After I finished the first little red wool pouch, I still had many beads left over, not to mention the other sleeve of the sweater,[1] and so immediately started a second pouch, but this time with ivory coloured beads, using bone, MOP[2] even bamboo; I thought the warmer white would be very attractive, and it was. The use of (faux) MOP buttons in particular,[3] as well the colour scheme, show a subtle Tlinglit influence.
2nd in a series of boiled red wool pouches. 4.5 h x 5 w x 1.5" d (measured from tip of projecting beads on each side.) Olympus, zuiko macro, flash, 14sep15. Click on any image for a full-size view.
Like the first one in the series, it's embroidered on both sides. And this time, instead of trying to sew up the edges, I inserted pieces of an old cashmere coat, scraps left over from making Bride of Frankencoat.[4] Of course, as you see below, the scrap was not quite long enough. I thought about filling with a little piece of black felt, or sewing 4 beads in a pattern...and decided I liked the imperfection as it was, and left it.[5]
wool, nylon, bone, bamboo, lampwork and other glass beads. The yin/yang bead is handpainted ceramic, scavenged off some old jewelry somewhere... Completed no later than 07sep15
If you look closely, you'll see a number of mustard yellow, and even lavender seed beads mixed in the with obstensibly red, cream and black (ok, and grey) colour scheme; I have no idea how those got into the tin, but they really bugged me, so I got rid of them by incorporating them into this piece. I was curious to see if such ‘off’ colours would add some visual interest to the piece at ‘viewing distance’ (say .5 to .75meter) —kind of like the optical mixing Seurat did in Afternoon on the Isle of Le Grand Jatte.
I certainly stopped noticing them once I completed the piece, so I think they worked?
This has the same red silk lining fabric as the first in the series.
So this time, I was really pretty happy with the way I sewed the pouch up, but not so pleased with the zipper insertion: too much white showing. I needed to tack the felt down to the tapes, close enough to hide the zipper, not so much it interfered with its action. These pouches have been great fun to make, but they're very much a self-led series to learn construction techniques. I will make all the mistakes:)
A process shot, showing how I hand-stitched the lining.[6]
[1]the black ‘lips’ are the cuff.
[2]Mother of pearl
[3]Though there is a famous charity group in Great Britain that decorate their coats with MOP buttons as well. Great minds, and all that....
[4]Frankencoat and the bride are Tibetan panel coats made from old wool sweaters, and in the case of bride, an actual coat, that Frances and I wear in the studio during winter. Frankencoat weighs about 8 pounds. It's pretty warm:)
[5]I had a ceramics teacher that cut into a bubble in her pot. She could have smoothed the imperfection away, but made some reference to Japanese potters, and left it. Something about the pot's history, I think. That casual approach has had a profound impact on my own approach ever since.
[6]Mostly of interest to me, I know. But I make these posts for me, too;)
Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.
