MeadowTree Perspectives

Style Imitating Art Roundup

Hello and welcome to a Style Imitating Art roundup featuring all of you who submitted ideas for this round’s art inspiration.

What Is Style Imitating Art?

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks and me. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday one of us selects an inspiration image and we each post the image on our blogs. The following Monday we share our art-inspired outfits. The following Wednesday, the curator shares all of the submissions on her blog.

This Week’s Presenter

That would be me.

This Week’s Inspirational Image

The Girl With a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer

The Roundup

Your Interpretations

Mike’s

Mike says, “My outfit is pretty simple. I tried to match the colors that most draw my eye in a piece and put together a look most fitting from that interpretation. Read further about his interpretation on his post about it HERE.

Job well done and welcome back Mike!

Leslie

Jodie of Jodie’s Touch of Style sent in Leslie ‘s photo in this gorgeous and stated “I know the colors are not the same, but everything else reminded me of the SIA photo!!! It’s almost like she is posing the same too!! I agree; and Leslie looking over her shoulder is just perfect. This is from one of Jodie’s blog stories found HERE.

Michelle

Michelle’s turban, blue dress and look is picture perfect! Michelle can be found on Instagram HERE.

Kezzie

Kezzie sent her idea and said, ” I was inspired by the colours of the painting and wanted to go for something slightly more simple than I usually do for SIA. I started with the wired headscarf and it all built from there.“

Kezzie’s pearl drop earrings add the icing to the cake and I love the color of her gold cardigan, so spot on perfect. Check out Kezzie’s post about her look this week HERE.

Hazel

I would like to welcome first time participant, Hazel of Hazel’s World of Joy

Hazel says, “Today I was wearing a white shirt under a mustard jumper and realized how easy it would be for me to change my earrings, bung a blue snood on my head and ta-dah! I would be transformed into Vermeer’s painting.” Hazel’s use of light and dark in her photo was the first thing that caught my eye, establishing such a perfect mood (spot on for this painting). I also like how she interpenetrated the white peeking just above the collar. You can read her story about her thoughts on her take HERE.

Most of you probably already know this. But I soon learned at the beginning of my hand knitting career, years ago, that British knit jumpers and American knit sweaters; it’s the same thing.

Shelbee

Shelbee of Shelbee On The Edge, says, “I love the colors and the girl’s whole look so I interpreted it quite literally and attempted to create her outfit!” I love Shelbee’s blue velvet turban! It adds such a richness to her interpretation. The white scarf peeking out from the jacket is also spot on. Read more about her thoughts on her take HERE.

Leslie

Last but not least is Leslie of Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After . She says, “I decided to pair my H&M paper bag skirt with a Tommy Hilfiger white Oxford cloth shirt, a very old blue boyfriend cardi from Chadwicks and my Frye boots. Oh, and faux pearl earrings, of course”

I love Leslie’s paper bag skirt. My next make is a pair of paper bag pants. I hope I look as good in this style as Leslie. Truthfully, I have worn this exact outfit before: white shirt, tan skirt with a brown belt (I can’t get in my skirt anymore) and brown boots. Great style Leslie!

My Co-Hosts

Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey

Salazar says, ” I chose this gold taffeta blazer because the color and the shine look like the girl’s robe in the painting. I finished off the outfit with a blue silk scarf and a pearl-encrusted brooch as a nod to the pearl earring. ” Check out her post about it HERE.

Salazar did some beautiful color work with this ensemble and then there is her pearl brooch. I’m a big of silk scarfs!

Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks

Daenel says, “I chose this outfit because I thought the colors to be very similar to those in the painting. The jacket has a pearlish hue and the browns and blues are similar to the background.” Check out her post about it HERE.

Daenel has put urban cool into her look and I love it!

And finally me, the link to my Monday’s post about my look can be found HERE.

Thank you for everyone who participated. I so appreciate it. You all have made my debut as a SIA co-host memorable. Please come back next Monday to see what new artistic inspiration we have for you.

Take care, stay safe and be creative!

Yellow, Blue & Pearls/Style Imitating Art

Hello and welcome to my interpretation of this weeks Style Imitating Art.

Style Imitating Art is hosted biweekly by Salazar of14 Shades of Grey, Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks and me. Style Imitating Art challenges us to create an outfit using art as inspiration. From experience, I know that there are so many different ways to interpret a work of art art and a carry out a creative project. There aren’t wrong answers! There are so many ways of interpretation: colors, genre, subject matter, particular elements of art and design …I could go on.

This Weeks Inspirational Work

This weeks inspirational work is A Girl With a Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer which was chosen by me.

My Style

My interpretation of this work is fairly literal; blue, yellow and pearls. I styled something that I could easily wear out and about. Before Covid, we regularly ate out at our little wine bistro here in our small town and are looking forward to returning to our routine. This outfit is perfect for something like that; my “Wine Bar Casual” look, as you could say ( I even have a Pinterest board dedicated to this kind of look).

