Author Archives: West Zen

Debra and Marcy I Apologize…

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Black-Grey-Marcy-Dress My BSF made this dress by Marcy Tilton (Vogue 8975) and tried to convince me to sew one with her. “It will look like a big gunny sack on me” I scoffed. Well I tried on Debra’s dress when she finished and loved it! It’s comfy, clever, perfect for the change of seasons, and no, it does not look like a gunny sack. I should have modeled it, since it actually looks better on me than on Roxy.Black-Grey-Marcy-Dress_3

One does need to read the directions for this dress. The garment goes together fairly quickly despite many pieces and a few odd instructions, for example attaching a point on the hem to the bottom of the pocket.

Black-Grey-Marcy-Dress_2 I made three minor modifications to the pattern. The collar is my invention and I am very happy with it. You may see it again in the very near future. I used three fabrics instead of two, and I shortened the dress two inches so it doesn’t overwhelm me. There’s a lot of fabric in this dress, but it is light and soft so it all works. The back is pretty jazzy too!Black-Grey-Marcy-Dress_1

Refashion Geisha Tunic

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Geisha-Shirt3I had loved an old tee-shirt with a geisha asian theme, but alas it not longer fit. I put it in my refashion stash waiting for the right inspiration. A few weeks ago my husband asked if I wanted an old polo of his.  When it turned out a very similar stripe to the background of my geisha tee, I started stash shopping for one more coordinate knit. Vogue 8962 is the perfect pattern since the front panel is narrow and fit my old tee to perfection.

The back pattern pieces are fairly large since the side seem shifts toward the front. The polo shirt stripe and the knit stripe coordinate pieced into a new textile. Then I cut out the back pieces with this new patchwork fabric.Geisha-Shirt

I think the deconstructed net sleeves look great with this tunic. I do have to put my arms through with my hands in a fist so my fingers don’t catch the holes!Geisha-Shirt_1

Testing out some fabric ideas on the neck turned into a solution. I just sewed the strips around the neck and left them twisted and raw. A little hand tacking keeps the neck in place. It’s  great to have my old tee back in a new form!

Can I Still Wear Linen after Labor Day?

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Fall-Linen_4  I just finished this linen shirt this past weekend. Obviously, I don’t care about the rules of textile seasons, because I plan on wearing this shirt as a transitional weight until the cold sets in. It’s 85 degrees out today so I think linen will feel great. The Lynn Mizono shirt (vogue1274) is such a fabulous place to start. It’s funny how you start to make a pattern exactly as is, but if you just take a critical look at each stage things begin to change. “I don’t like the way this looks” can turn into “what a cool detail”.

The spotted linen on the left was a little too heavy for the wings that this pattern is known for. I could have pulled them to the back like the pattern suggests, but I had already decided to add a detail on the back that would be covered up. So I lightened the front by the asymmetrical hem at the placket. Then I added a tab on the back to hold just one wing. The tab detail gave the back an asymmetrical hem to balance the front. Fall-Linen_2

Just cut off the extra wing? No way, I turned it into a pocket. I love pockets!

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Fabric “Store” and Photo Studio Remodel

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While other people like to spring clean, I went to school for so many years that I’m still hooked on a late summer back to school schedule. When the notebooks and pencils start showing up in the stores I want to straighten out my drawers, closets and work areas. We rearranged some rooms in our house leaving a small windowless “bedroom” that I could use to store my fabrics, yarn and set up some lighting for photography.

Previously my fabric lived in 3 different areas and I had no idea how much I owned! This stash may be too much to some, but I just love looking at those shelves of delicious fabrics in my favorite colors. Fabric-Storage-2The top left shelf has some lovely African batiks that I inherited, along with my silk and metallic fabrics. Sewing and knitting books also have a space here, and there is room to grow! The next shelf two shelves below the books are woven textiles. The shelf to the right is all knits except for more wool on the bottom shelf, and some leather rolled up on the top.

