Tuesday, October 31st, 2006
These bags are one of my few explorations with pattern. They’re dyed using a resist dye technique on linen. I like how the scale of the dot takes over the bag so the focus is on the whole, not just the pattern.
I’ll have these at the No Coast sale December 1st & 2nd.
Sunday, October 29th, 2006
I have been working more on making textured fabrics. This belt is knit out of wool and I used a stitch that might be called tuck stitch although the only reference I found to tuck stitch was in regards to machine knitting. Basically I dropped down several rows and knit that row together with the row I was on. Anyone know what this stitch is called? Anyway now I’m trying to figure out how to close the belt. Here I have used a large concealed snap. I like the way this makes it hang asymetrically but I might also try a version with two snaps so that you could wear it up higher rather than low on the hips.
In this pullover I experimented with makng a textured fabric out of a cotton/wool knit fabric. This was time consuming but I love the subtle shade and shadow it creates. It’s really fun to remake plain fabric into something with texture.
Tuesday, October 24th, 2006
Color is so emotional. Sometimes I see a combination of colors that are so right together I can FEEL it. This photograph taken by Sally with its three simple colors was one of those times.
Those colors inspired this version of the scrap dress. Next time I think I will try to get my hands on some of that herringbone tweed - the texture would make it so much better!
(note to self: iron clothing before taking photographs….)
Monday, October 23rd, 2006
This weekend wasn’t as productive as my last one, but I did manage to finish these shoes. It took three tries to get the first one right. It was one of those times when I had something in my head and it wasn’t coming out that way and the new result wasn’t very appealing either. I finally got it close to what I had imagined - a simple, somewhat rustic looking shoe, w/ the thick/thin yarn adding texture. I think the problem was in using this yarn in something so small. The imperfections are magnified and the shoe kept coming out all wonky. More wonky than I wanted. In the end I adjusted my tension stitch by stitch to compensate for the extreme gauge changes.
I have a thing for baby shoes. They are just so cute in a useless sort of way. I have experimented with wool felt, but seem to always gravitate back to knit ones. They are so fun to make. Catarina makes the most amazing sewn baby shoes. They are exquisite.
Oh -and something I have been meaning to mention: See those little boxes over to the right? Where it says random flickr? That came with the theme for my journal (I use wordpress, and the theme is called tree and you can get it here). I actually changed ALOT of the theme to get it the way I wanted it to look, but left the flickr thing. I think you’re soposed to use it to link to your own flickr photos, but I really like the way it pulls up random images from flickr every time I visit my journal page. It is called Hoverbox and it was created by Nathan Smith and you can get it here.
I have found some of my favorite flickr images from hoverbox:
Like this one. ALL of this guys work is AMAZING. Go see it now.
The colors in this one are wonderful.
Who knew volcanoes could be so gorgeous?
Oh, and if you use Internet Explorer, all of the sidebar info on my journal is showing up at the bottom of this page -you have to scroll way down to see the random flickr, etc. I have tried to fix this, but can’t seem to figure it out. I am thinking I might have to get a new wordpress theme. UGH.
Friday, October 20th, 2006
I’m working on some baby things. This jacket is cotton on the outside and lined w/ the softest cotton/wool fleece - the same stuff I used here that looks and feels like dryer lint. The pants are made of the same fabric and have little useless pockets on the back.
Next are some knit shoes and a hat.
And speaking of babies, go check this brand new one out. Perfect.
Monday, October 16th, 2006
Why is the weekend called the week end? Why not the week begin? Wouldn’t it be nice to start the week with a day off, rather than a Monday? I guess technically our calendar starts with Sunday, but that’s also part of the weekend.
Well, I had a rare and wonderful weekend alone. At home. Alone. No one else here. And I got an amazing amount of things done:
I took some clothing over to the Design Collective, which is now going to be carrying my things. I also dropped some things off at Gallery 360, another local shop w/ my stuff.
I made a bunch of tags. I love/hate gocco.
I made an adult vest and a tote bag (see previous post). I made 3 more boys vests and 4 more boys t-shirts. The new t-shirts are in that chartreusy green that I love and made of a thin french terry. The other side of the terry is a smooth interlock knit and I debated about which side to have out. The minimalist in me wanted the interlock, but the texture freak wanted the terry. The texture freak won out. The smooth side is nicer next to the skin anyway (sorry for the bad picture - this color does not photograph well).
I dyed more wool.
I also had some mishaps with fabric dying - twice. I need to revise my methods and try again.
I ate takeout and slept late (for me anyway) and it was lovely. Now I’m bracing myself for the ensuing chaos. Any minute now. I can’t wait - I missed them so!
Thursday, October 12th, 2006
Boy clothes are hard. It seems like they either have lots of stuff on them, like logos, trucks, or some sporting team insignia (and tons and tons of pockets), or else they are almost too plain in an uninteresting, shapeless way. And why does everything have to be so BIG?
I really like boys clothes to be simple, slightly fitted and have some element of surprise -an unexpected bit of color or a slightly different shape. I think fabric is really important as well. If you have a really simple shape, a beautiful fabric will make the piece stand out.
This long sleeve t-shirt is made from a cotton blend fleece that is so soft and mottled it looks and feels exactly like dryer lint. It’s plush and warm but not too thick and the narrow cut keeps it from seeming bulky.
The wool hat also has a close fit but the tapered shape keeps the head from looking too big and round.
Monday, October 9th, 2006
Whenever something starts to appear to be not working, I want to abandon the project and start on something else. It is extremely hard for me to finish things that are ugly. But it always pays off. I always learn so much from finishing projects, no matter if they turn out or not.
That’s the kind of weekend I had. I started out with a great idea for a boy’s jacket, but no matter what I did, it just didn’t seem quite right. I kept at it though, and towards the end had another idea for the jacket that seemed more in line with my design thinking -more simple and refined. So I immediately cranked one out (late last night) and when I finished it, I realized that wasn’t quite it either. I will continue to work on this, and with some modifications I think it will work, but the best thing was that in the process of working on the second jacket, I had an idea for another jacket. This one is a baby jacket and I am really excited about it. Hopefully I will have some pictures soon.
In the meantime, since I don’t have any finished projects to show, I’ll leave you with this image of some pretty wool. I love how hand wound yarn looks and I love these colors together - they make me happy.
Wednesday, October 4th, 2006
Gorgeous textural rugs from Danskina. I especially love the simplicity of the ribbed felted wool. And I want to know how they get the little color core into the wool yarn?!?
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