Done.

All the stewing, panicking, sketching, painting, and crying is done. My 2019 Station of the Cross piece is complete. Today it was hung in the church along with all the other artists' pieces. They will remain in the church nave through Easter, maybe beyond.

In January I settled on an image and started sketching.

As usual there were many pieces that blew me away. Some are professional; some are not; all are full of heart and soul. The concepts and compositions are never predictable. The only consistent aspect is the size - 24x30, framed and ready to hang. Media include classic painters tools like acrylic and oil, as well as sharpees, colored pencil and paper collage. Mine, of course, is done in cloth.

I tried to abstract the idea, and avoid attempts at realism.

We have a "Starving Artists" dinner of simple soup. Each artist describes something about their piece - the process, their thoughts on that particular station and their final interpretation of it. Yep, tears are cried.

I taught myself foundation piecing in an attempt at greater abstraction.

The stories told are simply great stories. Some are carefully composed. Some shoot from the hip. Some are political. Some are historical. Some of us are (ahem) older. Some artists are as young as 11 (and his was magnificent). All are full of contemplation and spirit.

Once I determined the rough composition, I used this paper-folding technique to enlarge my sketch to 24x30.

Here is part of what I wrote:

As I prepared my art piece, I visualized Jesus in his last hours on earth literally lifting the cross on which he would be executed, in the most painful and demeaning way. I remembered that Jesus told his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Matt 16:24).” And then, one Sunday morning, I saw youth of our parish in the procession, one carrying the cross. I see them every Sunday, but on this particular Sunday, I paid attention.

My process can be chaotic

Each Sunday they put on their albs, tighten the cinctures around their waists and lift the cross, the torch and the Gospel for all to see. They call us to worship together in a way that moves me.

It moves me to think more about what it means to take up the cross. Many have gone before me, taking up their crosses in a visible, painful and important way. You know who I’m talking about: people like Rosa Parks, Mother Teresa, Rachel Carson, Viktor Frankl, Christine Blasey Ford. 

Applying a facing to one figure

This piece was inspired by Cowen Harter’s photograph, as well as my own memory of this procession. I used cotton, linen, and silk to depict the procession into church, but more broadly, all those who have taken up their cross for me. This piece is dedicated especially to those unnamed and unknown, those who will remain faceless.

rejects

I am feeling lighter. I have been making clothes. Sort of a relief. And, yes, I'll probably make one again next year. It has become my lenten practice. It is (now) a given that I will stew, panic, sketch, paint and cry. That's a pretty good fit for Lent.

12 X 12

Each year, local organization SEFAA issues a challenge to local fiber artists. It is easy and fun. The only requirement is that it be no larger than 12 inches X 12 inches and easy to hang on the wall. No jury, no pressure. I like that.

This is a good way to learn what I like and what I do not. This piece, for example, is way too busy for me. I much prefer simple designs. 

This one came about when I used linen remnants from clothing projects. I decided to go with the shapes in the scraps, butting here and there. Then I used needle-turn applique to attach them. After that I machine-quilted it to wool batting and added embroidery, as well as beads.

Saving Sydney

Still playing with fabric beads. See a great tutorial here. 

If you read my last blog posting, you know that I made a mess out of the lovely Sydney jacket using a fabulous piece of wool and cashmere. To stay calm, I am still making these fabric beads. They are a little addictive. Last night I created the bracelet by weaving them together with a bias tube from a thrifted tie.

But I can be a bit stubborn so I am working thru some fixes for my Sydney Jacket.

First up:

The incorrect pattern piece for the back (and the cut piece of cashmere/wool) is quite a bit smaller than the correct pattern piece, as you can see below. It makes sense to me to slide the poorly cut piece down flush with the lower hem and create a new piece that frames it and becomes the correct size for the back.

I traced the difference between my incorrect version of the back pattern piece and the correct pattern piece, creating a corresponding new pattern piece (adding the 3/8 inch overlap):

It is an oddly shaped piece and, of course, I do not have anything that size in my remnants. Despite this, I proceeded to cut the new pattern piece out of old quilt cotton and put the jacket muslin/toile together. Here is how the sewn back looks in this test piece:

And here is how it looks as a complete muslin/toile with the frame or insertion. I do not have plans to highlight this inserted piece in the final jacket but it is helpful to see how it looks in this high contrast cotton.

So far, so good.

Now I have a major decision to make. This oddly shaped piece will not fit on any remnant I have. Even if I rob the Peony vest pieces, I will have to piece them in order to create the new insertion piece. And I'm not ready to sacrifice the Peony vest, as it may turn out to be a favorite item to wear.

You may recall that while my reptilian brain was in charge, I noticed that I had enough fabric to cut out a vest AND a jacket. So I did so without considering the possibility of catastrophe.

