September 12, 2016
Canada Cups — Day 1 Itinerary & Craftsy Giveaway
Happy Monday!
It’s the first full day of our tour. On behalf of our flight crew, I bring you today’s itinerary.
If you missed the take off, you can still catch up on the introductions by our Pilot, Fairy Bra Mother. Then meet us at the first stopover.
See you there!
P.S. Be sure to enter the awesome giveaway by our sponsor Craftsy.
Tour Itinerary
Meet us at today’s stops on the magical tour to see what we all have under our clothes
Monday, September 12
- Valérie, of Élégantine! gets us airborne with some lingerie of her very own, même en français
- Her Bosom Buddy Michelle S. from Little Heart Threads, balances with more sweet lingerie
- Lisa from Glitter in my Coffee brings us an Uplifting post
- Rachel of The Wild Stitch manages a little tête-à-tête with Emerald Erin
♥
Giveaways
Click the image above now for a chance to win a bundle of 3 Craftsy classes (your choice):
Stay with us to the end of the tour for a chance to win additional prizes:
- complete kits to make your own bra,
- bra- and swimsuit-making classes,
- fabric, and more …
♥
Tags: blog tour, bras, Canada, Corset, craftsy, intimates, lace, lingerie, panties, unmentionables
September 11, 2016
Canada Cups Launch & Craftsy Giveaway
It’s on! Oh yes, 13 of us took flight this morning to bounce our way back and forth across Canada in our skivvies. Right off the runway, we have a post from our very own Fairy Bra Mother, without whom none of us would be inclined to expose ourselves this way. But fairies exist and we’re off to a land far, far away…
Start with Beverly’s introductions here. And I’ll see you back in the seams of my pants in a couple of days.
Also, be sure to enter the awesome giveaway by our sponsor Crack… Craftsy. (I gotta learn to spell it right!)
Giveaways
Click the image above now for a chance to win a bundle of 3 Craftsy classes (your choice):
Stay with us to the end of the tour for a chance to win additional prizes:
- complete kits to make your own bra,
- bra- and swimsuit-making classes,
- fabric, and more …
Tour Schedule Itinerary
Follow the magical tour to see what we all have under our clothes
// Please note that none of these post links are available before the scheduled date. If you click on one too early, you will get an Error 404: Page not found. You know about those, right? //
♥
Sunday, September 11
- Beverly, our Fairy Bra Mother, launches with her airy fairy introduction
♥
Monday, September 12
- Valérie, la Élégantine, gets us airborne with some lingerie of her own, même en français
&
Her Bosom Buddy Michelle S. from Little Heart Threads, balances with more sweet lingerie - Lisa who drinks Glitter in my Coffee brings us an Uplifting post
- Rachel of The Wild Stitch manages a little tête-à-tête with Emerald Erin
♥
Tuesday, September 13
- Lisa fits right in as a new Pin Up Girl
&
Her Bosom Buddy, Shelaine, also makes her first bra - Rachelle gets up close and personal with Carrie from With Love Lingerie
- Valérie returns with a whole new Bosom Buddy to tell us about Miss Maika Fabrics (This girl gets around!)
♥
Wednesday, September 14
- Rachelle gets to the bottom of things with her review of a Craftsy class
&
Her surrogate Bosom Buddy Michelle N. from Michelle’s Creations dishes on the same Craftsy class - Jessica from Gracious Threads gets the skinny on our Fairy Bra Mother
- Deb of Sprouting Jubejube chats with Emilie from Jalie
♥
Thursday, September 15
- Karin gets chaotic (twice!) with corsets at Mrs. Weaver’s Finest Unmentionables
&
Her BB Marsha flies by the seams of her pants into the corsetry web - Shelaine is up to something and we have no idea what
- Michelle gets Mrs. Weaver to talk about her Finest Unmentionables
♥
Friday, September 16
- Wild Stitch Rachel tries her hands at designing her own assets
&
So does her Cross Country BB Jess from the west - Valérie est du rétour avec une entrevue de Blackbird
- Michelle N. takes us to a secret spot in the centre of things
♥
Saturday, September 17
- Michelle S. returns to talk to Wendy about her bespoke bras. Be what??
- Marsha gets a taste of what’s behind Farthingales’ corsets
- Meanwhile BBs Deb and Michelle N. go bottoms up in panties
♥
Sunday, September 18
Whoohoo! It’s giveaway day today!
- Marsha from Seam of my Pants guest posts on Farthingales for the wrap-up post
♥
Monday, September 19
Have you entered the giveaways yet? Today’s your last chance.
