Another Sewing Project

Last month my pals Cheryl, Pat, and Marsha trekked with me to Brenna's lovely home a little ways north of me for a fabulous afternoon of learning what Brenna knew about Shibori dying. It involves folding, twisting, tying, sewing, and clipping fabric in various ways. Brenna didn't have the traditionally used indigo, but we dyed lots of fabric with good old Rit dye. What to do with all that beautifully colored cloth......

I decided to make an apron. It just seemed like the best use of the fabric even though a) I seldom actually remember to put on an apron and b) if the project turned out well, I doubted I'd want to dirty said apron. But I proceded anyway.

It all got solidified when I was watching a PBS station and saw a quilting technique that looked super easy. The teacher was none other than Donna Dewberry, who rose to fame and fortune with her techniques for painting with acrylics. I had no idea she also quilted. I also have no idea if her method is the usual way to crazy quilt or something of her own design. All I can tell you is that the only skills involved are the ability to fold a piece of fabric in half and sew in a (relatively) straight line. If you're curious, I suggest a Google search, as seeing Donna demonstrate is much better than me trying to explain it.

The skirt of the apron is a little shorter than I would have liked, but I ran out of fabric. the binding, the piece that goes around the neck, and the apron ties were sewn from some batik fabric I already had, but everything on the skirt and the flower embellishment on the top was done with the Shibori dyed fabric. Thanks, Brenna!

Other details: The top is plain lightweight canvas (or maybe it's called duck cloth??), which I colored with fluid acrylics and then used a Jessica Sporn stencil (from Stencil Girl) for a tone on tone look. I printed "art saves lives" with my favorite alphabet stamp set (a VERY old discontinued Tim Holtz set, by Junkitz), using permanent ink.

I recently discovered that my good old (and cheap) sewing machine came with a free motion foot and a plastic thingamabob to cover the feed dogs. Hence, my free motion stitching on the skirt. And by free, I mean random and haphazard and not following any sort of pattern.

I didn't use any pattern for the apron; I just looked at the aprons I own and more or less followed the shape of each piece. It took me a couple of days, was a lot of fun, but would I do it again? Probably not. But I sure might incorporate some of the skills involved in making journal covers, pillows, a tote bag.....who knows what else. 

Keys 4 Art 2014, Part III (DJ Pettitt is in the house!)

Ever since I discovered the wonderful world of art journaling, book binding, and mixed media, I have wanted to take a class with DJ Pettitt. I'd look at her glorious creations online and drool. Last year that dream came true in the form of a four day workshop DJ gave at Donna Downey's studio in North Carolina. I met Elena and Jacquie there, and we had such a great time, learned so much, and enjoyed DJ, both as an artist/teacher and human being. So much so, we wanted the rest of our art sisters to have the same experience. If you follow DJ (and if you don't, you should!), you know she is a passionate and talented photographer, especially of birds, and the lure of being able to get some shots of Florida wildlife was too much for her to resist. So, DJ Pettitt is in the house! We spent the next two days with DJ, and they were wonderful! And after our workshop was over, and we went on to other art projects, DJ spent her days out and about, going to bird sanctuaries and getting those photos she wanted. Check out DJ's blog (link highlighted above) to see what she saw.

DJ brought lots of her journals and some tote bags to inspire us.

DJ is a generous, patient teacher, and she spent as much time as was necessary with each of us.

Our books consisted of two signatures, with the pages connected by fabric "hinges." In this photo, DJ is watching as a template is used to mark the holes for binding. DJ has an amazing technique for book binding that is not only beautiful to look at, and results in a very sturdy book, but is easy to do. 

We created covers, entirely out of fabric, embellished them, and then did the same for the inside covers. We also did a wrap which went around our two signatures. The hinges I mentioned were temporarily held in place with a glue stick, then sewn in place on our machines. (Helpful tip from DJ: Use Elmer's Extra Strength glue stick. It will NOT gum up your machine needle.) Some machine stitching was also added, if we wanted, to the journal pages themselves. The following photos are all of my book. Not my usual color scheme, but these are the colors I was drawn to for this project. Considering our tropical setting, fitting, I think.

Here are some of the books my friends made.

Using DJ's binding technique, the buttons on the spine are not merely decorative; they help hold the whole thing together. Look at this beautiful lineup:

If you ever get the chance to take a class with DJ, run, don't walk, to sign up. And remember, you will only add 5 pounds to your luggage if you bring along a Janome mini sewing machine. Just trying to help. 

This And That

In between classes I've managed to do a few artsy things on my own.  Without further ado, here are some of them:

Michele of Little Bird Creations hosts ATC swaps, and I've enjoyed participating in them.  The current one has a circus theme, and did I ever have fun with that!

I started with this image.

 

And a sheet of circus acrobat images I found on the internet.  A lot of coloring and fussy cutting later.....

