BirdBrain Designs

sewing

some thoughts on 2019, slow stitching, recycling, using up and paying attention

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It has been over a month since I’ve written here. What was once a daily adventure for me, writing my blog and connecting to readers, has become a rarity. As I’ve told you before I’ve been posting on instagram and enjoying the connections and inspiration there. It’s quick and fun to hear from others and see what they are doing. Slowly I’ve been giving slow stitching, sustainability and reducing waste more and more thought. So, it’s time to share some of my musings and projects.

Several years ago I was on a cycling trip in Austria when we came upon the Geiger mill. Geiger, like Marimekko, is a brand I have loved since my teens. I was thrilled to visit the factory and to purchase some remnants. You can see the blog post here with the photo of the pile of beautiful boiled wool remnants.

I’ve been sewing in the last year, using remnants from my bins and the Textile Museum sales. (I line my leather bags with the off-cuts I find there.) There was a time I sewed all of my clothes, actually wove the fabric first and then sewed. But then a career and a family intervened. I sold my looms and packed up my sewing machines. After I retired I started rug hooking and then making leather bags. And then over the last couple of years I started slowly to make some of my clothes from the remnants I had on hand.

One of the big differences now is the global sewing community available online. Below are two pieces I made from a pattern designer in the UK, Tara at Paper Theory, using her versatile LB Pullover. I encourage you to read Tara’s reflections on ‘slowing fashion down’ and buying ‘ethically’. I’ve written here before about my principles of buying second-hand or handmade from local artisans. This year I have added to that by beginning once again to make my own fashion using recycled and remnant fabrics. I hope you’ll follow me here on my journey.

The tops below are from the Geiger boiled wool and I’ve been wearing them non-stop in frigid Ontario January. The pattern used is Paper Theory’s LB Pullover.

And below is a new day bag for an order. It is made from a recycled leather jacket. The first photo shows the jacket before being cut, the second the finished bag. The quality of the leather is high and it was a pleasure to sew with and to give it new life. 

textile adventures

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Finally spring is here and I’ve been out for some textile adventures. Last week I was in Toronto for the TMC sale. Traffic was difficult and I didn’t get there for the lineup–but still managed to find some good pieces which I will use to line leather bags. It is a huge sale, four rooms jammed with fabric and notions. You can be sure that next year I’ll be in the lineup!

I did manage to get to the Marimekko shop while in the city. Those of you who read the blog know that Marimekko is my favourite textile design company. I’ve loved their designs since the sixties. I bought a metre of each of their iconic patterns to make summer totes…and for the first time bought a piece of clothing! This t-shirt dress will be great for my travels.

Last week I was in Kingston at my favourite place on the shores of Lake Ontario, The Tett Centre. You can see my sketch from another visit here. Inside the door is this wonderful portrait of Tett by J. David Brown.

Even the bathrooms in this place are wonderful!

The Kingston Fibre Artists had a wonderful show and sale in the Community Gallery. I fell in love with this depiction of buildings, Metropolis, by Sylvia Naylor. Free motion embroidery on hand-dyed and painted cotton. Inspiring!

It was a week of colour and texture. So now it’s time to settle in to make a few things. Right now I’m working on two messenger bags which I hope to show you soon. 

painting and stamping pouches

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One of the projects we worked on in a recent fibre retreat was designing pouches. Everyone got a blank pouch made of unbleached canvas and lined with unbleached cotton. The pouches had zippers inserted but were not sew up as you can see in the photos below. Stamps, fabric paint, stencils, markers, watercolour pencils, appliqé fabric and more were available. Here you can see us working away and then below some of the finished pouches. And at bottom is my first attempt at embroidery since I embroidered my name on my gym shorts in Grade 9. It’s something I hope to do more of. I found the book on my shelves to give me a hand.

Fronts…

and backs…

an old sketchbook and a new top

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I have had an old sketchbook from 2011 out this week, an early one in my collection. I’m interested in this particular sketchbook because it documents my trip to Limoux, France in the summer of 2011. I’m leaving tomorrow to return to Limoux for two weeks for more sketching. It will be interesting to compare how both my actual sketching and my approach to sketchbooks have evolved. I like the documentary quality of this one with its maps and memorabilia–but I do hope I’ll see an improvement in actual quality of the sketching.  We’ll see…hope to post from my ipad when I am there.

I’ve also started to sew clothing again. I discovered Grainline patterns which are simple and well-fitting. I bought the pattern for the Willow dress which I plan to make from blue striped fabric I got at the Textile Museum sale. But I tried the pattern out first as a top in a linen/cotton blend and I am delighted with it. It’s already in my suitcase ready for France. 

recycled wool and cashmere headbands

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I find it addicting, fooling around with colour, pattern and texture. This is, of course, why I love rug hooking. But making these headbands from sweater pieces is also a perfect exercise. I set myself a challenge to make as many headbands as I could in a day, using only what I had on hand. I made headbands a few years ago, backing them with fleece–but I had no fleece in my cupboard. So…I decided to back them with pieces of black cashmere from a lovely old cardigan. Sometimes scarcity produces the best results. These are super cozy and much warmer than those made with synthetic fleece. The little label that you can see peeking out is one of my vintage handwoven ribbon labels embroidered with a little bird. Perfect.headbands-1

