swallow designs

2010-03-21T22:40:00.004-04:00

I'm getting really excited about my show! I've gotten a couple of listings so far, including Greenpointers, which is actually the blog I found out about the gallery opportunity at Kill Devil Hill, which lead to me having a show there.

I posted this postcard before, but realized having plain text in addition would be helpful, so here's the scoop:

Dirty Lines: Illustrations & Soft-Core Embroideries

The Art of Rebecca Levi

2-Day Pop-Up Gallery at

Kill Devil Hill

170 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

(take the G to Greenpoint Ave, it's just a couple of blocks away - easy!)

I'm hoping to meet more folks from the blogging and embroidery communities there!

All the best,

Badecca

Postcard for My Show

2010-03-09T20:52:00.004-05:00

I am so relieved to have the invite for my show done!

I hadn't used Photoshop for ages, and my version of it is ancient. But necessity is the mother of invention, and I ended up having fun putting this together.

Big Felt Flowers

2010-03-06T23:24:00.009-05:00

It's been a while since I have spent some time with one of my favorite craft blogs, the Purl Bee. I particularly enjoy following Molly's Sketchbook, as she specializes in patchwork, and also does a lot of embroidery, Sashiko, and other beautiful stitching projects.

I was quite pleased to see Molly's Felt Flower Pillows project - I love the combo of the cheerful, bold yellow blooms and the more sedate neutral colors. There are so many great felt project on the web, but mostly on a real micro level (eg: verybigjen's amazing pincushions) - I like how Molly's project uses unexpectedly generous pieces of felt.

Dirty Lines: Illustrations and Soft-Core Embroideries

2010-02-27T22:58:00.004-05:00

I'm having my first solo show in over 4 years - AND I'm showing my embroidery for the first time in a gallery. See below for details, and I'd love to see you there!

Bad Romance

2010-02-27T22:06:00.005-05:00

Wow, once again it's been awhile since I've posted, but I haven't been idle. This is just a sneak peak of some larger embroidered art pieces intended for my solo art show coming up on March 27th and March 28th in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

A bit back, I found a cache of 1950s Romance Comics in Provincetown (I haven't posted the source material yet, but they are similar to these). I've been working my way up to larger wall pieces, and these are definitely the most complex I've done in terms of multiple characters, and comic book panel framing.

They took a looooong time to complete. I wanted to use a colorful but limited palette, and several times had to tear out and redo sections to make sure they composition was balanced. I decided to use thought bubbles but leave them blank, in order to allow the viewer to fill in the sordid plot with their own imagination.

UFOs

2009-02-18T22:23:00.004-05:00

The quilting blogs often talk about UFOs - UnFinished Objects. I've had a lot of UFOs lying around the house. On President's Day I had hoped to complete a bunch of them but it wasn't destined to be.

My plan was to use the ocher colored embroidered piece above and create a variation of my previous pillow using some precious fabrics I've been dying to use. I was excited about the somewhat unusual color combination of ocher, teal, milk chocolate and khaki, and was ready to create another 12x16" pillowcase.

Sadly, the width was only 11" so I dug out my other pillow forms to consider my other options. I decided to do something with a log cabin pattern for a 16x16" pillow form. In my haste and lack of recent practice, I cut the embroidered square out without allowing for the seam allowance, making me a wee stressed about fucking it up.

I decided to use my stash of scraps, which is what I prefer to do for log cabins. It feels so thrifty!

I started the project, but it just didn't feel right.

Here's the final(ish) product - or as far as I got. Looks pretty good here but I really originally envisioned it complementing teal - not navy - and I just couldn't go through with it. I actually out the patchwork so I could start afresh with a combination closer to my original vision.

As I look at this pic, I think - that really looks pretty good! Why did I have to maul it and start over?

More fun with doodles

2008-12-11T08:59:00.004-05:00

Finally, a new pillow! It's been a while since I put one of these together and I really enjoyed the zen of the whole process - getting out the ironing board, dusting off the sewing machine, fearing I wouldn't remember what I was doing but finding it was like riding the proverbial bicycle. Rotary cutting from muscle memory - something I always thought was hearsay but apparently a real phenomenon.

I did another version of the same pattern, this time in chocolate with avocado and pumpkin highlights.

Wanting to tackle something larger, I sketched out the next project quickly, while watching Friday Night Lights (the show, not the movie) on Netflix. Fantastic series, by the way. This is my lifelong preferred mode of creating - watching TV or on the subway (or BART in my SF days). My ideal mode isn't multitasking - it's dedicated dual-tasking.

This one looks prettier in person - kind of a peanut butter background. I took multiple pictures but really couldn't do better - I really could use a different camera/camera tips!

I then sketched out a more horizontal version - sort of a city scape, most likely for wall art rather than a pillow. I'm enjoying this series - quick to sketch out, quick to sew and produce. A nice way to get back in the game.

Coming out of my shell...

2008-11-19T09:41:00.007-05:00

... um, what happened to this year?

Well, dear readers, this year I had a major job transition and truly threw myself into my work, which thankfully I really enjoy. This did not stop me from percolating and dreaming of projects, but it did slow even that down. Occasionally I'd venture out of my shell to purchase an irresistible piece of fabric from the City Quilter or Purl. Occasionally a little sketch would appear on my meeting notes. I'd stare at my carefully curated fabric stash and sigh, not even sure I still "had it." The materials didn't have that inspirational shimmer - was that previous year of spending hours obsessing over color combinations and staying up late creating at the sewing machine just a dream?

So, it all re-started with a doodle...

I was inspired to do something (deceptively) simple and geometric by Molly's Sampler Pillows project on the Purl Bee. I loved her use of Muji's linen pillow cases and wanted to create a design that would look good against that texture. Anyway, I doodled out a little line and squares pattern - which is basically something I am constantly drawing in the margins of my notepads anyway.

Not having any linen on hand, I was drawn to this avocado green fabric - which reminded me of my mother's fridge (and half of my childhood bedrooom furniture) when I was growing up. I selected some earthy browns, in keeping with the original idea of doing this project in an undyed linen.

I increased the dimensions of my original sketch by 150% (after experimenting with various other sizes), and transfered it (as I always do) using basic carbon paper and a pen.

The project went super quickly - it was such a relief to be embroidering again! Somehow some bright orange worked its way in, and cheered things up considerably.

This was a fun, quick project, and I can definitely see myself doing more riffs on it.

Buttery Toasted Patchwork Pillow

2007-12-02T22:40:00.000-05:00

I'm having trouble coming up with new words to describe these yellow and brown wool pillows - toasty is first and foremost on my mind when I look at them. I'm working my way through two stacks of felted wool I bought from the City Quilter. They have quite a nice selection - I actually bought a teal/blue spectrum stack as well, but I I've been holding back from starting to work on it, as I feel like I'm on a roll with the yellows and browns.

