Indie-pendant #0004 - "N'goa"

Here's the fruit of today's effort. In the end I decided to finish up the accent piece for my latest Indie-pendant, this design is called N'goa



















I'm considering keeping this one for myself. It's a nice size (5.5 x 5.5cm) and it feels good when it's on.

Whilst visiting the Pre-columbian gold museum(!) the last time I was in San Jose, I found and fell in love with this...















... and decided that I would use the color combination myself. Simple inspiration!

You can some of my other Indie-pendant designs here.

Even better than the real thing

I'm really enjoying working with synthetic suede. I bought a small scrap from a fabric store in Boquete, Panama, when we were there a few months ago. Its skin-tone, and super soft, and although it's synthetic, it looks and feels like the real thing, but is maybe a little easier to manipulate.















I had an idea about layers.















Hand stitched layers.
















I found that I could strip threads out to create a more dynamic surface texture...















... and added that idea to the idea of layers.















I added some simple beadwork and some colored stitching.



















And here's the finished piece, "Kaluto", which has been added to the other Indie-pendants on the Bainbridge&Houseberg photostream at Flickr

I'm excited by the fact that these are completely handstitched, using small fabric and fiber scraps. Projects that, a) I can make anywhere (including in the hospital, if necessary!), b) are unique and very eco-friendly, and, c) finishable in the short term. The latter being imperative, as my interests always have had a habit of flitting from one thing to the next... like a butterfly passing from flower to flower. And I think that's maybe a good thing? Feed... and move on!