All items featured have been with me for quite a while. My DKNY asymmetrical cardigan was on clearance about a dozen years ago at TJ Maxx and I pull it out occasionally but usually wear it with grey so pairing it with blue is a different look for me.

Rather than a white collar, I have a long faithful V-neck top from Chico’s. Years ago, on the way out of Joplin, after visiting my daughter, I would stop by Chico’s and check out their sale rack. This was one of my sale scores.

My blue is picked up in my American Eagle jeans. Can you believe that I found these at Goodwill? My kids kept telling me how great American Eagle jeans were, but I just didn’t take heed. It took being able to get get a pair for about $5 that tempted me to try them. Well, three pairs later, I am a big fan!

Marc Fisher is one of my favorite shoe companies, and I am wearing a pair of blue suede boots from them.

Then there are my pearls. Firstly, I didn’t go with a pearl necklace but a pendent necklace that I made from a piece that I got on sale at Joanne’s. It might be some type of quartz? But whatever it is, it goes with the pearls that I chose to wear.

I have large pearl drops (no idea when and where I got them), a three strand bracelet from eBay and a single pearl ring from my favorite eBay shops; Gemporium. Most pieces from Gemporium are auction based and it’s really hard to win a auction-they are that popular.

Not a Turban But Something For My Hair

I have one black hair band and that is the only one I own. I wanted some kind of hair treatment so took a scrap of blue silk that I dyed for another project and wrapped it around my black band. I have to admit, I like the way it looks and might wear it again.

If I go out wearing this, I will carry a bag, of course. My pick might surprise you because it has none of my outfit colors. I’m using one of my Anthony Luciano’s that he has done in the three secondary colors. I love how it contrasts with yellow.

Anthony makes all his bags by hand at his studio at West 36th Street in New York. His bags are very expensive and there is no way I could ever afford one new and constantly scour Internet 2nd sale sites for his bags.

He’s such a nice guy and always says something nice on Instagram when I post me with one of his 2nd loved bags and he knows that I never purchase them new.

Now It’s Your Turn

That finishes me out. It’s now your turn. How have you interpreted this wonderful work of art? If you have not already sent me your design, please do so at meadowtreestyle@gmail.com. I will do a roundup this Wednesday featuring all your designs. There are no wrong answers and I’m looking forward to your style ideas.

As an retired art teacher, this is so up my ally and I am so happy to get to be part of this challenge.

Create on and stay safe, my friends.

Style Imitating Art: Girl With a Pearl Earring by Vermeer

Welcome to the first Style Imitating Art challenge for 2021. Also, welcome to my debut as the third leg of this wonderful endeavor. I feel privileged to get to take part in this creative challenge.

About Style Imitating Art

This Week’s Presenter

That would be me.

This Week’s Inspirational Image

I’m starting my tenure with Johannes Vermeer’s work “Girl With the Golden Earring”, which Vermeer painted around 1665 (he didn’t date it). Also known as “The Mona Lisa of the North”, this young woman has enchanted audiences. She has just turned her head and meets the eyes of the viewer. Is she about to tell us something?

A small oil painting (17.52 × 15.35 inches [44.5 × 39 cm]), is not a portrait but a tronie, a Dutch term for a character or type of person.

After an extended world tour in 2012, she will now never leave the Mauritshuis in The Hague.

Why Was I Inspired to Pick This Work?

I have a soft spot for pearls. Also, I am drawn to the colors used in the painting: blue, yellow, yellow ochre (even reminds me a bit of gold) and then there is that touch of white around the collar.

I just like Vermeer. We only have 36 of his paintings and they are mostly everyday people doing everyday things and you can invent stories about them.

Will You Join In the Fun?

I hope this art inspires you to create a look and that you will join us. Send me your picture of your SIA inspired outfit along with a small blurb on how you were inspired to meadowtreestyle@gmail.com by January 12^th. I’ll share the submissions on my blog on Wednesday January 13^th.

Anyone can participate and you certainly do not have to have a blog.

If you do share your inspirations on Instagram use the hashtag #StyleImitatingArt so we know you are there. You can also tag us in the images. Our Instagram names are: terrigardner_meadowtree, daenelt and 14shadesofgrey.

I would like to give a big thank you to Salazar and Daenel for letting me help with SIA. I started blogging years ago as a design and art blogger and slowly transformed into fashion and style. Style Imitating Art lets me combine these two loves.

Take care and create on!

Red & Brown For Style Imitating Art

I am again participating in the Style Imitating Art Challenge , which is the brain child of three bloggers: Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks, Kim of Fierce Fashion, and Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey. Twice a month they they take turns picking a work of art or a piece of historical clothing and challenge us to style an outfit that is inspired by the work.

This week Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks has picked Gumball II by Charles Bell, which he painted 1973 in the Photorealism style.

Photorealism is just that, a painting rendered in such accuracy that it looks like a photo. Charles Bell’s Gumball painting is very colorful but what I’m relating to is the contrast of the color saturated area (gumball machine) against the more neutral peanut machine.

