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.

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

last two chances to fly

i love it when somebody puts their hand up to organise a workshop
it means i don't have to do it
my skills lie elsewhere, though i'm getting quite good at finding reasonable value airtickets

having already embarassed myself by emailing someone from the waitlist twice
and being slightly pink around the gills
i am not going to attempt another rummage there
but simply tell you that

a couple of places have become available for the Second Skin class at Mansfield, Victoria [Australia]
in November this year

November 11,12,13, in fact.

here are the details


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Join me at Mansfield in Victoria’s beautiful High Country for a three-day retreat during which you will make and dye a beautiful and versatile Silkymerino  secondskin to keep you warm while wandering, together with an exquisite hand-stitched bag in which to carry it with you on your travels.

Each participant will receive an  ecoprint silk goodie bag containing several metres of fabric and a selection of beautiful threads as well as a signed copy of India’s zero-waste dress-making workshop handbook ‘shapeshifter’ and a few surprises. Aesop, bless them, kindly provides us with fragrant cream to keep our hands soft while we sew.

A delicious gluten-free vegetarian lunch [dairy components kept separate to allow for dietary considerations] served with your choice of wine, juice or water will be provided each day, together with morning and afternoon tea and coffee, supplemented by fresh fruit and Haigh’s chocolates.

please send your carrier pigeon through the looking glass if you are interested in securing a place [it will be the last time i teach anywhere this year]


+++ update added July 26 : thank you my friends, the class is full again!

hoodiegoodie

a while ago i made myself a hoodie

because i knew i was going to need it at Haystack

and then

it left me

for someone else.

now the temperatures are sliding southward

i needed something to keep me warm

[i do have my coat but those sleeves are not practical when hovering around a cauldron]

so i cut and sewed [by hand, with silk]

added pockets here and there [but DANG, forgot to add one for a poem at the back. ah well]

made an enormous hood

that has buttons on it so i can play with it as a collar

and dyed it with leaves that had found their way into my pockets

on a favourite hill a month or so back [relax, they didn't cross any borders and went from pocket to boil-up, now in freezer in case of re-use]

the materials were from the red,white+blue thrift store in New Orleans

and included a duck-egg blue cashmere, a lilac silk, a brown merino [that brown was really too fuzzy for clear prints but so warm] and some rather paler scraps that had been cut from cardigans i am re-shaping

so this hoodie

like the other

is constructed and dyed with special magic.

the warmth comes not just from the physical materials...

i'm not good at self-portraits

so these pix will have to do

i added a good bit either side. hips, ya know?

sideways. ah well. here's the hood down, as collar

hood in roughly a hood-shaped arrangement

you'll just have to imagine the face peeking out

buttons on the hood opened

i told you the hood was enormous.

delicious detail...mostly hidden on the hood. but i know it's there and that's what matters

looks like something that Ötzi might have worn

pescadero sloppy hoodie

i am going to be so snuggly warm in my hoodie

stacking rocks at dawn on the Atlantic coast next month

the photos [using shake-it photo app] don't really do it justice

[but they make old-fashioned polaroid noises come out of the batfone]

stitching a few shiny pearl buttons on

to ward off the evil eye [just in case]

and of course

there is a pocket for a poem

a mite overexposed...