My next step is to see if there is ANY way to piece the remnants into something like this insertion piece.

Alternatively I have been hording saving a beautiful piece of soft black leather, also purchased at Gail K. I'm wondering if it might look cool to add a leather insertion. I could add some other leather accents to the front. The down side is that I have almost no experience with leather so I will definitely be doing my research first!

Stay tuned, if you can stand it!

Mid-Course Muslin

Don't sew like I do.

Make the muslin BEFORE you cut into the most expensive piece of fabric you have ever purchased.

For a while now, I have been looking forward to making the Sydney Jacket by Tessuti in Australia. It came out during their 2015 cold season, my hot summer, and I have been plotting and planning ever since. It is a download so there is no expensive postage. I have had good luck with their patterns and there are several reviews of the Sydney Jacket on Pattern Review indicating that it is an easy make.

I found the perfect fabric at Gail K - a lustrous blend of wool and cashmere. It is perhaps the most wonderful piece of fabric I have ever sewn. It's not really the most expensive piece I have sewn. It is the second most expensive piece I have ever sewn. The first was the alter frontal I made for my church using $200/yard fabric from overseas. Now, that was a nail-biter.

So I downloaded the pattern from Tessuti, printed it on my home printer, taped everything together, and traced a size medium onto pattern tissue. I read the instructions several times before beginning. I waited for the holidays to end. Then I very carefully laid out my fabric.

The pattern pieces fit easily onto my delicious fabric. In fact there was enough space to cut out a vest using the Peony vest from the Sewing Workshop, So I did it. Wonderful! A two-fer.

I carefully sewed samples of overlapped seams. They only overlap by 3/8 inch so I wanted to make sure I could do so accurately. A little chalk and slow sewing made it an easy process. Such fun!

Bernina's foot #13 is perfect for sewing a seam at 3/16 inch.

Oh, and the pockets on this jacket. Fabulous! Raw edge with edge-stitching around the opening.

But then I encountered a small problem. After sewing the sleeve panel to each side of the back, I attempted to sew on the yoke. It simply did not fit. Though this fabric is pliable, I knew that it would gather if I forced the issue.

After much gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair and getting moral support from BSF and emailing Tessuti (it was the middle of the night in Australia at the time), I took a deep breath. Now at this point it was clear, even to me, that I should have made a muslin (or toile). So I stopped everything to cut out a muslin.

This confirmed that I had the sleeve panel placed incorrectly. A couple of properly placed notches surely would have saved me from this difficulty. Here is the correct way to place the sleeve panel:

I continued to work on the muslin and prepared to sew the side-seams. Easy, right? But wait - those did not line up either. The difference between the front and back side seams was about 2 inches!

But OK. I had already made a mistake with the oddly-shaped sleeve panel. I became convinced that there was something mysterious and origami-like involved in this side-seam. Or maybe, just maybe, I had made a more serious mistake, this time in cutting. Nah.

I placed the pattern tissue on the front and back pieces of fabric. Check. Then I placed the pattern tissue back on the printed paper. Check. Then I measured the back and the front on the printed paper. They were indeed very different sizes.

Still convinced I was dealing with a clever, intricate side seam, I once again contacted Tessuti. I even contacted a PR reviewer asking if she would send pictures of the finished side seam, thinking that would solve my problem. Thank you, Helen, for your thoughtful and sweet reply!

Tessuti sent me a picture of a finished side seam - by now the sun was up in Australia.

Horrors - it was a perfectly normal side seam.

Next step was to reprint the pattern, this time at my local Kinko's as they can print each page on wide printers without the potential for taping things incorrectly. I measured the helpful little 10 cm square on the spot, and determined that it printed as intended.

Once home, I laid everything out and learned (you knew this was coming) that my printer had printed page one correctly and page two incorrectly.

You can see in the picture that my cut piece of yummy wool/cashmere is woefully too small.

OK.

So, maybe my favorite fabric store, Gail K, still had that fabric in stock. I needed less a yard! I was prepared to throw that much money at the problem. I raced down there breathless. The owner was very patient, pulling out a ba-zillion different pieces of black wool but, alas, no luck.

I tried to self-sooth by purchasing pretty shirting while there and headed home.

Sniff.

Sniff.

As I neared my home, I saw flashing blue lights and then 2 smushed cars. I saw one driver's expression as I slowly passed. Now that woman was having a bad day. Not me. Not by a long-shot.

I headed back into my sewing space and carefully rolled together all the pieces to the Sydney, and the pieces to the Peony vest, and the tiny remnants of the yummy fabric. I gently placed it where I cannot quite see any of it.