I designed this pillow while on the subway, but had to improvise once I was actually executing it. These wools are bought in stacks containing beautiful but slighly mishapen pieces - it's not like I have even full fat quarters of any of these, so they almost force you to do patchwork.

I had hardly any light yellow fabric yet, and a lot of brown, so the rows containing yellow pieces ended up being 2" tall while the one containing solely brown pieces were 3". It's very hard to see this, but the corner pieces are a slightly different yellow than the others, again, improvised out of necessity due to not having enough of either yellow color.

I was also planning on having the rows and colums of brown (except the 4 dark pieces) be the same shade of brown, but I discovered that was not to be either. However, I enjoyed the troubleshooting process and was relieved that ultimately I was able to come up with a combination that worked - both in sticking as closely as possible to my original vision, and in having enough fabric to execute it.

These wool projects take longer than the cotton ones, because pinning and pressing are absolutely key. Pinning is just about the same in difficulty (show above) but the pressing of the wool seam allowances is a bit challenging. In order to prevent bulking up the patchwork, I pressed open the seams.

You really have to presss the hell out of it, and put some elbow grease into it to make it work.
Overall, I'm glad with the results - it lays flatter than my previous wool patchwork project.

The next step was that I hand embroidered the contrast stitching. It's fun to do this with the wool fabric. First of all, I love embroidery. And you don't have to use an embroidery hoop, because the fabric is nice and thick and a little stiff.

And here's a picture of the final product again!

A

Purple Pillow for Michele

2007-11-26T15:37:00.002-05:00

I made this purple pillow for one of my best friend's new apartment - actually I made two identical ones for her. I used the same pattern as I did for the bunny pillow and the Joel Dewberry faux bois/birds pillow.

The flowered fabric is a Japanese imported fabric I bought from purl soho, and the striped fabric is from the American Jane series from Moda. I think it's an ideal stripy fabric, and it comes in lots of nice colors that have the feeling of being just slightly faded.

You may notice that I'm trying to make a leap forward here in terms of setting "set dressing" my photos. The chicken and I enjoyed playing with props and creating a "view in a room" feeling (like in westelm.com) though there's a lot more I'd like to learn about my camera in terms of light and clarity.

French Knot/Stacked Coin Pillow - First Etsy Post!

2007-11-21T21:00:00.000-05:00

After many months of putting it off, I've finally opened my Etsy store!! You can check it out here:

http://swallowdesigns.etsy.com

... and this project is the first item I've posted there!

This is a fairly unique project for me, because I did it pretty much on the fly - I didn't sketch it out on graph paper beforehand. In fact, what I really wanted to do was something more liked a traditional "stacked coin" design. I'm having trouble finding a definition of what this means, but as far as I can tell it's essentially a design that incorporates strips of stacked patches, framed in neutral sashing.

I wanted to show you some examples on Flickr but got these results instead.

This quilt from Miss MeShell was really the inspiration - I love how she combined a deliciously simple linen with citrusy fabrics. She blogged it here and it's well worth checking it out!

My project veered off this plan, as you'll see soon...

I started with a pile of strips from my scrap box. I sorted them out for the blues, oranges, tans, and browns - which wasn't really hard because most of my projects lately have been in those spectrums. It was more a matter of weeding out the odd green scrap.

This part of the process went super-quick - I actually placed the sewing machine on my ironing board and did the whole thing standing up. This saved a lot of time. Plus it made it easier to watch TV. Can you tell I like to multitask?

I ironed each strip just before sewing it to the previous one, but I didn't iron the whole patched piece until I was done. Enjoyably spontanous compared with some of my more laborious projects, and certainly efficient.

When I finished preparing the large strip patch, I cut it into 4 pieces. However, after some thought, I ditched the traditional vertical parallel lines of stacked coins. I didn't have any linen, and it just didn't look as cool on the dark brown background.

So, I decided to use them as a frame for one of my French knots projects. I made this particular one a while ago, and they were inspired by the Connect the Dots tutorial from the purl bee, one of my favorite blogs from my good friends at purl soho. And by good friends I mean advisors/teachers/dealers of irresistable fabrics!

The back is an envelope flap, using the remaining "stack coined" (if I can call them that) strips:

Remember folks, this item is actually live and on sale on my store on Etsy! Why now? How did I finally set it up? Well, I ran out of room for my pillows. I'd love to keep them all, but there's only so much room I have on my bed and couch. The good thing is, it frees me up to use different colors - ones that don't match my lamp, sheets, and other accessories. I'm looking forward to seeing how that frees up my creative process.

Shake it Up!

2007-11-15T21:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, I just received a challenge from an anonymous reader. In case you missed it, here it is from my last post:

Anonymous said...

icebat sure does look handsome next to your woolly pillow and vice versa. you seem like such a nice, placid sort of gal. but whatever happened to your embroidery "with an edge"? let's see more of that!

Ouch! Nice, maybe - but placid? I can't take it! So here it is. I've been sitting on this since I finished it this summer, but now I'm breaking it out.

Here's how it works:

It starts with a photo, that I bought from a Chelsea flea market - one that actually still exists (as of this writing):

Believe it or not, this project has effectively been a few years on the making. I first made a pen and ink drawing based on it:

I think the lady on the right looks a little like Karen from Will and Grace. That wasn't intentional!

This is one of my favorite drawings I've ever done. It's definitely influenced by underground cartoon art, such as Charles Burns, the Hernandez Brothers, and one of my all-time favorites, Dan Clowes, circa Like a Velvet Glove Cast in Iron era.

So, this summer, I picked it up and tried to turn it into embroidery. I traced the drawing (not the original photo) onto fabric using standard carbon paper. Long live the small stationary store!

Unfortunately, my first try didn't work out so well. I don't even have that anymore to show you. This is the second try, which is horrible, so you can just imagine how bad the first one was:

It was really hard for me to let this go, because the above represents hours and hours of embroidery. Oh well! I got it right the third time - but I did do several different takes of color combinations on the nipples before I was satisfied.

I tried to stick to a limited color palette, almost like one might do for a screen print.

I love and hate doing hair. It's incredibly time consuming - but what can you do? Hair is important!

I'm very happy with how the necklace on "Karen" turned out. The blue beads were made by doing a pretty standard back stitch in a circle, and then placing a French knot in the middle.

This was surprisingly hard to photograph! It looks a lot better in person - in the pic, the lady on the left looks like she's giving you the evil eye! But it's an optical illusion.

Toasty Wool Pillow for Icebat

2007-11-13T22:40:00.000-05:00

I just completed my second wool pillow. I made it for Icebat. Like the last one, it was inspired by the Japanese book "wool patchwork: warm quilt for the home."

