Wild Oats Part One

I have been living in the sewing basket lately, for Love and money:

the Kid's winter coat

My friend Elf's coat, he's a dapper mountain man

And my friend Elf's pants, because he's also an earthbender

these pants nearly kicked my ass, I tell ya. Never thought I'd get then done

Kimono for the Kid

The big Boro blanket has become all-consuming to the point that it warrants its own post; stay posted.

every stitch a delightful waste of time

Reworked my Dad's old moccasins (After and Before) into the Houseshoes of Slack,

to which he responds:

"Those shoes !
Resurrected !
Formerly a work of the most cheaply paid coolies, now transformed into a work of art that reminds me of the ancient skills of dedicated artisans who built and painted the great pyramids, the Roman colossus, engineered the worlds' first telescope with delicate, precise curvatures to match the natural state of the earth within a galactic state of magnification - yes - all this you've accomplished by rejuvenating the humble moccasin, transforming them into a wonderful kaleidoscope of colours in binding and decoration. The wearer of these coverings would be the envy of every right-thinking bipedalian. Nice work !"

The hairy parts of the moccasins got repurposed further into a finger tab for the kid's new bow.
New, as in she got it for Christmas.

Recent Doings

MUSE

Our Lady Elation, the Joy of Creation.

She rises from a bright Horizon, into Dark that is palpable, but not tangible,

on her gaudy gauzy Wings

another Chrysalis motif, from a sketch i did maybe a year ago

in the Moleskine which has become one of my favorite things

sketch



around-the-housecoat

Flannel and fleece and those little coins as buttons. Surely a prosperity charm will work better if i wear it.

A Mask

i made for a friend's altar to San Simon, or Maximon as he is called in the folk traditions;  a wooden deity, a troublemaker, a link between the underworld and Heaven. more here.

Inspiration

BORO!

(I'm shocked to say that Wikipedia has no wisdom to offer about this)

I first read about boro at Donna Watson's blog, layers

And there's more here and here (best photos)

Boro is a hand-sewing method of patching clothes and other textile goods, used in pre-industrial Japan.
As in, if you want fabric, you've got to spin the thread and weave the cloth yourself, and when it wears through as fabric generally does, you either create an entirely new garment, or work with what you've got.
Boro patching is an art form all its own, with a wise frugality. Much of the fabric is blue or indigo, like my old workpants I was inspired to improve.

the butt part seems to wear out first

the circled-with-stitches hole is where i stuck a boxcutter into my leg while cutting wine-red carpet for my van floor. No bloodstains, just paint



indigo fabric is supposed to be flame-retardant, so this is a good location for it; when things unintended happen to catch fire i generally stomp madly on them.


That was so much fun i moved on to my quilt. I made it the first year that Lily I moved back, and it's just too good to throw out.



absolutely ratty



So I've started sewing on my crazy patch squares that I had been waiting to make use of til I had a whole blanket's worth. Just a plain running stitch, with some backing fabric to hold back the groady parts.





if you look closely you can see little white stitches. After 3 days working at it I can feel them when I pinch needle between thumb &forefinger, a tired twinge in the muscle of my forearm. Nicely comforting.

Recent Doings

A Great Idea

Clothespins to keep the three ends of a braid from entangling. Probably somebody thought of this already but it made me feel clever. It works best like in the picture, with one long and two short. Adjust as needed.

A Thing I Made for Myself

A vest from one of my old baby blankets, a very thin worn fleece(felt?)

lined with satin from a cut-down bridesmaid's dress from the 25cent rack at the resale shop. Sewn entirely by hand, because it was good for my soul. Might add front closures. Bonus points for not including the toilet in this picture. Also, Serious Face.

A Thing I Found

Cardboard backing for a trio of smoke detectors sealed in one of those nearly-impossible-to-open plastic packages. Faces with a beauty mark? Masks to be made.

MWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!

For OSM , if he'll tell me where to send it ; )
One of my recent sewing projects. I've beeen doing BIG THINGS this week!

Clever camouflage for the stylish Space Traveler (also seems to impart some immunity to the Earth's gravitational field as evidenced by the fact that I didn't fall down)

With UltraViolet lining!

DISCLAIMER: This Garment does not render the wearer invisible, indivisible, invincible, bulletproof, childproof or idiot-proof. Not a flotation device. Probably Flammable. When attempting to fly, always take off from the ground, etc. Be aware of the HAZARDS.

It's a dangerous business being AWESOME, but somebody's got to do it.