly. Nothing is measured, corners aren’t square and seams are less than straight. I bounce between the machine and the ironing board. I love the energy of it, I love the result and it’s such fun to do – to not think or plan and see what turns up – embrace the happenstance, appreciate the happy accidents.
Get the song bird sewing pattern.
It was a welcome shift after working on a trio of 18th century songbirds for one million years. Songbirds are focused and detailed. I want something particular from each of them and I can’t stop until I get it. The prize at the end is I get to photograph them – and that is such fun.
P.S. Checkout the free bird leg tutorial here.
painting and drawing everyday
There are things that make my life and brain work better. Sketchbook – painting and drawing everyday, whether I want to or not, is one of them. So my daily practice is back. And I have three hopes for it:
1. That I can be consistent – that I build a solid enough habit that it doesn’t fall apart when I get extra busy.
2. That it leads me into larger work – my original intention was to turn the experiments I like into larger pieces – paintings, illustrations – maybe even fabric, I’ve yet to do that. I find the idea terribly intimidating.
3. And to increase my success rate. Last time I made 511 little squares. When I started I had no plans to sell them but I felt good enough about some of them to offer them in the shop. Only about 10% made the cut. As I begin the practice again I’m doing it with the awareness that I intend to sell some of them and it does change my feelings about making them. I think I’m much less likely to phone it in when I’m feeling lazy or distracted. It’s a little extra pressure I think I need. Series 2 paintings will begin to be available sometime this month. You can sign up here if you’d like an email notification.
After some initial misery and resistance and a lovely mix of self flagellation, anxiety and doubt I’m finding some rhythm and building a routine again. I did a few things to remove obstacles – make it easy for myself to show up. I spend some time Sunday cutting up the squares (hot press water color paper) so they are ready to go. And I make marks on some of them – splatter ink, scribble something or paint a background color – in case the blank paper is too much. So helpful. My paints and other supplies are organized and easy to get to. And ideally I like to start after 10 minutes of deliberate day dreaming – it usually puts me in the right brain place – a receptive place. So does my sound app – still Wind through Pines – it’s magic for me.
You can find my first week back at it here and I’ll post each week on Saturday. So far goats and pigeons are very much on my mind…….
sketchbook 2/19 – 2/25
visible mending and a victorian bird
In 1978, Soviet geologists discovered a family of six, in the vast and wild Siberian forest. They had been living there, in a cobbled together shack by a stream in complete isolations for 40 years. They missed World War 2. Geologist Galina Pismenskaya recalled her first encounter with the family:
“The low door creaked, and the figure of a very old man emerged into the light of day, straight out of a fairy tale. Barefoot. Wearing a patched and re-patched shirt made of sacking. He wore trousers of the same material, also in patches”
I wanted to share the story with you because the details of their life and survival are astounding – you can find the article here. And the image of the old man’s clothing grabbed me – I guess you could call it extreme mending. Mending is fascinating and I think so often beautiful.
My policy on possessions is have good things you love, not too many, and keep them for a long time. I almost never buy clothes. There are a just a couple exceptions – every once in a while I buy a smock dress from Cal Patch and wear it relentlessly. First there was this one and then last summer this one. It’s my uniform – I like having a uniform. Most of what I have was given to me and much of it I’ve had for a long time. I mend things, make do, re-use and repurpose. I like the practicality – economy and the aesthetics.
The blue jacket was given to me 15 years ago I think – I wore the sleeve edges ragged and I’m patching them with lovely old cloth from Sri Threads.
The green jacket above I’ve had for about 20 years – it has lot’s of issues but not enough to let it go – I’m patching it with gorgeous Fortuny scraps. I’m partial to flannel shirts and the red plaid above is a favorite – besides the ragged sleeves (I’m hard on sleeves) It had a big hole under one arm. Nothing says success like an underarm hole. I patched it with a 19th century dress maker’s scrap.
And the dress above – also a hand me down – is one of my most adventurous mends. The bottom of the skirt had a big section with glue or something spilled on it. I cut it out and sewed in a section from a cotton camisole. There was a little button loop and I left it at the bottom and added a button to the seam so I could pull the hem up. Pretty fancy.
