dogs breakfast becomes gourmet fare, part 2

The Jacket was lined with a light knit. The lining pieces were cut from the pattern, overlaid on the green cotton and stitched on in a grid pattern. Attaching this lining was intended to make the finished garment reversible. The busy-ness of the print would also help disguise the stitching that was going to show on the inside as the appliques were sewed on.

Going through my pile of fabrics I found some cotton broadcloth in a matching lime green and another in orange. These pieces were selected to make stencil prints on with the intention that they would be cut into patches to applique onto the jacket as an element of the surface decoration.

stenciling orange textile paint onto lime green cotton broadcloth

stenciling cerise onto orange cotton broadcloth

finished stenciling on the lime green background

When completed I was happy with the stenciled prints and decided another print fabric would needed for the right balance. Diving into my piles of "resources" again I re-discovered the partly cannabalised doona cover I'd used for the backing of the Wiksten Haori Jacket a couple of weeks ago. The colours of its print tied in with the lime/orange colour theme so it was selected as the suitable candidate.

In the next step the front bands were cut from the lime green stenciled broadcloth and sewed to the coat. From a bright pink cotton voile I cut circles and sewed them following the front bands and across the back. At home later that evening I stitched the spots with lime green embroidery thread and running stitch. In the picture below you can see squares cut from more of the stenciled broadcloth as I was arranging them on the surface to decide if I liked the collage. They are then pinned in place and sewed.

beginning to arrange appliques on the surface.

laying up more appliques. The large tapered shapes are cut from the same doona cover fabric I used to line the Wiksten Haori Jacket a couple of weeks ago (shown in an earlier blog)

At the end of the day most of the appliques had been attached to the surface.

Dog blanket evolution

A few days ago I bought this lime green cotton blanket at Vinnies for $2. In this blog post today you can start following the evolution of how the dog blanket evolves into an art to wear coat.

lime green cotton blanket in the right corner

Yesterday I cut the blanket out in my as yet unpublished pattern the Jorja Coat. This is a hip length jacket with draping fronts and a flared 3/4 length sleeve. It has bands down the front and on the sleeve hems. I was able to cut the hem edges of the coat back and fronts with the blanket fringing left intact.

The blanket was square, measuring only 1.4m on each side, so I had to do some clever patching together from all the leftover scraps to get enough fabric for the second sleeve. It was very time consuming but I felt it was worth it at the end when there was only that tiny pile of offcut scrap that is shown at the bottom left hand corner of the picture below.

Above is a picture of the coat sewed up. The bands will be cut from the piece of matching colour cotton broadcloth laying folded on the right sleeve. However I'll have to cut the side seams back open as I've decided to do some applique and stitching over the surface. Having the textile flat is the only practical way to both machine and hand stitch the surface. When thats done the side seams will get sewed back up again.

The cotton broadcloth will be stenciled before the bands are cut. The broadcloth is new, unused fabric and I'll have to wash the coat before sewing the bands on. It doesn't have any odour but the fabric is quite dirty.

This is the place I'm up to as as I write this blog. After publishing this in a moment I'll be getting out the textile paints and stencils to do some printing on the broadcloth.

You'll see the results of that in my next blog. 

Murrurundi 14/03/19, over the fence

Before coming to the studio this morning I took the picture above looking over the fence into my neighbours back yard.

giving my own halo a bit of a polish...

Steam is coming out of my ears again…Two weeks ago I decided to bite a bullet I’ve been dodging for ages and get on Instagram. With the bullet lodged in my teeth I’ve been enthusiastically signing myself up to all the interesting sewing peeps and tags. Theres masses and masses of tags for sustainability, ethical sewing, recycling, upcycling….rah de rah. However I soon had that horrible sinking feeling you get when you scratch the surface a bit and find your million carat diamond ring is a chip of ornery glass. On closer investigation its apparent so many of them are just green washing pretenders.

I call this the Kermit Syndrome, cos its hard to be green….

Sigh….there is no point in spending my life screeching like a banshee and pointing my claw. I think the best thing I can do is try to regularly remind people what the issues are and educate, educate, educate….

