Week 52-5 - Stiffy

Working through the 52 Week challenges, I can see that one may overlap with another such as today's new product with another week's theme of hearts. Let's start with the product.

Stiffy is an easy to use fabric stiffener with a waterbase formula from a trusted brand that most of us are familiar with, Modge Podge. The instructions say to stir well although stirring is hard with this type of bottle so I shook it well, made a puddle on a piece of wax paper, rolled one of my silk dupioni fabric beads through the puddle, and let it dry. It dried very hard - I can't push a needle through it - and the layer of product dulled the luster of the fabric and darkened the colour. That's not a judgment; it's simply what happened and something to keep in mind since it could be useful at times. I'll need to see how hard the bead is to drill through. If it's easy, I could coat the beads first and if it's not, I might prefer to coat the completed piece after stringing the beads... which sounds mucky... and I don't like mucky... so we'll see.

What I really wanted to know is how firmly would Stiffy hold this fabric heart and how would it impact the overall look and feel of the pendant. I used a soft bristle brush to apply two layers to the back of the heart allowing it to dry thoroughly between each layer.

If I drop or throw the resulting piece, it holds its shape. When I push on the ends, it flexes minimally. The colour on the front was protected by the layers in-between and not impacted at all. As a bonus, the thread work has an extra layer of sealant to keep it from fraying. I'm pleased. I would try this product again on other fabric pendants.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - new learning and a fun heart to play with

One Of Those People

A few days ago, I was leaving Starbucks and walking across the parking lot to my car when I noticed a woman walking toward me, staring intently, like she knew me. I didn't recognize her which isn't entirely uncommon since I'm relatively new to this community so I made a comment about the sun being in my eyes to which she replied I really love your pants.

 

And then she asked if they were lightweight and then she asked where I'd bought them. I let her touch the fabric which is cotton and said I'd made them. She replied oh, you're one of those people and walked away almost angrily.

The various ways that people respond to my creativity is always interesting. It's almost like I'm saying I'm a pastor and they begin their confession with a list of "reasons" about why they couldn't possibly do what I do. The one I find the most interesting is the implication that I somehow have more time than anyone else or that I am not spending my time on things that really matter because if I were, I too wouldn't have any time.

I believe that life is about relationships - with God, with myself, with my family, and with others - and relationships are my number one priority. Within the description of my healthy relationship with myself, being creative is a nurturing, supportive, encouraging, absolutely critical key part of how I function. Without creativity, I am not myself and not much fun. I don't have more time for creativity than anyone else; I make time.

 

The pants are from The Sewing Workshop (no longer on their website) and the top is Katherine Tilton's Butterick 5891. This outfit was made at least five years ago. I've sewn the top several times and the pants at least a half a dozen. That's one of the fabulous things about being one of those people - LOL - we can create exactly the garment, the outfit, we want and then use that pattern again and create an entirely different one and only we'll know.

There is no pattern for this t-shirt. It's a hybrid of two of my favourite shapes that resulted in a three piece pattern instead of a five piece one while maintaining the fit and flare I prefer. This version is made from a silver ribbed knit (although you can't see the glitter in these images) that I picked up in the bargain center for $2.00 per meter making this a $3.00 t-shirt. YES YES - another delight of being one of those people.

I've been looking for knit fabrics in a print and so far not finding anything I really like. I think one of my 52 week challenges will be to paint an all-over design on a t-shirt with the pieces already cut out. That sounds like fun although it'll have to wait until the yard work is more complete.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - to be one of those people

Week 52-3 - Knitting With Wire

Do you remember spool knitting from when you were a child? I do and I also remember not knowing what to do with all those long snakes. HOWEVER... knitting with wire is way better. You end up with a chain perfect for a necklace or bracelet.

I like traditional Viking Knit but wanted a more efficient, less labour intensive method than the one I was using so I challenged myself to knit with wire trying a variety of gauges to see which would create a flexible chain with the least amount of physical work - read damage to my wrists. My favourite gauge is 26.

The spool is wrapped in exactly the same method as we did with yarn moving around the pegs from right to left clockwise while winding the wire counter-clockwise around each individual peg. The bottom loop is then lifted up and over the wound wire and dropped to the inside. The chain grows down the middle of the spool. If the wire lifts up and over easily, all is good. If it takes tremendous effort and doesn't want to budge and even breaks, typically you've gone one peg too far and need to go back one. After I knit the length I wanted, I passed the chain through the draw plate as with traditional viking knit and condensed it as much as I wanted. Beware - knitting wire is addictive.

With traditional viking knit, the end of the wire is passed continuously through the loops both work-hardening the wire and requiring the use of shorter lengths which leaves sharp ends to be turned in. With this method, one long length of wire can be knit off its spool and is only passed once around the peg with no ends and no work-hardening. It's great.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - an easier way to make chains

Week 52-2 - Physical And Visual Balance

For this challenge, I used more of the multi-coloured beads as well as some beads made from remnants of a fabulous grey fabric that draped like a dream but had a horrendous penchant for continuing to shrink long into the future even with preshrinking, with a cold water wash, with hanging to dry. I can't use it to sew clothing anymore so it's perfect for jewelry. I love the texture.

The challenge was to create a piece with a primary focal point and a secondary focal point that was both physically and visually balanced. The larger grey bead weighs 6 grams and the smaller beads weigh 1 gram each.