♥
Tuesday, September 20
Giveaway winners announced on all the blogs:
Life of a Fairy Bra Mother, Little Heart Threads, Glitter in my Coffee, Michelle’s Creations, Mrs. Weaver’s Finest Unmentionables, Braphoria, Gracious Threads, Élégantine!, Shelaine’s Designs, That’s so Venice, Sprouting Jubejube, Flying by the Seam of my Pants, The Wild Stitch, Farthingales Corset Blog
♥
After September 20
- Come back to visit all the blogs for followup posts. It’s always fun!
- Craftsy class discounts expire at midnight Sept. 30
♥
Tags: blog tour, bras, Canada, Corset, craftsy, intimates, lace, lingerie, panties, unmentionables
July 14, 2016
Do It Yourself Party of the Week — 41
It’s Thursday evening so it must be time for the DIY Crush party.
Things were a little touch-and-go about an hour ago when I realized that I still hadn’t written this post and scheduled like I intended to do last night. I was busy packing and removing cats from my suitcase. I arrived at my parent’s place for a weekend visit, only to discover that my mom couldn’t remember the WiFi password. And well, I can’t write a post on my phone.
You can bet I was having visions of the world coming to a crashing halt and all human life perishing at 8PM Eastern if I didn’t get online. Oh noooooooo! What’ll we doooooo?
July 2, 2016
Feature: Camelot Fabrics (or The Road to King Arthur’s Court)
Take a long journey with me. I promise I will eventually get to the point. Or past it — whatever!
A Detour or Two
Going back a few months… When Reece from Happy Okapi invited me to get involved with this Canada Day 2016 blog hop, the intention was for me to showcase a pattern from a Canadian designer. I fell in love with a Jalie pattern for the lacy version of the Bella Fit & Flare dance dress — because I still have hopes of strapping on my suede soled shoes and returning to the dance floor one day.
And as with most of my plans, they went astray. (Or they took a little detour, if that sounds less random.) Just as I was printing and taping my pattern pieces together, one of my foster cats bit me and it turned into a painful infection of my right hand. Then 3 days later “someone” dropped a 25 Kg rock on my left hand. Right there was the end of any aspirations I had for sewing between May and July.
Fortunately — for me, and I hope for her too — we were able to recruit Michelle of Michelle’s Creations to cover for me with Jalie. I’d say everyone benefitted all around because she did a bang up job with her Jalie cami & panty set. If you haven’t seen Michelle’s sexy underthings yet, go read her post here.
Now, I might have incapacitated my sewing self, but I could still type with one hand. So I set about grilling Beverly, the owner of Bra-Maker’s Supply — who, by the way, makes the most delightful heroine in any story — for a post that didn’t involve cutting or operating dangerous machinery. It’s a good thing I suited up with some of her under-armour because… Reece had another quest to send me on.
Welcome to Camelot
One sunny Tuesday afternoon, I said goodbye to my village and set out for Camelot. I’m sorry to disappoint, but Lancelot, Galahad, Arthur and Guinevere were nowhere to be found because, well, they’ve been dead for centuries. There was no round table either, but depending on how much you love fabric, there might have indeed been a Holy Grail.
Public transportation schedules being as inconvenient as they are, I had the choice to arrive at Camelot either 25 minutes before or 5 minutes after the appointed time. I opted for the former because, let’s face it! when you’ve been summoned to court, you don’t get to use Societé de Transport de Montréal (STM) as an excuse.
Norma, the sweetest, most professional receptionist ever, greeted me at the castle gates and welcomed me despite my being too early for my appointment. And while I waited for Claire Haillot, the Marketing Director and resident blogger, to come and collect me, Norma let me fondle some of the display fabric bolts. I may or may not have drooled on a few of them, but that’s strictly between us. And while I was poking about in the entrance display cases, look what I found! Janelle, you sure get around!*
Once I started the tour and chat with Claire, I was overwhelmed to be honest. I had no idea which angle to take with my post. There was so much! They had history; they had stories; they had incredible people; oodles of talent; social conscience, award winning staff, and some of the nicest damned fabric I’ve ever been allowed to feel up. I finally figured I’d focus on their foreseeable future. That and the warm work culture that made me very nearly consider dusting off my moldy résumé. Nearly, I said!
