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BUILT BY WENDY + ECHINO DRESS

Published

Karyn

on August 17, 2010

in stitchery and the workroom

. 17 Comments

This Built by Wendy dress pattern (Simplicity 3825) was lent to me ages ago by Angelune. I had been wanting to make it with the little sleeve ties and was waiting to find the perfect fabric for it. A few weeks ago Karin dropped by the shop with the pattern and bought this green echino fabric for it. I realized I had both that pattern and the green echino fabric at home already. I decided to be a bit of a copy cat. Thanks for the inspiration, Karin!

This echino print is so wonderful, the pattern has such a large repeat which is oriented along the crosswise grain, rather than the usual straight grain. Cutting the pattern along the the crosswise grain means that you usually need a bit less fabric for clothing. Though the print comes in a couple other colours, I went for the bright green to match my green Repetto shoes. I’ve seen this fabric made up into an Aline skirt by Kathleen and it’s awesome.

Since the echino fabric is a heavier cotton/linen blend, I went with doing a simple short sleeve rather than those cute ties. The stiff drape just wasn’t right for it. It’s been a while since I’ve made a dress with an invisible zipper. All my Japanese Dress Book frocks slip right over my head! Thankfully, I actually enjoy putting zippers in. Maybe that’s weird, but it’s so satisfying.

I had cut out the neck yoke, but when I sewed it on, I felt a bit claustrophobic in the dress. I decided to do bias trim around the gathered neckline instead. I’m much happier with it.

For my pockets, I used the new techniques that I learned in the Pocket Clinic class. I chose the green Filigree fabric by Anna Maria Horner which matches perfectly.

If anything, this dress makes me feel bright and cheery. Perfect for summer days, but perhaps even better when fall starts to creep in.

THE QUILTS OF GEE’S BEND

Published

Karyn

on August 13, 2010

in patchwork, scraps and traveling

. 7 Comments

Back in 2002, I got to see The Quilts of Gee’s Bend exhibit at the Whitney Museum in New York. Those historical quilts made quite a stir at the time. I remember walking through the exhibit marveling at the colour, the re-purposed fabrics and perfect simplicity of the composition. Little did I know that this show would help push me towards the creation of the workroom several years later.

A few days ago, I traveled down to London, Ontario to see an exhibit of more contemporary quilts from Gee’s Bend and to participate in a workshop with some of the women of Gee’s Bend. Jacqueline of Soak organized a small group of ladies for this road trip, all I had to do was get up at the crack of dawn.

We spent the morning walking through the show. Though the exhibit seemed small at first glance, it is huge on substance. These quilts were all made within the last four years by various women from the Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective and they are wonderful. I was so incredibly inspired by many of the pieces in the show.

After lunch at a local market, we joined a workshop led by four women from Gee’s Bend. Using scrap clothing, some solids and a couple prints, they led us through their techniques to create a couple blocks sewn by hand. The true highlight of the day was spending time with these lovely ladies from Alabama. Their sweet, enthusiastic and warm dispositions had us grinning and laughing, while we tried to soak up their teachings and their southern twang. The day ended with hugs and a class photo. Perfect.

I posted all my photos from the day here.

HANDY APRON

Published

Karyn

on August 6, 2010

in gardening, natural dyeing, stitchery and the workroom

. 13 Comments

I designed the Handy Apron shortly after opening the workroom. At the time, I was the only one working in the shop and often found myself trying to find my one tape measure or remember where my pair of scissors was. I decided to take a crack at creating my own utility apron that could double as a gardening apron or just a generally handy apron with pockets and loops.

