Still here

Checking messages from friends who live on the coast, and seems that the predicted Tsunami has missed us... so far! I keep checking the view, to see if their is still water in the gulf... or more water in the Gulf. For the past two days we have had monsoon rains (this is the 'dry season') and terrific (!) electrical storms, which have blown the power out twice. Friday evening saw us eating bacon sandwiches in the house in the dark, at Nilo's miniature table and chairs. It was like a midnight dolls tea party.

Another reason I haven't been around much is that, on Wednesday morning, we had a phone call from the school, asking us to go and collect Nilo, who had fallen over, and landed badly on his hand. His wrist was pretty swollen for a few days, and is chest was a bit scrapped up. Poor little guy!

The next morning he was also vomiting (I think it was something he ate) so I've been chilling out for the rest of the week with him, at home. He can move his wrist now and so I guess he'll be back to school on Monday. I have to say, I rather like having him home again. He's been doing alot of drawing and lego building. He's amazing! Look at his turtle design.

I could never come up with something as sophisticated as this. It reminds me of Inuit design.

Thinking that I was going to San Jose this weekend, I got a move on with the "no boundries" denim bag that I started a couple of weeks ago, and it's finished (all but the details on the handles).



Stitching in the lining.

 

The lining is a light blue flecked cotton, with a slightly linen look.

The label.

The closure detail.



The finished item. Quite a sexy little number. Might keep it for myself ;}

Eliza, our model this morning.

Now that it's done, I guess it would be ok for me to start something new, right? ;}

Reinaldo is busy taking the house to pieces, in an effort to re-model the old office corner.

I have also been working on this. There's a link on my side bar. It's nowhere near ready yet, but you can visit and add your name as a part of the broader community and get updates as they happen. This week - now that my trip has been cancelled, due to the inclement weather - I hope to set these wheels in motion and send out a general invitation to local women to a sewing/coffee morning.  I'm planning to put up a flyer somewhere public (which, here, is either at the school, or the two churches, since there isn't even a village store!) and see who shows up! That way, it's open to anyone who's interested and avoids any personal preference. Afterall, the idea is about forgetting our differences, and working together, on the basis of sharing a common thread. Hmmm... I figure that's going to be the hard work in this!

Finally, I have added music (and other media interest) to the blogs. My father is a musico and so I was raised with very ecclectic tastes. Everything from Rachmaninov to rap, rock n' roll to gospel. The selection will change, according to whim. 

Look... Listen... ENJOY! :)

No Boundries!

Nilo will be at school from 7am 'till 1pm today, which seems to me to be a more reasonable amount of time than last week's 7am "till 11am.

Our guests, John and Mary, from England, arrived mid-afternoon yesterday, and are now out walking the trails in our forest.

I've spent the morning cutting and piecing upcycled denim, styling a new bag. It was going to be something like the sketch that I showed you here... it was going to be called "boogie"... but while I was swapping and switching the pieces around, I saw something else that I liked, and decided to go with that right now. So here's a quick peek.















Placing the pinwheel patches at the bottom of the frontside of the shell of the bag.















What about adding existing seam work? I like that.

I've been thinking about pockets too, because Megan and I agree that alot of people like to have them. Coin pockets. On the outside. you can drop your change in quickly whilst hopping onto the bus.



















I'm going straight for the kill, and have added a reclaimed pocket (from a pair of ripped dungarees). Actually it's two pockets, one's hidden under the other.















I turned the shell 90 degrees, to get the seamline in the vertical, thus, dividing the space into two equal areas. Once the edges of the pocket were ironed under, I notice that the pocket has the exact same length as two of the patches, so I'm loosing the third patch.















Visually, it works better for me, with the pocket on the right-hand side, and the patches on the left. I have also added the garment label from the dungarees that the pocket came from. It says

no boundries

Guess who's just noticed the text size button on the new post bar ;}

I like that label. I like what it says as the title for this design. Design should have no boundries. That's why I'm able to ignore the sketch I made and go with what I've coem up with this morning. Spontaneity! Pura Vida!















I'm going to line it with this white cotton print fabric, the print of which is kind of bleached out. I think alot of the fabric remnants taht I buy from the bargain bin in San Jose were probably once window displays in fabric stores elsewhere. Sometimes, the stores here will even sell you fabric, off the roll, as perfectly good, but which has been light damaged. I don't mind so much, as it usually offers some interesting effects. But imagine if you'd bought it to make a regular garment, and then when you got it home found it was all streaky! Pays to check first!

Now I just(!) have to piece this design together.

Nilo and Reinaldo came back from town yesterday afternoon, with flowers and chocolates. :)












A red rose eye!

I've fallen in love with these, the site was linked from a recent Fibercopia post.

Boogie: Giving it a new spin!

If you follow my blog regularly, you'll know that I have been working much paler recently, and am now adding a little brightness to that... to give a new spin to my design work!