I’m doing this with an older style that I put together three years ago featuring a very bright red sweater balanced out with neutral tans and brown.

My closet shopping came up with this combination. Three of seven pieces are 2nd Loved. Others were previously bought new by me and one belongs to Michael, but I keep borrowing it (can you guess which one?).

The thrifted GAP sweater is a 55% Nylon/15% Merino Wool/15% Polyester combination. I was surprised that so little wool is actually in the sweater because it looks as if it could be 100% wool. For cleaning, I will still air it out outdoors and spot clean it like wool. If I full out wash it (and I did just this week), I will use my wool cycle with Eucalan wool wash, which I have used for years for all my woolens. As usual, I dry it flat (no dryer).

In these photos, you can’t see the sweater’s V-neck but you can see the longer length in back which gives it a tad more character.

My velour stretch pants are by Dear John, picked up on clearance at Sophie’s, a locally owned boutique in Joplin. When in Joplin, I occasionally hit the clearance rack there. Hopefully, Michelle is with me because shopping with either of the girls is a lot more fun than going by myself.

The camel boyfriend jacket was a Salvation Army find with two tags. One says Augustus (which I found no relevant information about) and another that states,” Made in the USA by American Craftsman“. Along with my Nanette Lepore satchel (she doesn’t sell bags online anymore), it was what I wore in my very first style post HERE that was almost five years ago. It’s hard to believe I’ve been doing this fashion thing that long. But I also took time off from September ‘19 to January’20.

Another thrifty bargain is the brown and copper metallic large scarf. It added the balance of brown that I wanted.

My Nine West Oxfords are old and have been on here a few times.

If you guessed that my hat was Michael’s, you’re right. I picked this Ascot Ivy hat by Epoch for him at our favorite hat store in Kansas City. I really think it has been on my head more than his.

If you want to have some fun, check this bi-weekly challenge out. Every Monday, there is a post on the ladies’ websites announcing what art work is going to be used. You don’t have to have a blog or even an Instagram account to participate-just send your photo (if its from your blog or IG, that will be published too). Include a statement of how that work of art influenced your decisions in styling your look. There are no wrong answers and all submissions will be published the next Wednesday by the curator for that round. Check it and them out!

Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks (this weeks curator)

Kim of Fierce Fashion

Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey

Take care and stay safe!

My Sew Sew Life-One Yard of Black and Red Flannel & Zero Waste

Four or five years ago I purchased one yard of red and black plaid flannel. My aim was to sew some type of garment for Dylan, our Mountain Feist dog. He’s a short hair dog and in the winter gets cold (he does have a few sweaters). But mainly, I though he would just look fantastic in a black and red plaid.

But, I just wasn’t inspired by any of my dog clothes patterns. Then Ellie and Mac came out with their Hoodie Dog Sweater. However, their pattern was designed to be made in 4-way stretch knit but flannel is a woven with zero stretch. However, I did have a 1/2 yard piece of red 4-way stretch knit (who knows why I bought that).

If I cut the pattern about 1/2″ bigger for his normal size from the flannel but used the red stretch knit for the bottom panel, would that give me and Dylan the easy fit for slipping the hoodie on and off?

Yes it did! I also added the red knit for the hood, back pocket, leg and bottom bands. Our boy looks very stylish and, yes he loves the extra warmth.

But Now I Have All This Fabric Left

Lately, I’ve been reading a few books about sustainability and am really interested in zero waste. Looking at the left over fabric from Dylan’s hoodie, the wheels started turning. Could I keep making items until there is nothing left? A project was born!

A New Shirt For Niki

The next logical thing in my mind was to make sure Niki got a new shirt too. A Poodle has to be stylin’!

I pulled out McCalls 5776, a good but now discontinued pattern, which can still be found on ETSY.

I made view F, which is a shirt. The flannel had great selvedge fringe and I used on the bottom edge of Niki’s shirt. The red knit came in handy again for his pocket and decorative sleeve patches.

A New Christmas Scarf For Penny

Penny is our only four legged girl and I decided she needed a new Christmas scarf. Almost all the fringed selvedges left were used for her scarf’s ruffled edge. Two other design features is the deep red gross-grain ribbon and an embroidery pattern that came with my Baby-Lock sewing (and embroidery) machine. I think it looks great against her white and black. Again, the red knit came in handy because I used it for the scarf’s lining.

There wasn’t a pattern for this. First, I decided how big the triangle needed to be and then measured Penny’s neck to get the length of the band and went from there. The band is fastened with red Velcro (again from my stash), which makes for a quick on and off the dog.

About Down To Scraps Now

Now I was down to scraps but some of them were pretty big. I’ve been thinking about cutting down on how much Christmas paper I buy to become a tad more sustainable. Making a few Christmas bags will help me accomplish this.

This was a plan as I go project. Sew two pieces together and then figure out where to put the next one until I had something that was close to a rectangle. I used a decorative stitch for top stitching and used my red stretch knit for the bag back. Also, I added a little pocket (with some more of the fringed selvedge) to put a card in for who the gift was for.

