Fabric & Frockery from Fabulous Friends, 2013

Without further ado, so you can oooo and ahhhh as I did, here's the fantastical lady things, found and made by my gal pals.  Ready? 

~ My new-to-me Opera Coat courtesy of V. ~

(Ah yes, pay no attention to that hulking artwork behind me.  It's called Samurai from my Kimono Series where I recycled my older artworks and remade them into Kimono forms.)

 lightened-up to see velvet collar and beading detail

modeled with S's refashioned vintage scarf and E's handmade fingerless gloves

E's handmade fingerless gloves + mirrored image

(Again, just ignore the ceramic sculpture below.  It's called Zen Bones and consists of a replica set of human vertebrae I made.  Part of a series on Reliquaries. The bones were placed in a snake-like form in a shallow wooden tray filled with fine black sand.  But then, the cats really, really liked it.  So the sand was quick to go.  And the cats still play with the bones now and then, so they're scattered about in whatever form they land.  yeah.)

Do I luv these or what?!

vintage velvet & gold embroidered handbag from S.

Is it not like everything goes together or what?!

and Le Piece de Resistance from S.

plus some stupendous sari fabric from V.

close up of me wearing vintage scarf refashion from S.

(Perhaps a bit camouflaged by the snake-skin print top I'm wearing and the fabric beads I've been making, oh and that Samurai painting over my shoulder...)

My Opera Coat and I are going on over to join Patti's Visibles.  See you there!

Fabric Scrap Gems

Okay, we had our gift swap yesterday.  So fun.  Boy, do we know each other.  And we didn't take any pictures either!   We just started this officially last year, exchanging something hand-made and/or thrifted.

I was on a fabric jewelry making binge.  Still am actually.  I didn't know who should get what, so I wrapped them up in Modern Painter pages glued onto round cheese boxes.  They were left to pick whichever package they liked best.  Oh, too bad there's no photos of that either.

But I did take pix of the stuff before it went on its merry way...

~ BEFORE ~

See what came after, after the break...

Mending on My Mind

I've been looking at things lately...

~ items from Sri Threads  ~

and wanting to do stuff like hand sewing and mending.

ChungHie Lee

J. Morgan Puett

May Chan

And constructing dresses in more creative ways...

Keysook Geum

Judith Ann Braun

Hinke Schreuders

or maybe it's about doing something more art than wearable...?  Like my work before sewing clothes.

The Yellow Skirt Waves Bye-Bye

While on the last day, the lady bids adieu to her spirited companion - the Yellow Skirt - with a spot of hot chai amongst friends.

Cheers!

Ahh, and here they are now.

The motley crew

Some extra tidbits to notice besides her tie-dyed rainbow t-shirt with added sequins and refashioned teal suede with satin lapel jacket, are the lady's shoes and jewelry.

Elfin boots from e-bay

and necklace made from old earrings

Snow not only arrived for the first time this season, but continued to accumulate as the ladies made their departure from the cafe.   Thus, making the perfect photo op on the final day of Pao's yellow skirtness.

Flashing the Yellow Skirt on a snowy street corner

And finally, we find the lady at her doorstep, looking for keys...

Dear Reader, do you see Vix's sign?!!

Ah well, now we see Pao sitting on the porch.  Perhaps she's waiting for the door to open?

~ this too will pass ~

I'm sure it will all work out fine.

I'm going to be joining the Visibles at Patti's Not Dead Yet Style.
So come on over!

Acknowledgements:

Take Your Yellow Skirt to School Day

And so it was on this day, the Lady wore the Yellow Skirt to one of our City Colleges, wherein she facilitates a painting group for picture-makers in the making. 

Of interest to our historians, is the more subdued look Pao achieved by layering a black chiffon slip over the Yellow Skirt.

~ Pao poses amidst the student storage area  ~

It seems one of the group wore his St. Nicholas cap and a spontaneous re-enactment commenced that children of Pao-land recognize with glee.

Hee Hee Hee

Another treat, dear Reader, is a portrait of the picture-maker, painting the picture, after taking the picture of our lady posing for the picture for our Pao Calendar 2014.

Susan, painting and Pao, posing

Susan will send the painting group our calendars before the end of the month!

detail of Pao and the Yellow Skirt by Susan

and Le boots

...the last day cometh soon...

The Yellow Skirt at Sunrise...and Mom

Here in Pao-land, the elders gather together during their transitional phase at a place called Sunrise.  It is settled in the middle of town, amongst all the liveliness a thriving metropolis has to offer.  It was there, then, the lady and her Yellow Skirt went to visit her one and only mother.

The Lady Accompanied by Her True Love at Sunrise

The great hall was festooned with the ancient symbols of a life celebrated whilst dying.  A tree cut down in its prime and ornamented.  Nature uprooted, brought indoors and be-ribboned along with tiny specks of colors twinkling day and night.

This is the scene our picture-makers reproduce most often, wherein the lady presents the Circle of Life to her Mother.

The Giving of the Wreath from Daughter to Mother

In actuality the Lady's Mother had made this Circle of Life her very self years ago, although she no longer remembers the fact. 

Check out those matching yellow socks!

The Lady's mother introduced Pao as her daughter to all those around her, and told everyone the story of the Yellow Skirt.  She was said to be very happy and repeated herself endlessly.  Afterward, Pao placed the Circle of Life on the front of her mother's door along with a photograph of this picture.  All who saw it smiled.


and yes, there's still more to come...

oh, and a gratuitous boot shot

...and I linked up with Sacramento's Share in Style Christmas here

and Sheila's Shoe Shine (a year later)!