I purchased these packs of felted wool from The City Quilter. They are from Wild Thymes Pattern Co., and they look quite appealing in their little stacks.

I was inspired by this lovely picture from the book. I love how their version is both wooly and lemony at the same time.

They have some instructions in Japanese in the back, but I could figure out what I wanted to do by looking at the photo, so I didn't refer to them. Here's my quick sketch for my version of the project. I carry around a little notebook of graph paper for this purpose - sometimes I work things out on the subway. This is one of the simplest designs ever - it's almost embarrassing to put it here:

I'm finding using the cotton fill pretty liberating, because when I use it I'm not married to any particular pillow size. I decided to make the pillow 12" x 12" because I thought it would be cute.

I played with the squares until I got something I liked:

I don't know if you can see it here, but there is a nice herringbone mixed in there. These little pieces of wool are rather expensive, and I caught myself obsessing at a brunch this weekend over my friend's vintage pants. I can see myself going out and trolling the flea markets for some old clothing - because if I'm going to continue with the wool pillow making I need to find a cheaper way to do it.

The wool was considerably more difficult to iron than the cotton quilt fabric I'm used to. I normally iron both the seam allowances in one direction, but with the wool, I carefully pressed the seam allowances open so that they wouldn't be too thick. I really had to lean on the iron to get those seams to stay down!

Then I took a bowl of pom-poms, sat down with my favorite cup of tea, and set upon the task of sewing those cute little pom-poms onto the pillow top. This is a good activity to do while watching TV.

Cute as a button! I like how Icebat looks both bashful and proud in this picture - I intentionally chose the pom-poms to match him. Ta-da!

Toasty Yellow Wool Pillow

2007-11-02T20:43:00.002-04:00

Here's my latest pillow. Yay!

I bought this book "wool patchwork: warm quilt for the home" in the Kinokuniya bookstore in Japantown in San Francisco. I'd never seen it before, and I haven't seen it since. I couldn't find it on Amazon - but you could special order it from your local bookstore by ISBN 4-579-10894-9.

Above is a photo from this lovely book - there are many tempting projects in here. I based my pillow on the top one on that pile.

I was planning to do an envelope back like I usually make, but the felting on the wool made the pieces uneven (see the right side above), and when I squared them off, the patchwork top couldn't fit a standard pillow. Well, I have lots of leftover cotton fill from my tiny pincushion project:

I hand sewed a running stitch going through the seam allowance on the other side, as the book instructions illustrated:

Looks real nice!

I made the back out of a fabric from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope line.

We love pillows!

Bunny Pillow - complete!

2007-10-22T22:30:00.000-04:00

I finished the bunny pillow I started last week. I really think this is one of my favorite patterns so far. I have sketched out how I might execute it as a quilt. I'm feeling very enthusiastic about this - though I've never quilted anything but a small piece of muslin. However, I'm taking a couple of quilting classes at the City Quilter next month - two couple hour workshops - machine quilting and freestyle machine quilting.

I have a few good books on quilting - but I just haven't been able to take the plunge into actually doing it. I'm even intimidated by "stitch in the ditch." I know I should try it on something small like one of my pillow tops, but I hate the idea that I could ruin my hard work on the patchwork by amateurish quilting.

Here's a side view of the pillow - I love the combo of the colors and patterns. I'm sticking with this tangy navy and orange theme for a lot of my patchwork pillow variations. It hasn't been done in recent CB2 and West Elm and the other catalogues or magazines I get, so it feels fresh to me.

Here's one more beauty shot!

Fabric credits:
Orange stripes - from the American Jane series
Bunnies - Japanese import
Border/flowers - Denyse Schmidt Katie Jump Rope series

Joel Dewberry Pillow Set

2007-10-21T21:57:00.000-04:00

I was very excited by how my bunny pillow worked out. I was eager to reuse this particular interlocking grid pattern from my Japanese Quilt Blocks book. Compared to the other patterns I'd tried from the book, this was probably the easiest/least time consuming, and I like it because it conveys the same complexity as the others visually, but with less effort. That is, I think only a quilter would realize this is a less complex pillow to complete than the others.

I decided to go back to this fabric that I already had in my stash, to make a companion pillow for the lumbar pillow and coasters I had made a couple of months ago.

Unlike the bunny fabric, however, the Sparrows (in Almond) fabric from the Joel Dewberry Aviary line is what's considered a "fussy" fabric - which in this context means a fabric that you have to cut and sew carefully to make select parts of the pattern appear where you want to them to. I have only used a fussy fabric once before, which was a large print Heather Bailey fabric for my "Spring Pillow for Fall," and in both of these cases, it definitely added planning and cutting time to the project.

I laid out the project in advance - I did want that middle bird to be off center, but for some reason didn't realize that it would be cut off because of seam allowance. Ah well, grist for the mill - I learn something new on every project.

I finished off the pillow using another faux bois fabric from Joel Dewberry - Woodgrain in Orange. I really like how cartoony the Chocolate version of the wood grain looks applied in this particular quilt block. I like the orange version too, but the high contrast in the chocolate makes the woodgrain easier to "read" - even across the room.

Here's one last shot for the hell of it!

bunny pillow - preview

2007-10-17T15:14:00.000-04:00

I don't typically publish works-in-progress to my blog or to my flickr photostream, but I'm so darned excited by this pillow top I just can't help it. I'm also a little tired of seeing my previous project at the top of the page!

I've been working my way through the book Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match, and I've had my eye on the above pattern for some time. I like they way the stripes cross over each other and give the appearance of interlocking, and I've been on the look out for an appropriate striped fabric to try it out with.

The name of the pattern is Yosegi kawari royagoshi - translated in the book as "Prison grille check variation." I am trying to ignore the unfortunate jail reference, and think of this more as a decorative window onto a field of bunnies!

I stumbled upon this Japanese bunny fabric in Purl the other day, and I quickly purchased it. Who can resist bunnies? I really like the simplicity of these, especially against the unfussy background. They also reminded me of some little bags I picked up when I was in Kyoto a couple of years ago, so there's sort of layers of built in nostalgia in this fabric for me - good memories of my pet rabbit Hazel from childhood, and of one of my favorite trips in adulthood.

Here's the finished pillow-top. Weird angle, I know! The orange stripes are from the Peas and Carrots series - I've enjoyed some of the other fabrics from this series - for instance, the kind of cartooney ovals I used on my South Park pillow. The border is from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope series.

More to come when I've completed the back of the pillow!

Japanese Quilt Block: Spring Pillow for Fall

2007-09-30T22:25:00.000-04:00

Here's my latest pillow, which is based on a block from the inspiring book Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match by Susan Briscoe. I just discovered her website and I'm thinking about reaching out to her - I've gotten so much out of this book! I'm hoping she might like to see some interpretations of her work.