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My yarn stash is not nearly as large, and many of these are leftovers from previous projects. I have a different approach to my knitting than my sewing. As I near the end of a project I usually, I go to ravelry.com and look at patterns that I have favorited (I’m sure this word will be accepted in the dictionary soon.) in the past or research something I want to make, for example a new winter hat. Then I go to my LYS and pick out the yarn.

refashion-stashThe next area in my room is for my refashion stash. These are clothes that I have picked up at resale shops, or items from my closet that I no longer wear, but love the fabric or a detail. The upper left bin is all linen items. The right side box contains cashmere sweaters from my husband, myself and resale shops. Wash and dry them in the machine and they shrink up to a yummy softness. Moth holes virtually disappear, and I can then sew them into a new garment. Lights-and-Backdrop

The photo studio is the last wall in this room. I’m at best a hobbyist at photography, but the new bright lights and pull down backgrounds should help with the post processing that I did previously to make up for low spotty lighting. I haven’t had time to test out the photo area, but I’m currently sewing two new tops that I will photograph for my next blog.

Ichi and the Traveling Purse

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My BSF Debra and I got together to make handbags, and what fun we had!  Inspiration for these bags came from multiple sources and came together for a couple of cool purses…at least we think they are cool! My small bag features my cat Ichi who is a walking piece of graphic design. I copied the photo onto cotton ink jet prepared fabric.Ichi-Purse-FS Debra custom designed her interior to hold files, an iPad and a water bottle with all the other typical purse needs.Debra-Purse-inside-DSWhile she designed it to take on vacation is using it every day, and it’s fantastic!

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Inspiration and direction came from many people and materials. First, Mary Glenn gave a class on easy handbag construction at DOL in Ashland and made it look so easy. Honestly she really came up with an efficient way to construct a purse. She has a blog entry for instructions: http://inspiredsewing.wordpress.com/2014/01/22/making-colorful-handbags/

The second inspiration came from Diane Ericson and her  plumbing supply line discovery. We both used the woven stainless steel for our purse handles.

The third inspiration was the fabric that Debra found at a local thrift store. It feels and looks like leather and she found a couple of yards of this stuff for $4.00!

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Last, but not least, my new metalsmithing skills came to use attaching the straps to the bags…

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and make the mouse dangling from my cat Ichi.

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Fort Collins Museum of Art

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I have a sculpture in the new show at the Fort Collins Museum of Art. The exhibit runs from July 25 through September 28. My piece, Portal to the Past, is based on a map of Fort Collins from the 1890’s. I went scavenging for a wagon wheel to frame the map and came across this wheel with this triangular piece attached.Fort-Collins-Sculpture I immediately envisioned the triangle shape as our Old Town Fort Collins. The triangle gave me my scale for the map. The knitted wire represents the Poudre River.WFranzen_Portal-to-the-Past If you want to see more of my artwork check out my website: WendyFranzen.comPortal-to-the-pastD2

Steel Smithing at Anderson Ranch

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I just came back from a fantastic class at Anderson Ranch in Snowmass Village, CO. The mountains are beautiful this time of year and cooler than in Fort Collins. If you don’t know about Anderson Ranch you need to check it out. They offer 1-2 week workshops all summer. The ranch offers arts and crafts classes including painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics and woodworking, and the topics and instructors change every year.

This year I took a class from Natasha Seedorf on steel smithing. I focused on learning skills, but still ended up with a few finished pieces. I plan on using my new skills for my encaustic, for example these rings will be a frame for a wax piece I’m working on.Steel-class1In sculpture I can use both hot and cold connections. Hand formed steel rings are at the top of the necklace and cold riveted bars on used on the bottom. The two pieces below on the left are bar steel torched while in a vice and then twisted while red-hot. I have to admit how fun it is to twist steel like putty! Far left is a “bead” for a future necklace and the long piece is an awl for woodworking. I can also use these connections for my fiber arts and sewing.
Steel-class2In addition, it never hurts to make a piece of jewelry once in a while! Below is a necklace and a couple of simple earrings.Steel-class3I went home and immediately gave away my Acetylene/Air torch and purchased a Smith mini torch that uses Acetylene/Oxygen to get a higher temp. I’ll keep you up to date on my future adventures with metals!Little smith

Winners and Losers

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Since I have been traveling so much the knitting has increased, and I have finished two projects. The bad news is project two didn’t work out so well, but I’m going to be brave and show you both hoping that someone has a solution before I unravel or just send it to the charity bag!

