Monday, August 25, 2014

Wild Thang....I think I love you!

Last March, while taking a mini class with Diane Ericson in her wonderful Ashland studio, we were lucky enough to meet her son, Miles Frode.  He's a multi-talented man.  He paints, writes poetry, performs his poetry (check him out on UTube) and is a fantastic teacher.

He gave us little lesson on his method of painting canvas for garments.  And, he brought in several canvases for us to look over and purchase.  I swooped down on three large ones and held on tight until I figured out what they wanted to be. 


Katherine Tilton's B5891 won.  I made the jacket without sleeves because I love this shape so much.  This is my third time making it, first time in a vest though.  I would have made a jacket but I didn't have enough fabric.

I'm so in love with this painting, er, vest!  It's true wearable art and what a beautiful canvas it will be when I wear it.  Just about any color will pair nicely with this.  His colors are bold but earthy, saturated and complex.  I'm thrilled.




I auditioned several buttons at my local fabric store,  Hart's Fabrics.  I wanted something that would stand up to the art but not compete with it.  These buttons are about 2" square and come in all kinds of great colors.  These are a dark taupe.

I didn't want to mar the canvas by making gigantic buttonholes so I made loops from old silk cording in a dusty smudgy pink.  Both of these colors; the buttons and the cording have their own integrity and richness without standing out.

I faced the collar with a cotton net that I got from Marcy Tilton at a DOL a long time ago.  I wonder if she still has some?  I've used it so much I'm out and would love to re-stash.  It feels and looks like it's vintage.  Very low-key and textural.  I felt I had to face the canvas on the back of the collar and this was the least obtrusive fabric I could find.  I'm hell-bent to use what I have these days!



The pattern calls for inseam pockets but I thought they would be too bulky so I made ones that are sewn on, single layer.  The facing is the same fabric I used to face the collar.

I left most of the edges raw and used a cover stitch at the edge to finish it a bit.




The back had a place where the painting was a bit sparse so I used another piece of the canvas and patched it on the hem.




I'm particularly fond of this side.  Wish I could see it more when I'm wearing it.



A little close up.


And another close up.


Thank you, Miles!  I'm going to wear this to the fashionART Santa Cruz fashion show on Sept. 20th here in Santa Cruz.