Big point I want to remind people about today is the virtue of buying and consuming local. Buy things that are produced as close to home as possible. You might hope that a big shiny halo is lighting up over your head if you buy something made in a third world country by a village artisan….but if it had to travel 10,000km in big jet plane half away across the world to end up in your high street gift shop….then it’s neither ethical or sustainable. Though I’ll concede its probably a tiny bit more virtuous than buying something plastic from Kmart made in a ginormous polluting Chinese factory…

I don’t want to lecture or harangue and least of all paint myself as a shiny beacon of virtue. Let me own here I continue to buy things and do things that contribute to our waste and pollution problems. But I do it consciously and in other ways try to compensate for those decisions. So by all means if you want to buy something you’re well aware is over packaged, made from synthetic materials and produced in dubious circumstances in a third world country and you don’t care, or think the consequences are somebody elses responsibility to fix – go right ahead and enjoy your purchase. You will dismiss anything I have to say here as the demented ranting of an old hippie crone who fried her brain on illicit substances…(!!!???)

This is the main source of where I get fabrics and clothes to upcycle into the garments I make.

This is a picture of Vinnies Murrurundi, where I was an hour ago sourcing some stuff to upcycle. I like the way Vinnies obviously don't spend a lot on pretentious presentation of the shop front!

Inside the shopfittings and displays are just as unpretentious!

A cabinet of goodies. I get lots of beads, plastic and metal components to upcycle into adornments from this area

After 15 minutes this is my collected booty - a green cotton rug and a magnificent piece of vintage blue/beige brocade from the dog blanket pile @ $1 a piece, 6 skeins of knitting yarn @ $3, a brass bangle for 50c,  2 metres of cotton batik fabric @ $2,  4-5 metres of beaded trim @ $2, the 5x china bowls @ $3, jumper @ $2.....total spent $14.50

wow, pretty china!

The area for sheets and doona covers. I get most of my fabrics for sampling for $2-5 from what is offered here. Sometimes I come across really special ones that have been suitable for lining or making an entire art garment, with the addition of stenciling, applique, stitching etc....

the lovely volunteer Vinnies check out lady showing a jumper I bought

When I got home I added the bowls to my kitchen cabinet of wholly thrift shop collected kitchen ware, except I must confess the glazed dinner plate on the far right is from a 6 piece dinner setting that was a Xmas gift from a friend.

shearing the old mutton

I spend most of my days cutting into fibre and I don't draw the line at applying the scissors to my own head.

eeeek, that awful hair must go...

The last few days I've been fed up seeing my awful dowdy grey hair in the pictures I've been showing...I haven't been to a hairdresser for 18 months. Though that's no record for me as I didn't go for 10 years when I had dreadlocks. I cut them off 12 years ago as they were almost waistlength but rotting off at the ends. Ten years is long enough to have same hairstyle anyway.

There has always been an issue lately about getting to the hairdresser - I'm too busy, too poor or there has just been too long a wait to get appointment.

This is certainly not the first time I've cut my own hair.

Try it, its fun!

How to cut the mustard

Yesterday I was thrilled to find this fabulous piece of woven cotton cloth in my local Vinnies. This 1.8m long piece of mustard and black fringed fabric cost $3. Hard to tell how old it may be and there was no label attached to identify where it was made. Usually these lengths are made in India but this one had such a distinctly tribal look I wondered if it might have been South American or African. However old it is, it's in perfect condition; unfaded, no stains or holes and probably never washed because the cotton is still has a stiff hand.

me in the retail area of my studio with the Vinnies $3 woven cotton cloth

The new pattern I'm working on is going to be called the Jorja Coat. I've just finished a knit sample and this lovely mustard cloth seemed to have great potential for the next sample which needed to be in a woven fabric. I could see the potential to incorporate the lovely fringed edge along the back and fronts of the Jorja Coat.

Jorja pattern pieces laid out on the woven cloth prior to cutting to incorporate the fringed edge

this is my knit sample for the Jorja Coat

After cutting the fronts and back in the mustard cloth I needed to choose a contrast fabric for the sleeve and front bands....black seemed the logical choice....as usual. Because it seemed such a predictable choice I decided to take a risk to try something different and pulled out a selection of pieces from my collection of vintage upholstery fabrics. I picked out the tapestry at the top of the picture below that has the small circular motifs to cut as bands.

the 4 fabrics on the right are pieces of salvaged cloth from thrift shops

Below are pictures of the finished Jorja Coat in the woven fabric. I was really pleased with how cutting the natural fringed edge of the original fabric made a wonderful feature on the finished garment. I was also pretty happy with the bands. 

