A Stitcher's Bender, Part 2

Here at home I have a well appointed studio, but I am often distracted by life's everyday events and duties. The Artist in Residence position at Searsport Shores helps to focus my attention for the week, and re-calibrates me when I arrive home.

When I wasn't helping others with their stitching last week I was cruising along with my own stitching.

Monday I stitched a dress with an elastic waist. The top is cut from some thrifted cotton, the bottom is cut from a linen blend. This dressform is seemingly a size 0. I am not. The bulk of the dress is clipped up behind her.

Tuesday I stitched a denim skirt, a copy of a favorite. 

Wednesday I stitched a buttoned shirt.

Thursday I stitched a smock.  I knit the slub cotton scarf on my knitting machine on Sunday evening, and the pin is a gift from Thea. I've worn this shirt three times since, easily my favorite.

Friday I stitched a mustard linen skirt. I am convinced mustard goes with anything. The scarf was knit on Thursday, and the sleeveless shirt was stitched at home just before my trip.

And when I was all stitched out I wandered the campground, a lovely mellow place.

Puff the Magic Dragon sung by the Airstream people.

I hope you take some time to focus on your stitches this summer. 

A Stitcher's Bender, Part 1

Searsport Shores Ocean Campground was my home last week as Artist in Residence. It was a super productive week of stitching for me and many campers as well. Today I'll share photos of some of the campers' work. I regret not snapping a picture of every item that walked out the door -- there were some outstanding stitches!

Abbie made a lap blanket for Shaila.

Shaila made a penguin.

This is the studio busy with stitchers. The theme of the week was to celebrate the humble stitch.

Michael made a goober ball.

Avery loved the goober ball.

Elise made a sea star.

Avery's stitches were so beautiful we photographed them before turning her bear right side out. 

And her bear wears a custom sweater.

Elise made a whale.

Grace made this chubby bear that made my family say "Ohmigod, it's so cute!"

Elise fashioned two sweaters for her pinkguin.

Ella jumped right in to hexagon piecing and appliqued it to a pillow.

Sarah made this mouse with a fondness for cheese.

Avery stitched a butterfly.

Maggie's blue bear is wearing a sarong knit by Amy. 

This is Amy's first knitting. Ever!

Maggie is a champion stitcher with a big future in stitching if she wants it. 

I fixed a hole in the screen.

Many more inspiring projects were produced by stitching families from New Hampshire, Indiana, and Indiana (I met two families from Indiana in one day -- they did not know each other, and they both had daughters that showed hogs in 4H). 

Thanks to all for a grand week! I am feeling industrious and I hope you are too.

A Stitcher's Wardrobe: Sleeveless Shirt

I have a 10 x 13 envelope labeled "favorite shirt parts". In it I keep all the parts and pieces for standard shirts -- various collars, scoop neck fronts, regular fronts, facings, sleeves, and dart templates. In order to create ease across the back of my shirts, I have modified the back pattern piece to feature small darts that run perpendicular to the shoulder seam.

I typically shy away from sleeveless shirts -- I feel fleshy in them. This sleeveless shirt with its broad back and high underarms covers those mushy folds of skin where my arms join my body. Phew. And a vintage silhouette is always good in my book.

This fabric was purchased at the Salvation Army sale for a dollar. I love using inexpensive fabric for a first iteration -- the results are sometimes wonderful, and the cost of learning is affordable.

My sewing output is about to explode, and I am thrilled! I am spending next week at Searsport Shores Ocean Campground as Artist in Residence, a highlight of my summer. Like last year, I will be sewing a complete garment each day. Come see what goes into making clothing, and join in the fun. Learn simple hand stitching, construction, and how to mend your own clothing. Let's celebrate the humble stitch.

A Stitcher's Wardrobe: Brooches and Hankies

I am a sucker for vintage brooches and hankies. They are inexpensive and charming, and easily found at thrift shops, antique stores, and flea markets. 

A brooch adds light and whimsy to any outfit. 

A hanky is a practical accessory and a most thoughtful gift for a girlfriend, especially a girlfriend who is hurting. I keep a stack clean and pressed for gifting. Slip a pretty number into the hand of a dear before a funeral -- actions are easier than words.

Checking in on my year's To Do list, I have loads of good fun ahead of me, and some behind me: 

Old skills: Hand knit and write patterns, machine knit, screen print, sew on the Bernina, serge with the Husqvarna, serge and mock chain on the Siruba, acid dye, fiber reactive dye, weave, *spin, paint, full or felt, trim, thrift, reclaim or refashion.

New challenges: Discharge print, design my own fabric at Spoonflower, embroider, crochet, pompom & tassel, applique & patchwork.

