Saturday, July 14, 2012

instant gratification window treatment

I have a new desk lamp on my sewing table that is lovely and bright. It's actually a set of two lamps that I can individually turn on and off and direct every which way. One light on: bright. Two lights on: very bright. Here's a de-lighted myopic!

In front of my desk is a window. When I rest my eyes between some stitching, I can look at the garden and my next door neighbours house. I like natural light and being able to see what's going on outside. BUT dark winter evenings reverse the effect the window has. It occured to me that my neigbours, lovely people, would see my brightly lit face, glowing like a moon, all night long, through that window... Hmmm.

I've been known to be a bit spartan with my window treatments before, quite odd for a chick who loves cloth. Cheesecloth and tracing paper have come handy when I've wanted maximum light with minimum coverage, but have needed to maintain some privacy. A bit of a Japanese screen look if you can imagine.

So last night out came the roll of newsprint (as I simply can not seem to be able to buy a wide roll of tracing paper in this country??).
 Measure and cut.
 Fold.
 Punch.
Et voila! Ready.
Please excuse a few rips and tears, see it as a sample. The punch could not quite handle the amount of layers I offered it. Version 2 will have smarter origami while version 1 comes handy lighting the fire. The main thing is...
it looks like a lovely lantern from outside! Peace of mind.

Friday, July 13, 2012

workroom graduate

As I introduced my trainee a couple of days ago, it would be rude not to mention the graduate that also likes to take part in the workroom action.
 
Spot the qualified helper!


She blessed me with her calming presence as I finally, after being distracted by a load of firewood that needed stacking, got into stitching the silk dress I cut the other day. I had never seamed silk georgette with a sewing machine before.I gave it a go with some silk thread I dyed for the purpose. The result was really neat and didn't pucker if I stretched the seam while sewing. But it was too stiff for my liking, so I'm handstitching for a softer drape. This might take a while...
Will give her plenty of time to snooze.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

cutting room trainee


I have a workshop trainee that has been thrown out and been refused entry many a time...
Now that he is 6 months old he has matured enough to be present even when some serious frock making takes place! But something about entering my sacred creative space makes him into a complete loonie! There must be a sense of play present as all the kitten behaviour of running, climbing, jumping and playing with EVERYTHING comes out...
A good cutting weight he does NOT make!
 Now that's better!
 And the silk is cut!