I have a stash of ribbons and used one of them for ties. I’ve already made another Christmas bag and have pulled out scraps for a few more. I like making these bags!

Even Smaller Scraps Left At This Point

My scraps were getting smaller but I could still seam them together. It was time to make something for myself and I chose to make a bow to wear as a Christmas accessory. I pieced together four rectangles and backed them with some black broadcloth that I had in my stash.

I liked the idea of adding some glitz against such a utilitarian fabric like plaid flannel. I have Swarovski crystals in various colors and chose red and black.

For versatility, I put a pin and a way to attach a chain on the back.

And here is me wearing my new bow. I rather like it. It’s very festive!

The Scraps Were Getting Pretty Tiny

At this point the scraps were so small, there was no sewing anything! But, I still thought I could get one more item out of my flannel and decided to make a Christmas ornament.

Using Wonder Under, I fused a few scraps onto that black broadcloth which I had cut into a 6″ x 6″ square and added machine embroidery.

During Embroiderydesign.com’s Black Friday sale, I found some very adorable holiday embroidery patterns. The Santa Kitty was just to cute not to have.

The kitty is stuffed with flannel scraps that I cut up into small bits so I didn’t have to used that polyester stuffing.

And this is what I have left after I stuffed my ornament, so not quite exactly zero waste but I will use this bag to collect more small bits that I’ve cut up to stuff future projects.

This is the end of my “One Yard of Black and Red Flannel” adventure. I hope you enjoyed as I merrily sewed along. I had a hoot doing this project-just designing as I went along with what I had left.

Take care everyone, and if I don’t get another post in before December is over, Season Greetings!

Vintage Silk Vera for Style Imitating Art

It’s time for another Style Imitating Art challenge. The art for this round was picked by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey. She picked a tapestry by the 19th century British Arts & Crafts Movement artist William Morris. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditional British textile arts and methods of production. William Morris has a very distinctive look with his work and it is still very popular. H&M featured a line of garments based on William Morris just last year. My daughter Michelle picked up a couple of them. Sadly, I missed out. Also, The Metropolitan Museum of Art has featured collections based on his work and his fabric is still widely produced. After this challenge, I now want a William and Morris face mask!

With this particular piece, one of the first things that struck me was the subject matter: flowers, leaves, fruit and a bird. Also the use of blue, green and orange stood out. Looking through my archives, it was clear to me that I didn’t have anything already styled that totally satisfied me so I shopped my closet.

The focal point of this styling is my silk vintage Vera scarf that I found on eBay a few years ago. I thought the green and blue foliage on a swirled line background had the same feeling as the tapestry. My next job was finding pieces to coordinate with it .

The wool Pendleton jacket came from Pendleton’s Woolen Mill Outlet in 2002 while we were up in Oregon attending The Black Sheep Gathering. My wool turtleneck is also by Pendleton which I found 2nd hand on eBay a few years ago. This is the fourth season for my Madewell jeans, which I bought new. I always have thought they were a good investment.

My green leather booties were made in the United States by Modern Vice. I think my Levenger bag was meant to be a tote bag but when I saw it in Levenger’s back clearance room at Delray Beach, FL (about fifteen years ago). I thought it worked as a bag and this was my first substantial bag that ever bought. There’s not anything new in this story; all just tried and true old friends.

I don’t know if you can notice it but it was a very windy day. I’m having to hold my scarf down with my hand.

I know that there is a Woodpecker in the tapestry. I have a Wood Duck. Hey, I got it half-way!

I am also holding a book with a cover by William Morris. Back in the dark ages we didn’t have cell phones to remind us of birthdays and appointments. We had to write that kind of information in books (a lot of you remember the days, I’m sure). This birthday book came from The Met. I keep it around because of the art work inside and it has all the birthdays of every important artist in the world.

**Standing behind the door did the trick. No scarf trying to blow away!**

Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks (this weeks curator)

Kim of Fierce Fashion

Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey

Take care and stay safe

Spinning a Yarn-New Cardi Knitted in My “Rows of Many Colors” Technique

One of my first finished projects during last Spring’s Covid lock-down was a long cardigan that I knitted in my Rows of Many Colors (ROMC) technique. Started in September 2019, I finally finished it sometime in mid April. This had been a long anticipated design. After coming up with the this technique about eleven years ago, I had mainly used it for shawls and scarfs (outside one caplet knitted early on). But knitting a more substantial garment in ROMC was always in the back of my mind.

The ROMC technique is very simple. I use a different yarn for each row. This technique can be knitted in the stockinette (knit the front, purl the back) stitch as I have done for my cardigan or simple garter which is knitting every row. The knitting is secured by tying two sequential rows together as you knit along. This creates a fringed edge. There are times when the ends need to be sewn in (edges of armholes as an example).

I used the fringe edges as a focal point down the front of the cardigan. Although, I could of sewn all those ends in and added a knitted band, I wanted a boho effect and nothing says boho like fringe.

