The skirt challenge

 

So I used to make/repair costumes, cloths and other stuff, for friends and my many, many odd jobs.

but most everything I made for myself over the years, 

after 3 kids, 

I have outgrown, 

by a lot.

The question keeps bouncing in my mind, can a 55 year old get away with wearing a Victorian costume made from drapes?

I've been watching copious Vlogs on history bounding and cottage core, can you tell?

I did all his stuff, 40 years ago, in High school and instead of collage, 

waaay before it was at all cool. 

Now they have all sorts of stuff you can source anywhere online to make corsets, 

 and vlogs and places like comicon and costume college to show off in your stuff. 

I started out in ren fairs and the beginning of the cons, in the late 70's & 80's.

When your source was the public library and mAbeeey a passing museum collection, the local specialty fabrics and whatever resale/junk shops (you all call 'em "vintage" now)you could find.

Thanks ma!

Where are those pictures? there must be tons of them! nope.

I have no pictures of any of it, because who has the time or the $$ for a camera, film and processing?

What I have is from mom's collection of

"Wait let me get the camera!" photos

So now, armed with big idea's

sketchy knowledge, somebodies old drapes

and an excess of time

I'm trying my hand at something new

When will I finish it? 

Who knows.

It's been on the mannequin for 6 or 7 years. 

It can wait a little longer.

We don't always start these things with an end in mind.

Things I know to be true

never wear your skirt before you have sewn in the pleats.

Unlike a pineapple, It needs sleeves. 

The vest needs work.

extensive work.                      

                       and a bustle pad

  

                                                      and some feathers

Ellie the phant

I'm working on a crazy quilted stuffie

I have seen several of the teddy bears in person and 

they are just the loveliest things!

So you know I want one.

But a teddy bear? 

I don't know.........

I got a pattern, but there are SO many parts!

Then I saw the perfect one in a quilt store in Hilo

YES!

but they had no patterns left.

PooH!

Then I found this!

                                          yAy!

and here we are so far.

I made a thing

I'm workin'here!

 more specifically I made a CQ caddy out of a plant holder thing.

It started life as a planter for herbs as the side says

it ended up getting in the way and holding nothing

Being a person, incapable of throwing away something,

 that might possibly be useful in the future.

It kept getting in the way until I had an apiffany (epiphany)

one day whilst looking, yet again for my scissors and the stiletto poker thingy

I ran over this thing again

and thought, as one does, I wonder if I can sidetrack myself for an entire day AND

make this thing usefull

two empty tins, some heat-n-bond double stick, screw in hooks, a couple of fat quarters and a magnet later,

VOILA!

Heat-n-bond is magical stuff! I use it by the yard just measure, outline, peel stick and iron.

tAA-dAA!

Everything all at once! 

even on the inside

Just the way I like it!

Then I looked at all the extra space where little things could get lost 

and thought, pouches to fit in between! Excellent!

The tricky bit was getting the scissors case stuck to the side of the handle. 

I covered and old janky case inside, with enough hanging out to stick outside, 

then covered and positioned it, so the HNB would cover the inside of the handle and hold the whole thing up after repeated use.  

It's been two months and so far shows no signs of wearing out or falling off, so, I WIN!

The magnet on the right side is for my tiny pliers,

'Cause sometimes you need some extra grip n' pull.

Now I have a thing, I can tote around the house, that has all my tools in and a few extra bits and bobs.

Clever me!

 

Sharon Boggins template holder

So now I can finish anything!

                                                    RIiiiiight...............

I am busy, really, I am

 I'm just randomized to hell.

There are just so many things I want to do

and just one of me, so........

I work on all of it

That's nutz!

In sections

as the mood hits me

And then I watch a you tuber do something amazeballs 

and think

I cAn dOO thAt........

$$ later, neW hObby!

(Thank you Morgan Donner!)

Cause we can't have enough things to do,

 to keep us from cleaning the house amiright?

