raiding the ragbag and sorting the stash

It was such a joy sharing with students from all over the planet in my first-ever online class (the Alchemist's Apron)  that I found myself dreaming up another one.

I know so many lovely dyers who simply cannot resist putting another morsel in the dyepot...and then    build up great mountains of delicious samples that rarely, if ever, see the light of day again. Which set me thinking.

It's time, my darlings.

Time to raid the ragbag for beloved discards from which you can harvest, and to sort out your stash and get ready to join pieces together to make fabulous frocks that are unique to YOU.

The class is called Conscious Clothing.  I'm literally dancing with excitement in my armchair about sharing my dressmaking tricks with y'all and I can't wait to see the gorgeous dresses that will be growing in the hands of makers around the whirled.

I've made the list of necessaries (and a wee video about dyeing while wandering) accessible to help you decide whether the class is for you. If you do dive in, the class is yours for life and there's also a Facebook sewing circle as extra support...the lovely thing is that you all bring so many skills to the table, and even though have a few reservations about FB, the fact remains that it is a very accessible means of connecting us all.

and as part of the first lesson, I've included a downloadable PDF of the wee pattern-cutting booklet I published (in a very limited edition of 100) some years ago. It contains the essence of how I make my clothes.

Will I see you there? I hope so.  At very least...do please click on the link above to read about the class. I'd love to know what you think of the idea.

learning life lessons

it was a splendid road trip
pootling across Australia with Kubbi the One-Eyed Wonder Dog
nine hours on the road (punctuated by frequent stops to
wander in the bush and gaze at flora)
is a lot of thinking time.

there and back again is twice that.

I always learn something new from teaching workshops
but
what became crystal clear to me during the three days at Beautiful Silks Botanical Studio
is that the work I do
is also my own big life lesson.

that the act of teaching is my personal journey to be the best person (in this life) that I can be.
it isn't all roses, and it's hard sometimes to resist being catty about the way that the "ecoprint", a term I optimistically coined in 1999, has been hijacked to be anything but "eco-friendly" or sustainable.
because when I hear of the mountains of plastic and the bucket-loads of adjunct mordants being used out there I do become quite despondent.


but then I read this


"Thank you, for another brilliant, creative soul feeding workshop, that brought a group of strangers together but leaving as friends"


and it warms my heart because it reminds me of what is really important.

it isn't the brightness of the colour (though we certainly had that) or the volumes of product ... it's the connections we make when we gather together around a cauldron.



in this instance, a "second skin" class, it was also about the empowerment that comes with the simple skills of making.

I'd probably have made truckloads of loot over the years if I had just kept the botanical contact print process a secret and churned out yardage or silk pyjamas and a squillion printed wool scarves, but for me the greater satisfaction comes with seeing the happy smiles that bloom when dresses grow using simple running stitch, lovely threads and beautiful cloth. (all all we need, really, is 'enough')







in "second skin" we make string, measure with it, make a few marks with graphite and then boldly cut and sew.
no clatter of machines, just the quiet ebb and flow of conversation, and sometimes simply gentle silence.

and magic happens.

in this last class people shared so many life skills beyond just sewing and dyeing.
friendships were forged, wisdoms exchanged.

and that makes my life worth living. with bells on.

and then (fresh from the cauldron)
I was given the most magnificent present hand-stitched
with so much love, and dyed in my favourite colours.
 thank you, Robyn.
it's going to wander with me.

blooming at the Poet's Ode

it's been such fun this week
preparing for my first Australian pop up
at the Poet's Ode this coming weekend

each piece is 'one of a kind'

Alia (the one who creates the magic that is the Poet's Ode)
let me play in the front window.

when i grow up,

i would like a studio with a window like that

in which i could construct installations

and then watch the whirled go by

while i work behind

(although i would still need to keep a studio out on the paddocks

where i can potter about in blissful solitude)

making another delivery yesterday i met a client

who usually lives in San Francisco and

who had purchased the dress i showed in an exhibition

held in South Australia two years ago.

it was a bit of a thrill to serendipitously meet!

and now i think i might like to become a window dresser

especially if i am allowed to write poems on the glass

with a finger dipped in clay

i'll be present at Poet's Ode all day Saturday March 5

and teaching a class in their inner sanctum on March 6

i hope some of you will swing by?

