A Little Indigo Finish

Thank you dear readers for your support for my boro project.  Today I have put it aside for the day because I need to buy some of that lead-filled tape to weight the bottom, so I have finished a much smaller project.

It's a little mat/runner for my bureau of treasures.  I am trying to be fairly minimalist but want to enjoy those few little pieces that I have, some of mine, some from Mummy and Daddy's,

(and keep an eye on them so that they don't multiply as little pieces are wont to do).

And while I am having a little indigo fest I saw these:

The Continuing Life of a Boro

I must first declare that I am prepared for thunderbolts and criticism...

I bought a boro cloth from Japan.  For a while I admired the history of the piece, the poverty of working people that led to repeated repairs and patching of textiles,  the elegantly fading indigo, the large hand stitching.  

I have done a lot of houseclearing lately, and this made me consider what my children think of the tatty blue fabric? Sara will know what it is but I can't imagine she'd want to give it house room.  So, I am giving it a new life, as sympathetically as possible but it still involves....SCISSORS!!

I started by cutting a large section of the cloth, about 6'x3', and hemmed it using cotton thread I dyed with indigo in Fujino four years ago. I used big, soft stitches.  This section will become a wall hanging, so that I can enjoy it everyday. The sides I stitched in sashiko thread, echoing the stitching on the edges of the cloth.  The thread will become less bright with time.

The next stage is to patch and repair the textile.  I have the tattiest end of the boro cloth to harvest for that.

The fabric I cut from the width has made a lovely runner for the bed (or a table), this section has few repairs.

Catching Up

I've mainly been doing household sewing recently, even though I say "I'm a creative textile artist, I don't do domestic alterations!".  I made these cushion using some of my wonderful indigo-dyed fabrics. I must stop anyone in a white shirt from leaning on them.

I have been keeping up with the JQ Challenge and have finished the first four, with a little purple in each.

January

February

March

April

For the next four months the focus colour is green and do I have disassembled this silk obi and will use some of the green areas as well as some other small pieces of green kimono silk I have.

The "Inchies" workshop was fun but I don't think I'll be making many inchies although I can see myself going to the previous stage and making more pieces like this:

Today is a beautiful Spring day so I'm going to make the most of it and put some new plants in the garden, agapanthus and allium.