Nancy Shriber was the guest artist at the recent Design Outside the Lines retreat run by Diane Ericson. Nancy, an expert Sashiko artist, showed us fantastic samples from her book Sashiko Handbags 14 on 14. The premise is to make an embroidered 14″ x 14″ lined embroidered square and fold it to form a purse. Think of an origami meets handbag construction. I made her Asymmetrical Envelope with freeform embroidery rather than the traditional geometric Sashiko pattern. The top has a piece of curly willow to give the bag structure. I braided copper chain with hand dyed silk ribbon for the shoulder strap. The Foo Dog covers a magnetic snap, and the inside silk lining has a small pocket for a phone or eyeglasses.
Images
Log Cabin Heartfelt Coat
My first blog entry!
I just finished a new fall coat using Diane Ericson’s Heartfelt Coat Pattern. I hot water machine washed the wool yardage to felt the fibers together. After that I worked with the fabric patterning in order to build yardage that would enhance with the coat pattern. The wool is butted together and held with a decorative stitch. I actually started this 5 years ago and put it in a basket because it was just too big of a project.
I wore it on Saturday night and it was a success!
West Zen Studio 