Purple Up The Perspective

We have had some absolutely gorgeous sunshine this week. Hopefully it lasts. The fall colors are extra beautiful with the sun on them. The vibrant red of a burning bush after the colors have turned is one of my favourites. While I enjoy the colors of fall, I find winter the most productive season. It's when I settle down in the studio and get a lot done. In fall, I tend to do projects around the house. What about you?

Have fun, and in the process, learn about the clay. Dive into it, play with it. Squish it, squash it, squeeze it, roll it out, roll it up, stack it up, cut it down, slice it, slam it, smash it, stretch it, turn it, twist it, cut it, chop it, bake it, bend it, break it, carve it, grind it, reduce it, reuse it, mold it, mash it, poke it, prod it, tease it, finesse it, and of course, polish it. Oh, and one more thing (something else I learned from Pier): Own it. 

When I read the quote above in Polymer Clay Beads by Grant Diffendaffer, I thought about how applicable that attitude is to fabric. I used to see the fabric just as it is. Using the reverse side was an incredible stretch. Thankfully, over the years, I've learned that fabric is simply a surface to manipulate.  In the image above, the plaid at the bottom is the original section. I added an overlay of flocked organza to purple up the perspective. It works for the Cindy purse. Overlays are only one method. There are many ways in which to change and use fabric with a list similar to Grant's. The important thing is to experiment.

I'd intended to seam the purse only the layers were too thick so I moved to plan B which was to bind each edge individually. First I cut 1 1/2" strips on the bias of a crinkle taffeta and pinned and stitched them to the edge. Next I...

... turned the bias over to the wrong side and stitched in the ditch from the front to hold it in place. The most important aspect for me was a narrow, even, tightly wrapped edge at the front. The portion turned to the back is hidden inside and covered by the lining.

And then, I pinned the edges of the fronts to the edges of the side band and stitched through both layers using a zigzag stitch. If I could have neatly stitched in the ditch on one side and exactly landed in the ditch on the other side, I would have only that's far more complicated and talented than I am so a zigzag stitch takes in any differences and works quite lovely. On this bag, I left the edge doubled as shown. On another, I might have used another row of zigzag stitching along the outer edge to join the two layers.

Wrapping one layer at a time before joining them is one option. On the Francine purse, I basted the edges together and then sewed on the binding wrapping it around the doubled edge. It's a different look so it depends on what you're aiming for. With this second method, the important part for me is to measure correctly so that when wrapped, the edge of the binding fits neatly along the stitching line and can be slip stitched in place invisibly and then held securely with a row of stitching. If the binding is too wide, it turns over too far, and ruins that look.

Last night was knitting. The last time I went was two weeks ago when I knit several inches and then pulled it out to fix a mistake. I didn't knit at all in-between and last night made tremendously slow progress BUT... it won't be a nine month sweater although - since it's a girls size 6 - it won't fit me either.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - sunshine and ideas