A little bit of this, a little bit of that, and before you know it you have something wonderful, quite different, and really fun to wear. I have wanted to make one of the Japanese style aprons to wear as a tunic or top for quite some time. 
   My theme or story for this piece is my little front garden. It is quite wild and unruly, but it gives me a great deal of pleasure just to be there in the midst of the nasturtiums, ferns, and other growing things. Just as I no longer strive for perfection in my art, I have no desire to tame the great outdoors.


    After searching for ages, I finally came up with the closest pattern I could find to suit my needs; Simplicity #1133. This pattern had a huge dart along the side seam that I eliminated by pinning the edges of the dart together. I wanted to have one entire piece with no seams so I could freely paint and stitch away. It is made from the Natural Linen I carry in my shop.

 After machine stitching around the edges of the flowers and leaves, I painted in my moths with my Giant Moth Stencil using Neopaque and lumiere. Next came the really fun part as  I started drawing in the abstracted stem shapes for the hand embroidery to visually tie all the shapes together.


 I wanted to emphasize the edges of the garment, but I didn't want anything too fussy or exacting. I first worked a row for Cretan Stitch around the edges, then an irregular blanket stitch, and ended with short little stitches for just a little touch of added color. I found some beautiful old shell buttons that were just the right size for the tab closures at the shoulders.
  Detail of the stitching on the back.

Here is a little drawing of nasturtiums from last Friday, June 27th. This is my first time working with a dip pen with a nib, and I had fun with the scribbly lines. I colored it in with my Faber-Castell Watercolor Pencils and added a bit of water to it. This piece was quite fun, and it just feels happy to me.
 I had not been able to make it to my art class in ages, and I have really missed the opportunity to draw for three hours every Friday afternoon. I have also missed seeing my teacher Mimi La Plant and all of the other students as well. Everyone in class is so incredibly talented. I am so impressed by the skills of the others, and it gives me something to strive for in my own work.
 I could always draw stylized designs well enough, but when it came to realism I was at a total loss.
 it has taken a lot of hard work to begin to develop my eye and see the things that make objects come to life. I am still struggling with contours, but I am sure that will get easier in time.
 Anyone who thinks that artists can just automatically either draw or paint should see how hard everyone in our class works to develop their skills. I think that it takes an awful lot of perseverance for anyone to truly excel at anything: even creating art.
Although people often remark that I make things look so easy when I create my fiber art, I have been doing it for so long that I am not even consciously aware many times of all of the little steps that have become such ingrained habits.