Visible Mending as an art form.

June 13, 2014 thecraftsessions

I’ve been known to swear about the mending pile. I’m sure many of you are with me. I avoid it and wait till it builds up – aaaand finally get around to it when it is absolutely necessary.

However after years of having little kids I have come to love the fact that a bit of creative mending means that I am able to extend the life of their clothes in a way that non-menders can’t*. One way that I do this is to add cuffs to things like the top below. This was a size four that I purchased for him when he was 3, that he is still wearing at 7. I call that a win. It's longevity has come with a very small price and that is maintenance. Small boy puts a hole in it and I put a patch. You will notice the difference in the pictures between the top patch and the bottom. Same fabric for cuffs, patch on the sleeve and patch on the bottom but each patch has a different type of mending. There is a third that you can't see.

*What do people do about leggings in real life. Those cheeky things seem to breed holes. Do they just chuck them? Btw - All photos today except for the top two are new and were thoughtlessly taken in the tent. The tent is blue inside - which means w… — *What do people do about leggings in real life. Those cheeky things seem to breed holes. Do they just chuck them? Btw - All photos today except for the top two are new and were thoughtlessly taken in the tent. The tent is blue inside - which means we have super whacky light that no amount of creative Lightroom work could fix. Squint a bit maybe. It might help?

The fact that I can extend the life of their clothes so much, means that I am able to love the product that comes out of the process of mending. However, I admit that I still struggle with the process. Which leads to today's post - I have just read about a new way to think about it….

It came from something I read on the Fringe Association the other day about a course Karen did on "Boro and Embroidermending". And as part of that course she talked about the idea of visible mending. And those words - visible mending and embroidermending changed something for me. Karen's post is about a shift in her thinking, which in turn has caused a slightly different shift in mine.

Now I generally do visible mending as I am a little bit too lazy and not skilled enough to do invisible mending. But what I love about this idea, is that it is taking visible mending and with a little shift to my thinking, making it a thing of beauty rather than simply ease or utility. I started thinking about the idea of visible mending as crafting - or as another art form if you will. Rather than a mending as a hassle, I could make mending part of my craft. Thinking about enhancing a garment as part of the mending process should ultimately make it more enjoyable? I'm going to try it and see.

These were favourite small person jeans (that are BRIGHT red) that have been fixed once about 9 months ago. I have avoided this one quite a bit second time around.

Patches on top of patches on the super messy back.

If you need a little inspiration for your mending pile have a look at these lovelies on pinterest. Especially these as they are amazing!

How do you feel about mending? Avoid it, love it? Swear about it or does it make your heart sing from the sheer utility of your work?

Felicia x

PS. My apologies (again) - today was supposed to be a post about the extra workshops at the retreat this year. Unfortunately we have had a little car trouble this week and I haven't had time to finalise the post. Soon I hope - Rex is fixed and we are back on the road tomorrow.

Part 3 - I was totally wrong about patchwork!

May 16, 2014 thecraftsessions

The quilt top. Image used courtesy of Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts

This is the third installment in this little mini-series and probably the last. (If you haven't read Part 1 and Part 2 you might want to backtrack as I describe just how wrong I've been and why). In this one we tackle the thing I’ve found the trickiest to love - that is the use of lots of printed fabrics in quilts. But again, over the last few years I have found more and more examples of quilts I love, that have this characteristic. There are beautiful examples of this kind of patchwork all over the place if you just start looking….

This style of patchwork involves the cutting up of a beautiful print and putting it next to another beautiful print – sometimes in a traditional pattern and sometimes not. And the thing that I have found tricky about it in the past, is the sense of overwhelm I feel. Sometimes it feels visually a bit too much – but I think that was because I was looking at the wrong quilts. Done right this can bring so much life and depth to a quilt.

So I thought I would show you just a few examples to demonstrate how mixing printed fabrics can be done in a way that is thoughtful, considered and ultimately stunning.

I haven't had quite enough time to gather all the permissions I wanted to to use other people photos so this post is a little link heavy. Still I hope that you enjoy the assortment of quilts I have pulled together that yet again demonstrate how wrong I was about patchwork!

