Oh, I AM excited to share this Needlework Monday post with you all!!
As you may know, my Year Of Needlework Mastery is about 3/4 of the way through, and one of the major aspects of this immersion in a new career, vocation, passion and creative outpouring is the chaos which is inherent!
Since the fabulious @kesityu.fashion was staying, and we stocked up on mega-supplies of lush 50c textiles, I've been particularly concerned about how to contain the sheer quantity of possibilities! This week, having a most marvellous Workaway volunteer staying (who I met via Freedom Cells Network, actually, which makes us very compatible!), I've had a great leap forward in the smooth running of many elements of the house, and the challenge of containing the sewing chaos is at least partially solved, by this glorious bamboo structure, which Joseph helped me harvest and hang.
It was quite a laborious job, though the cutting and carrying it up from around the bottom of the gardens where I live was a beautiful and enjoyable task; there was such a load of dusty gunk on each and every pole, and lots of dark natural things packed into the cracks and joints... I spent a good few hours wiping them clean!
As you can see from the final photo here, there is only one of the lengths even barely filled as yet: I bought lots of hooks at the weekend, and have some ideas about how to hang the clothes and fabrics in the best way, plus I also cleared out two drawers of oil paints and acrylic paints, and now have an additional set of drawers to use: this really helps keep everything utilisable!
It felt VERY VERY good to hang the first row of these bamboos; it is a super-simple structure, but gives me optimum possibility to see clearly what I have, and to then mix and match it to get other ideas. Beforehand, I'd thought that I need a BIG structure of wooden shelving on that wall, which would provide enough storage space for so many clothes - currently sitting around in sort-of-orderly piles and plastic bags - yuck! It was a long-term project, but I REALLY need short-term fix of the chaos, as this is also my workspace and my bedroom - the best biggest and sunniest room in the Arthouse. So it was a seriously happy moment to get these hung. Now, I have to get everything out of piles and sacks, and onto the poles, which will involve a tall ladder.
Anyways; in the meantime, and between getting Joseph settled in, and between trips to the market this weekend (where I bought a whole new other sack of brilliant garments!!), I also progressed my transformation of this really nice Harris Tweed bag of Margaret's, my stepmum who died last year.
It has been an emotional project; firstly, my dad wanted to keep the handbag, but I insisted that it instead be used and transformed, otherwise it was heading towards rotting in the shed, which was NOT what I considered a good reflection of our love for Margaret via her handbag.
It was rather disfunctional, as both the (old, black) zip had failed, and the mock leather was shedding horrible amounts of yicky plasticky crap. It was also rather dowdy and boring, as a bag, though the Tweed has (to me!) a great potential for being offset with a more dramatic colour (or two)... I had begun this repair on my long bus journey back from Scotland - a beautiful but heart-breaking trip, where I felt the most alienated from my family that I have ever felt...
So the sewing of this bag, and connecting with Margaret's things, really helped therapeutically to navigate how upsetting my first visit home in five years was.
Now I am back in sunnier and more allegro climes, and am able to enjoy the VERY long process of finishing this dedication to Margaret through brightening up one of her favourite handbags. There is still a long way to go, but I'm finding time between Workaway sessions, and more intensive general maintenance of the Arthouse than usual, to put a few stitches in here and there. It's a powerful joy to do.
Looking forward to sharing more around this...
Many blessings on your work, health and life, all, and thank you always for your support here on Hive....
With LovE! from my new, much bigger, sewing table at the Arthouse in Italy.
www.claregaiasophia.com
