My little boro fabric is coming along quite nicely. It’s slow, but that’s the idea with slow-stitching. My peeps cannot understand this concept, but their fun doesn’t bother me. I’m enjoying the calm that handwork provides during this time of no studio. We’ve worked out a plan and Richard (poor hubby!) is working diligently to fix up what will become my new studio. But more on that later in the week when there’s something to report. Since SQI was all about indigo, let’s focus on the indigo boro fabric.
The first piece. It’s right at the end in the photo, but I’ve actually added the few lines needed, including the “scattered rice” where my needle is. I actually stitched the rice while Richard drove me to Baton Rouge and back. The roads are much to bumpy to attempt a straight line, so I decided to go with it. “Scattered rice” is my name for this stitch because I have spilled raw rice a few times and it definitely looks just like this.
Did you notice the wavy lines? I worked on the piece for several hours one afternoon and white got boring. So I changed to an almost blue-green. (It looks white here, sorry.) I am improv-ish enough to use what happens to be at my chair. That thread happened to be an almost blue-green. Why not? And since I was changing color, I figured I’d also change stitch. There you are, a few waves of water. I’m sure I’ll pick up that color/motif again somewhere in the ensuing pieces.
One the left is the back of the section now completed. The lining fabric (right photo) is thin enough to see through it and make out the variances in the table. (The whiter section has four or five layers of lining.)
The back of the piece (right photo) is more difficult to see because the white thread barely shows up against the off-white fabric. I’m not really sure what this fabric is. It’s thin like gauze but doesn’t have the hand of gauze. I took it off the back of curtains, I think, and have a pretty good piece, so I’ve decided to use it for the entire jacket, both the navy outside and the neutral lining. Actually, if I play my cards right, it will be reversible. But I’m not promising myself that quite yet. There’s way to much slow-stitching to do and the end of February is on a faster trajectory than my slow-stitching.
I have two more pieces of the indigo ready to begin stitching. The one above is next in line and is a bit larger than the first one. Below is a very large piece. I’m thinking it will be for the back, perhaps. We’ll see, I suppose.
I have nor begun layering smaller pieces on top of the bases yet. I’m still not sure how “authentic” I want the jacket to feel. The traditional jackets may have many, many pieces, and I like that look. But I’m not sure how practical that might be. I plan to wear the jacket, assuming I like it. So I think that I should spend a little more time deciding what my “look” is before I add too many small pieces or different stitches.
Look at these jackets from my Pinterest board. They are fabulous. Would I wear them is another question altogether different. I have figured out that I need something longer than this waist length. Most likely hip or mid-thigh, because I get cold and a jacket with this many layers will be warm. Are you beginning to get a sense that I have lots to work out before I arrive at our retreat?
