Oak Leaf
I've been embroidering a lot lately, so I suppose it's time for me to start posting some of these projects. This is an embroidered picture that I started last year when I collected some oak leaves on a trip to Starved Rock State Park. I traced the leaf and filled it in using a stem stitch in shades of brown, tan, cream, lavender and lilac. The background is a delicate quilting calico that I think might be vintage. I enjoy using calico prints for my embroidered projects instead of just plain white or cream. I have lots more little embroidered pictures that I'm going to start framing up in the hopes of selling them at the Renegade Craft Fair in September.
Other Cat
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Wardrobe Refashion
I Jilly Other Cat pledge that I shall abstain from the purchase of "new" manufactured items of clothing, for the period of six months. I pledge that i shall refashion, renovate, recycle preloved items for myself with my own hands in fabric, yarn or other medium for the term of my contract. I pledge that I will share the love and post a photo of my refashioned, renovoated, recylcled, crafted or created item of clothing on the Wardrobe Refashion blog, so that others may share the joy that thy thriftyness brings!
Octopoodle
I love costumes, and I love bowling, so for my 30th birthday I invited all my friends to a costume bowling party at the local lanes. The challenge was then to create a costume that 1) allowed the freedom of movement necessary for bowling, 2) kept my drinking hand free, and 3) looked good with bowling shoes. My solution: a bobby-soxer. Of course, I couldn't just make a boring poodle skirt. Instead, I invented the Octopoodle Skirt, the poodle skirt of the aughts.
I made a circle skirt from a navy blue linen-cotton blend (I am no longer afraid of curved waistbands). After hemming the bottom edge for what seemed like twenty miles, it was time to conquer the octopus. I sketched out the little guy on newsprint, then transferred the image to fusible webbing. I ironed it onto a brown and orange plaid, cut out the fabric, then carefully ironed the applique onto the skirt. I finished it up by satin stitching all the edges in brown thread.
I also made a crinoline, but that's a whole 'nother story. A story I hope to never repeat. My advice: buy your crinolines from the abandoned-prom-dress section of your local thrift store.
A Baby Book for Alana
Commissions are tricky - it's always a challenge to create something to meet the needs of the client, but that also stays true to who I am as an artist. A customer requested a baby book for an little girl named Alana, and she gave me a fat quarter of pink polka-dotted fabric to work with. This is the book that I created.
Click on the image to see more photos and to read about the techniques I used to make this book.
News from Swatchland
Here is a li'l swatch that I embroidered for my friend Lisa of Sifu Design Studio. If all goes well, this will be fully realized as a pair of sexy thigh-high stockings with embroidery up the back. Yum!
