Bias Cut Caftan

Bias Cut Caftan, pole wrapped, devore silk, shibori dyed purple and copper.  One size fits many.  Best if 5'7" tall at least.  Very dramatic and playful.  Find it at Etsy 

Snow On The Way

Anticipating Spring

While these purple flowers are from the end of last summer, 

their spring like color is fuel for inspiration.

  

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Should I be surprised colors are such a large part of my process?  As I look back at another body of work, my memoir, The Garden Girls Letters and Journal, I rediscover that even my writing was laced with color.

Lavender in purple braids is empty handed, of course; she’s the philosopher.

 I carry him downstairs, his head resting on my shoulder, and fall into my old purple velvet overstuffed chair. With the towel cradling him I reach behind the chair for a book from the bookshelf and pull out "The Great Me and The Little Me." 

The porch is blue, the pansies are blue purple and the fuchsia is red purple. I had visions that we would sit on this porch and converse. They would be slow casual conversations somewhat meaningless, perhaps, because we would be relaxing. 

We would not be driven towards some kind of completion

Charmeuse and Velvet

Caftan and Coat

More experiments.  Will I ever get there?  The pole wrapped shibori dyed charmeuse in shades of purple and yellow (which became green when I added the black) started out as a 60" square which I then cut on the bias to create this caftan.  I read somewhere that working on the bias is like working with live fabric.  No kidding.  Every time I moved it the shape changed.  The velvet coat was made from three yards of shibori dyed yardage dyed in shades of yellow (which became copper, rust and olive when I added black.)  I love color theory!  The experiment here was whether or not to dye one long piece or three smaller pieces precut to fit the back and sides.  Just like writing.   Constant rewrites says mentor +Connie May Fowler  Can't wait for the Kentucky Craft Market, Mar 2-3 in Lexington at the Convention Center.

Power of Rotation

Power of Rotation

What you can do with a painting 

that you can't do with a wearable 

is rotate it if it's not working.  

What you can do with a wearable 

that you can't do with a painting 

is turn it inside out and wear it.

 What I'm doing with my paintings is rotating techniques.

After shibori dyeing pole wrapped felted alpaca and merino onto silk with the FeltLOOM

I'm taking remnants to another level by responding to the shibori line with metalic acrylic.

From +Danielle Wittler I'm learning the power of Irregular Design.

Today I turn my felted fabric inside out to make a vest with the silk side showing. 

 

And Then Purple

What to do with leftovers?  I felted merino wool and silk using the FeltLOOM, then shibori dyed it in three shades of purple. These were remnants of a larger piece which became a vest. Wanting no waste, I overlapped the long strips and felted them again on the FeltLOOM. Could be worn as is as a scarf or tie, or cut into pieces for your own project. Natural, irregular edges are great for felting. The widest is 5.5”, the narrowest is 2”    
Find it on Etsy