Rolled Tight In Boro

I was given a nice set of ergonomic crochet hooks for Christmas, but they needed a safe home so I set about making a custom roll to store them in.

 

I wove the Inkle band tie that holds the roll closed quite some time ago. It's nice that it finally has a use. 

The inner part of the roll has numerous slots that are custom sized to hold the varying handle widths on my crochet hook collection. Each slot in the roll has the size written on it so that it's easier to find what I want and also easier to put the hooks away when I'm finished. 

Unfortunately after the slots were all labelled and sewn I found an errant hook stuck in an abandoned project. That hook must now reside, out of order, in an unlabeled space that I had at the end of the roll. 

I've had  a roll of printed fabric labels that read: "Marlene Randall ORIGINAL" for decades now. I believe they were purchased nearly 40 years ago and this may be the very first time I've used one.

I'm very happy with this project and I hope that it will get decades of use and perhaps one day become an heirloom.

The outer cover of the roll was a very labor intense project!

It is boro style patchwork and the entire surface is completely covered in running stitches travelling in all different directions. 

 

That type of stitching is very characteristic of this style of patchwork.

Sandhill Sling

 It took awhile, with all the patches and boro like hand stitching, but my Sandhill Sling is finally finished.

I hope to use this small cross-body back pack on dog walks and when hunting for rocks for my mandala paintings. 

It has an outside zippered pocket, the main zippered interior, and an elasticized inside slip pocket.

This is the only construction photo I remembered to take. 

For the most part it wasn't difficult, but there were some "challenging" bits so I wouldn't recommend it for a beginning sewist.

I do intend to make another, possibly for shopping, and for that one I will combine both of the pattern views into one. I'll put the optional snap pocket on the side facing away from the body with the idea of keeping my cell phone there. Then on the side that lies snug against my body I'll put the zippered pocket for more secure storage of my wallet. Inside I'll put a slip pocket on both sides, for more organization. I may also put a D-ring on both sides of the bottom so the strap can be attached to either side. 

Pressing Station

While I wait for my sewing room to be completed I am keeping busy with little projects related to the rennos going on in there.

 

Before the room was even started my husband and I got to work on this sturdy new pressing station. My old ironing board was rickety and threatened to toss my irreplaceable iron to the floor. I am very protective of that iron since it very well might be the last of the ones available *without* an automatic shut off. I find turning around, mid project, to use an iron and finding it off and cold to be infuriating! 

My husband and I built a standard 4 x 2 cube KALLAX unit from IKEA then he added sturdy pine boards, cut to size, to the top and the bottom. Another board, with slightly wider and longer dimensions and a bit of an added rim, allows the entire padded surface to be lifted off if a cover change becomes necessary and yet it is very sturdy and doesn't move around.

The top is 3 layers of cotton quilt batting, a layer of heat resistant ironing board cloth, and then the outer fabric which is a heavy cotton decorator fabric. For now, with my sewing room down for renovations, the pressing station is set up in our home office area and has been seeing a fair bit of use. It's a delight to use!

We finished off the pressing station with 2 drawer units (total of 4 drawers) and 2 doored units. Those additions did come with drawer pulls but they just didn't have the personality and crafty look I wanted for a creative space so I got to work and transformed 1 1/4" wooden knobs from Home Depot with paint, a simple decorative flower motif, and several coats of Varathane. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out.

The lower row of cube cubbies is filled with BRANAS baskets and I've been busy making liners for them of boro patchwork and accents of simple, bold stitching.

Speaking of patching -- here's how the progress in the room is going. The closet is out, the drywall is up, and the seams are being mudded and sanded. Next step will be priming the whole room and then spraying texture on the ceiling. Or maybe it's the other way around? Anyway, I'm not the one in charge of that so all I can do is pace, peek in now and then, and continue on with my little detail work.

All links in my blog posts are there only for your convenience. I get no reimbursement if you use them.

From His Closet

Another shirt taken over.

My husband wears denim shirts until they are stained or worn, but won't wear them with patches. At that point I happily take them over and refashion them into something I can, and will, use myself.

In general I'm happy with the oversized, comfortable, forgiving fit, but the sleeves are always way too long. In the past I've remedied the problem by completely removing the sleeves and making a boro vest. This time though the variable weather of fall has inspired me to leave the sleeves on. It makes for a great layering piece I can wear over summer tank tops when the weather decides to turn chilly.

I shortened the sleeves and added contrast cuffs using the tutorial in Paganoonoo's "Patti Blouse" pattern. I then used the original sleeve cuffs, snaps, pleats and all, as big, useful patch pockets. I always need somewhere to stuff my hands!

Hidden inside the left shirt front is an additional pocket, this one for my cell phone. 

I've covered a couple of paint stains with patches which have been embellished with sashiko stitching.

One stain is covered with a big "Judy" flower, tutorial also in the "Patti Blouse" pattern linked to above. The flower is attached with it's brooch pin. Some time in the future I may decide to replace it with an ordinary patch.

