A Skitchbook

I have been dragging my sewing paraphernalia around with me in various bags, pockets and what not, and it was less than ideal. Scraps tumbling out everywhere, needles stabbing me as I reach in my bag to find my phone, my wee scissors being lost or buried underneath masses of crap (the usual stuff to be found in a mothers handbag - soothers, wipes, half chewed biscuits, screwed up receipts and the odd tampon that threatens to launch itself, shamefully, at passers by as you dig around for change or something).

So, it was time to get organised. A needle book didn't quite cut it, they are too small to hold all my bits and bobs. I wanted something larger, that would hold needles, pins, thread, scissors, small pieces of fabric, scraps AND a place to tuck a smallish cloth or two that I could work on during the daily train rides.
I had two little woven clothes kicking around, a decadently soft felted wool scarf, scraps of felt and fabric... and so, a Stitchy Sketchbook was born, of sorts, a Skitchbook?



I stitched the woven cloths to the old wool scarf, lined the other side with more purple felt, whipstitched around the edges, attaching a scrappy tie, the back was made in much the same way...





Then I created a sandwich with another felt page, which I can attach scraps to, and my favourite part of all, my monster pocket!





The wee pocket holds the bulkier items that can't be pinned to the felt. Bobbins and a seam ripper, and a wee pair of scissors which are attached to the inside of the pocket, by a long scrap of fabric (no more lost scissors!). I love the monster pocket and how the scissor ribbon looks like a tongue when I pull the scissors out. It was completely accidental, this monster thing, I stitched around the pocket opening and decided it looked like a mouth, so added eyes, a happy accident, which delights me every time I get my skitchbook out.

The little stitched roll to hold needles in place was also an afterthought, works a treat...



All the layers were sandwiched together and bound on the left edge with thread, like a book. In hindsight, I wish I had added more layers, more pockets, and made it sligtly bigger, this one is about 6" square. So, I may make another.... next time I will take more pics and try and share a tutorial, should anyone be interested in making their own Skitchbook, complete with a monster pocket or two?

Going with the flow of change

The rainbow woven cloth just wasn't doing it for me, I also decided it was too small. So I began working on another woven cloth, this time about 20" square and using only white fabrics, in the hope it could act as a nice clean backdrop for appliques made from the first cloth.

I don't have a lot of pale fabrics so I had to attack some bed linen. I have to say the texture of used fabrics is much more pleasing when woven than the new fabrics I used on the rainbow cloth, I thought I would feel a bit twitchy about the frays and wayward threads, but I actually quite like it, the texture is lovely and soft, it feels nice to hold it and I am enjoying stitching it.

Last night I attached the first applique made from the rainbow cloth. I knew as soon as I decided I would make a large applique from this cloth that is had to be a butterfly. Butterflies are the symbol of change, and so it seems rather fitting to me right now, on a personal and circumstantial level at least, change is always afoot, but never more so than now.



The body of the butterfly is embroidered in a haphazard short and long stitch and then I used a metallic thread which I actually weaved through the embroidery. I have also used silver thread here and there.



Check out my Flickr to see the photos in larger size.

I am still working on this applique, but may move on and add more to the cloth and come back to the butterfly later, sometimes it helps to see it with a fresh eye.
I am becoming a bit obsessive about this project, it is a combination of the stitching being a real tonic and the creative possibilities.
I am thinking I might make one of these cloths every month, and stitch them together to form a quilt at the end of the year... kind of like a stitched diary or journal... I just might.

Cloth Weaving

I am taking part in Jude Hill's Cloth to Cloth workshop. If you haven't heard of Jude and her amazing cloth weaving endevours then you really must pop by her blog. Her work is incredibly inspiring and oh so liberating for a beginner to quilting, like myself, who is prone to wonkiness and lack of precision.

The course doesn't start for another week or so, but I have already started a little cloth weaving experiment.
The cloth is woven and stitched to a backing (in my case an old baby muslin) to stabilise it, the cloth is then embroidered, appliqued and embellished according to ones whim, the blocks can be attached and made into a quilt as with standard patchwork.

Being as I have oodles and oodles of scrappy bits of fabric, and not many large pieces, this particular craft is well suited to me at the moment.
Most all of the Spirit Cloths (as Jude calls them) I have seen are very organic looking and mostly in neutral colour palettes, using recycled fabric. Alas, whilst I do like organic, I posses very few neutral toned fabrics and so I am conscious that my own attempts look somewhat gaudy and bright in comparison to the pale and beautiful cloths Jude turns out. Still, one must be true to thine own self, and I do like colour so.
Left over scraps from Amber's book bag have found their way in, same for some of the scraps from a project I did with the fabric Sena sent, and a few other scrappy pieces, including some wide satin ribbon in acid green.





I started weaving the cloth at about 8pm yesterday, and then began stitching it to the fabric, which I completed at around 2am. Quite a lot of work, and it is only 10" square, but I do stitch quite slowly at the moment on account of my illness, still at least the inability to sleep allows me the extra hours I need to make progress.
I am not sure how any embellishments will stand out against the psychedelic rhapsody of colour, so I may have to rethink the neutral debate after all if I am to achieve some contrast and tone....

There is something incredibly healing about stitching and colour. It allows me to switch off from anxious thoughts and exist solely in the moment. I am looking forward to working on my cloth more tonight, and very excited about starting the Cloth to Cloth workshop in a few days time, my fingers are twitching at the very thought.