There are approximately seventy different yarns or combinations of yarns used in this sweater. When I say “combination”, I mean that I am holding and knitting two different yarns together to create a new unique yarn. I have equal amounts of my hand spun yarns (I’ve been hand spinning yarn since 1997) and commercial yarns that I have collected over the years.

This is a knitting technique that emphasizes color and texture. As I mentioned earlier, it only uses the knit and purl stitches, the easiest of the knitting stitches.

The sweater is knitted in one piece using very long circular needles (needles which are connected by a long cord for larger work-usually used to make afghans).

I carried out the fringe vibe with three rows of fringe around the neck. It was another way to show off all that gorgeous yarn!

Although the cardigan has a general gold brown overall color tone, you can see in this close up, I also used blues and greens in my design.

This was an original design. I did research and found a few cardigans knitted in one piece to get a general idea where I wanted to go with my design. After I settled on an idea, I knitted swatches to figure out how many stitches and rows I had per inch. After that, it was just working up some simple schematics so I would know how many stitches I would have for the front and back.

In the early 2000’s, I wrote and published a few original hand knitting designs and it was a good feel to put my designer and math skills back into play. I will admit drafting fitted cap sleeves were very hard and I feel that I didn’t get it right. I followed a formula that I had in a sweater design book by Deborah Newton, but had to fiddle somewhat when I was sewing them in. Getting those caps right is a pain!

This project went on for a few months and my living room looked like a yarn shop with balls of yarn lined up on every available surface.

And Now for Something a Bit Easier

This technique is so great for a beginner knitter! I knit my ROMC scarfs and shawls by knitting every row (Garter Stitch) on very big needles. That’s just one stitch to learn.

I have already worn my newly knitted Double Loop ROMC scarf that I just finished last month. Using only seven different yarns, it was a quick knit.

Wearing the Double Loop is easy. Being long and skinny, fold the Double Loop in half, put the free ends through the loop and you have a cozy scarf to wear. If you live in a warm climate during the winter, make it from linen, cotton and silk. Honestly, only two of my yarns in this one are wool.

I spent this Fall knitting the socks below and had to have some quick project between knitting the first and second sock. Knitting up one of my Double-Loop Skinny scarfs was a nice vacation from the socks. Note: I immediately started a new pair of socks when I finished these and the new project is going much faster.

As mentioned earlier, I didn’t use very many yarns in my scarf. I was in love with the highly textured blue and tan fring yarn that I first used in my cardigan. I didn’t use much because it is the kind of yarn that could overwhelm a design. However, in a scarf, it could dominate. I chose three dark blues and three tans to coordinate. I have varying types of textures, widths and fiber contents with different light reflection abilities.

Pattern For The Double Loop Scarf

This is a very easy project to knit. However, I recommend that before you start , you read my basic article on the Rows of Many Colors technique that I have linked to in the Knitting It All Up Section below.

Needles used: I used 60″ Circular Addi Turbo needles in size 9. Larger needles such as a 10.5 would also work. You can use straight needles for the scarf, but it does get crowded-that’s a lot of stitches.

CO 135 stitches

Knit 36 rows using the garter stitch

After knitting two rows, knot the beginning and ends of the rows together. This will be done eighteen times.
Knit one more row.

Cast Off

Tie the cast of row together with the last knitted row.

That’s the easiest pattern I’ve ever written!

Knitting It All UP

I’ve published an article previously about The Rows of Many Colors technique. In the article published March 3rd, 2014, I have detailed, step by step, the ROMC technique.

Again, I would highly recommend you read this article before knitting a scarf or shawl. This article also has more samples of projects knitted in this technique, including the caplet that I mentioned at the beginning of this post.

And that is about all, I believe. I hope you enjoyed this knitting story of mine. You know, I did just read in the New York Times that knitting has made a huge comeback with all the lock-down going on. Let me know it you knit and if you try my double loop, please send me a photo. I will feature it on my blog.

Take care and stay safe everyone,

Spinning a Yarn- Knitted Accessories for Style Imitating Art

Hello, it’s time for another Style Imitating Art. I didn’t have anything in my archives so today’s post is hot of the press.

Today’s work of art was chosen by Kim of Fierce Fashion. This winter landscape entitled Garden Under Snow is an early work (1879) by Paul Gauguine. Typically, Gauguine is know for his later works painted in Tahiti, after he ditched his wife and kids to go paint on the island. It’s a little more complicated that that, but basically that’s what he did.

There are a lot of textures and subtle colors going on in this painting, but mainly it’s a winter day, not to different from what we have here in Missouri. In turn, I concentrated on winter white in my interpretation of this work.

I am emphasizing hand-knitted (and some hand-spun) accessories; a hat, mitts and a shawl. They are all 100% wool left in its natural color, which is winter white. Also, the knitting has a subtle texture like snow; from the wool texture itself to the cables and lace used in the knitting patterns.