The collar of the shirt was worn and fraying so I covered it with fabric that matches the new cuffs.

I receive no compensation for the links I include in my blog. They are only there for your research convenience.

Boro Progress

Looking back through previous blog posts I see that I started the work on this boro vest almost a year ago. Since the last update I've added many more patches and a whole lot of stitching to the front.

It's still not "complete". Some of the patches don't have their reinforcing stitching done.

And I have plans to eventually add patches to those lower pockets as well.

In the meantime I wear the vest almost daily, as an added layer as one would a favourite cardigan,

and that has added some wear to the front button band which, in the true boro style, now needs patches on its patches! I hope to keep repairing this garment as the need arises. I think it has an element of "wabi-sabi" to it. Quoting a Wikipedia's entry on wabi-sabi: "The aesthetic is sometimes described as one of beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete."

For Your Safety!

Part of my clutter clearing in my crafting spaces has been picking up projects that have been on hold for some time and working on them. I figure the very act of making some progress on them should clear some of the stuck energy.

In the last few days I've added a couple of textile hobby related quotes to my crafting apron, which is a l-o-n-g term project. I still need ideas for getting knitting, crocheting, and spinning represented.

I work on my cross-stitch picture for about an hour every morning while I have my coffee. It's a large picture with lots of colour changes and it's done on 28 count linen. Progress is very, very slow.



I've added to my Sashiko/Boro vest.



The back is sort of finished for now. I say "sort of" because the intent is for this to be a perpetual project. I'll be adding patches and further embellishment in the Boro style, over the years, as the garment wears and needs further patching.

I've now moved on to the front where I've added a few patches (legitimate ones, over holes and very worn sections of the original shirt),



and a whole lot of stitching.



The vest is so comfy that between each addition I try to keep it wearable as is.

Love That Internet

I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet. Sometimes it seems to be the biggest time thief ever, hours from one's day missing and little to show for it. Let's face it, none of us are getting any younger! Knowing that, I like to make every moment count, and time spent chasing useless Facebook side links is not what I want to see when I look back on the moments of my life!

On the other hand, the Internet can be a wonderful, handy, economical teacher, accessible at any hour of any day, and right when you need it. For instance, when I decided to use circles as design elements on the back of my denim Boro/Sashiko vest, I realized I had barely any experience with applique, and no experience at all with how to get a really nice, smooth edge on a circular applique. 

Enter the Internet wonder world of YouTube instructional videos. Pretty much anything you want to learn can be found on YouTube videos. Not just one instructor or method, but many to choose from. I watched several and finally decided that the one I've embedded here would be the one I used. It seemed to be just the right fit for me. It appealed to the perfectionist in me and yet skipped the tedious hand gathering stitches of some of the other methods.

The loose pile of circles pictured above was a photo taken several days ago. I've now selected the ones I'm going to use, have appliqued them to the centre back panel, and I'm well on my way to stitching the background in a Sashiko inspired manner. More photos of that when that section is complete.

Inspired by Boro

"Boro" is perpetual mending and patching that can extend the life of a garment indefinitely.  The technique originated in rural Japan. "Sashiko" is a form of Japanese folk embroidery that uses a basic running stitch to create a patterned background.

Inspired by examples of boro and sashiko online, I've started a very long term boro/sashiko inspired project. Only "inspired by" because true boro was born of necessity, to extend the life of expensive cotton textiles and sashiko has rules I don't intend to follow strictly and a uniformity I am not yet able to achieve. This is just for fun and to create a comfortable, functional, and one of a kind garment for myself. 

My husband had a denim shirt hanging in his closet that was worn beyond the point of being wearable for anything other than painting and messy household chores. In fact, it has a few paint and spackle stains that I'll eventually cover with patches!

I started by removing the sleeves since they were far too long for me anyway. I then used the fabric salvaged from the sleeves to fashion large, functional pockets along the lower edge of the shirt. The narrower pocket, close to the hip, is just the right size to hold my cellphone. Another just like it on the other side of the shirt will be handy for my reading glasses.

I then started in replacing the very worn areas of the collar stand and front button band with material repurposed from an old dish towel. With the addition of boro embroidery to hold the layers together and add an element of decoration, I quite like the way it looks. 

Of course covering the button bands with material also covered up the snaps, which I wanted to remain functional. It wasn't too difficult to snip tiny holes in the patching material and stretch it over the snaps, tucking the ends into a slim groove in the snap itself. Well -- it worked for both the top and the bottom of the "female" end of the snap anyway.

Uncovering the "male" portion of the snap was considerably more difficult because there was no groove to hide loose ends in. After some experimenting I ended up snipping a larger hole, turning the ends under, and stitching all around with a blanket stitch. Not as neat, but at least functional. That side won't be visible when the vest is worn anyway.



You'll be hearing more about this project in the weeks, months, and perhaps years to come. Once I get the initial patching and embroidery done I'll be wearing this vest a lot, perhaps only in the house, but maybe for walking the dog or camping as well. As the vest gets worn out further I'll just keep patching it!