1000

i see to my surprise that this is the one thousandth post. i can't even imagine that many marbles. no wonder i haven't finished writing that novel.

i've been tweaking my website this evening, finally adding the class details for Mansfield in November...undies and bloomers (by demand) in one session, with another devoted to independent work (on the project of your choice) in which i act as consultant, keep a series of dyepots simmering for you and make lunch every day (gluten free vegetarian). there'll be some nice wine, good cheese and yummy chocolate as well.

those of you who have spent time with me before know how i feel about nourishing the inner bear.

Marion of Beautiful Silks has very kindly offered a 10% discount on materials for class participants. we've been good friends for at least a decade and a half now so i'm also very happy to be going back to her lovely Botanical Studio on my way home from Mansfield

i'm also offering a paper dyeing day at Poet's Ode on my return from the USA early in October, before i head up to Wirrealpa to prepare for our wonderful outback retreat there later that month.

maybe i'll see some of you at some of these...

meanwhile, if you are an Australian size 10-12 and interested in acquiring the garment above, do please drop me a line (i love it and would wear it myself but i'm just too sturdily built). it's silk, dyed with eucalyptus

Wrapping a Rose

a little while ago i provided a sketch pattern

for a no-sew silkymerino slipdress

which can be worn in a multitude of ways

firstly as a shawl

or a scarf

while the two simple armholes allow it to become a dress

 

 wear it with a draped neckline

or hooded as below

roll the cowl down 

for a dropped shoulder look

drop one of the armholes

and it becomes a Grecian style drape

as worn to great effect by the late Princess of Wales 

on a visit to Adelaide a good many years ago. 

though i was told (by a friend who danced with her at the university ball) 

that hers was skyblue.

below you see it with the colour drained

thanks to the Snapseed app 

(which has provided me with a deal of amusement today)

it's hard to stop taking pictures of my gorgeous girl

if you put your head through one of the armholes

then you can wear it as a halterneck

this version is not quite no-sew as i added some pockets

but it is still a minimal waste dress

fold the top down

pleat and tuck

and it becomes a comfy skirt

(the pockets may become a little trickier to access)

and of course you can snuggle into the whole thing 

as if it were a footless sleeping bag

which is extremely comfy for sleeping on 

trains, planes and automobiles (best not if you're driving)

+
 

we had fun shooting in the hayshed

but our audience was rather bored

Kubbi snoozed on the tractor

Jack chose a more precarious spot

(we'll be moving him before we move that wheel).

 i used a two metre length of silkymerino to make that dress

if you're not confident of making your own

i'd be happy to make one for you

dyed with windfalls from the farm

please drop me a line

if you'd like to pursue the idea

 but you'll have to find your own Rose.

NoSew SilkyMerino SlipDress

  

if you've spent any time with me in recent years 

you'll know that i absolutely love the SilkyMerino knit that Marion stocks at Beautiful Silks

it comes in a tube

(i carry one for snuggling into on planes)

dyes like a dream

and doesn't fray

so when a student asked for help in devising a dress to wear to her daughter's wedding i had no hesitation in recommending she get a length and a pair of scissors

here's what we did

(using my grandmother's method of measuring/cutting based on your own body parts)

those little 'u's on the drawing are the cuts we made

notice that the cut is finger-shaped...a straight cut will fray at the point of the cut

do not be tempted to make the cut any bigger...though it looks small

remember the cloth is a tube

so the actual hole is bigger than it seems

and if you want the cowl neck to also be a hood, make it longer

(double is a good notion)

shorten the hem as desired, but if you keep it long the whole thing also doubles as a shawl or a sleeping tube for long-distance travel

oh

and if (like my granny) you think a little mystery goes a long way

wear it over a close-fitting T of some kind

otherwise, enjoy the breeze...or if you're really keen for some stitching, add a few tucks in the area between the cuts

still dancing

it's been nearly ten years since Leigh Warren kindly commissioned me to 

make costumes for the seminal work Petroglyphs 

but it feels like a lifetime ago

there's been so much water down the river since then
(including a journey to Japan for Wanderlust
and a Scottish adventure when we took breathe to the
Edinburgh Festival)

on Tuesday I pootled into Adelaide with a bagful of dresses
so Leigh could choose one for a fringe production he is involved in