I’ve made a few of these and love wearing them. All the little pockets are great to stash all kinds of things you might want to have quick access to. When I saw this French botanical fabric (the writing is in French, but the fabric is Japanese), I knew I needed to make myself a gardening apron. I used contrasting fabrics for the first time, choosing a plain linen for the ties and for the tool loops. When the apron was finished, I thought it would be fun to add some texture to the natural linen. During the India Flint workshop, India talked about a technique she would often do called hapa-zome. Essentially, you hammer or smash plant material (leaves or flowers) into fabric to create an imprint. I really wanted to try this simple technique out. I snipped some leaves from the garden and set about smashing them into the linen ties. Some things worked better than others, but I was amazed at the clarity of the images this technique left behind. When reading up on other people’s experiences with hapa-zome on the internet, I found that most people would layer the plant material in between two pieces of fabric before smashing. I used a metal hammer and carefully tapped directly onto the leaves that lay on my fabric, which was laid out on top of a piece of template plastic on top of patio stones. This is an incredibly satisfying process, as you can imagine.

To set the imprints, I just used my iron to steam the fabric. I’ve also read about using salt water to set the prints. To test the fastness, I threw the apron in the washer and dryer. There was a bit fading. I think it was mostly all the smashed plant material being washed away, but I quite like the faded look. This method is not super permanent, but apparently it can be extended by pre-mordanting the fabric and also by waiting as long as possible before washing it.

One note. I used organic cotton canvas as a sew-in interfacing inside the apron. This is something I’ve been using as a substitute for interfacing in my bags and other projects. I didn’t pre-wash the canvas before using it and it shrunk a fair amount when I washed the apron. I ended up taking part of the apron apart to adjust for the shrinkage. I hadn’t run into this problem before, since I don’t usually wash my bags. I will pre-wash the cotton canvas going forward, just in case.

LIVERPOOL SHIRTDRESS

Published

Karyn

on August 2, 2010

in stitchery and the workroom

. 15 Comments

It’s taken me a while to tell you about this project. I made Amy Butler’s Liverpool shirtdress back in June, but needed to make some further adjustments on it and I ended up starting another project instead. You know how it is.

The fabric I chose is from B&J in New York and is a lovely cotton shirting fabric. The buttons I found in my collection from my New York days. They are absolutely perfect with this fabric! Since I worked in the garment district, I would often wander through the fabric and trim shops after work purchasing random bits and bobs. It’s so satisfying when those odd purchases make perfect sense nine year later.

I made a couple adjustments to the pattern right from the start. I adjusted the shape of the collar and made it more square. Amy’s collar was a bit too flared out for me. I also made the dress less a-lined and added side seam pockets. The pattern calls for ties that are sewn into the side seam and can be tied either in the front or the back of the dress. I decided to create the tie as a separate piece. I also made it extra long, so that it wraps around twice and gives me options with the type of knot or bow I might want to do.

Because I make so many Japanese dress book patterns these days, I sometimes forget to read the instructions when I’m doing an English pattern! I didn’t realize until I was almost done the dress that I had cut the back piece of the dress as one panel instead of two pieces. Oops! This meant that I had an extra inch in the body of the dress which actually made a big difference in the fit. I went back, removed the collar, cut the back in half and put in the french seam that was meant to be there. Depending on your print choice for this pattern you may want to omit doing the french seam and opt for cutting out the back as one piece. To do this you simply need to remove half an inch (the seam allowance) from the centre back line of the pattern piece. For plaids or ginghams or stripes, this would allow the print to flow uninterrupted across the back.

I got stuck when I was doing the cuffs. I just couldn’t seem to figure out her instructions no matter how many times I read them. I finally googled this problem and discovered several people posting about having this same issue. If you ever get stuck on a pattern, I recommend doing a search on the internet. You’ll probably discover an answer to your question. Amy has posted an addendum to the Liverpool pattern here that elaborates on how to do the cuff.

Another note on the sleeves. They are long. I did the 3/4 length sleeve and they come very close to my wrists. It would be wise to measure your arms versus the sleeve pieces to figure out the right length for you. I plan on wearing the sleeves rolled up, so I didn’t fix this.