Just a reminder!...the cloth and bands that the coat is made from are both thrift shop salvaged fabrics that cost less than $4 in total. The result is a unique art to wear garment that is durable enough to be worn for decades.

front of the Jorja Coat

back of the Jorja Coat

In love with Maynard....

My Maynard Dress is finished…though my version may not be recognisable by its designer Lauren as I’ve taken substantial liberties with the interpretation. The Maynard Dress has only been recently published and designer Lauren of Elbe textiles is currently blogging a sew along so for any of you interested here's the link…

Maynard Dress sew along

When I saw the dress being promoted on Instagram I was immediately taken with it because it was a zero waste pattern and my personal dressing aesthetic is always drawn to styles that are eastern and tribal. When the designer suggested it may need to be altered to suit a wearer of less than 5’5” (162cm) in stature this was another challenge to rise to as I’m 5’6” (165cm) and a bust size larger at 120cm than the largest grade the Maynard is published for. So essentially my figure is – 6”(15cm) shorter and 6” wider than what the dress is best supposed to suit…heh! we shall see!

The instructions are some of the best I’ve ever seen and the many diagrams are large and technically perfectly illustrated. Lauren writes in clear language that is right to the point for each step of the construction. For those new to the concept of “zero waste” the pattern sheet might look quite confounding! However, it is well explained how to apply it to the fabric and how to cut. I did actually diverge from that and cut my pattern into the sections because I wasn’t using a flat, smooth, continuous piece of textile under the pattern. As outlined in my previous blog I patched fabrics together to make the rectangle of 216cm x 140cm wide that was needed. This made it hard to transfer the markings and chalk lines because my fabric was lumpy and textured with seams so cutting the pattern sections apart to mark them was a more practical method.

I didn’t add any allowances to the side seams for 2 reasons - I knew there was a lot of natural ease allowed for and because I wasn’t going to sew conventional seams which would have taken up 2cm. I used my overlay and sew with 3-step zigzag method which allows for controlled fraying of the cut fabric edges. The seams are only overlaid 1cm so that was going to create a few extra cm of ease all around.

When I sewed the centre back inverted pleat I took note of the designers suggestion that the depth of this could be altered to suit the wearer. I decided to leave the entire middle of the pleat unsewed, sewing it a few cm only at the top and bottom. This allowed for the width of my back and ease of arm movement (always flapping those arms like an old chook). Another annoying thing about being an old chook is having rounded shoulders so I made a little downwards dart on either side of the pleat along the top....voila…the top back now accommodated the hunchback of Murrurundi…

alterations I made to the back

The fronts were constructed as per the pattern without alteration. However, I did add a large triangle gusset at each back shoulder arm opening to allow for my rippling biceps. This an alteration the designer takes into account that may be needed by some people and it is well explained how to go about this. I found it easy to do and a very satisfactory solution to getting a good fit at the armhole.

The length suits me just fine, hemlines above the ankle and at lower calf are my preference so I didn’t add anything to the original pattern.

I did sew a button high on the left breast and a loop to the edge of the right front so it could be looped up to hang off the button. This was done just because I like the folds that are created by doing that and served no other practical purpose. The dress folds very well over the bust and didn't require any closure for modesty. In the picture you can see another button at the centre front, but once again that was only added for embellishment. Where the dress crosses over it stays and doesn't need any assistance from closures.

Here's a picture of how the dress crosses over and is tied at the side...

 I finished the hem by turning it to the outside and over sewing it with all the tiny little strips that were cut off the sides of the fabric when the pieces were cut out at the beginning.  This may sound quite ditzy but I really liked the effect. Over time, as the garment is worn and washed I hope that lots of fibre will fray off to make it like a fuzzy braid.

Worn as a coat with front untied....

I like the garment worn either as a dress or loose and open as a coat. I will sell this first version of the Maynard but are definitely planning to add several versions in the future to my own wardrobe.  

The first make for March

I enjoyed the process of making the Murra Coat and thanks to all those who followed the journey and especially those who took a moment to comment. As a textile artist making one of a kind garments is a significant part of my daily practise and if they get sold its an important source of income. If you’re interested in being the proud owner of this piece of art to wear the Murra Coat is listed for sale in my Etsy shop at the moment.