Here's a series of images showing how the new slow bag design - Boogie - is developing so far.















The pattern for giving the cloth a new spin.



















Drawn out in... yes, Kaye you guessed it... biro!



















The first blade stitched and cut (the reverse applique technique that I am so fond of using).



















The second blade stitched and cut.



















The second blade stitched and cut, and shot on one of those clever angles that always makes work look 100 x more interesting than it might ordinarily appear to be ;}



















The third blade stitched and cut.















The final blade stitched and cut.















Here's the first upcycled denim patch with all the blades finished.















Now for some kantha!








Photoshopping... a sneak preview of where this is headed.















The reverse of the reverse applique. Not too messy.



















First patch done! How great is that?

More later!

P.S. Eben, incase you're reading this, "hOney, I used your old jeans!" Love from Mum xxx

Boogie!

Following on from yesterday's post...

Now that Nilo is back to school, I am going to have to progress with my real design work! I've kind of been fiddling around these past few weeks, in all sorts of directions. Which is important too, of course. Play! I don't know about you, but that's usually where my best ideas are concieved of, even if the end product is nothing like the thing that I started out playing with. To me, good design could be defined as the successful outcome of a good What-If.

Ok, this is wierd for me... but I'm looking at these bright colored cotton scraps! Well?... Gotta try everything, right? At least one time! ;}















Bright colored cotton scraps from Boquete, Panama.



















This morning it occurred to me to try the confetti spiral again but this time as a donut, and I really like the neat little twist that's added to my initial idea.

I've been thinking about working with indigo and or upcycled denim for a while now. Looks like I'm not the only one. You should definately take a look at this and this. Both of which are fabulous examples of [re]using denim and of posts that have popped up recently that I really ❥ed.

Of course, one cannot mention indigo without drawing your attention back to this and this.

Ladies, I salut you!



















And following on from this, I'm still thinking about putting a new spin on things. I like this one alot!

Talking of making design progress... this is where it's all heading now.



















"Boogie": A neat little shoulder bag, from upcycled denim, muslin, calico, and cotton scraps and colored silk thread.

It's my project for the coming week. Something to be working on even though we'll have guests. I want to come up with something that is funky but chic. Something with a sense of fun about it. Watch this space!

P.S. And for Kaye's sake, you should know that only the best sketch with biros!

35: Tea Time!

35
Originally uploaded by Mithun Jayaram

Recently I did a brief post on coffee art... but this is something else! I would like to share with you the work of a very talented young Indian artist, who I discovered recently online, by the name of Mithun Jayaram, and here he has "an experiment playing with the possibilities of recycling used tea leaves and powder as a collaborative effort with Infinitea, Bangalore". He says:

"Though my main interest was to observe decay, the dried used tea leaves that showed no sign of fungus nor insects were organized and framed to make works that now adorn the Cunningham Road (Bangalore) tea restaurant, Infinitea."

I am blown away by his 2&3D creations. They are elegant and ingenious, and although they often feature man-made items, such as pencils, pencil shavings, erasers, Post-it notes, etc., they seem to me to nearly always be in step with nature somehow.

His work was recently featured on the site masala chai, a "visual arts blog that features South Asian Art & Design" which more than demonstrates that Asia continues to further it's historical excellence in the field of art and creativity. This site is also where I first came across Namrata Narula (there's a link to her work here in the right-hand column) and her delicious apparel. I love that both Namrata and Mithun - and I'm delighted to be finding others like them - are making refreshing strides forward when it comes to incorporating recycled and upcycled materials into the art form.

Emergence

Here it is... this is what's emerging from out of Megan's package. I thought that it was cacoon-like (although I think it's usually moths, that spin cacoons). This is something quite new from me.

I was drawn immediately to the 100% flax linens that Megan has sent. I love the roughness of these textiles as well as the colors that she's chosen. One is a fresh spring green, and the other is verging on what I would call bamboo green. I have started working with the latter. It's a hand-emroidered native butterfly motif. The species is Baeotus baeotus (Nymphalinae) and this is the male and it ocurrs here on the Osa Peninsula. I have always loved the form and the colors of this particular species. I'm working this piece as an applique on denim from an upcycled denim skirt. Originally a dark blue denim, I discharge dyed it, and then gave it a good scrubbing. It's lovely to work on, as it's now very soft. I'm enjoying the softness of the base colors here, verging on pastel, which is rather an unusual choice for me. I'm very excited about this new direction. The rural/nature element fits perfectly where I'm coming from and with more recent trains of thought. I'm not entirely sure what this butterfly will turn into next... a purse for the 2010 design collection? Maybe! I'm also not sure how complete the embroidery will be, because I'm rather liking at this stage the unfinishedness of it. I"m thinking about how it's unlikely for one to see all of the detail of a butterflies wings in an instant. Usually only a fragment. The camera helps with that of course.