Little Pieces of Me

I'd like to say that I've been busy with making lots of new things for the past week or so, but it wouldn't be completely true. I've been playing hooky a bit, taking advantage of  any sunny autumn day that comes my way. It really is my favorite season, and I'm enjoying being able to be out in it this year. Part of what I love abut the fall is tossing on a great scarf with jeans and a sweater. And this last round of T Shirt scarves falls into that category. Having used the t Shirts as-is, dyeing and tie dyeing them, my last version has involved discharge dyeing - that is removing colour from the fabric via various methods. The simplest way to do this is with good old bleach. I'm fond of using straight bleach, especially on sturdy fabric like a quality T shirt or denim. If the fabric is more delicate, the bleach can be diluted with water. I like to paint it on with a brush. For small details I fill up a water pen with bleach. I've read of people using a...

Really, after all these years, I should have expected week six. A little panicky yesterday. You see, it's week six of my sabbatical. In the big picture of things I guess 6 weeks isn't much, but I can't help but feel that I have not been pushing myself hard enough creatively. It is too easy to get caught up in the everyday chores and routines, and put off the making. Somehow I used to manage to do most things and work full time, so there is no excuse really. I just know that washing clothes is much easier than designing clothes. This week six anxiety is exactly what I usually see in my students! Week six is a marker - just a week off of mid term - and the point at which the enormity of what they have gotten themselves into hits home. The adrenaline of starting the program has worn off, and the heavy load of the work to be done becomes clear. The break week helps them catch their breath and then the same thing happens again around week 10. I mustn't forget about this!...

After last week's T shirt scarf project, I was left with a bunch of non-loop tubes. And a few days later I received a big pile of men's thin white undershirts, the kind without side seams. There was no choice but to make more scarves. Hey look at me... I'm up cycling! First off, I dealt with the left overs. The trouble with those non-loop tubes is that they were too short to use for a double wrap, and too long (and not enough of them) for a satisfying single wrap scarf. So I needed to find a way to add length. The solution was to make a band to extend the length. This has worked out very well. The flat band is invisible once the scarf is double wrapped. It actually sits very comfortably at the back of the neck and reduces the bulk of the material when worn under a jacket or coat. The sample shown could certainly be sewn better… had a little trouble with my bobbin thread for some reason… but you can see the general approach. Then it was time to deal with some of those...