Simple Traditional

First up – those of you that have followed The Craft Sessions over the last year will probably realize that I have a little crush on Naomi Ito’s Nani Iro fabrics. Little is possibly an understatement. I have just a small pile which I occasionally dive into when I’m feeling brave.

And that is how I came across today’s first quilt. I was looking for things to do with double gauze. I wanted to see how it would work best – a garment or a quilt. I remember seeing this quilt for the first time and thinking “wow!! that is clever”. And it is. It is the use of the print to enhance the simple design. It is the fact that there is quiet in the quilt. It is the simplicity of it – the use of a traditional pattern in a simple way using beautiful fabrics to make something stunning.

The finished quilt by Siobhan Rogers - photo used courtesy of Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts

And then after a little digging I discovered that the quilter is Australian Siobhan Rogers of Beaspokequilts. Her work has been featured in magazine after magazine and she seems to just have an incredible output. You can find more of her gorgeous work at her blog or her instagram.

This simple traditional square cross quilt comes from Leslie who we will talk about some more below. And I wanted to include it because I love the simplicity of it.

Click this link for another gorgeous quilt that is simply a collection of squares by Alessandria Taccia. And click here for a beautiful, more complicated star quilt that is so very pretty.

And then this stellar quilt by Toshiko Jinzenji. It is crazy good.

Old School Traditional

If you like the idea of Old School Traditional quilts but want something considered and modern then you can't go past the lovely Karyn of Make Something. Karyn runs a shop called The Workroom in Toronto and has consistently made quilt after amazing quilt for years. Watching her work over the last few years and the work of her teachers and students, has been a big part of my patchwork turnaround. So thanks Karyn!

If you go back through her flickr pages or join her instagram you will find inspirational quilt after inspirational quilt after inspirational quilt.

Improvisational

Next quilt style up is totally different in it’s style - freestyle quilting.

The first example is by one of our awesome teachers Leslie Keating of Maze and Vale. Leslie designs and prints her own fabrics and then uses them in her improvised patchwork quilts. She taught this style of patchwork at last year’s event and had people raving about “freedom” and “joy” and …. Have a look at some photo’s here.

Image used courtesy of Leslie Keating of Maze and Vale.

I think the thing that really makes Leslie’s quilts quietly sing is that fact that her fabrics all have a similar tone to them. I love the use of different neutrals and the different basecloths. And then there is the style. I love an improvised quilt – but it isn’t something I think I would feel free enough to do. Leslie's Improv technique achieves these random unplanned and stunning results.

Photo of a quilt from The Craft Sessions 2013 class taught by Leslie.

Another quilt that demonstrates this style beautifully is by the lovely Siri Hayes. Siri is my friend. She is an amazing artistic photographer but one of the benefits of being her friend means that I also get to see some of her amazing craft work. The woman is clever. And one place she always floors me is her use of colour.

Siri took Leslie’s class last year and put together a beautiful quilt top that I was a little obsessed with. And then just before I left, I went for craft night at her house and saw another one she was putting together and it is just stunning. This is one of those times when someone’s inate (or learned?) understanding and use of colour is what makes the quilt top sing. I asked her to take some photos for me. They don’t do it justice –said with total love for the quilt as the photos are gorgeous. There is always a subtlety to what makes the colour in a particular work sing. Maybe it goes back to some of the points in my last post or maybe it doesn’t’? I still don’t feel I undertand this one enough. But I love watching other people achieve it. Still so much to learn.

I also love this quilt again by Siobhan that she did in collaboration with the wonderful CLOTH fabrics. Gorgeous colours and use of prints.

Quilt by Siobhan Rogers of Beaspoke Quilts for CLOTH

Three more people/quilts you should look at if you like this style of quilting are

Maggie and Sparrow - An Australian quilt maker with a gorgeous sense of colour. Her colour palates are so interesting to me. They are harmonius and very very calm. But she uses colourways I just wouldn’t think of. Again another person that gets colour.

Lotta Jansdotter's quilt from one of her earlier books.

And have a look at this one by Insung from Namoo here.

And with that I have to get to bed. I think I've mentioned it on each patchwork post but just in case I haven't - if any of these lovely quilts have inspired you to give patchwork a try then please join us at The Craft Sessions this year. The lovely Melissa of Tiny Happy fame is teaching Freedom Patchwork which will have you capable, confident and joyful by the end of the day.