Boho Banjo art to wear

For the last few weeks I’ve perservered trying to involve myself in Instagram. It’s always challenging for me to learn new things due to the cognitive weirdness of being autistic, especially exacerbated when it involves being in communities of people. Fortunately communicating on the interwebs means no hugs, air kisses or eye contact, all things I find quite distasteful. However, adding my yammer to Instagram means that is another way you can keep up to date with what I make in the studio and new PDF patterns I publish…If this interests you here is the link to follow me.

pearlredmoonart on Instagram

Yesterday I came across a picture on Instagram of this intriguing dress by the indie pattern company Elbe Textiles. When I looked into it I discovered Elbe is an Australian business located in Perth and the designer is Lauren. The dress I saw is this lovely PDF pattern – the Maynard dress. Not only is the dress beautiful but it’s a zero waste pattern! So straight away I wanted to investigate this ethical and sustainable driven business and was very impressed. The website is beautifully presented and Laurens designs are fabulous. I bought the Maynard dress PDF and embarked on my new project yesterday.

Elbe Textiles Maynard dress, is a PDF sewing pattern

Not only did I like the Maynard dress for its aesthetic but being a zero waste garment meant it is made from a rectangle of fabric that it is completely used, without any offcut wastage. This is a wonderfully sustainable use of fabric and I wanted to investigate how well I could use this concept to use up some of the fabric wastage in my studio. I never throw any fabric out, except for perhaps the smallest shreddy edges and miniscule scraps. Everything that is more than about 10cm square is saved for re use. For my interpretation of this design the intention is to make a rectangle of fabric that is patched together from large offcuts and pieces of scrap fabric.

The first stage to make a new garment, for me, is always to rummage around and collect all the textiles I think will combine well together. So this is the pile I gathered on the work table. My favourite and inspiration piece was the stripey cotton table cloth I bought at Scone Vinnies on Tuesday. Its the 3rd piece on the top right. This lovely wash softened, slightly worn and faded piece of fabric measured 120cm x 180cm and cost $2. As soon as I read Lauren didn’t recommend striped or directional fabric for the Maynard design – heh! I knew I wanted to use lots of stripes.

my selection of fabrics to make my Maynard dress

I decided to cut mostly thick strips of fabric and overlay them and sew with the wide 3 step zigzag in the method I use a lot. This allows the fabrics to fray a bit on the cut edge. It is also very economical with the use of fabric as there aren’t any seams turned to the inside. I was going to make the largest version of the Maynard dress, size I, which fits Bust 116cm. This was still going to be a size too small for me, I’m an Aus size 20 and my bust is 120cm, but of course, I’m in no way daunted to upsize the garment. I’m also considering perhaps adding a sleeve, but will wait to see how the dress works as a layering piece with a teeshirt or other sleeved top worn underneath before making the decision.

To make the dress I needed a rectangle measuring 140 x 216cm. So by the end of my working day yesterday I’d pieced the fabrics shown in the picture below.

In my next blog in a day or 2 you'll see how things are progressing

Murra Coat finished, part 4

I finished the Murra Coat a couple of days ago and here are the pictures. Adding the front bands makes such a difference.

front of the finished Murra Coat

various pieces laid out to patch together for the bands

Above is a picture of the bands laid out on my worktable before they were attached to the jacket. They are simply long rectangular strips. I pieced together several pieces of the various fabrics and stencil prints to maintain the patched together consistent look of the coat.

As you can see from the picture above the finished length is almost to the knee on me. I'm 165cm(5' 6") tall. I made the longest length and the largest size XL options of the Wiksten Haori Jacket. 
When I cut the back of the jacket I was amazed how LARGE it seemed and felt sure it would be way too big for me...However, I was mortified to discover it fits very well on me! How big is my bum! The fit is loose but just right for wearing over layers of clothes underneath.

Just a reminder that this coat is made ENTIRELY from thrifted, upcycled fabrics. If I hadn't collected them they would have soon ended up in landfill or in the bags of rags that Vinnies provide to tradespeople (and then into the waste stream soaked with paint, oil or other chemical). Its hard to estimate a very precise cost of the materials that were used. For example I only used 1/3rd of the fabric salvaged from the $6 doona cover used for the coat lining. About 2/3rds of the tapestry cotton table runner which is the lower back of the coat was used, the runner cost $2. The square embroidered indian cushion cover forming the centre back cost $1. The table runner used for the left side front and in various other places was a set of 2 and only about 3/4 of one runner was used, the set cost a $1. Other pieces of vintage upholstery fabrics were patches cut from a big bundle of 7-8 pieces bought for $5. One of those pieces was more than 2 metres, the total meterage of all the fabrics in the original bundle would have been more than 10. A few months ago I blogged with pictures of one of my Zambeesi Jackets where you can see some of the same fabrics have been used. The best I can estimate the materials used to make this coat would have cost is around $12 - $15.

