The Bunkhouse is what we call the little cottage next to our home. I use it for my workspace and it also serves as our guest quarters. It's a sweet little 500 Sq. Ft. beach cottage, single wall construction so in the summer it's baking in there.
But I have managed to slide in a few sewing days so far this summer.
A few of my sewing pals and I went up to San Francisco a couple of weeks ago to catch High Style at The Legion of Honor. The show has ended now, I hope you got a chance to see it. Very instructive and interesting. A curator's take on the history of certain designers, eras and fashions.
After seeing the show we gathered in the museum's restaurant and had a lovely lunch. And then, of course, we went shopping for fabric. Satin Moon was closed, darn it. Such a jewel or a fabric shop owned by two very discerning sisters (who happened to know my husband in high school!). So we moseyed on over to Fabrix on the same street.
I think all of us got something. I was desperate, I wanted a lightweight shirting for another of Marcy Tilton's Vogue 9089 long shirt (out of print it seems, what a shame!) The first one I made is wonderful but the fabric is very heavy, even though it's cotton. Our California coastal weather is a bit warm this year and I needed something breezier.
So, I convinced myself this fabric was a madras....yeah, it was a stretch. And I don't usually wear such bright plaids. Plus I didn't really know how to match plaids. So my pal, Jenny, the uber sewing queen came over and gave me a lesson. The front turned out pretty well but the back was more difficult with the offset bias.
I inserted another side pocket, this one is only one layer of fabric sewn onto the front panels.
As I mentioned, the back is just so-so, this pattern really shouldn't have been attempted with a plaid, I think....or we just couldn't figure out the best way to lay it out. I can live with it. And I love the shirt since it's perfect for our new and improved Capitola weather!
More kantha jewelry. These are the styrofoam cubes I cut and cover with little pieces of kantha. I strung them with elastic cord and inserted little lava beads. I wore it yesterday and it feels good.
This kind of hand stitching is so fun. I'm basically hand stitching OVER old hand stitching.
My jewelry making group that I attend about once a month is so much fun. We sit around a table in a beautiful art studio, surrounded by beautiful works of art and the most amazing cache of tools you could ever ask for.
I love these times because it's a chance for me to let myself just play and make things randomly, exploring different mediums and ideas. It may never go anywhere but that's not the point of the process.
Here you see another old bicycle inner tube made into a necklace. I used the part where you blow it up plus several trinkets off of a pair of old earrings I don't wear anymore.
Here's the closure. I need to take a class on findings, connections and closures for soft jewelry. I'm working on that!
And here is a project I've been working on for a year and a half...and I'm not sure it's getting any better! It's Lynn Mizono's classic tunic again. I really love this pattern. I used an old silk and linen pants/shell outfit I wasn't wearing anymore plus other random fabrics. The buttons are vintage, carved and mismatched mother-of-pearl.
It was not quite right at first, it sat in my closet for a year. I didn't like the pieces of fabric I'd sewn on the front so I took most of them off. Then I decided to silk screen it with Marcy's silk screens. I might just have gone overboard-ya think? I'm trying to figure out what to do with it now. Maybe overdue it with grey?
I love the drape.
I also used discharge in the circle silk screen on the back and it turned almost the same color as the front pieces...just lucky.
My wonderful friend, Annie, came over and I asked her how I could tone it down a bit. She suggested free motion stitching on the aqua circles to mute them a bit. I like it, not sure it helped but...
This stitching was done after the other photos so I'm sorry you can't see that change on the whole garment. It helped some.
Any and all suggestions welcome.
