A Local Shawl

Here's a shawl of which I'm quite proud. The yarn came from a Cormo sheep at Pat Cook's farm, Four Arches. She has a lovely  B and B and I would recommend it if you want a stay in beautiful rural Pembroke Georgia! Pat's flock of sheep and others is kind of a rescue operation, making it even more special!

The yarn was dyed with two different dyes and one pigment. The dyes were madder for the pink color, and osage orange for the mustard shade. Indigo is not a dye, it is a pigment because is in insoluble in water and forms a physical and not a chemical bond with what is dyed.

The pattern I used is Muirburn by Anne Hansen, a variation on a Scottish hap shawl.  I have been a fan of Anne's lace patterns for a long time. 

Stitching with Natalie on Two Skirts

I relearned that I like to stitch.

Several years ago (2018 or 2019)  I was visiting a friend and another acquaintance in Savannah. The friend had a Craftsy membership and started showing us some sample courses. We spent a few minutes on the preview to Natalie Chanin's swing skirt class, which uses cotton jersey, all hand stitching, and reverse applique.  I went home VERY inspired. 

I felt like my creative life had taken a major turn; it was an epiphany. I went home, signed up for Natalie's skirt course. I did one from a kit before undertaking these projects here. I had never used cotton jersey in sewing. What a revelation! You can cut it and embrace the imperfection and beauty of wonky/natural/in the moment stitching!

My first from-scratch skirt in the style of Alabama Chanin. was made with: upcycled tee shirts, a stencil borrowed from Her Majesty Margo, day-glo fabric spray paint (who knew that that existed?) and cotton and metal thread. The pattern is in 4 panels (front and back, left and right), with a turn down waist to form a casing in which to  insert an elastic band.  They are both reversible so you can wear them with stitching side showing!

Margo's stencil being removed from the panel

Panel ready for stitching

Finished skirt!

The following one is a bit more original. At my Guild dye day I decided to dip skirt panels in indigo, using the same pattern as above. I found some unworn white tee shirts at the thrift store.  When I dipped them, I discovered that the indigo left beautiful lines on it, and I took that as my signal to embroider. I wanted to do 2 layers, so I bought some brown jersey for the underside. Two layers make a nice slightly heavier skirt. No reverse applique on this one, though...

My Grandmother's thimble in use on this project. I think she'd like that.

 

Stitching in progress...lines from the cosmic fate thanks to indigo dip, made manifest

Finished skirt!

As our tee shirts cover many miles over the world to reach us, I believe that creating items that we hold on to for long periods of time are important.