And Moose – there has to be a photo of Moose and she sort of agreed to participate. She visited here all week – such a good kitten.
In other sewing news – I finished the victorian bird! 9 years after starting – but still – so good to get it done. It’s made form antique garments.
I used the crow sewing pattern for the basic shapes and construction and then did tons and tons of of applique with tattered silk scraps and added glass beads for eyes.
get the crow sewing pattern
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ships and boats and goats on my work table
All of a sudden I felt a strong spiritual need to make a goat. I thought that I would just print the pattern sheets and get started but I haven’t made a goat or a lamb in such a long time that I had to follow my directions closely. It was a strange sensation – relying on the steps that I wrote and photographed but couldn’t remember. I’m relieved to report that I found myself to be an excellent instructor. In the lamb and goat pattern I recommend quilting cotton ( find the sleepy goat sewing pattern here) but I wanted to make a goat from a fabulous grey wool Edwardian skirt I found last year. It’s a homespun feeling wool and a little fragile – very goatish but not so fun to sew. It took longer and was fussier than cotton but I felt like it was worth the extra effort – and I like how sculptural I could be with the wool. I love him.
I immediatley started another wool goat using a vintage blue pendelton shirt. It’s a lot sturdier than the grey and should be easier. I love the color and texture. I’ve been making tiny things from this shirt for a year or so – but it kills me a little each time – I don’t ever want to run out.
And ships and boats – there is a fleet in progress. I’m in a boat making mood (I think it’s March whispering to me from around the next bend). And I’m preparing for a ship building workshop here in NYC in April. We’ll be making fabric ships in the workshop and I’m testing and refining and rehearsing the steps. It still amazes me what graceful shapes cereal box cardboard can make – so many possibilities.
I’m making some smaller sailboats for my fleet too – they will have bird and owl captains (find the pattern to make your boats own here). I’ll hang them all here and enjoy them for a little bit and then hopefully sell them so I can do it all again.
the creative sprint part 2 : the part where you have to start
Following up on last week’s post – I so appreciated hearing your thoughts and comments – I know how hard it is and I wanted to offer you a couple more simple ideas besides the creative sprint (aka the activity bomb) for getting past the stuckness, the overthinking and a little bit of a challenge…… Procrastination has nuances and flavors – I am a lifelong connoisseur of them. And it comes in a variety of disguises. There are all sorts of ways to get passed it – different things that work for different kinds of stuckness and people. For me what matters most is that I take some – almost any – action. It’s a scientific fact:
“A middle aged craft lady at rest tends to stay at rest and a middle aged craft lady in motion tends to stay in motion.”
I constantly have to trick myself into action. The first is the hardest – it’s much easier to keep going than to start. I’ll tell you about 2 first steps I rely on:
Baby steps – gather supplies, or thread the needle, write the first sentence – commit even just 15 minutes. Repeat.
Create accountability – this blog, my business, the work I do all sprung from a need to prod myself into doing my own creative work. You are my accountability partner.
And it’s never over – it’s a life long challenge. Today I’ll commit to two things I haven’t been able to get myself to do. The first is my daily painting and drawing practice. It’s such a hard thing but so good for me – in fact I think it is one of the most important things I have done for my creativity in a decade. But – it is so often a huge pain in the ass to accomplish. I took a break and slippery sloped myself into abandoning it. I’ll begin again this Sunday. Just thinking about it makes me anxious.
Damn. Now I have to do it….. See how this works!
The other is this bird. I started him about 9 years ago. And he’s been hanging around judging me even since. I’m really not sure what happened here – I got stuck on some little detail and then got weird about it. I’ll show him to you all finished on Tuesday.
If you feel like committing to something – to taking some action – it could be as small as gathering supplies in a box or putting in 15 minute a day – state your intention in the comments and I’ll see you here on Tuesday – you can report your progress, share a link- whatever you like.
Update: I accomplished both my tasks – it was painful and I’m so glad i did it – the victorian bird is finished and I began my daily painting and drawing practice on Sunday. I’ll post the sketchbook every Saturday and you can checkout the victorian bird here.
How did you do – did you get something unstuck?