Leigh playing with a frock and being gorgeous as ever

oh, and if you're looking for somewhere fabulous to stay in the inner burbs 

of the capital of South Australia (and only a brisk walk from the restaurants of North Adelaide) do investigate AirBnB...Leigh's house (draped here and there with bits of ecoprint cloth by yours truly) is listed there and it's just lovely. Leigh and his lovely burmese cats will make you most welcome!

to Sweden, from the Deep South

back home on the farm with a few days to finish dyeing a collection of dresses that are going to Sweden tomorrow

Sweden?

yes indeed.

when Li Edelkoort and Philip Fimmano ask you to put together a few things to take part in an exhibition at short notice...you don't say no.

so of course I said yes please, how many pieces would you like?

the answer came back : seven dresses with big skirts

dresses with big wild skirts are my favourite things to make.

Kubbi lent a paw and in between supervising me pootled off for a swim with Uncle Boston and Auntie Molly

Willow [also known as Mrs Poo] prefers to take her baths without water.


so now i have seven dresses in the cauldron. Kubbi helps me gather sticks to feed the fire.
then they need to cool and dry before sending off tomorrow. i'd have preferred to leave them bundled for longer but as i'm hopping on a flying sardine can headed for my beloved Aotearoa early next week it's not practical : they need to be photographed for the catalogue before they go in the mail

although it's a group exhibition [there are twelve of us] this is a big event for me...
because it will also be the first time that a series of my photographs will be exhibited in Europe [as a backdrop to the dresses].

the show is at Artipelag, a museum on an island near Stockholm and runs February 6 - May 3, 2015

on the western edge

last week i was on the western edge

[although i will confess now that i did not find time to dip my toe in the ocean]

for another workshop in Jane Flower's splendid shed

this time our work involved shapeshifting

transforming pre-loved garments into celebration dresses

cutting and splicing

hand-sewing

delighting in transforming two-dimensional cloth

into something much more complex

Lizzie giving her lovely dress a quick field test

Rona making some adjustments in our 'fitting room'

each afternoon we fired up the cauldrons

so there would be presents to open in the mornings

[thank you Jonathan for collecting all those armfuls of twigs]

the wildflowers at this time of year are spectacular

i think they are [top to bottom]

Diuris brumalis

Caladenia sp

Drosera sp

Anigozanthos manglesii [which happens also to be the state floral emblem]

other local colour was also pretty stunning

work above by Chez

not sure whose the sample above was - but i DO know the roots were harvested on private property as 'salvage botany'

 the south west of our beautiful red island is home to something like 70% of all of the plant varieties on the continent.

but before visitors to this country [or locals for that matter] decide to leap in and avail themselves of this wonderful resource it is worth becoming familiar with the law as regards plant collection.

it is illegal to harvest native plants in the wild anywhere in Australia

- even though the irony is that timber fellers and builders of airports and freeways are permitted to completely destroy forests, wetlands and anything else that gets in their way

in some circumstances it is also illegal to harvest wild plants on private property [unless you can prove that you are a traditional owner...or that you planted them yourself]

and some places that you might think are private property

are actually leased Crown Land [this includes pretty much all of the outback] in which case you can't pick there either

the only plants you can legally take from the wild in Australia are weeds.

or windfalls [but not if they are rare or threatened species]

and if you think you can get away with it, think again

ecoprints make for indisputable evidence!

on the bright side, tip pruning street trees in urban areas

especially where they are overhanging or obstructing paths

might be seen as a community service

[unless, of course, there's a local bylaw...]

i found some of my favourite weeds growing in abundance

my visit to the far west was all too brief

due to an over-filled dance card

next time i wander that way i hope to make a much longer stay

...i'd have liked to see those dresses unbundled, for one thing