Eiko’s linen got into a new project this week. I fashioned a brand new hat, my own pattern, and I think it turned out pretty well. There are a few tweaks I’ll make to the pattern next time. I made a detachable flower pin out of scraps. Isn’t the fringey effect great? This hat is floppy and casual, but fun. (Please ignore the white bag peeking out from underneath the hat. I had to pad the glass head.)
I’ve been working on migrating the AACC website to a new host for a week or more. I think I have it ready to go, but the files may not show up for 72 hours more or less. I hope, less. In my “uploading/downloading time” while I was stuck idle at the keyboard, I left the laptop and worked on some sewing.
I find myself conflicted. I love subtle colors, but I have, in my later years, come to love brights.
I put the subtle turquoise on one side…
and bright colors on the other. They are reversible, so you can choose which one you like.
I also made some new card cases. I love these little things! I used sew-on snaps on these. I’ve begun to wonder how well the Velcro will hold up to repeated opening and closing, although it is a lot easier to sew on than the snaps.
All lined up.
The backs. See the little raccoon in the upper left?
Open for business.
My best thing, though, is the new hat I made. Eiko wove the fabric in linen and
many coordinating colors. I hated to cut into it, but when I did and stitched it up according to what a lady described at Locally Grown Gallery, it turned out spectacular I think.
My friend, Eiko, is a wonderful weaver. She has only been a weaver for about 3 years I think but has absolutely fallen in love with it. Her fabrics are beautiful. She designs some of her own patterns and often uses bamboo and linen threads in fabrics that are subtle and elegant.
I have fallen in love with hat-making. I don’t say millinery because I don’t think I’m good enough to qualify for that moniker yet, milliner. I love the cutting, shaping, decorating–everything. Where else can you use almost any kind of fiber, natural- or man-made material in a project? And I love sculptural arts. My beadwork was often sculptural.
Morning Glories necklace
Eiko had a table-runner that she couldn’t sell. It wasn’t long enough to be a scarf and no-one seems to use table runners anymore (except me). She admired my hats in the shop in which we sell and wondered if we could collaborate. Yes!
In Japan all women wear hats, Eiko says. When she visits her mother she comes back to Tennessee amazed at all the hats she owns. I have to wonder if the wearing of hats is why Japanese women have such wonderful skin.
So she gave me the table runner to work with. It was very supple and drapey. Quite a challenge for a hat maker. I had to stiffen it a lot.
It turned out okay. I think I could have done better if I’d had a little more time. Eiko had a hand-woven ribbon with which she will replace the blue band. I’ll use it on another hat.Â
The fabric is linen with a wonderful woven-in slub style pattern.
I learned a lot on this hat. I will do much better on the next one. Thanks, Eiko!