The split between the grey and the multi-coloured beads needed to be at center front and the ending of each side of the chain needed to be even at the back. I tried all sorts of ways to get the beads on one side to equal the same weight as the beads on the other side - ways that were distracting, especially when I worked with different alternating beads on each side. Only these small black ones seemed to work well.

In the end, I took apart five of the grey beads and added a 1 gram bead to the center of each so that the physical weight on each side of the necklace would be even, meaning it would hang straight. That took about five hours of trialing different ideas.

Two friends tried this piece on on the same day. One said it was discomforting and the other found it energizing. I love how we're all the same and yet so uniquely different.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - perseverance

Week 52-1 - Delicate

As I write this post, I'm wearing a pair of slim floral pants, a black t-shirt with three-quarter sleeves, and a statement necklace. If I have a uniform, this is it. It's a definite Myrna look.

This week's challenge was to create a delicate necklace using fabric beads and a recycled clasp. Delicate is not my nature so it was somewhat of a stretch. For the beads, I cut a multi-coloured cotton scarf into strips and then rolled the strips into fabric beads - enough beads for several necklaces so you'll see them again.

After rolling the strips and gluing the ends, the beads were wrapped with a metallic thread that was stitched through the middle several times to secure it before stringing the beads on beading line alternated with gold flecked purple beads in-between. I find with fabric jewelry that metallic elements help to make the pieces more sophisticated. I've spent a long time - years - attempting to make fabric jewelry that makes the kind of statement I want it to make - elegant, sophisticated, high end. It's harder than it looks.

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One of my most successful pieces is this pendant I made earlier this year. It's a combination of fabric, threadwork, and hand stitching that worked so well that. I'm doing more exploration into this way of creating a piece by starting with a formed base.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - the year of 52 weeks started

The Year of 52 Weeks

I enjoy projects with organic boundaries. By that I mean boundaries that are firm enough to give guidance and open enough to allow for creative flow and magic to happen. Earlier this year, I worked on the outfit project creating six complete outfits - including handbags, shoes, and jewelry - one for each day of a workshop I was taking.

My current project is called The Year of 52 Weeks. Typical of myself, I started out with big ideals and then narrowed them down to something far more manageable. The guideline is to try something new to me - not rocket science but new - each week for 52 weeks although this may not involve 52 consecutive weeks or a literal year. I had to make that allowance or I'd already have given up because the yard work expanded beyond what I'd predicted for this year and is going to take up great chunks of the summer.

Fifty two new to me things is still wonderful even if not consecutive. I've created a 52Weeks label so you can go find each of the posts and the titles will indicated that the posting is part of the project.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - energizing projects

Blog Expectations

Getting started with this new blog is more difficult and taking longer than I'd expected. When I found myself avoiding posting because there was too many new things to figure out at the same time as I was busy working on the house and in my yard, I decided to revert to the familiar in order to get going. I'd intended to use both a new platform and photo editing software. That's not happening right now.

I'm spending a lot of time in the yard right now and not as much as I would like in the studio which means there's less to share and talk about. I'd rather under-promise and over-deliver so once I've put together these first few posts, I will post once a week until my studio schedule is back on track and then we'll see from there.

Please feel free to comment and ask questions. That reciprocal action on the part of the blog's community is really encouraging and - speaking personally - energizes me to share more of what I'm working on because I know it's of value to others. Your comments are appreciated. Thanks.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - some pictures to post.

About Myrna

Two of my favourite questions are what if and how can I.My work is motivated by curiosity and often reflects what is happening in life around me. My pieces are one-at-a-time, one-of-a-kind, items created in my signature style which tends to be architectural, labour intensive, or both.

Fabric is my first love. Mixed media jewelry is my latest love. In-between I knit. I am very fond of upcycling and refashioning and will often make something only to take it apart and make something else out of it. I am far more interested in the process than the product. I am warm, dry, safe, fed, clothed and loved. I don't need another product; I need another creative journey - what I call the mystery of the unknown.

My home and studio are in the creative community of Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Canada - a delightful place to live.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - sharing the creative journey.

New And Not

This is a new blog; I am not new to blogging. I started my first blog about fifteen years ago and when my work shifted away from traditional quilting to textile wall art, I started a new blog. The first one didn't work anymore. Several years after that, my work shifted again toward sewing creative everyday wear and so I deleted the earlier posts and restarted the blog, something I refer to as shredding the blog. It didn't go over well with readers.

Shredding is part of how I approach life. I sift, sort, clean, clear out, organize, re-purpose, recycle, let go of, and move on regularly in most areas of life. With fabric. With yarn. With words. I journal every day and shred what I write. For me, there is no point to journal writing unless I can be completely honest and I cannot be completely honest if afraid that someone, at some point in time, may read what I wrote out of context.

Blogging is no exception. While I'm creating a new blog with this current shift, I can't guarantee that shredding the blog won't happen again at some time in the future. If there is information you want to keep, please save it in some more permanent way than a bookmark.

That said... welcome to my new blog. While the format is bound to develop organically as I start to post regularly, my goal right now is to write shorter, more concise, postings than I've previously written and to focus on the entire journey of a completed project rather than the stages of a work in progress which may or may not actually get completed.

The title - Cloth & Creativity - comes from my primary passion for working with fabric and my growing love of mixed media jewelry as well as my belief that creativity is a part of every area of life. I hope you will share in the conversation and help me to develop a format that works for all of us.

Talk soon - Myrna

Grateful - finally a first post