2nd CQ block

So here is the second block I have managed to finish 

from Cathy's box of goodies

I started to embroider the arches and didn't like them

they seemed to compete with the trim below it

I wanted something in this corner to brighten up the block

and give it a bit of sparkle

I also felt this needed a spider and web

I had some of those flower beads laying around from something else 

They fit so well, color wise, 

and were just enough to fit 

so on they went

I needed to fill space with something brown 

These buttonhole leaves seem to fill the space nicely

This lace motif fit the color scheme so on it went

but it needed more to it. 

I had to hunt up the right button 

I tried bigger ones but they didn't fit. 

This little glass peach button was broken in the box found both pieces and a little E6000 fixed that .

The round lentil beads were perfect to fit between the lines.

A spider and a few more beads to tack down the flyaways on that trim and it's done!

I might throw on a bird charm or two but I think it's good.

A CQ finish!

 I have finally come up with a CQ finish!

It's been a while.

This was a partially started nekkid block that was in the the gifties box I got from Cathy Kizarian over at Crazy by design bolg.

There were many more nekkid, lightly started and finished RR blocks to play with in the box, This one called to me loudest. 

It is a lovely nekkid block I love its curves! I don't usually do curves cause they are difficult on a machine, but dang if these aren't sweet! I'm going have to try them.

When I found it, it had just the tree with a few leaves and it's egg nest.

First thing I did was to finish giving the tree her leaves, trying to match the original colors is tricky and I found a dark green but not the khaki. still looks ok though. 

Next came the mamma bird, she still needs an eye.

I was, this many( hold up many fingers), when I figured out how to make those sweet pyramid things. 

It turns out they are best formed with feather stitch. o knew?

you just pick your length and fill it in from there. Easy Peasy. Duh! It just goes to show you you can do this for 25 years, teach others and still learn things!

The button cluster was needed, to break up the long line of the red ribbon treatment and mute the white lace I used. The bird and butterfly were used similarly as motifs to keep the eye moving around the block, and not off the edges where the corners meet.

I love chevron stitch, or is that creatan? Nope it's Herringbone. pHa! I get them all mixed up sometimes. Anyway I like them all. 

Is 55 to early to go senile? asking for a friend.........

The lace and beads went to fill in the lonely space by the tree, that side of the block needed a little balance with so much going on the other side of the tree. 

The aqua ceramic buttons were added to give it some pop and fill

the empty spots between the pyramids, the tiny silver dragonflies ditto.

I also thought this bottom corner was a good spot to practice cast on stitch with a double thickness of needles for a more loopy look, It might need some beads though.

The lizard and frog got sick of hiding in my stash and hopped/slithered on for the fun of it.

and there she is!

 How'd I do Cathy?

Gifties! Thank you Cathy!

 I have been trying to formulate a proper way of Thanking Cathy Kizarian of Crazy by Design, for her generosity.

To say I am overwhelmed, by the gift of three boxes of Crazy Quilting supplies is,             insufficient.

and the synonyms are all wrong for the feels I am feeling;

crush          defeat          deluge         destroy         engulf         inundate         overcome
overpower overrun        rout            submerge       swamp        bury               conquer  

drown        drub             massacre    overflow       overthrow    smother         thrash 

 

The synonyms for grateful aren't quite right either 

 

 beholden     indebted     pleased     thankful     gratified     obliged

 

 

 Here we go, Elated, thAt seems more like it;

 

 delighted         ecstatic         enchanted         euphoric         excited         exultant         joyful         jubilant overjoyed                  animated           aroused           cheered        elevated      enraptured  exhilarated      flying     intoxicated        roused            transported   blissful       gleeful    high     joyous

 

 

 

 Also feeling;

in heaven                     in high spirits                                 in seventh heaven 

 

 

 

     

 

 Yes this all seems better suited to how I felt opening three full boxes of goodies, full to the brim each one

of half finished and a few finished projects

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

three full boxes of

 

silks, velvets,  tatting,  silk ribbon,  black laces,  embroidery floss 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 and a whole collection of silkies! Woo!