I also have her book The Ultimate Sashiko Sourcebook, but I'm trying to resist the siren song of sashiko as I already have my hands full with an ambitious original embroidery project.

As folks who read my August posts know, I've been experimenting with patterns (primarily using dark blues) from this book, including:

Block #14: Kurume kasuri musubi (knot)
Block #5: Kurume kasuri igeta (Kurume well curb)
Block #6: Yamato kasuri igeta (Yamato well curb)

For this next pillow my specific goal was to enliven up a room that was somewhat depressingly matchy-matchy, and I wanted it to go with the colorful Heather Bailey pillow I'd already made for the bed.

I wanted to chose a design that would showcase Heather Bailey's bold fabric from her Freshcut series. Briscoe's book has a few patterns that remind me of a frame or window onto a vista, giving the block an elegant dimensionality. I settled on block 29 - Yosegi koshi kumitate (check frame).

I sketched out my interpretation of the block on graph paper. All the designs in the book are for 9" quilt blocks. I prefer the look and size of 16" square pillows but I wasn't up to doing the math - I simply "doubled the recipe" to make it for an 18" pillow.

Briscoe's designed calls for 2 different background colors, with the middle square cut on a diagonal. I merged these into my one featured fabric.

I went about this project very carefully and methodically, because it involved a lot of small pieces, and a "fussy" piece of fabric - fussy meaning that I wanted to keep the pattern framed in a specific way, so it was important that I didn't get confused and turn a piece upside down or change its orientation in the block.

I generally like to take shortcuts, like cutting as I go, or piecing together multiple strips fabric and then cutting them, but I knew there were too many potential pitfalls to take this approach.

The only shortcut I took was string-piecing the smaller pieces.

I enjoyed taking photos in the natural light!

I followed the instructions to end up with three large strips:

You'll notice by this point the natural light has faded as I push the project into the evening...

Finally done!

As usual, I put some special effort into the back:

I love to look at all the colors and patterns together:

... and somebody else does too!

This is Breakfast Boy

2007-09-28T07:49:00.001-04:00

Pillow: Breakfast Boy
Model: Tar

This is Breakfast Boy. Breakfast Boy is one of my favorite pillows.

He is smiley and friendly and eager to please.

Breakfast Boy is based on a photo from a 1964 Physique Pictorial that I picked up in Provincetown. The history of physique magazines is interesting - from the excellent Planet Out article by David Bianco (who has a pretty interesting background himself):

'Bob Mizer was only 23 when he started AMG [publisher of Physique Pictorial] and its catalog in 1945. He originally operated out of a spare room in his mother's house. She wasn't particularly happy that he was gay, but she cooperated because she liked the extra income he shared with her. When Mizer's business boomed, he built a separate studio next door to Mom. He recruited models at gyms and along Venice Beach, searching for a particular type: chiseled, muscular, white. Many of the models he hired were heterosexual.

Popular demand for these homoerotic images grew, and Mizer looked for another way to distribute them. In 1951, he began publishing Physique Pictorial, a pocket-sized magazine created especially for a gay audience..."

Here's the cover of the issue Breakfast Boy's photo appeared in. Don't you just love the font? Yes, that woodgrain fabric is from Joel Dewberry's Aviary line. I just love to pair partial nudity with woodgrain.

The model's name is Gerald (Gerald?!) and is described here in great detail for his stats (including ankle, not pictured). He apparently "works as a salesman but wants to be an actor, or anything else that brings him lots of money." Hmmm.

More from the David Bianco's article:

'Because of the oppressive atmosphere of the 1950s, physique magazines were careful to disguise their homoerotic intent. Postal inspectors and FBI agents were on the lookout for pornographic content, such as "excessive genital delineation." They particularly targeted gay publications, trying to indict them for violation of the 1873 Comstock Act, which prohibited sending obscene material through the mail. To avoid harassment, Physique Pictorial adopted a lofty mission statement: "A fine healthy physique," it claimed, was "a great compliment to our creator who planned for the utmost perfection in all of his universe." A beautiful body, according to Mizer's publication, "makes the soul sing."'

Sigh. You may notice that the photographed model carefully avoids said "excessive genital delineation." He also apparently isn't cooking anything. I took a little creative license here - added back in the genital delineation, and gave him some fried eggs!

The yolks of the sunny side up eggs represent the first instance that I did a solid fill in embroidery.

Isn't he a charmer?

Jayne Mansfield - Portrait in Thread

2007-09-23T18:53:00.000-04:00

I completed this Jayne Mansfield portrait in thread. It's based on a photo from the 1964 Best of Playboy, which I purchased in one of the last remaining flea markets in Chelsea (NYC Chelsea, not London Chelsea).

I used to buy most of my source material from the main Chelsea Flea Market which has now been replaced by a luxury condo - like many of the older and more lowbrow gems of New York City. This flea market moved to Hell's Kitchen, but when I went to check it out in its new location, it just didn't have the same vibe. Maybe it was me, but it felt more select/expensive and overall I didn't find it to be as fun. But go, really - any flea market is a good flea market.

Fortunately, there still remains one in Chelsea - The Antiques Garage - located in a parking lot between 6th and 7th Avenue, and 24th and 25th Street. Go soon, because like many good things in New York, this may not be here forever. I currently have a good stash of source materials to work my way through, but occasionally I drop by for additional inspiration. On the particular day I bought this magazine, my favorite photo vendor wasn't there, but another vendor did have this one issue.

I had never seen a Jayne Mansfield movie before, but I'd heard about her throughout my adult life. Associations I had: b-movie actress, beheaded in a car accident (this is an urban myth however), and Law and Order SVU's Mariska Hargitay's mother (did I mention I love Mariska?). I finally rented The Girl Can't Help It from Netflix. I recommend the version Netflix has, because it has a good 45-minute documentary about her rise and fall, and while the actual movie failed to bowl me over with her acting talents, the doc enabled me to appreciate her shining moments as a beloved sexual icon.

Jayne Mansfield was frequently called "the poor man's Marilyn Monroe" and unfortunately her performance in The Girl Can't Help It begs comparison to Marilyn's iconic appearance in The Seven Year Itch. Both involve questionable seductions of the weasly Tom Ewell. But no matter how much I like to root for the underdog, Marilyn is unquestionably the superior actor, and if you have any question about this, do watch these two movies side by side.

Above is the photo I used for my embroidered portait. While her cleavage or her waistline are probably her most popularly photographed attributes - she had an almost impossibly exaggerated hourglass figure (think Jessica Rabbit) - I think she looks beautifully voluptuous from the back in this photo. I was also attracted by the challenge of representing the feathery boa she's wrapped in, as well as her dropped earrings.

Did I get the essence of Jayne Mansfield here? I'm not sure. On many of my embroidered portraits, I had previously created a pen and ink drawing first, using the photo just as source material. The drawings are artworks themselves, and they convey (I hope) a lot of shading, texture, and personality. When I transform these pen and ink drawings into embroidery, I believe they are a little more quirky and emotional.

