process and prototypes

So many wonderful botanical suggestions for stenciling! Gingko had the most votes, so I thought I'd try it out first. I got to work drawing and cutting a few of the fan-like leaves free hand style. I had no plan, nor did I know what I was going to stencil. A linen blouse in my closet caught my attention just this morning. I had never been very happy with it, so giving it a little oomph could only be a good thing. It's the Summer Blouse from Weekend Sewing that I made exactly a year ago. As crazy as I am about oatmeal linen, I wish I had used a gauzy print for this blouse... and sadly have barely worn it, nor posted about it. Adding a few leaves and then trimming the bottom with white crochet gave it a little life.

Maybe I'll play with the sleeves or add some elastic to the back for shaping. I'm now determined to do all I can to transform it until I wear it. A little print was a great place to start. I'll improve my leaves with practice, so this is not the last you'll see of gingko!

I also wanted to share my prototype for last week's  burlap handbag. I've learned that when I design something myself, my first attempt will almost always need improvement. It took me until I started producing something over and over again for my shop, to really see the marked difference in craftsmanship of a practiced pattern versus a first run. I'm a sew by the seat of my pants/no pattern kind of girl, and now realize that most of the things I made in the past were prototypes... even my wedding dress! Nothing wrong with this. Just acknowledging my growth as a sewer and the beauty of practice. I'm much more diligent these days... so I made a (demo) handbag in linen, which I will use for myself.



The body is a bit wide, the straps are too narrow, the linen doesn't have enough structure, but it's fine for me and I finally got to use this bit of feather fabric I've been holding onto. For you:  I had perfected  the pattern and created the just right bag. Burlap seems to suit the design very well. Two more coffee sack handbags are almost done, and I love them!