Once Upon a Time:: Discovering Wabi-sabi

Once upon a time 

squares were knitted

in a pattern only the knitter knew

and as word spread people gathered 

watching in wonder

as each piece took shape

 to be secretly stitched to the next

using ancient techniques now lost to time 

slowly revealing the colours & texture

mother nature inspired

a labour of love

each stitch a warm hug & sweet kiss

created to remember home 

a cottage with gumnut carpets & eucalypt canopies 
stretching to the horizon

all the while destined for far flung adventures

as the years passed, so did the blanket

from hand to hand & home to home

keeping the tale of family & origins alive

until slowly the colours and the stories began to fade 

along with any memory of the creator

and just as the eucalypt canopies
 which create gumnut carpets

had gone

so was the blanket

well worn, showing signs of a long life well lived

discarded & disheartened
destined for the dump

when paths crossed 
an intrepid adventurous treasure rescuing soul
spied the musty age old faded bristley woollen blanket 
from across a crowded op shop  

sensing there were still plenty of warm hugs to go round

 the travel weary blanket was bundled up to begin a new adventure

it soon became apparent 
more than suds & sunshine were needed
to breathe new life into this tired old blanket
with needle threaded
and fabric scraps selected
a brand new journey began

as the treasure rescuer 

let her heart rule her head

enjoying the process more than could have been imagined
as the weary wool surrendered itself to whims & fancy

and the more the rescuer stitched 

the more beautiful the blanket became

with every stitch a connection was felt & respect paid

 to the original creator

until there was no more to be done

without realising that

having seen the beauty in the old and worn

the rescuer had encountered and enjoyed 

the timeless ancient art of 
Wabi-sabi

taking pride of place over & above any other blanket

now the rescuers favourite rescue...

the end. x

One of Those Things - Hand Stitching my Ideas

I was going to call this post
'Things To Do with your Hands when you Can't Do Much with your Feet'

I rolled my ankle
tearing ligaments
a couple of weeks back
which meant I had to get good at using my hands
to keep from going loopy 
while I sat foot up day after day

armed with quiet resolve
I threaded my needle & started to embroider

first came the idea



then the words




followed by flowers



it was an enjoyable yet strangley awkward experience
[my favourite type]
no instructions in uncharted territory without time constraints  
only stopping once I'd achieved something 
which resembled the original idea I had

I call it 
'one of those things'




sometimes the trickiest part to anything you've never done before

is knowing when to stop

which is what's happening with my next
'one of those things'

I've a feeling I may have gone too far with this one

....and yet strangely

I don't think so

see what I mean

strange & awkward

love it!

In-between embroidering

I managed to crochet my body weight in Grannie Squares

not quite 

however it feels like it 

they take for.ever 

  now all I have to do is Whip Stitch them together
this bit sounds fast...

The other thing I worked out
while indisposed 
was how to take sexy shots 
of a manky foot 
in 100yr old Crocs.



Foot's much better
and ready for 4 days of creating with others
this time next week. 
x

Playing with my Bambi Jacket

It all started when I enrolled in a hand stitching class.

Anyone that's known me for any length of time
knows how much I've always wanted to be apart of someone elses sewing workshop
so when Regina & I walked into
Trishs shop & I spied she was offering a stitching workshop
I could hardly breathe it felt so right.

It was 4 Tuesday evenings
- during the first 3 I tried very hard not to think about how to create something
and tried instead to connect with my inner embroiderer & focus on finding my 'thing'
- 'a symbol in stitch' which belonged to me, was how Trish worded it I think.

A symbol eluded me 
and so did the ability not to create something.

In true Jody Pearl style 
on the day of the last night
it all suddenly made sense and started to come together.

 

Along with being in the company of like minded souls 
the spark which ignited the creative flame

was REdiscovering a vintage childs hanky in my filing,

which then reminded me of the red wool blend Coat I'd bought brand new 3 winters ago

hanging unworn in the back of the wardrobe...

and slowly

 over the course of the next few weeks 
while sitting at my end of the couch 
channel surfing by lamp light
I played
with basic hand stitching techniques 
fabric scraps
potato printing with doilies
 vintage trims
and most amazing of all
 I totally lost the need to control this REfashion with a sewing machine.

I discovered along the way that

taking the slow road is good for the soul

and giving yourself permission to play

involves stepping away from what you know and loosing the fear of being wrong.