In my portrait of Jayne, however, I traced a xerox of the photo, skipping the drawing step. Overall, I think this embroidered piece is a good example of a pin-up girl, but I think I could have done a better job of conveying the complexity of Jayne Mansfield. I'm talking about the woman who won unheard of beauty contests like "Miss Magnesium Lamp," and who decades after her death is still inspiring angel vs. devil debates.

Heather Bailey Freshcut Pillow

2007-09-14T20:57:00.000-04:00

I whipped up this pillow this morning before work because I was sick and tired of the strict brown and green color scheme I had established in this bedroom. I must say this pillow really helps!

As I said in my last post, I don't typically use pink in my designs, embroidery, decor - anywhere - but I do find it slowly creeping into my work. I must say it's fun to have a brand new color to my palette.

The flower pattern is from Heather Bailey's beautiful and unusual Freshcut series. It actually looks very similar to the wallpaper pattern and colors I had on my bedroom walls growing up in the 70s.

This is the back - but it could certainly be used as the front as well!

More fabric credits: the left is also from the Heather Bailey Freshcut series, the fabric on the right is from Amy Butler's Belle series (Okra Seeds), and the blue stripe is from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy series - and it's one of my favorite accent fabrics.

Lifesaving Embroidery

2007-09-08T17:50:00.000-04:00

After a very encouraging comment from Anna Betts on my CPR Embroidery post, I was inspired to try my hand at a few more lifesaving manual-inspired pieces.

I was on vacation all last week in Provincetown, Cape Cod, and the water-related theme blended in nicely. I started out the week at the Fabric Place, where I stocked up on blue and green spectrum Kona fabrics, my preferred brand for solids.

Maybe I went a little overboard, but I envision this as a series. I also have been buying related patterns so I can do some patchwork with these colors in the future as well.

I started with this: Underwater Approach I. I was really unhappy with how the man's hair came out, so I omitted him from this pic!

I wasn't entirely satisfied with the outcome. While I don't usually use the word "cartoony" as a negative, I'm going to apply it here. There was something a little too literal in this interpretation from page to embroidery.

After showing some friends a work-in-progress, they challenged me to experiment with a combination of drawing and embroidery.

This is the result, Underwater Approach II:

And here is Front-Head Hold Release, or by the other name we gave it when I was 14 and a lifesaver in training, "Suck, Tuck, Duck." If I ever do a show of these, that will be its name.

This piece was experimental for me in several ways -- leaving parts of the drawing exposed without being covered with embroidery, using the carbon transfer paper as a shading medium, and using the color pink. I never use the color pink -- not in home decor, not in art projects -- but I feel myself moving towards it...selectively!

The final outcome reminds me of the Sonic Youth album cover of Goo for some reason.

Embroidering on the Beach

2007-09-05T09:49:00.000-04:00

Here in the temperate climate of Cape Cod, I've been enjoying a vacation with lots of embroidering. To say goodbye to summer, I'll soon be posting some new projects that I've been working on of underwater lifesaving scenes.

Stay tuned!

CPR Embroidery

2007-08-19T18:02:00.001-04:00

Here is the embroidery I did of the life-saving embrace of CPR.

It's based on an educational illustration from this Lifesaving book. It's my very own Lifesaving book from when I was 14 and a counselor in training at a YMCA camp. It was a very hard program, and while I passed the written test with flying colors, I had to take the practical test twice.

I'm sure that would have been very comforting to the parents of the kids whose lives were in my hands.

I made this embroidered piece into a pillow; I love the fabric I used on the back - it reminds me of a vintage tie pattern.

And here is the completed project:

Mmmm... More Japanese Quilt Block Pillows

2007-08-17T01:16:00.000-04:00

My latest project is another one from the book Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match.

I had purchased some blue fabric last week, and constructed block #5, otherwise known as Kurume kasuri igeta.

I was very happy with the results, and have been plotting since then about what block to do next. I settled on the very next one, #6 - Yamato kasuri igeta (Yamato well curb).

I am truly attracted to the simplicity of the designs and colors laid out in the book, but I like to add just a little bit of pattern to add more texture and fun to the look.

First I pieced 5 strips of fabric together...

... and then cut them perpendicularly to create the 1st, 3rd, and 5th columns below.

I did this as a "time saving" method, but it left me with a lot of extra sewn fabric that I couldn't use for this project. Hopefully I'll be able to apply it another one.

I chain stitched the remaining squares for columns 2 and 4:

After I sewed the columns together, I added the outside strips. I adapted the "recipe" in the book from a 9" block to a 16" block, so there was some slight redesign involved, which I plotted out on a small piece of graph paper before starting.

The most major change was adding this colorful 1 1/2" border. Visually, I like to think it looks like the binding on a quilt.

So, here's the two blocks as they appear in the book:

And here they are transformed into pillows!

I was very pleased with the results and took many glamour shots:

As always, I couldn't resist putting some quirkiness into the back:

I like how splashes of color peek out when you pass them from diffferent angles:

Look who's happy for new pillows!!

I (heart) Joel Dewberry Fabric

2007-08-12T09:46:00.000-04:00

I love this line of Aviary fabrics from Joel Dewberry. Faux bois woodgrain and bird motifs all in the same collection, and in orange and brown, one of my favorite color combinations? I can't think of any single collection that reflects my current aesthetic so perfectly. (BTW, if you like the woodgrain aesthetic as much as I do, check out one of my favorite blogs, It's (K)not Wood, which is entirely devoted to covering the topic of fake wood! They have also made note of this fabric.)

I first saw these fabrics on the shelves of purl soho, and I immediately snapped them up. These are all from the Bark palette - Sparrows in almond, and Woodgrain in both Orange and Chocolate. I did go back to buy a few different varieties of the Woodgrain. I have no immediate plans for them, but it seemed like a good idea to have them in my stash for future patchwork projects.

The first thing I did was create this pillow cover for the chicken. He also loves orange, brown, birds, and woodgrain, so it went really well with his existing pillows.

Also pictured here is a pillow by west elm in the back. I have to admit I am a bit of a fan of west elm. I go to their store, website, and catalog for inspiration (as well as actual shopping), and right now I use their pillow inserts for all of my pillow projects. While adopting their aesthetic as a whole could be a little dull, I have found that a lot of their items provide good backdrops for my handmade and more personalized projects, such as these.

The pillow in the middle is made from a barkcloth fabric from reprodepot and stuffed with fiber fill. The chicken's mom made this for him; this was before I was a crafter myself. She sewed it and we filled it; I remember how intimidated I was initially, and how satisfying it was to complete these. I think it was one of those aha moments where I realized I could do something that I thought I had no talent in.

