More cleaning is NOT what I'd had planned for yesterday afternoon. I really wanted to sew but... I didn't... so there's no sleeve muslin to show you. LOL - I'm starting to suffer from seller's fatigue. I don't think I've ever cleaned house this often. I'm normally clean but not this clean.
The box of scraps above is left over from The Handbag Project. Every time I write that term I think I should start using labels in my postings and then I realize I'd have over six hundred postings to go back through and that's daunting... and beside the point. The point is, there was lots left over. With the handbags and jewelry items I'm working on now, I'm trying to start with, or use something from, the box. It's perpetual because...
... every project creates more scraps. These are the ones left from the latest purse. There's enough of the napkin fabric to do something with but not of the red overlay. That little scrap is my last bit which is good because it'll force me to go in a different direction with the next bag. Starting from the scrap box provides some direction and challenge to the pieces and uses what I have. This is good.
Recycling has become something I really enjoy. At one time, it would have been nowhere on my radar. That's either me maturing or a sign of the times but I've become a fan of second hand stores. I spent half an hour at Value Village yesterday as this week's Artist Date as per The Artist's Way. In the book, Julia notes that your inner critic will try to talk you out of the artist's date with some version of it's bad for you. Mine was screaming you can't do this, you spend too much money yesterday when I bought these three sweaters and a leather jacket... and that's true... so I'll set some limits on artist date spending for next week but... the jacket was only 12.99 and it's an extra-large size, with dropped shoulders, lots of ease, and calf length which means I can cut it up into a lot of handbags and bracelet backings. GOOD DEAL.
The sweaters, combined with some textured knit fabrics in my stash, are to make a version of this vest from the current Altered Couture magazine. This one is a circle with holes cut into it for the arms. I plan to use my T & T t-shirt pattern to create a garment with more shape and add a peplum from the waist similar to a sweater I tried on in a dress shop yesterday. The fabrics I have are shades of grey. I bought the blue and green sweaters to add color and the grey one because it has wonderful textures on both sides. There will be a LOT of fabric left over so I'll be able to make several versions if I want.
The grey sweater made me a bit sad. The side shown above is the inside. The outside is a soft, fuzzy, angora-ish look. It's beautifully hand knit with a turned hem and virtually invisible seaming. Someone made it with love and there it was in a second hand store. I know it happens. I've done it myself. But it always make me sad so it's nice to be recycling it into something loved.
This purse was there for next to nothing, way less expensive than a pattern. The gusset along the bottom only comes up to the yoke level on the front and the lining and the front/back form the handles. It's cheaply sewn. Other than in the handle, there's no interfacing to give the bag structure BUT... it's perfect to take apart for a pattern and gives me a style option that requires less additional items - just a closure. Having two or three different styles to work with at the beginning will provide some structure while still leaving plenty of "blank canvas" opportunities.
I only realized looking at this picture now that the top ring is upside down. On the other side, there is a circle of small black stones with the chain wrapping between them AND... it's silver not antique gold as it looks in this picture BUT... this is the "gaudy" necklace I asked my husband and daughter for at Christmas. Back then, it was $50.00 which was IMHO overpriced but I loved it and that's the criteria for a gift. Yesterday, I bought it for $14.70. Much better.
And now I need to finish cleaning and packing and getting ready to go and head off to the bead workshop. YEAH - I love learning new things.
Talk soon - Myrna
Grateful - two viewings even though I'm tired of cleaning
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Personal Growth - The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves. - C. G. Jung - - Like an ability or a muscle, hearing your inner wisdom is strengthened by doing it. - Robbie Gass
Learning to play, to explore without knowing the outcome, to risk imperfection, to take such things as a meandering artist's date simply to fill my well and imagination, is an ability that has taken time and practice to learn. It's not how I was raised but it's become a way of being that I absolutely love. I've learned that just as ideas come while doing repetitive things like cleaning bathrooms, they also come in other ways like play. Life is sweet and short and precious. It need not be all stress and business and work. It is through play, through relaxing the mind and having fun with few expectations, that we make exciting and personal discoveries. I remind myself of this every time my inner critic starts screaming that I'm wasting time.
That's a really good way of reusing clothes via the vest you've made.
ReplyDelete