dress smart

Once again a report from the major charity Oxfam reminds fashion consumers that their purchasing decisions matter when it comes to the exploitation of 3rd world workers in the clothing industry

Sydney Morning Herald

Oxfam Made in Poverty report

Why do I care?
The globalisation of the clothing manufacturing industry affected my work and income in the 1990s. I was a sewing outworker working from home supporting my son and I from that work. As an immigrant from New Zealand I wasn't able to claim any social security benefits from the Australian govt for 10 years so if I wasn't able to work there was no falling back on any hardship pensions from the govt.

Here is a paragraph excerpt from something I'm writing about my life

I emigrated to live in Australia in 1986 with my 6 year old son and worked from home doing sewing outwork with an occasional contract for patternmaking. This work supported us for almost the next decade. Regrettably the 1990s was the beginning of the end of the home sewist contractor. The clothing industry was going global as protectionist regulations that had existed for decades were removed and local manufacturers moved their work overseas where they could employ workers in 3^rd world countries for a tiny percentage of what local workers were paid. By the mid 1990s I had to throw my hands up in despair as I could no longer make a living wage. I’d been working 10-12 hours on piecework and only earning $40-50 a day. At one stage I was getting paid $5.50 per dress for a designer dress that was retailing for $195. This dress took 1 ½ hours to sew and each one had to be returned steam pressed and bagged to the factory. It was the end of being my own sweatshop slave as the future for home sewing outwork became unsustainable economically. I was only one of tens of thousands of home based workers and small workshops that had to shutter up as we competed for less and less work.

I'm not suggesting you should stop buying clothes at the stores that source their products from overseas. I'm just urging you to cultivate awareness of how your buying power can directly affect the lives of the real people (mostly women) who labour full time with their hands to make an income not sufficient for dignity or their needs. Investigate where the clothes are being made and find out what that stores/companies policies are to support their overseas workers. Make decisions not to buy the products if you feel uncomfortable about the situations of their production.

What you buy is an ethical decision because:
1) your purchase helps that company make a profit and encourages them to maintain their manufacturing source
2) the reason some clothes are "cheap" is due to the workers who actually make them with their hands and sweat only getting a tiny proportion of the making cost.
3) the "real" costs of production have been obscured up until the present day because it has been politically unpalatable to factor in the costs to the environment, such as water, the chemicals applied to keep the soil artificially productive, the costs of mechanisation and the polluting side effects of the fuel used to cultivate and move the product sometimes tens of thousands of miles from its site....The world is in the beginning stages of experiencing what the real cost has been as our climate changes irrevocably.

Choose and buy wisely. Don't clothe yourself with the Emperors duds...

Dressing up part 3

Today I'm getting very close to finishing the upcycled jacket. It needs a name rather than that broad description so it's going to be referred to as the Murra Coat from now on. Here's a picture of where I finished up by the end of yesterday. Saturday, it was a super busy day in the studio with a half dozen visitors stopping by for a chat (hello Yoni! Inga!) so I only ended up doing about 3 hours work on it.

Murra coat, day 2 after about 8 hours work

As you can see the pockets have been added and the sleeves attached. The side seams will stay open for a while yet as I need to work on it flat. This way it goes under the machine foot plus hand stitched details can be added with ease. Only the bands need be added to the fronts and around the neck.

Right sleeve, folded with underarm seams meeting. The cuff is turned back

the right sleeve flattened out

Above are some close ups of one of the sleeves. The cuff is intended to turn back so I sewed a fabulous wide piece of vintage Indian embroidered edging with elephants on the inside of the sleeve. Look closer to notice some more details like the bit of running stitch embellishment in between the zigzag stencil prints and along the bottom of that stenciled piece is a twisted strip cut from a knit teeshirt. That was 2 narrow strips twisted into a thick cord and sewed on with 6 strands of DMC embroidery thread. I'll add a lot more of that particular very textured detail to other areas of the coat before its finished.

These kind of applied details maketh the art....

I'll be showing where things are at with the Murra Coat later on today or tomorrow morning.