Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Different stitching

On reflection, this year has been a year of teaching and of commissions. Both of which are grand; but both tend to see me working on work differently to the way I work on things when I am just creating and making from my heart and my head and my hands.

In the past few weeks I have carved out three hours a week just for myself. I have been attending 'sewing' which is all I can say; a group of women gather in a shed/studio and make clothes under the guidance of the amazing Narelle.

People alter trousers; modify and adjust existing clothes; follow patterns and make shirts; draft patterns off existing clothes and then sew new versions; and also draft patterns from an image. Amazing stuff.

I am sewing from patterns, drafting from existing clothes and modifying and altering.

Here is the first stage of my latest project. I am sewing a tunic style dress from a Japanese pattern book and have decided to add a few contrasts and a bit of hand sewing.

As I wandered around I thought I wanted to add some detail to the pockets and this is how they are looking.

The dress is the beautiful purple linen, and I like that one  pocket has a vertical detail and one pocket has a horizontal detail.


Before stitching.





Sewn onto the front of the dress - sadly the purple is not a good colour in the photo; it is a beautiful violet colour really.



I bought this nice oatmeal coloured linen top but found it was a bit short. So I decided to add a bit of length front and back in a contrasting colour. And at Narelles' suggestion, I added a little something to the pocket to bring the whole lot together so to speak.




And my first attempt ever at drafting a pattern from existing clothes. I loved my pair of loose, linen pants with a stretch band waistband and together Narelle and I worked out how to re-create them. So happy!

The bottom photo shows the colour best; the top photo shows the trousers best. Laugh.



So at the moment, this feels like some of the most creative work I am doing, and I am enjoying it oh so much.

8 comments:

  1. making your own clothing is a very satisfying thing. the stitching on the pockets remind me of keith smith's caterpillar bindings.

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    1. Oh V you are so right - it is incredibly satisfying...and I hadn't even noticed the caterpillar-ness of the stitching, but everybody else has!

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  2. there is such comfort in stitching cloth, like braille for the soul, a very different form of exploration to drawing or painting or stitching a text block into a book, the haptic sensibility becomes fully engaged

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    1. So true so true Mo - sitting stitching is so good. You feel intimately involved with it in so many ways - slow and gentle creation. Go well.

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  3. This whole post resonates with me and it is wonderful to hear someone speak the thoughts that have been swirling around in my head half formed. Thank you for a wonderful year of thoughts and beautiful work shared.

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    1. Thanks yo uBrenda - it is good to connect across the inter web! Go well wiht your ponderings...

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  4. Sometimes it's good to do something completely different. I can still see your markmaking in the details though.

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    1. Thanks Jac - it has been the kick start that I have felt I needed to stimulate creativity again; and it is so much fun! I must admit I keep thinking about how to make simple and plain clothes have a little bi too magic too...go well.

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I appreciate your thoughts and comments; thanks for taking the time.