Little Pieces of Me

Well maybe in life looks can get you a long way. But looks alone aren't going to get these bracelets very far... In summer I love to wear bracelets. A lot of bracelets. I'd wear them all the time actually, but they are a problem as they clatter against the desk or the surface of my MacBook Pro while I'm teaching. So I end up taking them all off in class and then I leave them all over the place and the students (kindly) chase me around the lab to give them back or leave them in a little pile by my notes. Instead of a lot of individual bracelets, I decided to make some multi-strand bracelets. Many strings, one easy (and this is a key word) on/off step. Oh sure, they look great.   See the subtle colours in the coordinated palettes. Wonder at the variety of shapes and sizes and the interplay of iridescent, facetted and matt finishes. Appreciate the beauty of the fit and the professional application of findings.  Marvel that the beads where selected from shops in LA...

Oh wow. I haven't posted anything here for about 8 weeks! Not that I haven't been making . And not that I haven't been thinking about posting ... the pictures were taken. But somehow it just didn't get done. Let's just blame summer time. So expect a little flurry of posts over the next while as I get caught up. Mostly I've been making things with beads this summer. I like to be outside as much as I can vs. sitting at a sewing machine. And Mark and I are often on the road, heading out for a day or two at some fishing hole or a weekend away with friends, so beads are the most portable solution to the need to be making something all the time. I can grab a few tools and some beads from the stash, pack them in my handy little travel kit, toss it in the back of the car and head out. Here's the thing about my extensive bead stash - sometimes (OK a lot of the time) I forget what is in there. So going looking for something often results in finding something el...

The other day I was rummaging in a box for something else and found a length of 12" white flapper fringe, some green and blue ombre dyed fringe and a 9 inch long incomplete tassel that I had completely forgotten about. I seem to remember buying the fringe at Designer Fabric Outlet in Toronto and making the green tassel sometime in the  last  century. I love tassels. OK, you can get on with all the jokes that come to mind. I'll wait. Better now? Good. As I was saying, I love tassels. I love their silky strings and the way they move. I have used them as decorations on things as diverse as gifts and window blinds and I routinely use them as pendants for necklaces. I like them hanging from door handles and cupboard knobs. If I had drapes with tie backs, I'd probably use them there too. I have a shoe box full of small ones, just waiting for their call to duty. And I like making tassels. Especially big luxurious ones. You can make these from any kind or yarn or...

The past weeks of sewing have made a nice little dent in the fabric stash and swelled the contents of my closet. This week I decided it was time to have a go at the bead stash. I'm heading to Sedona for a holiday soon and Arizona is on my mind. Turquoise, red and silver always says South West to me. As you can see, I have a healthy stock of appropriate stones to pick from. And this picture was taken  post- necklace. The necklace is actually a set of two that can be worn together. The two outside strands are joined together at about collar bone level. The inside strand is a separate piece that can be worn alone. I guess it could even be turned into a wrap bracelet if needed. Bead Specs:  The antique looking 'silver' bird - and I do use that term loosely - is part of a pair of earrings that I bought on sale at Forever XX1.  The sterling silver pendant with red and turquoise stones was an ebay steal for just a couple of dollars last summe...

It must be the official (not to say in any way actual ) first day of Spring last week that made me have a bit of a tidy up of my closet. That or I was avoiding doing something else, which is when I usually find myself getting all organized. For example, at peak marking times I get the overwhelming urge to do things like alphabetize my sock drawer. All I did was re-group everything in the closet by length and then by colour which makes it much faster to find something to wear in the morning. (Really Gil? How exactly do you sort an all black winter wardrobe by colour?) As usual I found some items I hadn't worn for a while. Some were nice surprises, some were headed for the charity bag, others I still had hope for. One of these last items was this (cough) black H&M dress. When I really stopped to think about it, I realized I have only worn this dress once - about 4 years ago in LA. I'd needed something that could pass as a LBD for an alumni event, but seeing as I...

I had decided that my next undertaking is to (finally) draft the perfect sleeveless tunic pattern for myself. You know, something that I could always go to when I had found a nice bit of linen, or to which I could easily add kimono sleeves, big pockets or inset side panels or that could turn into a dress if needed. It's something I've been meaning to do for ages, but never really got around to. For this, I knew I'd likely need to do a couple of muslins just to get everything right, so I turned to my trusty fabric cabinet. Surely I would find something potentially 'disposable' there that I could use for this job. And that was as far as I got ... Sidebar:  Like many art and craft oriented people I have a tendency to collect things.  I know people (and you do too) who have problems with pack-rattiness. People who keep everything and have so much stuff they don't know what to do with it.  Luckily, I don't fall into that category.  My collections are pr...