This is also the pattern we did in our Shirtdress Day Camp. We had a really fun week, sewing, chatting and working together. Everyone’s Liverpool turned out fantastic! Here’s our class photo. We have one more day camp coming up this summer and I’m looking forward to being a student this time and spending the entire week sewing and quilting.

FEMININE WARDROBE

Published

Karyn

on August 1, 2010

in japanese dress/craft

. 9 Comments

Feminine Wardrobe
ISBN 9784579112906

I have to thank Kimberly for first showing me this book. It’s hard to keep up with them all, so I love when you give me suggestions and show me the books you’re buying. As soon as I flipped through her copy, I knew I had to order it. It’s filled with super cute dresses and tops that seemed different from all the other Japanese dress books I’ve got already. I love the huge bows that they show with several of the pieces. I’ll definitely be making one of those.

I hope you’re having a great long weekend. I’m going to try to catch up on blogging some of my recent projects. I seem to have a bunch that I haven’t told you about yet!

CHOOSING AMISH BARS

Published

Karyn

on July 28, 2010

in colour, patchwork, stitchery and the workroom

. 16 Comments

I’ve been thinking about my fabric choices for the upcoming Amish Bars quilt camp. It should be easier to pick, since I really only need two fabric choices, but I can’t decide. I thought it would be fun to mock up some options and see what this quilt could look like. These were done rather crudely in Photoshop, but it helps to get a visual. Sometimes with quilts it’s hard to imagine how all those fabrics will look together. I still haven’t quite settled on a combination, but luckily I have a couple more weeks to play around with it and get it just right. I love the graphic simplicity of this design so much.

Fabric selections : 1. Karyn (Blue Geo Print with Cream Text) 2. Jerisse (Black Dressmaker’s Form with Mauve Bramble & Vintage Lady Illustrations) 3. Rosalyn (Nectarine Mini Check with French General Plaid) 4. Debbie (Ash Grey Fusions with Aqua French General)

COLOURFUL FABRIC DRESS BOOK : T-SHIRT

Published

Karyn

on July 23, 2010

in japanese dress/craft, natural dyeing and stitchery

. 6 Comments

After the India Flint workshop, I was inspired to try doing a simple tie dye t-shirt. I used the super simple pattern from the nani IRO book, “Colourful Fabric Dress Book“. We have some lovely white organic cotton jersey at the workroom that was perfect for this project. I cut out the pieces (there are only 2!) for this project and wrapped some rubber bands around the sleeve area and the hem. I decided to forgo mordanting the fabric in order to get a softer result. The next time I dye this cotton jersey, I’ll try using milk as my mordant. (Awesome tip from India Flint!) I used a very exhausted logwood dye bath we’ve had at the shop for almost a year. Every time we do a Natural Dyeing class, I always get Julie to leave behind the logwood since I’m so in love with grey.

I absolutely love the soft dove grey colour of the jersey. I’m also really delighted with my tie dye experiment. I am definitely going to do more. I actually also tie dyed some other pieces of jersey at the same time to make a couple pairs of underwear.

The sewing for this project was merely four seams sewn on up on the serger. It couldn’t be any easier. I didn’t even do anything to finish the edges on the neckline, sleeves or hem. I thought of possibly doing some satin bias trim, but then I wanted to wear it right away. Maybe another day or perhaps I’ll save that for another project.

INDIA FLINT WORKSHOP

Published

Karyn

on July 19, 2010

in colour, gardening, local and natural dyeing

. 13 Comments

A couple weeks ago, I had the honour of joining a week long workshop at the Contemporary Textile Studio Co-op with Australian textile artist, India Flint. India is world renowned for the magic she has created with natural dyes and her unique approach to imparting colour and foliage prints to textiles and paper.

Since taking our natural dyeing class last year, I’ve been wanting to do more, (I think about it all the time!) but somehow haven’t gotten around to it. Silly how that happens. The opportunity to spend a whole week playing with plants and fabric with India at the helm was just perfect.