Felicia x

The false economy of not making

April 25, 2014 thecraftsessions

The lovely Claire! Luckily I am a long way away so she can't get mad with me for posting this xx

Just before I left to go on holiday I got to spend a couple of hours with my lovely friend Claire. Those of you who came last year will remember her - she was the gorgeous blonde who looked after you alongside the lovely Anna. So Claire and I were having a chat upstairs at her pretty pretty shop about how there are a lot of things that she doesn't even start knitting because she isn't sure of how they will turn out. And a bit inside my brain started going hmmmm. I started wondering whether I did it and if so how often.

Y'know how it goes. You invest all that time and energy into a project and it doesn't quite turn out how you wanted. This happens to you a few times and then you start getting twitchy about beginning, knowing that the end product might ultimately lead to some dissatisfaction or even borderline physical pain. Some people might start avoiding particular types of projects whereas other people may even give up entirely.

And that probably makes sense. Most people have limited time to make and you don't want to waste it making things that don't work…..

But I've started thinking that not making is totally a false economy. By not making you don't even get the opportunity for it to go right AND you don't get the practice. Each time you make a mistake you learn something - right?

I know I do it. Avoid starting stuff because I'm not sure of the outcome or start but get stuck in the middle. But then I watched this new TED video this week that reminded me that the near miss has real value on the road to mastery. And that mastery is the goal, not success because success is a one time event. And mastery involves improving your skills over time…which can only happen if you get in the game.

There is a life lesson in there somewhere - yes?

I've been thinking about a way forward. The only way for me to get around it in my making is to be super conscious. Going back to that visual diary obviously, but also simply looking at stuff that keeps coming up that I really want to make but don't. And then I almost need to schedule a time to start. Without being that structured avoidance seems to be where I live - and that is not the way forward.

So here is a commitment - this week I am going to start my little fella's quilt. I'm off to iron. Anything you need to start this week?

Felicia x

Part 2 - I was totally wrong about patchwork!

April 22, 2014 thecraftsessions

So this post follows on from Part 1 - I was totally wrong about patchwork! but starts from a "how do they do that? HOW are those quilts so beautiful?" perspective. After explaining how I have fallen in love with patchwork over the last few years, I wanted to take it a step further today and tell you about some of the things I think that make their quilts so amazing. I also feel the need to say that I might totally be stating the obvious in this post - but for me it took some time to figure out what they had in common that I loved - so I thought I would share.

At the end of the post I am going to suggest some other patchworkers/quilters you might like to have a look at and a couple of artists I like who make quilt like art or art that looks like quilts. There are so many other makers out there to inspire you to give patchwork a try.

Form and Composition

Quilts have always been about form and composition. But each of these quiltmakers has put their own stamp on tradition.

Hopewell through their use of simple shapes - some of them remind me of Rothko or Albers paintings - make simple but really interesting quilts combined with what they do with colour. Lindsay Stead does it with her use of traditional patterns at different scales - she talks about her process a bit in this video on her site. Maura just appears to fiddle with traditional patterns and makes magic - she seems to deformalise the formal. And Meg talks about using a traditional methodology and fiddling with it to get her amazing strip quilts.

The Similar Colour Trick

This I think is the key - but I'm finding it tricky to explain. Each one of these quilt makers use this "trick" where the quilts aren't just flat colour. For example instead of using a single dark colour, they use two (or more) very similar colours as their "dark". They use this trick in different but clever ways to make quilts that have so much more depth and life than they would if they just used flat colours.

This is best way to show the similar colour trick is through pictures methinks.

The Georgia quilt below actually uses two different flat cottons - one navy and one black as the "dark" in this quilt. Until I saw this quilt it would never have occurred to me to use two similar colours and especially not navy and black. Seeing this was one of those life altering moments. My reality shifted a little. I mean look at it! It totally blew my mind....how clever does Maura want to be.

She then gets a little cleverer. Maura now uses her own naturally dyed fabrics, which means that the fabric itself has subtle variation in it and isn't flat (this is like the effect of a semi-solid for all you knitters out there). This is beautifully shown in her Idaho quilt below - what could have been quite a dramatic sharp quilt is softened by the use of the naturally dyed fabric. Often there is variation in both the background and the feature colour of her quilts.