Garments: *Cardigan sweater, sweater vest, pullover sweater, scarf, hat, mittens, coat, dress, shirt, skirt, *leggings, tee, pants, *socks, slip, undershirt, bike shorts, apron, handkerchief, and brooch.

* work in progress

Pants. Why did I say pants?

I Heart Machines, and I am Not Alone

Imagine the equipment you would have in your own dream textile studio. Now imagine more equipment: Think big, this is a fantasy. Next, dream up a large well lit space with jumbo tables, background music, and upbeat busy people, not too many, but enough to make your day. Throw in a well mannered dog.

A Gathering of Stitches in Portland, Maine is the place you just dreamed of. I went for the first time last weekend and was instantly smitten.

I took a Knitting Machine Restoration workshop at AGOS. We tore our machines down and became intimate with their innards, greasy fiber boogers and all.

We scrubbed out the crud with various tools, removed worn parts, wrote shopping lists for replacements, and oiled. And then we oiled some more.

Not only does the instructor have a wealth of experience with the machines (she was a product developer for Land's End and L.L.Bean), her love of the machines and calm and confident approach put us all at ease.

My Singer 360 was a gift from my parents when I was sixteen years old, and came with weekly lessons. It is all reassembled and working smoothly. I am pumped to know it well again. I want to know what every button can do. I am not certain what my parents' idea was, but I think it worked.

AGOS has is an industrial sewing machine for leather: I have intentions, a crush quite frankly.

And this secret little gem is on my short list for this year, all restored and ready for someone like me to master it. Socks are on my wardrobe list, and just between you and me, I have one hand knit sock finished ... and the other one will get done, but I will be distracted now that I have seen this.

A Stitcher's Wardrobe: Pullover Sweater

This sweater has been 95% done for a couple of weeks or more. Sometimes I stall out at the end for various reasons.  In this case the neckline was reworked several times.  But sometimes I think I am not ready to let go of a project -- that might also be the case here.

I knit this from the bottom up, joined the sleeves at the base of the yoke, and worked the front, back, sleeve caps and saddles all at once. The math was enchanting.  I used standards for sleeve circumference, armhole depth, and shoulder width.  As a gal with non-angular proportions (and I know I am not alone in my figure type), I would like to see the effect of this same sweater knit with a narrower yoke and fuller sleeve caps.

The yarn is from my brother-in-law's sheep and a llama or two, spun into a 2-ply at MacAusland's, and dyed in my basement. This clip is especially hairy, like maybe someone's shipment to the wig factory was misplaced. Which makes me love it even more.

The buttons are vintage, and I am smitten with their largeness and proximity. In my next iteration I will move the buttons alongside the placket and make loops instead of buttonholes. I will also steepen the angle of the neckline where it meets the saddle.

The shaping is located almost under the arms, like a cereal box.

In other news, Project Two-Houses-into-One is progressing beautifully. I am sitting in a newly painted lovely knitter's nest. The sorting, culling, and improvements throughout our home are distracting and liberating.

Style Influences and Lack Thereof

I've been thinking hard lately about my design roots -- why do I have such a compulsion to make, and what influences my personal style?

I make because I was raised a maker, by makers. My Mom stitched and weaved and gardened and cooked and baked. My Dad built a tree house and a go-cart (and roads for the go-cart) and a train table and a loom. And that's just my parents -- the rest of my family were makers too.

My style is influenced by nostalgia. I had a simple childhood of sticks and dirt, hand-me-downs, one tattered Pendleton shirt, needles and thread, and four older brothers and sisters that treated me like gold.

We spent our weekends at our woods camp, off the grid, climbing trees and swimming in our pond. If I had forgotten a swim suit my mother said, "Just swim in your underwear". Surely this was not what my friends did, but whatever, okay.  Little did my Mom know what this would lead to.

One Friday when I was a Sophomore in college my friend Jen came to my door and said, "Tonight a couple of the boys downstairs are streaking through the quad. Think about it -- last year you would not dare go streaking because you were a Freshman. Next year you will not go streaking because you will not live here. This is your single opportunity."

Guess who went streaking through the quad that night.

In the following months there was a spate of streakers (not me, I had met my requirement), and when the weather got warmer we resorted to jumping into the Lamprey River at Wiswall Bridge, swim suits optional.

On a dark night my friend Paul was standing at the bridge railing talking to a really pretty gal, a really pretty naked gal. Paul was short like me and tongue tied around girls. I did not want to miss this. But he had drunk some liquid courage, and I was stunned by how cool and collected he was, chatting about class and such. And then the girl climbed onto the railing. Paul's mouth dropped open and his eyes grew huge. He grabbed my arm and blurted, "OH-MY-GOD-SHE'S-NAKED!"

I hope you have a grand weekend. (But don't streak because nowadays it'll earn you a sex offender record!)