On Disappointments And Being Broke

so... i got the chore coat that i bought on ebay and

it REEKED of old funky mildew. i sure didn't expect

that! i contacted the seller and he offered to pay for 

dry cleaning. i thanked him but declined...i'm not a 

fan of wearing clothing soaked in chemicals...so he

did give me a partial refund..which was nice. i'm

chomping at the bit to begin my boro repairs but

i'm still washing and sunning the coat....sigh.

in the mean time:

i'm going to be playing with acrylic heat sealed collage!

i stumbled across some how to's in youtube land and

decided to give it a try. as usual...with a whole studio

of supplies i didn't have the products needed for this

process so i had to order the mediums. there's a

reason Golden begins with GOLD!!! thank goodness

i had a little birthday money.

and the playing begins...

Color Me Happy!

well.....

i've finally decided how i will use my textile meditations!

since my birthday is coming up this week i've splurged on

a vintage denim jacket to trick out:

it's a 1950's montgomery ward powrhouse 

sanforized chore jacket. 

there are lots of opportunities for some boro mending:

i really like the blanket lining in this jacket:

happy birthday to me.....

color me happy!

I Am the Captain of My Soul

 

"it matters not how strait the gate

how charged with punishments the scroll

i am the master of my fate

i am the captain of my soul"

a quote from my favorite poem:

invictus

                                                      ~ william ernest henley

 

 

 

 today's textile meditation....

 

Aye Eye Sir!

i finished another piece for my... journal cover?

...altered shirt/jacket?

...fabric collage?

i seriously don't know where i'm going

with these pieces but i'm loving this 

whole slowstitching thingy!

liz kettle has a video showing how 

she uses stitching small fabric

pieces as a daily meditation. i 

meditate each morning using the

insight timer app but find creating 

these small works of art just as

calming.

More Slow Stitching

slowstitching....

meditative...

calming...

i'm not sure where i'm going with this piece...

it will probably be used on a journal cover...but...

maybe an altered shirt..

we'll see.

 

i treated myself to these kotobuki traditional 

thread scissors and ring thimble. the thimble

really helps when sewing through painted cloth.

 

 

 

* the circle design is from a jude hill class 

 

**the face is from a printable for members of

teesha moore's artstronauts club that i 

transferred to fabric

A Little Wabi Sabi Anyone?

sooooo.....

sew.....

my nemesis and i got along

surprisingly well.

i'm taking Susie LaFond's Curious Bundles class

(she is such a creative soul) and decided to make

a gift as my first project.

my sister in law has a birthday soon and since

she doesn't journal i thought i'd  make her a 

note pad cover. she works for an auctioneer and

spends a good deal of her time cataloging items

for the sales. 

this is my first attempt using some of the methods in

Susie's class. the above picture is the front 

cover. here's the back:

and the inside:

i used felt for the inside of this cover just to give it

a little structure. i thought about making some type

of closure but decided it would be better for her to

be able to just flip it open when needed.

as far as the sewing....i'll have to say i prefer hand

sewing to machine sewing. i really didn't have a

hard time with the machine...i was even able to

refill the bobbin twice while making this with

no incidence other than the thread looking like

a birds nest on the bobbin...but it worked fine.

the biggest problem was sewing straight lines...

which is this users fault and not the machine...

although Susie stresses to go with the flow and

don't worry about things like that.

i'm just thankful for the concept of wabi sabi.

* i decided to personalize this a little by adding
a picture of my brother that was transferred to
cloth and put in an old film negative holder. even
after 27 years of marriage they are still that couple
that are joined at the hip and she will like seeing
his smiling face.

 

Me vs My Nemesis

and it begins....

again...

Old Friends

these are my favorite jeans:

 

i can't even remember how long i've had them.

they are so worn that you can literally see daylight

through the material when they are held up to the

light....sigh.

 

get a stain...slap on some paint

 

another hole...boro

 

thank goodness for boro:

 

 

 

 

my stubborn self is just not going to let this

old friend go any time soon.

here is how i foresee my friend's future:

me and you...bud

me and you..