More than 12 years ago, when father and son team Max and Steve decided to buy the floundering Eugene Textiles and modernize it to appeal to the emerging quilters’ market, they had vision. (Coincidentally, it was at the same time that Claire opened her quilt shop, so destiny was already at work.) Montreal’s once flourishing textile and garment industry had started to sink along with the flounder, and most companies were bailing. These guys saw something the others didn’t see so they took a chance and Camelot Fabrics emerged from the mist. In March of this year, Claire closed her quilt shop and joined formidable forces with Camelot.
During the interview, when I wasn’t shoving my hands into bins of fabric or gawking in awe at the finished bags, clothes and quilts they have on display, I wanted to know what life was really like inside those castle walls. I had barely got the question of group dynamics out of my mouth before both Claire and Cinzia pointed to the hanging on the wall of Cinzia’s office: Synergy. Everything else I saw there backed up their claim. We popped in and out of people’s offices saying hello and waving like royalty.
Despite their commitment to keeping their new and longtime employees happy (some have been there nearly 50 years), this year, the company has found itself in the unique position of having outgrown its staff. Yup! They have been hiring more and more staff in just about every department with plans to add a few more by the end of summer. They do need all the extra people to handle the increasing popularity of their fabrics, but I think they also need fresh ears to listen to the old-timers’ stories that start with, “In my day…” (“You guys are so spoiled. In my day, we didn’t have trucks and all these fancy machines to move the bolts from here to there. I would push my shopping cart of fabric down the street…”)
Speaking of happy — and apparently absent-minded — employees, how many times in your working life have you been so engaged in your work that you didn’t hear the announcement that the building was closing up and it’s time to go home? Hah! Most of us would be out the door and merging into traffic before the announcement was finished. But that’s exactly what happened to Cinzia, who also works in the marketing department with Claire. Cinzia is an award-winning, internationally published, quilt designer who joined the team just this past February. But I digress, though not as much as I usually do…
Cinzia told me the story of how she was so absorbed in her work and grooving to her music that several hours later when she looked up, the whole office was dark. She tried to leave, set off the alarms, called Max the owner, and was eventually rescued from the building by Jason the guy who works in the unit next door.
(Now, I didn’t pry but I wonder if she was happy to be rescued. I guess it all depends on their respective relationship statuses, attractiveness of Jason coz Cinzia is pretty cute, and how much she was looking forward to spending the night in a deserted building.) I’m inclined to think this Knight-in-shining-armour Jason dude was the direct descendant of Sir Galahad, but nobody asked me!
And then there was the other locked-in story of what happened after the Christmas party, but you’ll have to infiltrate the ranks to hear about that one. My lips are sealed with plastic wrap!
Where was I before that last tangent? Lost, I suppose, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Oh! The future! Right… So some of the pretty cool stuff I saw in the works and slated for release soon:
- Disney licensed colouring fabric (you colour it yourself)
- Specially designed fabric markers that don’t fade in the wash
- Scented fabric (Releases delicious smells when you scratch it, and it last up to about 30 washes.)
- Lots of new modern quilting prints, of course!
Oh gosh! I’ve been going on and on about quilts, but doggonit! their fabric prints look simply amazing in bags, kid’s clothes, women’s wear and my personal stash. If I only had a shopping cart, I would have had to push a few bolts down the street myself. Look at some of these lovely creations!
What’s not quite working for them yet?
The website that isn’t quite up to snuff. Frankly (was there ever a Sir Frank at the round table?), I was confused by the site. I couldn’t figure out how to get my hands on their fabric unless I became a retailer. It turns out that they do have many retailers around the country (Canada) and also in the US, but each store is responsible for adding themselves to the list of locations. They haven’t. Bunch-a slackers! I’m sorry but Club Tissu has no excuse for not getting this done! Smaller quilt shops, yes, it might be on the harried owners’ to-do lists but dammit! I want to know where I can buy all this yummy goodness. While we’re waiting for the website to catch up, you can email info@camelotfabrics.com and ask them for a list of stores in your area.
The site isn’t all bad though. Claire writes a pretty awesome blog daily, with giveaways on Wednesdays.
Really, I can’t possibly tell you all the great things I learned about this company; at least, not in one post. (I’m verbose enough as it is.) The main thing I can tell you is that they do have some excellent modern prints in both quilting cottons and double gauze. (Thanks for explaining double gauze to me, Claire!) They are accessible and cost effective for Canadian sewists, especially with the savings on exchange rate, customs duties, and shipping costs. It’s also a super deal for US sewists because their dollars go so much farther here.