I just made these coasters last night. There is a layer of cotton batting in between two layers of fabric. The tricky thing about working with the Sparrow fabric is cutting and sewing the birds so they appear in exactly the right place!

Now I'm enjoying a cool glass of water on the new coasters...

Male Plumage

2007-08-10T14:40:00.001-04:00

I drew this portrait based on a photo based on a 1960s Life magazine article about "Male Plumage." They were quite amazed at how the crazy kids were dressing, and particularly that the men were expressing themselves in such vibrant, flamboyant ways, especially coming out of the gray flannel suit era. I'll post some info about this article when I relocate it.

It's interesting how projects evolve. I completed that drawing more than 8 years ago. A copy has been happily living on my friend Michele's wall for at least 5 years. Two months ago, I decided to try it out as an embroidered portrait. I finished the whole body and clothing in June, but not the hair. I just couldn't figure out what to do with the hair. Then I learned how to do French knots, et Voila! The solution.

I am particularly excited about the colors; prior to this, my portraits were of a more restrained palette.

I spent a LOT Of time on these two details. I did them freehand, and was just obsessed with getting them to reflect with what I had in my head.

Here he is in all his glory!

Now, what to name him...?

"Little Odd Forest Coasters"

2007-08-10T12:44:00.001-04:00

littleoddforest_coasters, originally uploaded by itsknotwood.

I found these on the Flickr site of one of my favorite blogs, It's (K)not Wood. This blog is devoted to anything and everything faux bois (fake wood). I actually did try to embroider my own faux bois many months ago, but it was too bloody boring for words. I might be willing to try it again on a small sized project though, like a coaster or pin-cushion.

Faux bois is one of my favorite aesthetics of late, and I actually have several variations of faux bois in my fabric stash. I think faux bois is very evocative, whether it makes you think of nature, or it makes you of some kind of Larry Clark basement photo shoot. Personally, it makes me think of both, and I like that.

These coasters are made by the littleoddforest, where they are available for purchase.

Molly Shannon on The Martha Stewart Show

2007-08-08T11:47:00.001-04:00

This is just the preamble to the crafting dialogue I've recreated below. That, unfortunately, I couldn't find.

Martha Stewart and Molly Shannon Crafting

2007-08-08T11:15:00.000-04:00

The NYC transit system is down, and I had to stay home from work. Sooooo sad. No one is even on email yet.

I've spent all morning watching the weather reports, tornados in Bay Ridge. Unbelievable. The weather guys are saying it's the worse mass transit morning they've seen in their entire careers. I like how situations like this bring the realness out in people sometime; I've noticed during the course of the morning, all of the anchors' and man-on-the-street interviewers' New York accents got more pronounced.

The weather abruptly switched to a repeat of the Martha show, where I caught the tail end of her making crafts with the adorable Molly Shannon.

This is my memory of it:

Martha complements Molly. She says her characters were the main reason she watched Saturday Night Live. The makes me a little verklempt. She says it brusquely and while applying an industrial strength glue to a ribbon. but really seems to mean it.

Molly is clearly uncomfortable holding the electric jigsaw Martha has given her. "You don't have one of these?" Martha says. Molly says her husband said moving in with her was like "taming a wild bear." It is clear she is not domestic.

Martha scolds, "come on, you have kids now, they are going to want to make crafts." They don their plastic protective eyewear. The saws start. Molly messes up immediately. Martha struggles to contain herself.

They move onto a cutting sequence, applying "beautiful" corkboard onto the letters they have now managed to saw out of the plywood (I guess Martha knocked off both of them herself during the commercial break). Martha asks if Molly has a self-healing board. "No?" Martha is incredulous. "You really must a self-healing cutting board in the house."

They make it through alive. I do love both of them! It was awkward as hell but that's what made it so great. I can now imagine Molly hanging the corkboard letters in her children's room, and then telling her friends the whole story over a dinner party and everyone laughing and having fun. I wish I could be there.

But it's true, Molly. You really MUST have a self-healing cutting board.

Pincushions complete!

2007-08-08T11:01:00.001-04:00

I finally got my cotton fill from purl. The bag is huge! I don't know how I'll use all this stuff.

I must say it was very enjoyable to work with - a very different tactile experience than patchwork and embroidery.

Like a pita...

Finally! I can stop using my balled up socks as pincushions. I even put in some nice unused pins to celebrate.

Blue for you

2007-08-07T23:40:00.000-04:00

I just completed my second project from Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match. The first one I did was for my dad.

This time I tackled block #5, otherwise known as Kurume kasuri igeta.

I have to admit, I was bad. I a) bought fabric yesterday when I was supposed to be adhering to my self-imposed fabric-buying freeze and b) used the fabric before washing it. Sigh. I just couldn't wait. That's okay, I just won't wash it. Ever.

Here are the culprits:

Who could resist these charmers?

These actually represent some of my favorite fabric patterns, but these are the first time I have played with these particular color variations. Again, dark blue is a new thing for me.

Before I get started with cutting and sewing, I translate and re-do the pattern a little. The blocks in the book are set up to be 9" squares - perfect for a quilt, or a small, fill-stuffed pillow, I suppose. When I did my dad's pillow, I simply "doubled the recipe," and made an 18" pillow. However, I greatly prefer 16" pillows for myself. They're just, well, cuter.

This was a little more complicated than just doubling all of the called-for sizes; instead, I decided to make some variations, including adding some kind of "binding"- looking border with the brown/blue flowered fabric, which is from Denise Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope series.

The pattern in the book called for pre-cutting every piece, but I like timesaving techniques, such as this. Do you really want to cut 15 individual squares and then sew them together? No.

Completing the "border":

The top is done!

And here's some detailed shots of the sides and back. I really like to see those white on blue polka-dots peaking out.

I couldn't resist adding a splash of color! That orange fabric is also from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope series.

Et voila!

French Knots - Friend or Foe?

2007-08-07T00:13:00.000-04:00

I did more French Knots this weekend. I was experimenting with the color brown. I did three variations.

Brown with blue and orange:

Brown with red and cream:

Brown with tan and blue:

Why are French Knots my friend? Because they enable me to relax and have fun with color. Because I can do them on the subway and people are curious and friendly about them. Because they are quick and satisfyingly obsessive.

Why are French Knots my foe? I feel I should be spending my time developing my more original embroidery designs/portraits. But they are some flipping fun!

The flowered fabrics are from Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope Series, and the gridded fabric is my favorite Japanese fabric - I have it in four different shades now.

Pillows for Parents

2007-08-05T22:19:00.000-04:00

I have finally figured out the trick for making pillows for parents. I have made several in the past that I've been unhappy with, because I adhered too much to their taste and not enough to my own. That is not to say that I would want to give anyone a gift that ignored their sensibilities - the trick is to blend theirs and mine, so that they get something they will enjoy and hopefully treasure, and I'll be able to spend the time doing a project that I will enjoy the process of producing.