The Yellow Skirt Visits the Hair Dresser

There is some discrepancy between our picture-makers and our word-writers about the order of happenings once the Yellow Skirt came to Pao-land.  Be that as it may, questioning whether the cow came before the milk is age-old and better left to rocket scientists.

Here is our lady dressing for the hair dresser.  Notice the spy glass she uses to get an objective view of herself.  This is an unofficial depiction of Pao and the Yellow Skirt in a more private moment.  The public, of course, just love it.

 The YTS, tie-dyed golden elephant dress & lipstick boots w/ roses

Titled 'Apres le Haircut at the Salon, Duet, with the Lady's Hairdresser of 30 Years'

a small metal paper fastener clips the Yellow Skirt (now dress) to form soft folds

And the Yellow Dress is Revealed along with the Fabulosity of an Excellent Cut of Hair

Not to mention, the Lipstick Ankle Boots rehabbed with Tiny Roses

...ah yes dear Reader, more is yet to come...

Later That Same Day...

...the Yellow Skirt found herself in the midst of a revolution.  And she was quite thrilled about it, really.

~ whistling whist she worked ~

For this very eve was a gathering of the Sewing Rebellion, held at the newest rebel's home this month.

All Pao had to do was add an under layer to her ensemble and she was ready to venture forth into that cold, cold world.

same as it ever was...with added pink T & tights + switch to golden boots

It was here, Pao made a sweet nothing/ little something to companion the Skirt on her travels to other lands.

It's a bracelet!

And the YTS was officially initiated into the club of renegade seamsters:

Plain as Day

still to be continued...

How the Yellow Skirt Woke Her Up

Truth be told, pao-land had been floundering twixt day and night, night and day.  Speculation arose that the lady's daily activities often went missing.  All things seemed quiet, brooding... And here, dear Reader, is where we now say the story began:  How the Yellow Skirt Saved the Nick in Her Time.

Some may find it surprising that the first thing our Pao did upon receiving such a gift,  - it is said by those who would surely know such things -  was to put it away in a drawer, its energy whelming all around it.  There it generated good medicine, until the lady was able to think thoughts along the same wave length, ideas of unique positivity, creativity, and community.   Our chant goes like this:

Pao gradually opened her eyes

and her heart

and her closet

to the here and now possibilities

The Day the Yellow Skirt Came to Call

You Are Welcome

The miracle hit pao land in the nick of time.  It was rumored she'd dropped out of the blogdom for the last month or two. 

Yes, it happened suddenly, out of the blue.  A package was found on her door step wrapped with angels and a cat.

 all the way from the land of Sue @  A Colorful Canvas

Well, I can tell you for a fact, dear Reader, that pao has found beyond any doubt: wearing a yellow skirt a day, keeps the blues at bay.  Yes, it does.  And so the story goes...

Pao decided she really needed an extraordinary dose of magical yellow skirted goodness these days, and as one thought led to another thought, over some time, she had an idea that felt just right for her.  Whatever could that be, you might wonder?

to be continued...

The State of Project Minima: Year 3, 2nd Qtr.

Time flies.  And so do I, in circles, orbiting around my Mom's downward spiral, now in hospice.  sigh.

painting by Irene Ferguson

Everything is okay, as well as can be, all things considered.  yeah.  

I've been sewing this quarter anyway, although not picture-taking.  yet.  

And I've just heard I'm next in line for the Traveling Yellow Skirt!  

How cool is that?!  

Just what the doctor ordered to get me out of the blues 

and into sunshine yellow blogospheric fashion is serious sistah blissness.   

Can I get it together to do stats...?  I don't have anything posted that I made this quarter so it's not so easy to do...hmmm.   

Ed. note:  I've just posted all the items made in Fall Quarter on the Clothes for Fall page.

Stepping Out of the Wardrobe

Again...Finally...

And just in time for Patti's Visible Monday and the party she hosts for us fortnightly.  Appropriately enough, I'm wearing my Bounce Back Ability dress, this time with lacy peach-colored fishnet stockings and new ebay sandals. 

For more closet pictures continue after the break...

The State of Project Minima - Year 3, 1st Qtr.

Yes, I'm going into my third year now for Project Minima.  This summer quarter, production pretty much stopped alongside my mom's rapid decline in health.

Painting by Sally Moore.

It was only after she was relocated to a senior living community near us in Chicago last month, that I was able to focus on a new type of construction.  A Dress-Ability.  The confluence of mom being a bit more settled and of me being asked to participate in a show at my old gallery brought forth a renewed burst of creativity.

The only piece I produced this quarter was a dress made from an old turquoise top I deconstructed and various bits & pieces of fabric I auditioned from my stash.  I embroidered it's name, "Bounce Back-Ability" across the front.  I suspect it will become part of a series of Dress-Abilities.   You can see close ups of it on my Clothes from Summer page.

Bounce Back-Ability

Yes, I have it on actually.

It's called Bounce Back.

My newly created Dress-Ability.

And I'm showing this baby off at Patti's Visible Monday, even though it's late Tuesday night.  But I just finished it in the nick of time for all my deadlines.  whoo-hoo.

I wanted to embroider a title for each dress I make in this way to embody it's meaning to me at the time.  When Jan of Fort Smith Stylista made a comment about my bouncing back, I knew that was it. (Thanks Jan!)  So...the wearer will be fortified with the ability inscribed on the dress.  Dress-Ability.  Yeah, I could use that.

More details after the break...