As a base for my knitting, I picked my skinny black jeans (sort of reminds me of those skinny trees), a very old wool/angora sweater that I’ve had since the 80’s and my Rebecca Minkoff snake printed heeled mules that I picked up last year during her Winter clearance.

So let’s get to the knitting.

Take The Pain Out of Counterpane

The shawl and mitts were knitted in a modular knitting system that I developed and taught at wool festivals and knitting conferences around the Midwest a few years ago. The main system is centered around a few counterpane squares and triangles, with addition of easy lace patterns if needed.

Counterpane, briefly, is just knitted or crocheted squares that are assembled usually into a bedspread. I took the idea and created garments using them.

Back in the day, when I only blogged about art and design, I wrote articles explaining the technique.

The Mitts

First, here is the link to the original post when I talked about my mitts.

These mitts are knitted with store yarn and are knitted in three separate pieces; the counterpane tops, stockinette body and lace edges.

The Counterpane Shawl

The Link to The White Counterpane Shawl

The three squares used in this shawl are knitted in the same pattern that I used for the mitts. I just used lace weight yarn that I hand-spun using merino wool, angora and silk and large needles.

The Hat

My hat is not part of the counterpane modular system. It came about because I had hand felted some merino and wanted something to do with it. I cut a circle from the felt, knitted a strip in a cable pattern and attached it to the circle. Lastly, I knitted some cording and made a ball knot to put on the top. I had a hat! And it has turned out to be one of my favorite hats.

A Little Different Kind of Accessory

This painting also has a blue tone to it. I consider finger nail polish as an accessory and used one of my favorite blues along with a blue stone ring. Picture Polish is an Indie polish brand from Australia. When I was buying polish, I purchased from Color4Nails (a few years ago). I am happy to see that they still carry Picture Polish. Harlow carries Freya’s Cats but is sold out at the moment. However, their Triton is very close blue. It’s a tad expensive now (it does come from Australia).

More Knitty Gritty.

The Jungle Jim Cable

On my old iPhone, I had a Vogue Knitting app. With the app, came a stitch dictionary. Vogue never updated the app for the new phones and have taken the stitch dictionary off their web page. It’s a great cable and I went back to my old phone and did a few screen shots.

Jungle Jim Instructions

I didn’t want to take up space on the post for the Jungle Jim cable instructions (they are rather long) and have created a page just for them and you can find it HERE.

Another page that might be interesting to knitters is my “Square and Triangle page-the two main components of my “Take the Pain Out of Counterpane” knitting technique that is found here.

That finishes up my winter white take on a winter scene. I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my knitting life. I have another knitting post planned right around the corner using my “Rows of Many Colors” technique.

Napoleon, my Merino sheep, says hi. We got him when he was about three months old and he is a good thirteen years old now. He’s a good old boy and has supplied me with a lot of great fiber to work with over the years.

And….

Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks (this weeks curator)

Kim of Fierce Fashion

Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey

Take care and stay safe

My Sew Sew Life-New Shirt From Vogue 9299

The title that I really wanted for this story was: My Vogue Pattern Shirt With Added Pockets and Really Hacked Sleeves. But that was just a tad too long.

This pattern is described as a top. It has a full buttoned front, with a yoke in the back. There are two different sleeve options, which in the end, I didn’t use. Overall, I would rate this pattern as intermediate.

I’m dividing my story into two parts. Part One will be how I want to wear my new dress/tunic/duster and Part Two will be all about the sewing nitty gritty.

It Began With Some Stripes

The idea for this top/dress started over two years ago, when I was lucky enough to attend a Kaffe Fassett lecture in Laurence, Kansas. Those of you who knit, quilt or needlepoint will be familiar with Kaffe. For those who aren’t familiar, I hope you visit his website and check out his incredible sense of color and design. Also, a good selection of his fabric can be found at Fabric.com (US) and The Cotton Patch (GB).

After his presentation, there was a pop-up shop of his quilting fabrics available for purchase. I fell in love with a fabric pack of woven stripes and brought it home, not really knowing what I was going to do with all those “fat quarters”. But I thought the stripes were beautiful and had to have them. Unfortunately, these particular patterns are discontinued, but you can still find a few on ETSY.

A month later, thrift shopping with my oldest daughter Michelle, I ran across a piece of denim looking fabric and when I got home I deposited it next to my Kaffe Fassett stripes. An idea was born. I would use the denim for the base dress and use my stripes as much as I could for contrast.

Ideas For Wearing My Dress/Tunic/Duster

Dress

The pattern is described as a top, but this was designed for a taller person than myself. I think I can, if desired, get away with wearing this as a dress. If, at home, I would just wouldn’t put a belt on and go easy wearing.

**I think mules must be going out of style. I wanted a pair of brown crock embossed and was only able to find this one pair at DSW.** **They are new**-picked them up in October. I had some points and got them for $17.

I really like it with my wider thrifted brown belt that I’ve had for years with nothing to really wear it with.

