fiber & fashion

I think I started drawing girls in clothes in junior high. I thought I'd be a fashion designer right up until touring the apparel design department at RISD and noticing the sewing machines. Sewing? Me? I don't think so. I didn't have fond times in home ec.

And yet, the fervor of Project Runway caused me to buy fabric, thinking I would retrofit an old coat, um, about two years ago. Finally opted to show this battered sketch to Susan Hanley, proprietress of the renowned Peaks Island Fiber Arts Camp.

 

Repurposing is all the rage, so why not update a dolman-sleeved coat bought at the Esprit warehouse in SF in 1986? Susan was very up for it. I found a bold pattern at Joanne's that looked like an overblown doodle. Makes quite a contrast with the composition book pattern of the original coat.

Voila!

What I need now is a slimmer silhouette. 

We're lucky to be enjoying rather mild November weather. While Marty has been out battening down the hatches, I've been doing sketches for Storey. Uncanny how art imitates life and vice versa. Right after doing this drawing:

 

I ran into Sheila on the ferry, showing off a cool hat knit by her mom. 

Speaking of knitting, I will be at the Patten Free Library this Saturday at 10:30 AM, to talk about Ice Harbor Mittens with author Robin Hansen. There will be orienteering with a compass, drawing imaginary maps, and other fuzzy fun.

If you're out and about, you can also stop in at the Gem Gallery, where Laura Glendenning, co-founder of the Peaks Island Fiber Arts Camp, has installed Artery, "half article, half art."

Here is Laura and fellow fiber artist, Janni Peterson, considering the goods.

Yes, that's a deer skull doubling as a jewelry display. Islanders are a resourceful lot. I already posted the sketch I made from this, but my inspiration here involves a pair of antlers found near the compost pile, truly.

Mainers know winter's coming and well-worn knits will keep us warm in woolly style.

I'll be back to sketching girls in clothes. Here's one I did of Judy Paolini, designer, author, and publicist who lives down the bay on Long Island, yet still manages to look ever so groovy.

And if fashion is your thing, check out the benefit for HomeHealth Visiting Nurses. I donated signed copies of my books for a silent auction, all part of Runway: Fashion for Life.

So much style, so little time...