We spent our days learning India’s gentle ways of collecting nature materials from florist or grocer garbage (with permission), going on windfall walks (collecting only what has fallen on the ground and not harvesting), learning about local weeds (plants that are in excess for picking) and looking in our own backyards. Even her mordants are made of milk (soy or cow), found scrap metals, pickle juice and aluminum foil from chocolate bars rather than hard and caustic metals.

India’s approach to dyeing was very freeing. We didn’t use a scale, a thermometer or a ‘recipe’ of any sort. We were encouraged to work on small samples (rather than dyeing 3 metres at once), mostly using silk and wool (protein fibres which take colour much more vibrantly). We lay our plant material directly on the fabric and then wrapped or folded it into tight bundles with elastic and string. We had several dye pots on the go, one with onion skins, one with iron scraps, one with who-knows-what. We would sometimes leave the bundles overnight and arrive in the morning to unwrap our treasures. The imprints we each got were truly remarkable. What a beautiful way to mark fabric.

We used the same process to dye paper that we had hand stitched to create a little book. Each student also spent the week deconstructing a men’s shirt to make a special work apron, which we also dyed and hand stitched our samples to. At the end of the week, we took a group photo wearing our aprons. So cute!

On the last day we gathered up all our favourite samples and took some time to admire each other’s work. It was amazing to see how much of our personalities was present in our dyeing samples. Such diverse results from working with mostly the same materials.

I’ve been reflecting on the experience ever since with much wonder. Thank you, India!

I took tons of photos during the week and I’ve posted them all on flickr here.

Learn more about India Flint : site : blog

365 : JUNE

Published

Karyn

on July 12, 2010

in 365

. 3 Comments

365 : 152 | 365 : 153 | 365 : 154 | 365 : 155 | 365 : 156 | 365 : 157 | 365 : 158 | 365 : 159 | 365 : 160 | 365 : 161 | 365 : 162 | 365 : 163 | 365 : 164 | 365 : 165 | 365 : 166 | 365 : 167 | 365 : 168 | 365 : 169 | 365 : 170 | 365 : 171 | 365 : 172 | 365 : 173 | 365 : 174 | 365 : 175 | 365 : 176 | 365 : 177 | 365 : 178 | 365 : 179 | 365 : 180 | 365 : 181

I’m officially past the half way mark of this 365 project! I’ve been feeling like I needed to create a new challenge for myself with this project, so I’ve just ordered a new lens for my camera. It’s a Nikon 35mm f1.8. It’s my first prime lens and I can’t wait to get it this week! I’m always taking close up, detailed, macro-type shots. This should get me to step away from my subjects and get a new perspective. Also, maybe it will help me with taking more portraits!

PATCHWORK PICNIC BLANKET

Published

Karyn

on July 9, 2010

in patchwork and the workroom

. 8 Comments

For one person out there, this post will present a little surprise. I made this patchwork picnic blanket as a gift for my friend Marie Beath. Surprise!! MB loves to picnic and is most deserving of a special blanket for which to do this on. Also, perhaps it would be good for outdoor re-readings of Harry Potter or Twilight novels?

The inspiration for the colours of this blanket came from some amazing ‘ribbon’/shoestring from Mokuba with all lovely shades of purple and grey. In fact, I bought three different colour ways of this awesome stuff and plan to make two more picnic blankets for two other girlfriends. This is a seriously fun gift to make.

The pattern was designed by Reva and features handy built-in pockets, along the ties to roll it all up for transport. I used a sturdy coloured canvas for the backing. In the class, we finish the blanket with embroidery floss ties to hold the two layers together. I opted to go the extra mile and ‘quilted’ on either side of all of the seams. (with variegated thread, of course!)

Lastly, my newly standard label. A tiny bit of patchwork attached to a hand embroidered label. I think I’ve actually turned making the label into a fun activity!

MB – let’s get together soon for a picnic and I’ll bring your blanket!