Disappointed to have missed the sign up for Jude Hill’s Contemporary Boro class, I have decided to embark on my own. Like any true fabric collector, I have been setting aside garments for ages — pieces that hold some sort of potential for reworking. Sometimes, it’s the fabric I love, sometimes, the cut. But, for whatever reason, the shirts/pants/jackets do not work as wearable items.
Number One goal – to have fun.
Number Two goal – to convert giveaways into comfortable, wearable garments (or special dressy ones, who knows?).
Number Three goal – learn stuff.
Number Four goal – to use what I find, am given, have on hand. Minimal expenditures.
Number Five goal – share here.
Number Six goal – work up to dyeing cloth/garments this summer.
Inspiration?
Of course, Jude — check this out, and this, and this.
Of course, India Flint – check this out. There are better garment pictures in her first book.
Following directions and working in three dimensions are challenging for me, so in tandem with deconstruction and messing around, I plan to make some clothes – start to finish – with a pattern.
For a tiny bit of background on Boro, there is a Japanese textile overview here – Kimonoboy. A collector shares some great pictures, here. And, of course – if you google “boro textiles” in the images mode, you will be flooded with beauty!
And, what a discovery this morning – THIS site – ‘Denham the Jeanmaker’, whose tagline is “Worship Tradition, Destroy Convention”. Stylish, sales-oriented, and full of cool ideas.
In any case, my first project, above, aims to be a little more pedestrian and less time-consuming than many of my inspiration sources. I had already cut the bottom off of the waffle weave shirt, which is worn to a comfortable softness, slightly stained, and currently too-short (oops!) to wear even as a pj top.
I have pinned a tissue-thin plaid as a skirt, some double-folded silk as a mini-peplum, and attached a swatch of embroidered linen over a hole in the chest. Of course, it would be great to dye the cotton top first, but I’m not there yet.
I am mostly piecing the ‘Middle Passage’ quilt today, which has moved from the board to the floor, and which will NOT be short-cutted by having an informing idea, apparently. My newest strategy in that regard? To have slightly more straightforward projects to go to when the going gets too daunting. Last night I made one-inch, paper-pieced hexagons. This ‘dress’ might also be something to go to.
This LL Bean sweater was my mother’s. I am using it as my first exercise in Jude Hill‘s Contemporary Boro 2 class. As a starting point, it has to fit better. I had already cut the too-long sleeves to wrist-length awhile back. They’ll need binding. The shoulders droop unattractively and I want to fix that. Today I cut the ugly buttons off and unpicked the threads holding in the tags, then created a muslin tag (rubber stamped with coffee pot) and an inner pocket featuring a lion, to reference my very Leonine mother.
I want to add a lower section that will bring the garment below the hip, and also add some weight to it.
This was the sash I constructed back when I was thinking about running with this idea:
I plan to add thin red ties, so that the ‘waistlit’ as it has been dubbed by deanna, will wrap twice and tie in front, but with narrower ties.
