In my last post I gave you a sneak peek at a hand bag I had been working on. When I started it, my sewing machine had been deemed a complete wreck and so I had fabricated the whole ensemble via my very own design. A no sew, tie & braid bag. Then, using a mix of natural and purchased dyes, created the palette to be the base for my artwork. As I mentioned earlier, being a clothing designer had been a childhood dream of mine. It was either that, or a home decorator, and the latter no longer fits with my practical side. As I ventured through my early adult life, I dabbled in the arts, and have found my place to be in practical applied arts...that is something extraordinary in art as well as useful. Nothing gathering dust here. And thus, here is my purse and the steps through birth, into the fab piece of character now it is.
Here is the base, muslin bag. at this stage, it was all hand tied and braided. Nice effect really, I am pleased.
The dye. I started dying with coffee, tumeric, and sage. This gave me a grungy, yet subtle base to use before adding the color. I scooted over to the local fabric store and picked up a packet of blue dye. My favorite color. As I dyed, and tied, wrung, and washed, I held a vision of how the colors from the first dry would bleed through the blue. At the final rinse and reveal, I could see that it all looked exactly as I had envisioned! What luck!
I had the chance to finally use the new/used sewing machine today. I played with all the new stitches! FUN! My last machine only had 3 options, and so this was like a carnival for me.
Now here's where the real fun began! Art. Pure and unaltered. With my pigment pen, and pre-prepped canvas at hand, I first lettered out my business name. I knew this would be my own personal purse, yet one that I envisioned to bring attention to my new venture in local artistry. My walking advertisement per-se. As I looked to my logo for inspiration, I let the pen glide. I thought of a well known quote. One that speaks volumes to me and echoes my very own ideals. The purse wouldn't be complete without it.
To finish off, I picked out a few cherished pieces of fabric that I had stored in my chest. One is a hand painted tribal block featuring turtles. The artist (whoever it was) used such elegant and vibrant colors. They suited the bag perfectly. Another piece I used was re-purposed. Taken from a bib that my youngest had outgrew. It featured native style embroidered animals. I also added some fun stitching, and viola!
I had made a few purses about 2 weeks ago to take into the Gallery. One has sold so far, and the other still awaits it's home. This was the first to be so imaginatively inspired, and many more should follow. I have many ideas. In time, perhaps within the next few weeks, I foresee a bohemian style handbag line coming to the gallery.
Time is my guide these days. I have so many ambitions, and not enough daylight hours. I had the chance to attend two trade shows this week, but inventory is a commodity and so I have had to pass on those opportunities. I will be better prepared for next summer. My products have been selling well and are in a demand at such a rate that I have been continually increasing my inventory stock. My plans are to secure two more permanent venue spaces before Christmas as well as to have a full inventory here at my home so as to replenish what sells at said locations. This, is a challenge. A big goal, and I will get there. Even with hunting season and mushroom season in full swing. Even though I homeschool and the garden still has much work left to be done, and more canning..lol. I could continue on this list of what could be done, and what needs to be, but we've already been there? Yes.
Tomorrow, as I skip out on the wellness fair, I will be roasting pumpkin seeds, bagging & labeling dried foods, cutting the loaf of Cedar & Rosemary soap I made this morning, making moisturizer & oil cleanser and catching up on laundry.
On another note: My 3 yr old is now completely diaper free! Over 2 weeks accident free during the day, and 3 days accident free at night. Anyone need size 6 diapers? I have half a bag, and some cloth pull-ups!
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