My 7 year old hates for me to keep trying clothes on her when I am making her something new. So, I decided to try making a duct tape dress form of her. Making the dress form is a easy concept for an adult model. However, for even a well behaved 7 year old I would say Don't Try this at Home. Well, at least make sure you have a nice bottle of wine for you and ice cream for the kid to look forward to when it is over. It only took an hour to get the shell done but that is still a long time to get a kid to stand still without wiggling while you are mummifying them in duct tape. Also, the smell of the massive amount of duct tape is a bit overwhelming for an adult and more so for a kid.
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Hand Stitching Helpers
I am very frugal in buying only things I know I will use. So, since I already had various size round embroidery hoops I kept putting off buying the square one I really wanted. As a designer, I like to see how each stitch I add contributes to the piece. This was hard for me to visualize in the round. I knew it would be easier to get a sense of the larger piece in a square as I am used to using the concept of a view finder for art compositions. I finally decided to buy the square and have never second guessed my decision. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! OK, so I am a weird person who gets excited over art supplies. I was also the kid that loved getting new school supplies each year so no big surprise. My first square was the Dritz Quilting Quilt N'Go Lap Frame 11"x11" . It was the perfect solution to managing the fabric for the pieces I was hand stitching.
Read MoreDyeing Thread
While perusing the latest Quilting Arts Magazine I was inspired to experiment with dyeing cotton thread using DMC Floss Holders after reading Thread Dyeing 101: Two Approaches by Carol Soderlund and Melanie Testa. I really want to work more in dyeing silk thread after my class with Peg Gignoux. However, this was a quick and cheap experiment since I could get all the materials on sale at Jo-Ann's with their million coupons. For the experiment I used DMC StitchBow Floss Holders and DMC Pearl Cotton Size 12 in White.
Read MoreCompleted Class Project
Timeline is my finished project from the Peg Gignoux workshop. Using the techniques she taught in class, I completed this piece which is quite different from my previous projects. My inspiration for this piece came from a photo I took on one of my morning walks on Whidbey Island.
Read MoreTextile Dyeing & Collage with Peg Gignoux
My class at The Pacific Northwest School of Art was taught by Peg Gignoux. I had first admired her work locally at Light Art Design during the STITCH exhibit. Ironically, she lives about 30 minutes from me but I flew cross country to attend the only workshop she had scheduled in the USA for 2014. I am very happy with that decision, as it was exactly the workshop I needed as well as being introduced to PNSA. You can view Peg Gignoux's work on her website http://www.ingignouxity.com.
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