Photo's courtesy of Maura Grace Ambrose.

Linday Stead does this thing in many of her quilts, where she uses flat colours but two slightly different shades of the one colour. There are two examples below. This is so simple and yet so effective.

Two different reds - Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead.

Two different background colours - Photo courtesy of Lindsay Stead.

Another one that Lindsay has just finished has just been accepted into Quilt Canada and it shows this perfectly in the background. Have a look at it here - http://instagram.com/p/nDcLdCrc93/

Meg Callahan does this sometimes by using a dyed fabric in just in parts of the quilt - like the red one. Or in the black one below the dyed fabric is used as the dark fabric throughout the whole quilt.

So after seeing that this was a common element to many different makers, I emailed the lovely Anna and asked for some words about why the similar colour trick has such an amazing effect and she said this:

“The use of colours which are harmonious (close to each other on the colour wheel) create a harmony of effect. The contrast is subtle, so the effect is subtle. The colours sit together like good friends. But by having more than one flat colour, the effect creates more interest. There is variety, texture, depth, subtlety of difference.

In the case of the Georgia quilt, it helps create the pattern - it makes it more complicated than if it was one colour. The added detail of the two colours with the floral fabric does this too - adds variety and breaks up the consistency. They create interest and a place for our eyes to settle.”

— Anna Farago via email

There are so many examples of this out there when you start to look.

Contrast (or not)

I talked a little bit about value in my colour post but these people use value so cleverly. Many of the quilts combine the use of high contrast with the use of the similar colour trick. These create quilts that are quite dramatic quilts but because of the similar colour trick, they aren't hard and crisp but instead have a softness to them (in my opinion).

Hopewell use contrast in a different way and often have less contrast combined with a more harmonious colour palate. This create quilts that to me, feel much calmer while still being interesting due to their composition, form and use of multiple shades. Which brings me to ......

Multiple shades with a difference

Claire and Eliza of Hopewell do something similar to the similar colour trick but in a totally different way. They use less subtle differences in colour than the other makers but they do often use multiple shades of a particular colour. These shades are then further varied through the use of prints and patterns and (I think?) shot cottons and chambrays. A shot cotton is one where the warp and the weave are made with different coloured yarns which means the colour changes as you look at it from diffferent angles which provides depth.

For example - when you look at it from a long way away, the background in the quilt on the right looks like a creamy grey. Up close it is a grey dot on a cream background.

This again creates interest but the harmoniuous nature of using shades of one colour give these quilts their simple joy!

Other people you might be interested in

Most of these people I know of via instagram. It is a wonderful resource where many makers are posting about their process. You can learn many things just by looking at the pictures.

Doreshandmade - Uses form and composition, similar colour trick and the multiple shades thing. This one is a lovely example of all that. There is also something else in there that I haven't yet put my finger on.

Counterpane - Handmade quilts and custom handiwork by Pauline Boyd. These quilts are something special and don't fit in with any of the stuff I spoke about above. They are just art really. She uses fabrics from Ilana Kohn and Ace and Jig to produce these beauties. Have a look at her instagram stream as well.

Make Something and The Workroom - Karen's blog is Make Something and her business is The Workroom - she is based in Canada. For years she has consistently surprised me with a more traditional style patchwork that sings. The star I made for the Freedom Patchwork front picture was based on one I saw on a quilt she featured.

The Purl Bee - This is the blog of Purl Soho. These guys are a masterclass of colour and the similar colour trick. Have a look at their quilt page. I've been on their mailing list forever and they just keep coming up with the goods, month after month after month.

Other artists to look up whose work may interest you would be Louise_Bourgeois or Agnes Martin. Also have a look at Ethan Cook. You need to do a google search for images as his website is almost completely bare.

I would love to hear of others I should look at in the comments.

Felicia x

PS. I said it on the last post but in case you missed it - we are teaching patchwork at our retreat in September. The lovely Melissa of Tiny Happy fame is coming from NZ to spend a super day skilling you up in our Freedom Patchwork class.

PPS. Part 3 of this post is now up on the blog.

In praise of a hack job!

April 8, 2014 thecraftsessions

So things have been a little busy around here. With workshops being finalised, and this year's retreat to be launched, and registration to be opened. Which means the normal rambling that goes on around these parts has been a little bit sparse. But hopefully I am back.