I have recently forced myself into a self-imposed fabric purchasing freeze. This has been fairly successful, though I did allow myself the purchase of a single polka-dotted fat quarter from purl patchwork, to get my fix.

The other ways I've been obeying the rules of the freeze but really being bad in the meantime, is that I've been stocking up on non-fabric supplies, such as books and embroidery thread. I had recently found the book Japanese Quilt Blocks to Mix and Match. I had resisted buying it for about two and a half days, after which I found myself inevitably drawn back, credit card in hand.

I assuaged my guilt by immediately putting it to use for my Dad's birthday/father's day pillow. I had recently been given a bunch of blue fat quarters from my aunt from her old quilting stash. I had been unsure of the blue, but now it was all coming together; most Dads reliably like blue, and mine is no exception. I settled on a pattern I thought would make good use of some of the very subtle patterns in the fabric I had on hand.

I first tried doing this similarly as I would log cabin pattern - that is, cut long strips of the three colors first, then sew and cut as I went. However, the pattern was a little more complex than I was used to, and required very precise placement of the colors rather than the more spontaneous placement in the log-cabins I've done in the past. If I did it again, I would probably cut the pieces to size first, and lay them all out on my cutting board, so I could see exactly where they went before I started stitching.

Nonetheless, this was a very fun and not too difficult project, and I'm happy with the results. It felt a little like putting together a puzzle. I couldn't help but add a little bit of color - I used a contrasting orange zig-zag stitch to finish off the envelope backing.

Here's a detail. The darker fabrics are from my aunt's stash - not sure what fabrics they are, but I'm pretty sure they would be no longer available at this point. The lighter fabric is from the Fabric Place, a suburban chain where I found some amazing fabrics last fall that I haven't seen anywhere else.

Pincushions

2007-08-02T08:03:00.000-04:00

For quite some time I have needed some pincushions. Why? I think this photo says it all:

My mother had given me a nice, traditional pincushion - the kind that looks like a giant strawberry. But I find the filling too hard - when I'm sticking pins into it in the middle of sewing, it's too resistant. Somehow I came up with this McGyver solution of the sweat sock. But obviously it's yucky.

I've been wanting a nice(r) pincushion for some time, and have spent many hours looking at the delightful concoctions people have come up with on Etsy. They are seriously delightful, but I have two cartons of fabric sitting there, mocking me, saying come on, can't you take this on?

So, I have been sketching out some potential designs this week - all very cute and whatnot, but ultimately, I decided to be very spontaneous and make use of my scrap bag. I only started keeping a scrap bag recently, when I started reading up on string quilting - this is a good tutorial.

Anyhow, I only had 45 minutes to cut and sew these up, so I decided to use solely my scraps. First I cut them - intentionally not entirely straight - and sewed them all together, not ironing between pieces. Then I ironed the whole mess, and squared it off to a 8x5 rectangle.

It wasn't my original intention to make two, but I had prepared the perfect size to cut it in half.

I chain stitched the fronts to save time.

This is how far I got in less than an hour - not bad! They are sewn three quarters around, and are just waiting for their filling and trim.

I am attaching these cute pop-poms from M&J Trimming.

Now they just need their filling and final stitches!

Praying Mantis

2007-08-01T23:24:00.001-04:00

I completed this pillow for my cousin's graduation last week. She wanted either a Praying Mantis, a Walking Stick, or a Dragon Fly. I thought the Praying Mantis has the most personality.

I've had my eye on this Amy Butler fabric for quite some time. It's from the Forest series, and when I finally got around to buying it, it was practically unfindable. I think I got the last yard or so in existence!

Here's a side view:

The other fabric is from the Peas and Carrots series. I like it because it manages to be really playful and cartoony without being too childlike.

Oops, I did it again... more French Knots!

2007-07-30T22:23:00.000-04:00

I find these completely addictive. I did all of these French Knot projects in one week, including completing a whole pillow.

I am not sure what I am going to do with these yet.

South Park Embroidery

2007-07-30T21:30:00.000-04:00

I am really proud of this piece - the chicken and me as South Park characters! We created the characters at the terrific South Park Studio, which provided us with quite a few hours of amusement. I found it far more satisfactory and sophisticated than the Simpson's avatar creator, even though I am a bigger fan of the latter show. Anyway, we look cuter as South Park creations than Simpsons characters.

The chicken created these:

Then I took it to the next level, as they say:

Here is the back. I really like to make sure the back has character - here is my signature envelope back with zigzag stitching:

And the completed project again:

Yay!

French Knots

2007-07-28T07:32:00.001-04:00

This is a project inspired by one of my favorite blogs, the purl bee. I was looking for a project to make my mom for her birthday - something quick but nice. I saw this posted on the bee Monday AM - I had finished the french knots portion by Thursday and the pillow construction by late Friday night.

When I first started, I thought damn, those knots are going to take a long time - will I have the patience? I don't usually do abstract embroidery. Well, I had nothing to worry about - I found making the knots completely addictive. In fact, I have already started to make one for myself.

I am very happy with how this pillow came out. It's even more personal because it contains fabric that my aunt gave me from her stash.

Check out the purl bee's excellent instructions for a french knot sunburst in their Connect the Dot Pillows tutorial.

And here's the back:

The binding is fabric from Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy collection. I bought a couple of yards of it for a wall hanging project I never did. But it makes the most charming detail, and I've used it both in this project, and the shark pillows.

Charteuse Velour

2007-07-27T23:39:00.000-04:00

Another gift for another friend's wedding. She loves chartreuse velour.

I am especially proud of my first buttonholes.

And it's just a bonus that the back looks like a little alien creature's face.

I got the velour for 25 cents at this truck engine show in Massachusetts. I also got a whole lot of muslin for 25 cents from the same vendor. I think my friend would especially appreciate these recycled materials being part of her pillow, because she is way into reclaiming yarns and materials from flea markets and making them her own.

Here's some gratuitous shots from the engine show:

Some Lovely Sharks

2007-07-27T23:32:00.000-04:00

I made these for a friend's wedding gift.

Here they are before the log-cabin style patchwork:

She really likes sharks.

And here's the back:

The Embroideries

2007-07-26T12:47:00.001-04:00

I was just turned onto threadless.com. I really like cool t-shirts and buy them regularly from the Giant Robot store.

For those of you equally in the dark as me, threadless holds contests for t-shirt designs, and then prints the winners. I am sure I'll find countless tempting items as I peruse this site, but I was really surprised to find an embroidery themed shirt on the home page! It's not actually embroidered, it's some kind of fantasy of angel-workers stitching a dinosaur. I might have to have it.