Now I have some ideas. But I have calmed the limbic portion of my brain enough to know that I need a break.

And it's only fabric.

Right now I am making fabric beads. How about you?

A Day with Lyric Kinard

Oh, my! Such fun. Lyric is a terrific teacher and an inspiring artist. She seems to have super-woman energy.

First we played and learned a number of techniques, some I had tried before, some that were new to me. We made our own stamps and stamped on cheap white cotton fabric. We also used some fabulous screens designed by Lyric - some with paint and some with foil.

Journal cover front with cabochon

Journal back with some embroidery

I have very little experience with foil, so now I want to practice more and really learn how to exploit it.

We also did photo transfer (fugitive media). This was brand new to me and so I'm really anxious to practice that technique.

And then the beading. I was pretty sure I loved beading. Now I'm certain. I am particularly delighted with her technique for cabochon beaded bezels.

Our kits were for making small journal covers. The kits included some hand-dyed cotton and coordinating beads and a cabochon to match. Such a quick and satisfying project. I was able to finish mine the very next day.

bling

As Charleston Fashion Week (CFW) approaches, I am preparing, as best I can, to blend in. The first year I just wasn't thinking at all. I brought clothes appropriate for a somber meeting, or maybe Sunday School, but not even Easter. Yes, boring.

When we arrived Daughter2 showed me the runway dresses she and BFF had rented for CFW. You know, thirty-somethings, slim, and going to a party.

Last year I did a little better. Black silk TSW Plaza pants with a black silk shell. The jacket is a soft, sheer High-Five jacket with just the smallest bit of bling. Daughter2 modeled during CFF last year for several of  Charleston's boutiques. You can see here that she loves to ham it up in a picture. Her BFF is in the center.

This year I am getting a bit more serious. I am not slim (still) and would not want to be 36 again anyway. Even if I could dress like Daughter, I would feel silly. So my goal this year is a little bling. Lower case bling. bling that allows a sixty-something, over-weight person to sort of blend in.

After much digging at Gail K in Atlanta, I was drawn to a beautiful purple lace that could go to a party. It was just beautiful. I thought - perfect for grandmother-of-the-bride, perhaps. Not the look I wanted.

Then, just as I was about to give up and buy my old standby - silk dupioni - I saw it. Sitting in the isle. $40 per yard. But perfect.

I really love this fabric. I'm keeping this on my dress form so I can pet it. Despite its appearance, it is really quite supple. It is a sheer black mesh with tiny silver sequins. The black lines that show up in the photo are just the bare single layer of mesh. Tiny sequins are stitched on top of it to create the swirled effect. 

After the salesman cut the fabric for me, he had to sweep the cutting table. Sequins everywhere. He assured me that once the seams were enclosed, the shedding would stop. And, amazingly, he was absolutely right.

CLD's Pure and Simple (PAS) top seemed the best pattern in my stash for a fabric that is really not like any fabric I've ever sewn. PAS has horizontal bust darts, a little shaping at the side seams and shoulder seams. Sadly, it is now OOP.

So I cut out the two pattern pieces. My whole sewing room was aglow with sequins. A customer at Gail K's suggested French seams so as to avoid having the raw edges next to my skin.  I sampled a French seam on a remnant and realized that would not make me happy. Way too bulky. 

So I decided to line it with black Bemberg Ambiance. Ambiance works great with so many fabrics and it was just right to pair with this non-fabric fabric. 

I even had fun assembling it, so as to avoid as much handwork as possible. I love handwork but not on sequins. I stitched the front and back together in the sequined fabric, as well as the lining. Then I layered the face fabric and lining, right sides together, stitched the neckline and turned it right sides out. Easy-peasy. A little crunchy, but easy.

Next I used a variation on the bag-a-jacket technique to sew the sleeve edges together. I pinned the shoulder seams together so nothing would twist as I manipulated it. I reached inside, where all the raw edges were and lined up the sleeve edges, RST. Sewing required two passes.

I trained the neck and sleeve edges over my ham with a tiny bit of steam and finger pressure. (And I understitched these edges by hand later to keep things flat.) More crunching, but surprisingly easy to handle.

To finish the lower hem, I turned the piece inside-out and stitched RST for all but about 5 inches so that it could be turned right side out. Again, easy-peasy, but a little fussy. And I only sewed the last 5 inches by hand.

I had thought I'd wear this with a favorite silk-and-wool jacket that gets very little wear in my very casual life.

Husband pointed out that it takes me right back to the office, or maybe an office party. So I guess I'll have to show my arms. Maybe the flash of bling will make it hard to actually see my arms.

Must remember to stand straight

All in all, I'm pretty happy with my first foray into sewing on sequined, fancy fabric.