The point of today's post is to talk about an oft overlooked tool in your crafty arsenal - the hack job. Loud and proud, I want to say that in spite of my perfectionist tendancies that I LOVE a hack job! Not as an everyday way to operate but as a way to move forward in times of trouble. Let me explain....but first a definition.

The Hack Job: A project in which the finish is the only goal and to get there there is only one speed - fast, and only one direction - forward. While achieving a wearable/useable outcome is still a priority, finishing is the true destination.

With all the busy around here lately, has come some frustrating times re crafting. I have found that either my head is too full to start something. OR if I have a project on the go, then it needs to be simple, or it sits there and sits there and sits there. So what to do....

The first thing I've done is gone back to old favourites like Granny's Favourite and the Geranium Dress because I can make them without-a-single-thought. Because really that is where it is at at the moment - there are no brain cells left for crafting. What is needed is totally craft as comfort!

But I have another tactic that I use in tricky times I thought I would share today and that is where the hack job comes in. It is the perfect antidote to the perfectionist procrastination. Hack job energy often comes on suddenly after a long period of thought/stalling. All of a sudden you just want to get it done. It's almost a feeling of exasperation that I have let it sit for so long. I just want to get it done and out of the sewing room. All the normal rules get thrown out. No going back to fix things, no worrying about a beautiful inside, no worrying about doing my best.

I've talked about my ability to do dodgy craft before, but today I'm going to show you just how dodgy my dodgy craft gets. There are those of you out there who would not feel at all satisfied doing this kind of craft. It would make them twitch. Actually sometimes it makes me twitch... but for those of you who like the idea, I want to say that this kind of sewing is valid. The projects that come out of it are valid and can sometimes be just as satisfying and fulfilling as ones where you have laboured over every stitch.

Two examples for you today. 1. Although things are hectic, I really need some clothes and really really want to finish a dress that has been sitting in the basket for probably six months. Eva is a lovely newish pattern from Tessuti that is an unusual shape for me. One that I hoped would be flattering, loved but after cutting it, felt nervous. The procrastination has been due to fear mainly - all about the perfectionism. Fear that I will have cut the Nani Iro, spent the time sewing it and then won't like it. Fear about the unusual shape. I guess it is about stepping into the uncertainty. And so to get it done I got to the point where I just needed to get it done. I started and was super careful not to loose momentum. I didn't neaten seams. I didn't worry when the pockets were a total mess. I didn't unpick and I didn't redo. I did grimace and occasionally I had to shield my eyes from the mess. But Eva is now a totally wearable garment. A gorgeous dress that has got compliments wherever I wear it of the "what a gorgeous dress" kind. Win.

Total hack job of the pockets. They are actually appalling.

Visible holes if you look up close - but who does that?

Inside of the dodgy pocket. See the big lump....play on!!

And the second example is the tutu in the photo at the top of the post. It sat in the basket for a good few months. It was an old tutu given to us by a friend, that my small person kept trying to wear and get to stay up. She loved it but it was totally unwearable. And I kept thinking I had to fix it properly - maybe redo the shirring and put on some delicate straps before I realised that was insane. And really all I needed to do was to put something together so the kid could wear it. I decided to do it there and then. And all I had on hand was this rather wide elastic.

But it works so well. She loves it. It is super comfortable, super wearable and perfect for twirling. This project has the added advantage of providing joy to others around her. Anyone who sees this schmozzle smiles at her. What is not to love about it.

Now a hack job is completely contrary to how I normally sew. but it is also an incredibly good way to get going again after getting stuck. It ensures that the stuckness doesn't linger and turn into a drought. Performed once in a while, a total hack job really shifts something in me. It shifts the fear it won't be perfect. It gets me sewing again. It reminds me that it doesn't need to be perfect for me to love it. It is incredibly freeing. It is sewing with no rules (other than seam allowances obviously ;)) and sometimes it is what is needed.

Dodgy iphone photo of the half finished frock.

So how about it? The hack job - something you might try? Something you find horrifying? Love to know your other strategies for continuing to craft in times of stress and busy....

Felicia x

PS. I just want to say thanks for all your registrations. I have been blown away by the response. It is going to be a special weekend. x