Friday, June 30, 2006

Two Challenges Completed!

1) Tie One On: the Musical
Tie One On:  the musical
Yay, finally an apron to submit to Tie One On again. The theme for June was My Favorite Musical. For me, that's A Chorus Line. Initially I had planned to take an old Chorus Line tee shirt (I have a bunch of tees saved to make a quilt with someday) and add strips of fabric around it...you know, like you see on the back of jackets or vests where a mola or some stand-out fabric is the focal point. Well, I couldn't find my tee. So instead I took a 70's-era shirt with a stretchy polyester (not too easy to sew with), and I made a collage of some of the dance images onto a variegated (brown to red) piece of shiny polyester organza. I placed two layers of brown tulle beneath it (one slightly smaller than the other) for a sexy, tutu effect. I am really pleased with how this turned out. The colors and the shine work well together.
Pics of the 'before' version of the shirt:
Tie One on, before
Tie One On, the before version
Cut up and it became this:
Chorus Line Apron
Detail: (smushed on the scanner, but hopefully you'll get the idea)
more detail
(note the mess of threads is a sample I made in my quilting class of that dissolving fabric that melts in water...so what is left is all the stitches and threads you put together. I thought it was a fun way to use it).

I should mention that I was obsessed with dance when I was in high school. I used to go to under-21 clubs and win lots of dance competitions with my friend David. I wonder how David is doing now? I was in modern dance in high school--the end-of-semester dance show was a huge big deal at my school. I was the first person to ever dance with a guy at the event. David and I got a standing ovation (especially meaningful to me in that it was one of the few events my mom ever attended).

I took dance classes downtown at a place called Stage 7--to me it was rubbing shoulders with 'the roar of greasepaint, the smell of the crowd.' A musical theatre of some sort was nearby, and I could hear someone practicing a horn. It was magic. As I drove home, there was a Sunbeam bread factory adjacent to the freeway onramp, and through a window of the factory I could see the bakers seated at a table, their big white billowy hats still on. I wish I had taken a photograph, as it is long gone. I still love the movie, All That Jazz. I considered pursuing a career in dance, and a major in college...but I did not. A dream lost.

Project 2) Flower-themed Pincushion.
My first entry to the pincushion challenge: a necktie flower. I used Laura's necktie daisy tutorial, except I used the large end of floral-print ties, cut at 6-inch lengths.
Pincushion Challenge: necktie flower
The center is also from a tie, but a cotton one so the pins won't damage the fabric (ties are more often made of silk or polyester).

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

that's a pretty darn cool pincushion. There was a question on whip-up the other day about ways to use ties...I thought immediately of you. http://whipup.net/2006/06/29/whiptips-necktie-blanket/#comments

Looks like a lot of others have had suggestions, but maybe you have a different perspective.

6:29 AM  
Blogger Karen said...

Wow! the apron is way cool, very artistic, I love the collage effect , I've always wanted to try something with the dissolvey stuff. I love the way it looks

8:21 AM  
Blogger The Calico Cat said...

Nice! Very innovative idea for the apron. pretty flower.

12:34 PM  

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