The Bartender Pillow

2007-07-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

I draw pen and ink illustrations based on found photographs. (Can someone please give me a sexier way to describe "pen and ink drawing"? You can really see people's eyes glaze over when you say this - unless you evoke Robert Crumb). My principle sources for photographs are loose individual photos purchased at flea markets, old magazines (especially LIFE, Playboy, and "physique" magazines), old textbooks, and the occasional original photographs that I take as snapshots.

A couple of years ago, I was lucky to come across a whole stack of snapshots taken at a strip bar in New Jersey in the 80s. This is a very unusual find. At that time, I was strictly drawing, not embroidering, so I made an attempt at drawing some of these ladies.

When I started embroidering, I was attracted to this particular image. I liked her tough attitude, her stance, and her sexual ambiguity.

The major disadvantage of drawing women is hair. Hair takes a long time to embroider. I took a break from embroidering women for awhile, but now that I've become more proficient, I am no longer intimidated by long hair.

White Stripes Embroidery

2007-07-25T16:05:00.000-04:00

This amazing portrait of the White Stripes is by Jenny Hart, truly the queen of alternative embroidery. I had been previously familiar with her Sublime Stitching kits - both Purl Soho and The City Quilter carry them in New York. I had tried out a kit when I first started doing embroidery. But I had never seen her embroidered portraits before last night, and I must say I am blown away.

White Stripes Crafts

2007-07-25T11:53:00.001-04:00

I was looking for a picture of Meg White's button bass drum last night at 2 o'clock in the morning, to no avail. But somehow, I stumbled across this:

Yes, it's the White Stripes. Knitted. Check out Hannah Simpson's blog cakeyvoice for the 411. Be sure not to miss her knitted Shaun of the Dead. Surely the first knitted interpretation of a rom zom com movie?

White Stripes!

2007-07-25T01:52:00.000-04:00

Just got back from the White Stripes concert at Madison Square Garden. I just love the White Stripes. And I was fixated on a certain thing - Meg's drum. Meg's bass drum looked like a huge white 4-hole button, with red threads going through in a criss cross. You could see a little black behind the threads where the holes were.

Now, I generally don't do pillows in white, black or red in combination, but staring at the button drum made me want to try. I started mentally going over how all the black, white, and read fabric I've seen over the last year. And where to get those very mod, over sized white buttons. Mmmmm...

The closest I've come to this color combination is probably in this pillow:

Here's the back - this is very White Stripes:

I am particularly fond of the red constrasting zig-zag stitch. This is Michael Miller's Water Swirl - it isn't easy to find these particular colors anymore.

Anyway, I really wanted to find a picture of that button drum, but all I could find was pictures of her drums that look like peppermint candies.

The $1000 Pillow, again

2007-07-24T16:57:00.000-04:00

So, a sewing machine, three patchwork and quilting classes at purlsoho, a shelf full of books, two cartons of brilliant, delicious new fabrics, miscellaneous rulers, mats, seam rippers, rotary cutters, and ziplock bags full of embroidery thread later...

... and that first pillow isn't done.

However, I have spent the last year making and selling original embroidery designs, and I am ever so grateful to k studio for inspiring me to get started.

The $1000 Pillow, continued

2007-07-24T16:49:00.000-04:00

It took me about a week to unlock the mystery of transferring images to fabric - old fashioned carbon paper. Helpful hint: look for a dusty, local stationery store for the best prices on this stuff. Staples is dreadfully overpriced, and I haven't had consistent luck at craft stores with this particular supply. You can reuse the sheets, so a little goes a long way. (Update on this: try dressmaker's transfer paper instead. It washes out.)

Another great way to learn is to pick up one of Sublime Stitching's kits. It contains everything you need to start, including transfer paper, a nice wood hoop (I have tried plastic and find it un-yummy to work with). I prefer the kind of embroidery thread that comes in a ball, but again, this is a great way to dip your toe in the water.

The chicken and I attacked this first project together. It was a combination of xeroxing and recreating images from scratch. I must say the chicken did an excellent job on the squirrel - he really made it his own.

After I had finally traced the images on fabric and finished embroidering the first creature, i had the first "aha" moment.

Aha! I can actually do this.
Aha! I like doing this.
Aha! There's no way this pillow is going to save me money.

I have seen the future. And it's going to be expensive.

The $1000 Pillow

2007-07-24T16:21:00.001-04:00

I really wanted that Woodland Creatures pillow from k studio. And I was determined to "save money" by somehow creating it myself. I also really admired their more architectural pieces as well, but I couldn't even consider tackling a project so complex.

As I considered how to do this, I had absolutely no idea where to start. I wasn't even entirely sure what stitching patterns with thread into fabric was called. I went to a local bookstore and found out oh, this is embroidery. I bought a dictionary of embroidery stitches, which was very clear and helpful, though I must admit to this day I only use 3 stitches regularly: the backstitch, the side stitch, the split stitch, and just recently, the french knot, thanks to my friends at the purl bee.

How It All Started

2007-07-24T14:54:00.000-04:00

I have been an artist and an illustrator for a number of years, but I had always stayed in the 2-dimensional realm. It all started last summer, when the chicken and I were really into decorating. Like many juvenile-acting adults of my generation, I am attracted to the cute and the superflat, especially when it comes to animals and representations of animals. I am the proud owner of 3 Ugly Dolls. I have jewelry with small birds on it. I have been unable to throw away my old stuffed animals. When I recently visited my old friends in California, almost everyone one of them made a comment about my Paul Frank-dominated wardrobe.

from k studio:

So when the chicken sent me this picture from the wonderful k studio of Woodland Creatures, it was of course no surprise that I was delighted. It was just exactly my aesthetic (that is, the cute part of my aesthetic, vs. the raunchy side of my aesthetic, which we'll get to later).

I mulled over this pillow for some days; I had just invested a decent sum of money transforming my apartment from a post-college (well, let's be frank - post-post college) dump into a more mature aesthetic - which is, to say - reasonably adult. Bright colored mismatched walls had transformed into creamy neutrals. Rooms had been assigned 4-hue color schemes. I was maintaining a book of floor plans - to make sure things fit before I actually purchased them. I was a devotee of apartmenttherapy. Things were looking up. How did Woodland Creatures fit in?

Well, it would have fit in perfectly. But I didn't want to spend the $100+ price tag on it. It dawned on me - I called up the chicken - "I can do this myself!"

Now, mind you, I had never considered myself a sew-er. I could sew on the occassional button, but I had always left mending to the experts (eg: my mom or the local dry cleaners). But I had just had an inspirational summer. I had painted several rooms - complete with scraping and priming! I had covered radiators with toxic heat-resistant silver spray! The chicken and I had laid down 400 square feet of laminate flooring with our bare hands! These were unprecedented achievements. If I could do that, I could do anything. Right?