      

 

 

 What treasure!

                         Eye candy!

                                               

Riches beyond measure!

                                        Additions all to my dragon hoard 

                                                

                                                                A prize to be pawed through and snifled!

   

 

or is that just me?

                                                                       

 

 

 

 

 

                                        Violet kitty approves this pile

 

 

 

 

 

Though she wishes I would stop dancing around it's putting her off her nap time.

Thank you Cathy!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Perfection" the creativity killer

 Some one has accused my needlework of being "Precise and Perfect". *

While I have no issue with "Precise" being attached to my efforts, "Perfect" bothers me.

And its not that I don't strive for, if not "Perfection", than at least a clean line, a tidy stitch or something resembling "Precision". 

As a word applied to myself "precision" bothers me much less than "Perfection".

Why is that?

I have found precision through many hours of practice. This is a word, I can own and incorporate in reference to myself and not feel arrogance or conceit, because I have earned it.

But "Perfection" bothers me.

While nature strives for symmetry, "Perfection" in nature looks wrong. You have but to look at any manufactured thing to see that. Silk flowers, when put next to real ones, look stiff, fake because of their perfection, their sameness. I do not strive for it, in fact I will actively rail against it in class and my own work. What I strive for in my own art is more symmetry and balance,

Even the human face is not "Perfect" one eye or the ear is always lower than the other or a cheek is fuller. and no two are the same even in identical twins but symmetry is everywhere.

When I teach, I specifically rail against "Perfection". It has no place in a classroom where people are learning a new skill.  

"Perfection" is the creativity killer. I call on my students to refrain from their temptations, to rip out their own hard work, because it is not "Perfect". They are learning a new skill, of course it is not perfect!

If they rip it out, every time a stitch is not perfect, they will spend more time in the UNdoing than the doing and possibly enjoy WHAT they are doing less, than if they leave it and move on to the next stitch.

Besides when you are learning something, like embroidery, it is sometimes helpful to go back and look at that first attempt, see how far you have come. I know painters do this, they discover things in an old piece that they may go back to because of an idea, a line or a clarity, they may have grown out of in time and may find useful later.

"Perfect Ideals" have no place and in fact become stifling and oppressive to creativity, in a classroom dedicated to teaching and learning an art of any kind.

I hear the phrase "But it's not Perfect" from my students, so often as they become disappointed in their own progress, as if they should have mastered this skill the minute they picked up the tools! It makes me want to cry and scream at the same time. 

Would you expect to be able to fix your sink, the first time you pick up a wrench? Of course not. Don't be silly. So why would you expect skill at needlepoint not be the same? 

I have a few ideas on that and it is a rant'n'rave  mumble, mumble puritan ethic/toxic patriarchy, for another time I think.

 I feel wholeheartedly in fact, that "Perfection" as a word, should be banned from our creative crafty places. Love yourself enough to give yourself that space and love your craft enough, that making mistakes, is placed where it should live, as part of the learning process and not as an aid to put it down or be disappointed in it, because it is not "Perfect".

*Thank you Sandy, for your lovely comment. I do appreciate it. I hope you do not feel ganged up on, that is not my intent. This Random thought parade has nothing to do with your sweet and kind words and everything to do with my own reaction to them.

Listen to this podcast which aired october 16 2021 with Patricia Nguyen of Thistle Threds in which they discuss much of what this post is about. Good to know I'm not the only one thinking about this AND I'm not the only one with projects all over the house! Listen to the whole thing, It's encouraging and insightful.

https://wetalkfiber.com/2021/10/16/fiber-talk-with-patricia-nguyen-ii/

Jacobean Embroidery done!

Here are the better pictures I promised you

 

 

 

 

 

 

I finally finished this thing 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and now I get to figure out what to do with it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This is very slow stitching

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of these motifs took as much as a month each to finish

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 So if you do decide to take it up

You have been warned

I will tell you it is so satisfying to be done

And a little sad too