 

 

 

Doing multiples for a swap can be boring, so I like to keep to the same design but change things up enough to keep my interest.....in this case, coloring each clown individually and differently, and using different acrobat images.

 

Over at the Everything Wendy Vecchi group, the monthly challenge is to use Wendy's embossing paste, but mix it with something else.  Since I belong to a birthday card club that sends 4x4 cards, I did my challenge piece in that format.

 

 

 

 

 



 

I mixed gold embossing paste with some green paint for the flowers (one of Wendy's stencils).  It didn't do much to change the paste, so I went a bit bolder on the swirls and dots (a Crafter's Workshop stencil) and star (a Tim Holtz stencil).  For those I mixed white embossing paste with a little Silks acrylic glaze in pomegranate.  The Wendy stamp I used is the small weed from her Botanical Art set.

 

 

 

I saw some absolutely gorgeous roll up brush holders at that Jane LaFazio watercolor class I wrote about recently.  They were made of fabric printed with Jane's gorgeous designs, and sewn together by a professional.  Like I said (twice), gorgeous.  I didn't buy one, because what I really wanted to do was see if I could make one myself.  Also, Jane's were sized for the water brushes she uses, and I wanted one large enough to accomodate some of my taller brushes as well.

 

I stamped some plain fabric with my own carved stamps, using archival inks (mainly the new colors under Wendy's name), because they are permanent.  I wouldn't want a still wet brush to muck up the stamping. 

 

 

 The outside:

 

 

The inside:

 

 

 

Rolled up, ready for travel:

 

 

 

I'm not saying mine is anywhere as beautiful as Jane's, but it is mine, and that makes me proud. I was happy enough to make another, this one for Teri's birthday.

 

 

 

Last of all, I recently received my friend Jen's field journal.  She calls it the Sisterhood of the Traveling Beaches, and everyone is to do a beach themed spread.  I've spent many a vacation in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and that's what I recall here:

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed my little potpourri of projects.

















DJ Pettit Workshop, The Final Post (I Promise!)

While I can say my book is finished, I know there's lots more I want to add.  I have tons of bird stamps, including some great crows from Quietfire Designs that are perfect for this project.  But the book is bound, and I love it just the way it is.  Here are my pages......all 30+ of them!

BTW, I always forget to mention this, but if you click on a picture you'll get a closer look.  Which sometimes means a fuzzier look, but hey, I never claimed to be a photographer.

This is my cover, and you can see a bit of the spine.  DJ taught us the best, easiest binding technique that involves sewing that I've ever done.  The buttons are not merely decorative; they are what hold the thread in place.

 

 

This is my book opened so you can see both front and back covers and the spine.  

 

Some pages are all paper, but some are all fabric and lace:

 

 

And some are a combination of paper and fabric (and some washi tape and a few feathers never hurt anyone).

 

I love how the stitches from the previous page just add some texture to the next one.  On the right, one of many smaller bird images I've already added to the book.

Another image, more washi tape and one of Donna's stamps.

 

 

Room on these pages for something.  I was thinking of adding quotes and poems and song lyrics relating to birds and/or flight to some pages.

Check out the great texture on the left hand page.  This was one of many pages that was gessoed with super heavy gesso.  I didn't even know such a thing existed.  Now on my must-buy list.

 

I found this bird photo in a tourist publication at the hotel.

 

Lots of room for journaling, or just more stuff!

 

 

I took one of Elena's leftover muslin strips to incorporate into my book.  One of Jacquie's is somewhere too.  Love having a bit of my friends' work as part of my own. When you go to a class with friends do that.  Every time you look at your work you'll think of them and the good times.

 

I got that little photo of the two pigeons from DJ and painted it just as we did the crow for the cover.  Aren't they sweet?

 

 

The wonderful thing about picking (and sticking to) a color palette is you don't have to do too much fussing about the order of your pages.  Every single page works well next to any other page.

Just so you know, the circles which appear throughout my book were stamped with the rims of a paper cup and a glue stick cover.

 

 

When the book was bound I added some charms and do-dads to the bottom.  That little turquoise bird and nest was made by my friend Val.  I've had it for years and have been saving it for just the right project.  Talk about perfect! 

 

 

The beaded trim on the back cover was acquired recently at yet another great weekend workshop with Lynne Perrella and Michelle Ward.  We had a share table, and I found it there.  It didn't make its way into my project that weekend, but I knew I'd use it eventually.  More perfection!  So, thanks to the anonymous artist who left it there for me to find.

 

 

That's it!  I'm looking forward to a return visit to Donna Downey's fabulous studio.  I don't know if I'll ever be in the same space with DJ Pettit again, but I can hope.  DJ did say she'd come back, and if she does, I'll be right there too.

 

If you enjoyed this art adventure, and want to see even more photos, go to Donna's blog on her site (link above).  And also, don't forget Andrea Walford's blog.