Reception for "She was Lost in the Woods and Followed the Sound of Your Waves"

I failed at getting photos while I was talking to people at the opening but it was really nice to see this piece hanging before I shipped it off.

Some of my family did make it! (Thanks mom for posting photos on Facebook).

Deco Wing Bangle

Deco Wing Bangle $90.00

I saw an art deco-looking wing design somewhere online a while back and I was thinking about it while I doodled down some new bangle ideas.  I wanted to make a more "reasonable" sized piece of jewelry, something I could play with color but still have a somewhat lower price point on.

I didn't get a really good photo of this piece because one of the women that was also modeling for us at the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild's Fiber Feast fell in love with it and had to have it.  So it was finished and sold before I even got a chance to wear it!  It seems I need to make another one soon.  

Sometimes you need a new dress for Capital City Film Festival

After finishing my weaving ("She was Lost in the Woods and Followed the Sound of Your Waves") I needed a creative detox.  I popped into East Lansing to Grove Gallery, Saper Gallery and the Broad Art Museum.  Then over the Beggars Banquet, one of my old haunts from when I lived over that way.

I started doodling, thinking about the red carpet event for the Capital City Film Festival and how to show off my new tattoo (a large pair of sewing scissors).  I know I had been looking at a lot of red carpet fashion online from Hollywood and there's always some level of pushing the line of classy/decency.  I decided to try it.

I went home, found fabric that I already had from who knows where...I know the sheer black is from a 1920's themed dress I made in college for Art School Prom, back in 2003. I draped half the dress with this heavy bright salmon stuff that I have a ton of (again, from who-knows-where) and went for it.

I decided if the dress wasn't pretty much done by Tuesday night it wasn't going to be finished. For something like this I like to have a time limit.  I need to make something for myself every once in a while, but I remind myself that I have many other obligations.  Other rules for myself was that I had to use fabric from my current stash, so outside of my time this dress only cost me $5 for the gold zipper I put in the back.

The zipper was in on Tuesday night, which meant I just needed to put in a bottom hem and trim loose threads.  I'm really happy how it turned out.Thanks so much to Facebook and two of the photographers posting for Capital City Film Festival (I pulled photos from their facebook page).

Lansing is full of awesome people! (Photo by Matthew Dae Smith for CCFF) 

(Photo by Matthew Dae Smith for CCFF)    (Photo by Khalid Ibrahim for CCFF)

(Photos by Khalid Ibrahim for CCFF)

(Photo by Matthew Dae Smith for CCFF) 

And, it goes to show that a dress that fits your body correctly (I have a long waist, my dress form doesn't account for), well-placed darts keep things in place.  I did have fabric tape as backup in case I got nervous.

Hive Bangle and Earrings

Hive Earrings $55.00

Among the slew of designs coming out in this year's spring fashion, I've noticed a lot of geometric patterns.  The first two patterns that always some to mind for my own designing are checkers and hexagons.  The hexagons come from my dad beekeeping and prolonged exposure to honeycomb, that sweet, addictive sugar that only honeybees can make.

Hive Bangle $320.00

So when I'm a little stumped and just want to play and create, I'll lean towards one of those patterns.  I didn't really pattern out this bangle, I just started making rows of honeycomb, then it grew a bit larger than expected. It's a little narrower than my usual bangles due to the bead count, so with it's width it's definitely a fit for a smaller hand.

You can check this new set out this weekend (April 8-10, 2016) at my Trunk Show along with my showing of my latest weaving:"She Was Lost in the Woods and Followed the Sound of Your Waves" at Grove Gallery & Studios.

Finishing and Hanging "She Was Lost in the Woods and Followed the Sound of Your Waves"

It's finished.  And even a little bit before it's being hung at Grove Gallery & Studios this coming weekend so I can enjoy it at home for a minute.  I was kicking around a lot of titles for this piece.  I don't like how long it is, but it's descriptive and means a lot to me.  

"She Was Lost in the Woods and Followed the Sound of Your Waves"

I've had a lot going on since August 2014...really since before then.  My residency with the Friends of the Porkies was very enlightening for my future.  This is why it was so important for me to put the work into this piece.  I did a lot of hiking while I was there, alone.  Sometimes I would feel lost, and then I'd hear Lake Superior and head that direction so I could take off my hiking boots and socks to dip my toes in her cold waters.

This piece is also very defining for me, I feel a lot less lost these days and I cannot wait to get back up to the U.P. this August to visit Lake Superior and the Porcupine Mountains again (I'm teaching a 3-day Beadweaving workshop August 19-21!!!)

Anyway, on to what I've been doing to finish this piece.  I hemmed the edges.  First machine stitching 3 rows in my header (something I learned in a Mary Sue Fenner Workshop)

I decided a blanket stitch would look nice for the actual stitching of the hem.

I had to fix this weaving error, which involved cutting, pulling two weft passes and re-weaving them with a needle.

Then on to measuring out the webbing..

Sewing the "loop" (fuzzy) side of the Velcro to the webbing. So if you need to roll the weaving it won't catch on it.

Pinning the webbing/Velcro to the weaving.

A "fix" for me, I wanted to extend these light blue waves a little more for aesthetics. 

And during critique it was decided that the above white area stood out too much, so I needed to tone it back. I pulled some of it and stitched dark blue through.

The "hook" side of the Velcro I connected to my strip of wood and I drilled 3 holes in wood panel for hanging purposes.  

Why the Velcro? It's much easier to hang.  The wood panel is either nailed or hung to the wall first. Then you can press the weaving up against it and slowly level it.