Maybe all or most fabric manufacturers do this, but I was blown away that they support local sewists by placing their products on display and for sale. You know like restaurants that decorate their walls with works from local artists so their patrons can buy them and support the artist. Yeah, just like that! Plus, they tag the articles with the name of the pattern and the designer. So cool! … Ok, but seriously though, did everyone else know about this and didn’t tell me?
I’ve got to wrap up this post, but man! I could go on and on about my audience with King Arthur and his court. However, I’m running this risk of boring you to the point of driving a lance through your Guinevere for recreation. I suppose I’ll have to write one or two more posts to finish paying fan-girl homage to my holy grail of fabric.
You can start your own crusade to Camelot by following the trail:
◊ Facebook ◊ Website ◊ Blog ◊ Pinterest ◊ Instagram ◊
Happy holiday weekend, everyone!
PS. I did warn you it was going to be a long trip.
* Janelle MacKay is, in my opinion, Canada’s premier handbag designer, hardware supplier, and Craftsy instructor. Besides being supremely talented, she’s also funny, generous, helpful… (Would it be too humiliating if I were to move back to Alberta and entreat her to become my best friend?)
Prize Pack A: 1 pattern from Jalie, 2 patterns from Blue Calla, 1 pattern from Carla’s Creations, and $25 CAD store credit from Tangled Blossoms Design
Prize Pack B: 1 pattern from Stitch Art, 1 pattern from Pollywoggles, 1 fat quarter bundle from Camelot Fabrics, and $25 CAD store credit from Emmaline Bags
Prize Pack C: Rebel Quilt pattern from Libs Elliott, Bundle of 3 patterns from Thread Riding Hood, 1 pattern from On The Cutting Floor, $20 voucher from Flare Fabrics
Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop Schedule
Be sure to visit each of these brilliant blogs this week for more on our
outstanding Canadian designers and suppliers:
June 24: The Tour Starts HERE at Happy Okapi
June 25: Celine guest posts on Happy Okapi; Marsha @ Seam of my Pants
June 26: Fiona @ Tangled Blossoms Designs; Carla @ Half Dozen Daily
June 27: Sherry @ Thread Riding Hood; Reece @ Happy Okapi
June 28: Nicky guest posts on Seam of my Pants
June 29: Daniela @ On the Cutting Floor; Reece @ Happy Okapi
June 30: Michelle @ Michelle’s Creations
Canada Day–June 31**: Ula @ Lulu & Celeste
July 2: Marsha @ Seam of my Pants
July 3: Keshia @ Sand Dollar Design Studio
July 4: Wrap Up @ Happy Okapi
July 6: Giveaway winners announced
** Yes, we know! I’m personally trying to avoid “Moving Day” in Quebec.
June 28, 2016
Spotlight: The Crafting Fiend Stitch Art
I’m so lucky! Really lucky that Nicky didn’t turn me in to the Mounties 2 years ago when I started stalking* her on FB. She just accepted that we were going to be friends. Phew!!
And now she’s relented and agreed to write a guest post on my blog. So, heeeeee-eeee-eeere’s Nicky!
I must say, I’m so glad that Marsha lets me “guest post” on her wonderful blog. Doubly glad to be able to review a pattern from The Crafting Fiend Stitch Art. Ah blessed is me …
Oh yes, sunny sky with a soft breeze, a perfect Summer day. On days like this my thoughts are often drifted into images of wriggly doodles and colouring outside the lines. Yes, pictures of imperfect yet whimsical childlike drawings. Can these be transferred to fabric in an applique method? I’ve seen them appliqued on stuffs before but never thought of how it was done. Even the User’s Guide of my Brother sewing machine (bought in 2000) had a section on “Free Motion” embroidery…what the heck??
Like a curious kitty I had to explore. I scratched on my laptop keyboard and Googled, and YouTube-d, read and watch with amazement, so I had to try it out.
In Free Motion you replace your normal pressure foot with a free-motion darning/quilting foot.
Next you drop the feed dog, you know the tiny teeth-like metal bit that guides and feeds your fabric through so that your stitches are evenly spaced and pretty looking, well we don’t need that for free motion, because we use our hands to guide the fabric.
I found that The Crafting Fiend Stitch Art by Canadian designer, Jeanine Thomlinson, has some of the cutest designs. Her patterns look easy enough to follow. So armed with hours of watching YouTube tutorials, pressing pause and play button until I’m flat out like a tired puppy that couldn’t wag her tail, I’m now ready to get my sewing gear on.