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those birds again

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wonky bird apronI bought this coated cotton fabric in Dublin last fall. The delightful birds still make me smile, every time I look at them. I’ve made a dozen pouches out of the fabric (there is only one left in the on-line store).  And there was just enough left to make a couple of aprons and a tote or two. Here is the first one–it will wipe clean and has cotton ties with an adjustable neck band.

watercolour bag

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Before I tell you about the new watercolour bag, I have a short report. I was away last week for a few days travelling by train with two of my bags. You can see them here on the GO train with a bundle of new leather wrapped in plastic. (More on that later, but you might be able to see the beautiful emerald colour!) Both days were non-stop heavy rain and I was pleased to see that the bags, one leather and one coated cotton, survived the deluge beautifully.on the GONow on to the new bag. I have been saving a piece of Marimekko coated cotton in a large watercolour floral print. Today I made one section of it into a cross-body tote, 14″ x 12″ x 3″. I am very pleased with the result. Even though the print is large, it works in a smaller piece, and the colours are stunning. The leather on this bag is a beautiful recycled pebbly black and it works so well with the print.marimekko watercolour 1

The bag is hot fuchsia and red on one side…mm wc dip

and cool blue, green and yellow on the other. mm wc

Inside it has a zip/slip canvas pocket on one side and a double leather pocket on the other for phone and keys. Durable metal zipper and hardware finish it well. This is one great bag for spring and summer.mm wc int

Dublin fabric shops

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It is always delightful for me to find great fabric when I am travelling. My friend Wendie (do check out her blog and the adorable minion hat and mitten set) suggested I look out for Cath Kidston when we were in Ireland. I’d actually kind of forgotten about it as there is so much to see and do,  but at the end of a long Dublin day when we were walking back to the hotel,  I spotted the shop at the top of Grafton Street. I made my way to the basement and found the fabric below. I’m always on the lookout for coated fabric for totes and it is very hard to find. I thought this red would be great with the tan cotton dots for lining.dub fab 2 But the best part of the visit was the advice of the sales attendant. She was so interested in what I wanted–she too loved fabric and sent me on the lookout for Murphy Sheehey. This is a small store in a warren of streets off Grafton–but inside jammed with wonderful fabric. From there, again with advice from another sales attendant, I found the The Cloth Shop not far away.  We were travelling light with small suitcases, so I had to curb my desires for so much of the fabric–but this is what I ended up with, heavy enough. The piece on the left is coated waterproof cotton sure to be a tote with blue or orange leather. The piece on the right is French cotton canvas and reminds me of this fabric. The middle piece? Probably lining for leather bags, rich colour, great wearability.dub fab1But here is the best…coated cotton with a flock of every kind of crazy bird. I bought all that was on the bolt, about 3 metres. I can see all sorts of possibilities for these critters. They make me smile.bird fab 1

bird fab 2

mitten weather and a much loved bag

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geiger mittens 2Last year when I was in Austria I visited the Geiger factory and brought home some ends of their wonderful boiled wool. I had made one pink pair, but this week have been also working with the turquoise, navy and moss. The Geiger wool is the most beautiful I have worked with. It is like velvet. And they are great with shearling. I’ve also made a jumper out of the navy–and will show you once my model visits.geiger shearling

And I had to share this photograph of a much loved birdbrain bag. A friend visited today with her bag which has been in daily use for three years plus. And it is still going forward–a testament to real leather and craftsmanship.gail's bag

kenyan fabric finds

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I love East African fabric. The women often wear several different pieces–on their heads, over their shoulders, tied as a baby carrier and worn as an overskirt. They are mesmerizingly beautiful as they walk or work in groups of colour. The large square pieces of fabric are called Leso, pieces of colour and design I was hoping to find.

 

 

 

 

The market in Bondo is filled with merchants offering an array of food and goods, including women in stalls working on treadle machines, surrounded by fabric. You can have an outfit designed and made especially for you and this is what many of the local women do. I am told that the top place to buy fabric is in Busia, on the border with Uganda, where the prices and selection are the best. But since the Ugandan officials wanted $50 for me to pass into their country for a couple of hours, I missed this chance. However, the Bondo market had lots of fabric to make up for my loss. Below are the seamstresses, each delighted to have her photo taken and show off her wares. Although they would have preferred to sew a dress for me, they happily sold me some fabric which comes in 3 meter pieces.

We also went to the Kibuye market in Kisumu, one of the biggest markets in Kenya. This is definitely more crowded and much dirtier than the Bondo market–and it is best to be accompanied there by someone who knows the terrain and the customs. It is a daunting place, but I had been last year and we were able to find the fabric stall once again. You can see the selection in the third picture. The prices here were lower than in Bondo and the choice greater. In the last picture are some of the  pieces which I bought or were given to me–batiks and other lovely prints.

However, it was not until Nairobi that I found the Lesos I wanted. The Lesos are a bordered fabric and often have a Swahili saying on them.  They young man I purchased them from patiently translated each one for me so that I would be sure to be purchasing something appropriate. The purple one pictured here says Love is like a flower; water it and watch it grow. Now who wouldn’t feel happy sporting that pleasant thought? The other messages were less romantic–the second purple Leso says, Trust a person’s actions, not his words. A sobering reminder, amid the colour and design.