Taking Out the Pieces

I'm in a finishing mood so I took out pieces of a project that may be near completion.

And took the time to admire the work. I "embellished" a commercial fabric.

The pockets:

A bit like talking to an old friend...

An Odd Bit of Creativity, 3

The idea of stitching a tiny Jibba (traditional outer garment for Tunisian men) came to me around fifteen years ago. And then a 12" armature came into my possession recently, reviving this idea. 

The frame was something else that I changed to fit my needs. I added metal wires for wild hair.



Then I cut out a pattern. I will make the Jibba a bit large for shrinkage as it will be a wild needle turn appliqué design, not at all traditional. Actually, it won't look at all like a Jibba, which has a specific style of embroidery around the neckline and edges to reinforce them. Yeah, men wear embroidery. Isn't that a refreshing thought? 

An Odd Bit of Creativity, 2

The concept of a plump potholder does not exist in Tunisia. Since I must grab playtime a few minutes here and there lately, potholder recycling seemed a good time to play. 

I started with two weary and stained potholders that were way too thin, although I was happy to have found them. Or maybe someone else found them for me...Anyway, they looked bad.

I just stitched on scraps and didn't even bother with a binding.

There's still the other side to do. More fun later.

And when I see them hanging on the kitchen wall, I'm delighted. 

Neither pretty nor ugly, just useful. No expectations, just utility--what a relief.

Holiday Cat

A bit of holiday spirit. Remembering and documenting very early work. My daughter sent me a photo of the Cat that now resides in her home and comes out every December.

I designed this in the late 1980s. Very bright. The holly fabric came from the States. For awhile I did a lot of machine embroidery onto patchwork--pillows and the like. I still have the cams for my little Singer. I made a number of these cats for gifts and also in different colors. This cat originally lived with my folks. The machine embroidery was labor intensive.

Having posted this here, I'm thinking I'd like to create a similar cat now. Bring the past into the present. How would it turn out? It's a nice shape to play with. It would have to be much faster, as I want to be working on the pomegranates. Yet, I think I'd like to play around with those cams again; they've collected a lot of dust. As usual, too many ideas and not enough time.