Bubble Pets pattern by Stitch Art is so cute I just had to try it out. I chose the cat applique for my very first attempt.. She listed out all the notions recommendation on her patterns, making it super easy to gather your tools and figure out what you want to do. These are just the few main things:
- HeatnBond Lite is a double sided adhesive sew-able paper that does double duties by keeping your fabric from fraying and affixes your applique pieces
- Free motion foot
- Embroidery stabilizer (tearaway for the woven, cutaway for knit and wash-away for delicate fabrics)
- Fabric vanishing ink pen or pencil or tailor chalk, Fray Check (optional).
It was suggested to use Muslin or broadcloth in neutral colour for the base of your applique; I had neither on hand so I used cotton poplin which turned out not too bad. She also gives the approximate size of the applique depending on the scaling percentage which is very helpful.
So first, we trace the pieces directly onto the paper backing of HeatnBond Lite not the textured shiny side.
Cut loose around each shapes. Place these textured shiny side against the wrong side of your chosen fabrics for the pieces. Preheat iron to medium heat, no steam; iron the paper for 2 seconds, repeat until the required surface is bonded.
Wait for it to completely cooled, cut the shape out and remove the backing paper, pretty easy far. Now your fabric pieces are fray-proofed.
Lay the pieces in the order as instructed by the pattern on top of your muslin or broadcloth or base fabric of choice. Once happy with the way it looks, iron them down on that base fabric.
Now you can draw the inner details and inner out lines, and the outer outlines as well if you wish, with tailor chalk or fabric pen/pencil of choice. These will be guide lines while free motion sewing. It is suggested that you should sew over the lines at least twice.
Sewing starts! Yay!
Drop the feed dog, install your Free Motion darning foot.
Place the stabilizer underneath it all and start free motion sewing. Just do the inner detail and inner outlines. Start from anywhere you’d like, there is no rules to this. Remember to leave the outer outlines alone…for now.
Once the inner details & inner outlines are done, trim the back stabilizer.
Again, iron the assembled pet to the HeatnBond Lite. Once cooled, cut closely around the pattern. Remove the paper backing. Iron this applique to the item being embellished with it.
Last step, add a piece of stabilizer underneath, free motion sew the outer outlines and voila! You’ve completed your first Free Motion Applique…well at least I just did, and shall do more! Woohoo!
Free Motion Applique is great when you have left-over fabrics from your other projects, The Crafting Fiend Stitch Art has many cute and whimsical patterns for both boys & girls, and some are gender neutral. What I like most about her patterns is that the shapes are inter-changeable; her instructions are easy to follow, her tips are just invaluable especially for beginners. You can find more of Stitch Art patterns on:
- Facebook: Stitch Art
- Etsy: The Crafting Fiend
This is the kind of sewing where perfect, straight, even length stitching are just purely not applicable. I hope you’ll visit Stitch Art and try a few of her patterns they are simply adorable! Enjoy!
NickyK
Ooh…almost forgot…Reece organized a giveaway with some sew delicious prizes as well as wonderful discounts. To find out more on the prizes and discounts visit Reece at Happy Okapi
Don’t forget to enter our giveaway by clicking the link below…
Oh Nicky, thank you! I’ve got this sudden urge to try Free-Motion Appliqué (FMA). I had no idea it would be so simple. I sure hope you’ll honour me by coming back to guest post again soon. And coffee, yeah?
Readers, I’ll be back in a couple of days with a feature post from King Arthur’s court. I hope the jetlag won’t be too bad, and if Lancelot is really cute, I’ll bring him back at swordpoint.
* It all depends on how you define stalking. It really was more like, “Please, please, please be my sewing buddy. I can’t find any other sewists in Montreal. Please, pretty please. And your dogs are so cuuuuuute… ”
Prize Pack A: 1 pattern from Jalie, 2 patterns from Blue Calla, 1 pattern from Carla’s Creations, and $25 CAD store credit from Tangled Blossoms Design
Prize Pack B: 1 pattern from Stitch Art, 1 pattern from Pollywoggles, 1 fat quarter bundle from Camelot Fabrics, and $25 CAD store credit from Emmaline Bags
Prize Pack C: Rebel Quilt pattern from Libs Elliott, Bundle of 3 patterns from Thread Riding Hood, 1 pattern from On The Cutting Floor, $20 voucher from Flare Fabrics
Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop Schedule
Be sure to visit each of these brilliant blogs this week for more on our
outstanding Canadian designers and suppliers:
And, of course, to enter our giveaway for some sweet-like-maple-syrup prizes.