Tunic

I can also wear it as a tunic with the self fabric belt That came with the pattern. I had fun piecing all the different stripes for the belt.

The Marc Fisher boots are old but I picked up my blue and brown leather **Francis Valentine** bag during their Winter clearance last March. I have a soft spot for Kate Spade. She was a Kansas City girl before she was a designer. Francis Valentine was her company she started before her untimely death.

Duster

By far, my favorite discovery and way to wear my top is as a duster. Throwing it on one day as we were leaving to go grocery shopping, I glanced in the mirror and was smitten. I love dusters but never had one for everyday. My gut feeling is that this is how I will mainly wear it.
If you look closely at the bottom you can see the bias tape I made from the stripped fabric to use as hem facing.

I guess today is my Covid shopping “fess-up”. I have always wanted a Brahmin Duxbury satchel. When Macy’s had them on sale for 25% off last April, I took the plunge. I’ve been carrying it all this Fall and it has lived up to my expectations. On my feet are second hand Vince Camuto booties that I found on eBay in October. I love them. They are so sleek and for me the heel is perfect.

The Back

I loved playing with all the stripes. There are five different patterns shown on the back (with the collar up.

And Now It’s Time To Change Gears

The Sewing Nitty Gritty

I decided on the Option Vogue Pattern 9299, which is a simple shirt dress with a pleat in the back. The design also includes an optional self fabric belt. At the start, my heart was set on making view B, but that didn’t work out (more about that later).

In the end, I added some things, took away some things and did a serious sleeve hack.

What I Added

Darts

As usual, I added bust darts. Bust darts serve two purposes. Because they add much needed fabric in the front, they will gaurantee that the garment’s hem is even. I’ve never understood the clothing industry’s decision a few decades ago that women just didn’t need darts. Darts also makes a garment lie much flatter in the front. It could be said that stretch knits would need less darts, but I draft darts for my stretch knits too.

Pockets

I have decided that when I can, I am adding pockets to my dresses and tunics. They are so handy. This is a feature that I feel the clothes industry and pattern makers have cut out to save time and money and I for one have decided not to settle for that!

Since I usually finish my garments with French Seams (this one included), inserting pockets posed a problem. I certainly couldn’t figure it out but it was YouTube to the rescue. I watched a variety of demonstrations to solve this dilemma. To me, many seem to have finishing problems, except one. Global Fashion Workshop with Irina Paukshte came has an incredible amazing technique. You do have to follow through an interpreter but the visual demonstration is great and I had no problem getting the technique down. I did make a practice pocket before I attempted the ones on my dress. This might be one of the most important techniques that I’ve learned in a long while.

**Showing both sides of the pocket. I used my stripes where ever I could.**

What I Took Away

It’s always important to look at the suggested fabrics that the pattern was designed for. The fabric used is very tied to how your garment will drape and behave. However, if you are stubborn, like I was with this dress, you might have to make some changes. The pattern suggested fabrics such as cotton shirting and rayon challis. My thrifted fabric was a heavier sort. You can’t tell from the pattern drawings, but there is a lot of fullness in the top. Because I was working with a heavier fabric, I decided to take out a good amount of width down the sides and was not sorry for my decision.

One Unplanned Sleeve Hack

As I mentioned earlier, I originally had my heart set on View B with the ruffle sleeves. So much so, that they were the first thing I made. Oh how I loved those sleeves. I basted them in place and hurried over to my mirror to admire them. Horrors! They looked awful on me and I didn’t have enough of my solid fabric left to create new sleeves or at least, single piece sleeves. As we say around here, “I was up the creek without a paddle”.

But, as we also say, “if life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I had to sit down, get out my drawing pad and come up with something that would work.

**By-By beautiful ruffles-but I just don’t look good in you**

I remembered a tunic I made a couple of years ago, Vogue 9089 by Marcy Tilton. I wrote about it in February, 2019 . It had sleeves with cuffs that I loved.

Could I somehow incorporate them into my dress? I could, but with some alteration. Each sleeve would have to be cut in two half’s because I didn’t have enough fabric. Since I had to cut each sleeve with two pieces, why not make a center pleat and insert some of my striped fabric in the sleeves-turn a mistake into a design feature.

Problem-The dress already had set-in sleeve caps. How could I transition the cap to the new section? Maybe a tab? So went my mind to try and solve my dilemma.

This answer made the sleeves pretty busy. But aren’t statement sleeves still in? And I like the peek-a-boo thing going on with the center pleats.

**These sleeves had a cuff that I found really attractive**

By the time I got to the belt, I was working with pretty small pieces of stripped fabric, but had so much fun piecing them all together. With even smaller scraps, I pieced together a mask-sort of a crazy quilt affair. I still have scraps left and think I’m going to make my two four legged guys ties for Thanksgiving.

This top/dress/duster turned out to be quite an adventure. In the end, I’m very happy with what I ended up with.

That’s the end of this sewing and style tale. I hope you have enjoyed this creative journey of mine. I’m always interested in how many of my readers have sewn during sometime in their life. If you’re new to MeadowTree, let me know.

