Butterfly Jacket Class with the Weaving Guild

I spent three delightful days last week with the Weaving Guild in Rochester. The first day was a fashion show for the guild, followed by a two day Butterfly jacket class. Almost everyone opted to add some Seminole Patchwork to their jacket.

The Weaving Guild is much more than just weavers. They teach classes on several of the fiber arts at their new location at the Piano Mall in East Rochester. Here a gorgeous jacket begins to take shape from silk and parts of a skirt from Indochina.

A hand embroidered square is going to be part of two vest fronts.

The silk jacket progresses.

Two jacket fronts are finished.

This one uses a mola in the back for its main focus.

A gorgeous hand dye is the focal point for the front of this jacket.

The silk jacket at the end of the day.


And finished a few days later. The back.

Made by Eileen Driscoll from Ithaca.

Sewing Day at Marcia's Studio

Linda worked on some pieces from her stash.

And I started a new jacket based on a piece I purchased on my last trip to Laos.

Some foiled pieces left by Marcia Murphy during her last visit.

My jacket progresses.

Inspector Suki inspects some of my pieces for softness and compatability.

And Linda makes progress on her piece.

While looking for pieces for the blue jacket I found this beautiful parrot cross stitched on wool which would also make a beautiful jacket back.

Butterfly Jacket Class at the Bobbin Case

On Tuesday and Wednesday I taught a class called the Butterfly Jacket (my name for it) at the Bobbin Case Bernina shop in Rochester. This beauty was all sewn and just being fitted before adding the lining and the finishing work.

The starting point was the beautiful hand dyed fabric in the back panel.

Beth made this wonderful jacket from hand stamped fabric from India which she had purchased at a local quilt show.

The striking back panel is pieced.

The lining has already been added to this one and its ready to have the side seams sewn before its finished.

The beautiful back panel came from John Marshall.

Sewing Day at Marcia's Studio

Thursday we spent another great day at Marcia's Studio, going over Project Iron Quilter and of course, doing some sewing.

The blue quilt is coming along with a little progress on veins.

Beth is still working on the beautiful turquoise jacket.

And made some progress on the fronts.

Jeanne Simpson joined us to work on a couple of quilts.

Val Schultz visits with her beautiful vest

Val Schultz paid a visit for a final fitting of her beautiful vest which she started in my class in August. She used an antique shisha mirror piece from India as a focal piece on the back.

The pattern is called the "Quilters Vest" by Virginia Robertson.

Mancuso Philadelphia Quilt Show - Our Garments

Our display at the show. Our reason for the field trip (other than staying at the great hotel) My vest made from the Quilters Vest Pattern. I made it 8 years ago as a class sample displaying Seminole Patchwork and scrunched fabric.

Paula Schultz's ensemble and Janet Root's mola jacket.

Bev's mola jacket and one of Marcia DeCamp's jackets.

One of my Bernina outfits.

My Bernina Tiger outfit and Guatemalan coat in the center.

One of Marcia DeCamp's jackets, Pat Berardi's jacket in the front and my Bernina outfit behind it.

Barbara Ackley's jacket with my Mola Jacket behind it.

Two of Beth Brandkamp's garments in front and my green jacket behind them.

Claire Welch's travel jacket which she wore on a trip to Germany.

Bev looking at my Fairfield Fashion Show garment.

Two of Marcia's jackets.

Pat Pauly's blue and red coat in front, followed by Nancy Crouch's jacket, June Silberman's beautiful Mola jacket is next to it.

New Jacket Progress

I am making progress. The fronts and backs have been cut out and sewn together. I added a strip of the jelly roll to the front.
And two strips with velveteen in the middle to the back. If you click on the photos you can see the hand stitches in the fabric. Now I have to make the sleeves and have only pieces left from the original scarf.

Beginning a New Jacket

The start of a new jacket. The main material is a two yard piece of silk from a sari, with another two yard piece of silk sari on the reverse and the entire thing is quilted with hand stitches in India. If you click on the photo you can see the stitches. It is designed to be a shawl and has a beautiful drape. The left side is one side of the piece and the right side is the other. In the middle is a strip of purple velveteen which I will use in the jacket and in the band. On the right is what I do with jelly rolls which I purchase in quilt shops. They are basically a few shades of cotton batiks cut into 2 1/2" strips the width of the bolt...about 42". I cut them in half as they are too big for my purposes, then cut them into 1 1/4" wide strips to insert in my garments and quilts. I will draft my own kimono jacket for this piece which will be based pretty much on my hip measurement and the length I want in the finished jacket.

Finished Jacket

The jacket is finished and I am pleased with it. The leaf fabric came from my friend Nancy Board and is an Alexander Henry print from over 20 years ago and a favorite. I made a couple of bog coats with thei piece I had back then.

Its a made to measure kimono style. The band is purple velveteen. There's a bit of trim with hand dyed ribbon and beaded shisha mirrors.

Gorgeous Wool Felting- Masha Ginsburg

Take a look at the beautiful wool felting done by Berlin based artist Masha Ginsburg.

http://www.masha-ginsburg.com/mashaginsburg_en/gallery.html




Masha is a one woman show in Berlin. There, she makes wearable art from start to finish. Working with the finest merino wool, Masha makes felt with a secret recipe that leave the traditionally matted fibers fluid and skin friendly. The result: true couture one-of-a-kind pieces that have a following in Japan--not only for their unique texture, but the interesting ancestral, yet modern shapes of her pieces

She also has articles for sale accessible from her web page. Take a look.