June 24: The Tour Starts HERE at Happy Okapi
June 25: Celine guest posts on Happy Okapi; Marsha @ Seam of my Pants
June 26: Fiona @ Tangled Blossoms Designs; Carla @ Half Dozen Daily
June 27: Sherry @ Thread Riding Hood; Reece @ Happy Okapi
June 28: Nicky guest posts on Seam of my Pants
June 29: Daniela @ On the Cutting Floor; Reece @ Happy Okapi
June 30: Michelle @ Michelle’s Creations
Canada Day–June 31*: Ula @ Lulu & Celeste
July 2: Marsha @ Seam of my Pants
July 3: Keshia @ Sand Dollar Design Studio
July 4: Wrap Up @ Happy Okapi
July 6: Giveaway winners announced
* Yes, we know!
June 24, 2016
Feature: Fairy Bra Mother
Canada Rocks! Right? Right! And this July 1, we’re celebrating our 149th birthday. (We’re still looking pretty good for our advanced age.)
What better way to show off our remarkable country and the impressive talent we have than to showcase a few of our sewing designers, teachers and suppliers in a Canada Day 2016 Blog Hop? And right here, right now on Day 2, I get to shine the spotlight on the totally adorable Beverly Johnson, aka the Fairy Bra Mother.
BREAKING NEWS: Stop the presses! This just in… Craftsy has given us a special link to get Beverly’s classes at half price until July 3. Now, that’s how our Southern neighbours help us celebrate! (But we’re still not becoming “neighbors”, no matter what discount you give us!) Here’s that magic link: http://shrsl.com/?~cy2w
The first time I ever heard of Beverly — and of people sewing their own bras at home, for that matter — was in one of my Facebook sewing groups. There was only one possible reaction to that kind of information, “Did someone knocker these women over the head?? Bras are the most complicated piece of engineering we strap on our bodies. Best leave it to the geniuses at Vogue*.”
* Beverly was recently featured in an interview with Vogue Magazine.
But more and more, the presence of this mystical Fairy Bra Mother started seeping into my consciousness.
Tags: Beverly Johnson, Bra Makers Supply, bra-making, Canada, Fairy Bra Mother
May 26, 2016
Try Something New for May: Visible Mending
Is it nearly the end of May already? Where does the time go?? If it weren’t for the smell of lilacs and fresh green grass, I’d swear it were still February. And you don’t want me to start swearing.
Anyway, the Try Something New Every Month (TSNEM) theme for May was hand sewing. It’s a good thing I’d finished the project before the cat bit me and my right hand swelled like pork sausages in a hot oven. I have a picture of it but I won’t post it here. Let’s just stay on track for once.
At the start of the month, we had a little discussion in the TSNEM Facebook group about what projects we wanted to work on. I remembered seeing an article about “visible mending” a while back. In the middle of the discussion, I went in search of that one article and discovered that invisible mending was a “thing”! A real thing!
And since I had a huge tote full of stuff to mend, I figured the only way I was going to get to it was to have some fun. Enter a pair of my ex’s jeans that I’d confiscated after my cooking (really good cooking) made both of us gain weight. When his waistline outgrew them, they had little distressed holes at the knees. By the time I’d jammed my pointy patellas into them a few times, they looked like this…
I had a choice: I could throw them out, fix them, or shave my Wookiee-like appendages and keep wearing them with parts of me exposed. They were too comfortable to discard, shaving is problematic in ways I won’t recount, so that left mending. Visible mending! (Because it’s a thing!)
And as long as it’s a thing, I might as well create a new Pinterest board for it, right? Right! Didn’t that drop me down a whole other rabbit hole — two holes, in fact — Sashiko Embroidery and Deconstructed Denim. The former is now high on my list of things to master. The latter, well, I don’t think I want that much fashion in my closet.
Getting back to the mission at hand… Some old hemp yarn I got from a friend years ago found its purpose for being. It was the perfect colour to complement the faded denim. And I finally had an excuse to drop $2.50 for half a yard of yellow bandana fabric at the discount fabric store that was inconsiderate enough to locate itself 2 blocks from my front door.
Armed with my hemp yarn, embroidery needle, sturdy thimble, bandana patches and disintegrating jeans, I poked, pulled, cussed and stabbed myself until I ended up with this little piece of heartwork:
I have to say it was well worth the trouble. I’m finally in possession of one article of clothing that might be considered trendy, if not necessarily high fashion. And lots of inspiration to mend everything else I have in that tote bin of unwearables.
I’ll be back when I figure out what’s up for next month. Until then, go make something.
Tags: boyfriend jeans, hand sewing, Japanese sewing technique, Sashiiko, visible mending