For me, being creative is like breathing. But, I also was an art teacher for 32 years and so I guess that comes with the territory. What I love about sewing is that we all get to be designers. Even if the pattern is designed by someone else, you still get to pick the fabric, trims and all the other stuff that goes into making something. Even if it’s a simple tote bag, it still reflects you and your personality. You will always make mistakes but that’s part of every learning experience. Believe me, my seam ripper is one of my best friends.

If you ever want to dip your toes into this sewing pond (or get back and swim again), I have to recommend Anita by Design’s YouTube channel. She’s a great teacher and has beginning sewing lessons where she takes you from creating skirts, tops and finally a dress. I have watched quite a few of her sew along classes and think she is just wonderful. Some of the patterns she uses are discontinued but replacements could easily be found.

By the way, have you checked out my extensive list of independent pattern companies?

I am continuously updating it as I find new designers.

That’s finally it.

Take care and stay safe.

Purple, Brown and Leopard For Style Imitating Art

This week Daenel of Living Outside the Stacks has picked a gorgeous pair of boudoir slipper Welcome to this edition of Style Imitating Art. Today’s selection is a pair of boudoir slippers from E. D. Burt & Co. Fine Shoes from about 1865-1885. Aren’t they gorgeous? I own a fair amount of purple and found one of my previous post that fit the bill. This post was previously published on March 18th, 2018 with a few updates that I made for this challenge.

This is a post that I have previously published and felt it expressed the beautiful purple that I love in these shoes.

From childhood, I’ve enjoyed the blooming of irises. My appreciation goes back to my mother who grew irises in her garden. On trips to my grandparents in Oklahoma, Mom would divide my grandma’s irises and take roots back with our family to Missouri. When Michael and I made the move to our home, Mom shared her iris bounty with us. A favorite for me of these heirloom irises now gracing our garden, is the color combination of purple and brown.

The “styling like an iris” inspiration came a trip to Joplin’s Goodwill. My best luck comes at thrift stores when I go in with an clear heart and just see what I like. That day, the general feeling of “Spring’s coming!” was floating around in my head.

Front1 — I really wanted to use my almost forgotten scarf pin…so the turtleneck gets covered.

Two items that I scored were a oblong chiffon leopard scarf and a never worn cotton/rayon/nylon purple turtleneck with its tag cut out. What does that mean? This is not the first time I’ve brought new looking things home without tags. I don’t know for sure, maybe an alert reader does, but I wonder if the donating brand just didn’t want buyers from thrift stores to know.

Front2 — O.K. -this is what I do when I’m in a hurry: just throw the scarf on. It works for me!

Checking out: I threw the scarf on the turtleneck and loved the combo. Got home and pulled out my silk/linen brown Charter Club pants that I found over six years ago from eBay. Adding my Steve Madden Leopard flats…a new outfit is created!

front3 — A little more effort, but not much…just tie the scarf.

One detail that I like on these pants is a side split (see below). I now find myself designing side splits frequently into pants I make.

Do you like heelless flats? These are the first I’ve owned in a while. For me, it makes them a two-season show, Spring and Fall.

The pin (below), Mr. Leopard, had been quietly hiding in my drawer for a long time. In the ’80’s, I would get pins from museum shops. I believe this guy came from The Metropolitan Museum of art.

I think my Georgina Leopard cuff (below) is pretty chic. Using negative spaces for the spots is ingenious. Georgina Hererra of Georgina Jewelry makes a point to have jewelry lines at all price ranges. Unfortunately, my cuff is a bit old and discontinued.

Does anyone else love Rebecca Minkoff’s Love Bags? For me, they give off a Chanel vibe without that hefty price tag. The straps can change from a cross-body look to a shoulder bag look. Love’s come in so many finishes and styles, you can find one to go for about any occasion.

I have gone all out for gold tones today. Purple loves gold. I’m happy that gold is finally showing up more. During the 90’s it seemed to be passé but I kept every piece of gold jewelry I had and am always happy to add to my collection.

closeuprebeccalove — **Rebecca Minkoff’s Love Bags have to be one of my favorite classic from her. They never go out of style.**

Have you ever thought about wearing purple and brown together? Lilac would be another great color to pair with brown and you might see that from me later in the summer.

A Few Links for Today

Georgin a Jewelry

Rebecca Minkoff Love Bags

A lot of Leopard from Steve Madden (mine are very old).

As far as the hair; this was back when I only wore a topper. Some of the hair you see is mine but my Jon Renau topper (this is before I finally braved a full wig) adds a fullness that I have never had. My hair has always been baby fine and on the thin side and this topper just gives it a little boost. I still wear my topper and recommend them for those who just want a little help. They come in all lengths.

Thank you for stopping by. I’ll have another blog bit next week. You are certainly welcome to leave a comment or two or three. I love to hear from you.

Husband Michael gets credit for today’s photos.

As always, take care, stay creative and style on.

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