A LITTLE BIT OF MENDING

I apologize for the cast shadow over these pictures.

It makes my old jeans look really dirty which they aren't.

ha ha

But I wanted to get something posted before you think I'm not here.

So tomorrow if I get better shots I will swap them out.

Anyways,

I wanted to try my hand at a bit of mending,

especially now that it seems to be so in vogue with lots of great books focused on it, 

and lots of cool pix on Pinterest as well.

Above I tried just the basics,

but it didn't do anything for me.

So I searched my Pinterest Stitch Board and found something I liked better below.

I also like the Indigo dyed eyelet fabric I found to use as background.

FRENCH GENERAL INSPIRED

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I spent the weekend with my son and his fiance'.

They asked me where I'd like to visit and I immediately said French General,

a fabulous French based arts, crafts & antique store in downtown L.A.

It was my second visit to this impressive store,

and to really see everything it would take at least an hour.

But I tried really hard to not make the kids wait that long.

  LOL 

I spotted this very cool Boro Tote kit.

It came in Indigo or French Reds.

I asked Zach's fiance' Nicole if she liked the look of the finished tote on the package

and which color she preferred.

She chose the Indigo Blue.

YES!!

I was actually buying it for her mother as a Xmas gift.

Her mother Mary is an outstanding stitcher/quilter/knitter,

but after I brought it home to wrap I just couldn't seem to part with it.

It seemed to be calling to me.

So I ended up getting Mary something else just as nice.

I've been interested in Japanese Boro for about the past 5 years,

researching the techniques,

even looking for an original antique piece to buy to teach with from Japan.

But I've never used the technique myself.

It's a mending process,

used for hundreds of years to patch clothing with.

I rationalized this was my big chance to try it out.

So I kept the kit for myself and worked on it my entire Xmas break and beyond.

I have to be honest,

at first I wasn't a fan,

but the more I stitched the better I liked it.

Hundreds of stitches go into it, 

and I was sewing thru 3 layers of cloth;

the indigo fabrics, many of them overlapped,

a piece of cotton batting and the linen tote,

so sometimes 4 where the overlaps were.

What was really great was that there were leftover Indigo fabrics,

so I used them to make a pocket on the inside (above).

which wasn't part of the original kit instructions.

I also didn't use the stitch patterns they suggested.

In addition,

I wanted the bag to have more structure so I sewed up the bottom corners,

(something else that wasn't in the instructions),

used a piece of Indigo Shibori fabric I had in my stash,

and a piece of plastic netting material,

and made a bottom to support the bag.

All hand sewn and appliqued.

A 7th grader last year had given me an Indigo dyed velvet button he made as a gift.

I saved it and used in on the front along with an antique crochet covered button from my stash.

This Wednesday I'll be attending the courthouse wedding of my son Zach to Nicole,

and it will be one of their many wedding gifts I have planned.

I'm super excited and just can't believe this day is finally here.

We will be flying to Hawaii for their actual destination family/friend ceremony 

so I'm hoping they can use it as their beach/travel bag.

The courthouse wedding is just a technicality 

because the state of California requires it if you are getting married out of state.

This is news to me.

But two celebrations are better than one!

P.S.  I gave the bag a good washing to help fray many of the cloth edges

Look closely at the third photo.

It Had Seen Better Days

This 1980's Guess Jeans shirt served my ex-husband well for many years until he decided to donate it to my school for the students to wear as an apron when they threw on the potter's wheels.

Three decades and several washings later,

my T.A. Josh Berger used it as a mop to clean up Kaili Hamada's accidental tye-dye spill

after I tossed it to him and I said "Hurry before the dye spreads all over the floor".

This all transpired last school year.

So I saved the shirt hoping to do something special with it.

During our Eco-Dye unit this year I looked at the beautiful color in the shirt 

and felt like experimenting over top it with eco-bundling to see what would happen.

I went to my home garden and found lots of possibilities for dye pigment.

Begonias, 

geraniums,

 gardenia leaves, 

mandevilla blossoms,

dandelions,

and other interesting plants and flowers.

I bundled it over a copper tube

 and steamed it for a couple hours,

then let it sit outside the classroom door for a couple of weeks to stew and do it's thing.

After a couple more washings,

with many hours spent stitching embroidery designs on collar,

pocket top lapels,

and cuffs...

I gave this bad boy to Josh this year for his Christmas present.

(he has since graduated and is now my second paid assistant,

coming in a couple hours a week to help me with the heavy stuff)

Below is a better pix of the colors. 

It was worn thru in a couple of places,

so I did a bit of Boro stitching to patch it back together.

And since the eye enjoys asymmetry, 

I stitched a bit differently on each section,

but still managed to tie it all together visually...

thru repetition and color.

The bits of cotton sting I used to stitch with were actually eco-dyed right with the shirt so they would flow.

I told Josh he couldn't open his present till Xmas with his family, 

so I'm hoping he will like it,

and that it fits.

Wouldn't it be cool it he wears it when he comes back in January?

These are my favorite kinds of surprises to give at the Holidays.