Tag Archive for handwoven

back in the saddle.

sunshine girl

Before Annabelle was born, I laid out a plan of what I thought I could actually achieve with an infant and a toddler underfoot.

I knew that physically creating would be a challenge (to say the least…) so while she was very, very tiny and liked to sleep all the time, I learned to make my own handspun yarn.  Once the wheel became too exciting for tiny hands to resist, I moved into the next phase of the plan, switched gears and focused on laying out the website of my dreams.  I have been deeply immersed in learning the skills to make this happen–not an easy feat.  It’s just about there though and I’m pretty satisfied with the overall appearance and set-up (like the bare bones of my gallery!  take a look!)

And so comes another shift.

wee boots

The time has come for me to drag my mothering hormones away from the children (sometimes kicking and screaming–me, not them) and into the studio for a few hours a week to hit the machines.  We have a summer market coming up you know…but don’t say that out loud because I start getting a little frayed around the edges.  The plan was to begin creating inventory in January and I honestly can’t stop myself.  I just walk into my studio, sit down, and automatically start stitching things together.

Slow and steady.  That’s me.

And that’s a tall order for a woman whose mind follows the pace of the speedy little rabbit.

This year I plan to offer a wide selection of handspun yarns, a variety of knitting and crochet accessories (like the hook and needle cases), and a limited collection of handmade clothing of my own design.

Which just might utilize my skills in hand dyeing and/or applique, like this custom skirt in the works:

sneaky peeky

And due to the unexpected arrival of the girls last fall, you just might see an appearance of some handwoven goods.  Like belts.  Maybe.

my first warp on the table loom

So click your heels three times, whisper a spell and it might come true………

get up on it

shoe re-do-fd0000

Bench Mondays. That explains a few things.

From my observations in this side of the blogosphere, it seemed that everyone had suddenly been overrun with mice or something.  Well, it just so happens that it’s Monday and I have a pair of shoes to show you, so I’ll be jumping on the bandwagon for a bit.  Benchwagon?

Nice how these things work out sometimes.

As part of my challenge of the utmost kind, I decided to take a fairly hideous pair of shoes (found in a free pile) and see if I could breathe new life into their tired, old soles.

shoe re-do

They started out dirty, kind of weird shaped, and very beat up and funky-in-the-bad-way.  I ruthlessly scrubbed them in the sink, let them dry out for a week, and covered them with the fabric that I made from my first run on a rigid heddle loom.  Let’s focus on that instead of the crooked nailheads, shall we?

There might be some more modifications (woodburning on the base perhaps?) and a linseed oil finish, but that’s the gist of it.

And never is there a photo shoot around here without a helper:

little helper

No mice around here.  Just a bunch of crazies suffering from cabin fever.  Hope this Monday is delivering new views for your clan too.