The Solace of Making

I have buried myself in my studio for months. It is a place of great hope! which is sometimes dashed by reality....

There were Christmas presents:



Another suitcase, for another doll, for another grandchild:



This little guy got another outfit sewn for him, a pillow, mattress, and a handwoven blanket!

Grandchild #1 got a closet! Made by grandpa:



Filled with dollclothes, made by grandma:


Then a gift for a friend, yep, still Christmas, so long ago now!



It was her embroidery, now on her bag :)!

Another bag, this time for me, for knitting:



This had to be altered after finishing... it had a zipper on the top and I found it to be annoying: yarn snagged. I took off the top and finished the edge, and I am much happier now! An open top bag means it does not travel as well, but I am not at a loss for bags with which to travel.

Next up, lots of silk spinning. Blue and white silk, dyed as top, and when it was spun up, it looked like worn denim, so I used that as the plan for the fabric:



It gives me great delight to spin bombyx silk into a "worn denim" shirt :).


I spun a lot of cotton too:



And wove it up into another scarf. This cotton is a bit tighter twist than my previous scarf (AKA the first one I made out of handspun cotton) and the fabric is crisp. So far. Until it's used I will not know much...So I have been wearing it! I goes nicely with the worn denim silk shirt :).



I have also beeen re-purposing! That means I have been taking apart some of the early bags that I made:


And remaking them into better bags:



This one was a total winner, went with me on several trips and performed perfectly! It felt good, looked good and worked well, until.

Textile falilure. some of the warps are pulling out. Too much fussing? too many re-works? Dunno. It's in time-out until I figure out if and how to fix it, or whether to scrap the pile part and replace with something else. Inspiration will strike, someday. But this is a yet another example of the value of finishing things: I learn something every time :). The perfect bag right off the workbench may not hold up to use. Thus, not the perfect bag.

What's a maker to do? Make another one. Updates to follow! Because world events have driven me to the studio. It's the best place to hide.