Smaller projects work best when traveling and I usually stick to one color. I broke that rule in this first shawl/scarf project since the yarn was a small gauge, and it is an easy pattern. 
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I wish you could feel this yummy yarn. I used Blue Sky Alpacas – Blue Sky Metalico in Platinum and Gold Dust Purchased at my LYS The Loopy Ewe. It’s 90 degrees out and I want to wear this!! The pattern is IWO from Berroco purchased on Ravelry.IWO-Scarf

Now for the fail. I really love the look of this pattern the Hope Tank by Tahki yarns.IWO-pattern-photo I didn’t think this was an appropriate pattern to substitute another yarn, so I searched on the internet and ordered it in my favorite color. My first warning should have been the yarn when it arrived. Don’t get me wrong, the yarn is lovely but those thick nubs produce a much warmer fabric than the Summer weight shell pictured.

Second mistake…I always swatch to get the appropriate gauge. How did I not notice the pattern required two swatches, one in garter used at the edges and one for the drop stitch which is the majority of the top. Of course the second one is the one I missed. So here it is: Hope-tank-originalAdmittedly, Roxanne is one size smaller than me, but you get the picture. Here is a try at draping the extra fabric off to the side. Hope-tank3I added a tie on the front and back for this version, but I think the tie should be lower. So viewers is there any hope? Comments or ideas are welcome…Hope-tank2

I’m back!

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Multiple trips and then family visiting has kept me away from my blog, but I’m back with new ideas and a few new skills and techniques to incorporate that I can’t wait to share.

But first I have to finish my show and tell of my trip to Ashland for the DOL retreat. The town on Ashland is a fantastic arts town with beautiful scenery, but the shopping is what caught my eye! The downtown has textile shops of yarn and fabric and a bead shop.Fabric-Purchase1web

As you can see I went a little crazy with the fabric, but they were so beautiful, and I don’t buy woven textiles often so this is a new start for me. Notice the little cat on the umbrella fabric…cute without being too cute. Several of these fabrics look different but great on both sides allowing for some interesting details.Fabric-Purchase-2web

Then there are fabulous clothing stores in all price ranges including a wonderful resale shop, and SHOES!!! My shoe enabler husband (is he a catch or what?) took me shoe shopping and I ended up with 4 pairs of new shoes. Ashland-Shoes-BrightwebImelda eat your heart out. Aren’t these cool and unusual?Ashland-Shoes1web

I have cleaned up my studio after returning from a small steel smithing class and promise that next week I will start to show more hand-made projects, including what I learned about working with steel. So exciting!

Design Outside the Lines Retreat

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I just returned from a fantastic vacation. We spent 4 days at a house on the beach in Bandon, Oregon We found a lovely restaurant or two and read a lot of books. During the day I walked on the beach and collected small pieces of driftwood. I had to ship boxes home full of wood, textiles and clothes!

Afterwards we went to the lovely town of Ashland Oregon, which is the home of Diane Ericson and one of the locations for her Design Outside the Lines Retreats. I can’t even begin to describe the inspiration I obtained from Diane the other guest teachers Gwen Spencer, Mary Glenn, Miles Frode, and the other attendees. Each day we would all show up wearing something we made and there was a cacophony of oohs and awes all over the room!

Diane gave us an overview of putting together pieces of fabric as inspiration for making a garment. She often starts with one of these fabric collages and then decides what to make out of it. We drew, stamped, sewed and embroidered to make some truly unique textiles. I think this one will turn into a small purse at some point, but it also may end up on a jacket.Stitching-Sample-DOLweb

Gwen taught us how to make slippers. We all received kits with the padding and patterns that she had developed. I just had a few bits of hand stitching to do when I returned home. Diane’s stencils adorn the little black dupioni silk pieces.Ashland-DOL-Slippers_web

Miles, a talented and enthusiastic artist, gave an inspiring talk on painting, stenciling and stamping on fabric. He also taught us several easy ways to make our own custom stamps. I bought a piece of his hand painted fabric and will be waiting for the perfect placement.Miles Frode fabric

Mary Glenn showed us an easy way to make a lined handbag. I can’t wait to make one, but I ran out of time at the retreat. She was also our fitting specialist and everyone kept her so busy she needed a sign up sheet! I finally got together with her on the last day and had a lesson on tissue fitting. I learned so much in that half hour, and I think I know how to approach fit in a better way now. There is so much more to learn…

The next blog will be about what I collected and purchased in Oregon! Lets just say that Ashland has great shopping, and that my husband is a fabric and shoe enabler.