Driftwood Jewelry

Traditional jewelry just isn't looking right to my eye lately, so I got the idea to combine beach finds with stitching to make jewelry. I experimented with drilling pieces of clamshell with my Dremel and a diamond tip drill bit. When I got the holes close enough to do some stitching the shell broke ... so I decided to switch to driftwood. First I added a little paint in colors reminiscent of weathered post beach clubs (that I never belonged to), and then a bit of embroidery floss and wire. Really fun, I'm going to make more. 

Eco Dye & Stitch

These fabric scraps were dyed using the same process as my eco friendly egg dye project (previous post). I made the dyes from onion skins, red cabbage, orange peel and green tea in various combinations. Vinegar was added set the color. I also used a tiny bit of bleach on the purple to bring out some green tones.

I was inspired by one of my favorite movies,  Great Expectations, the original (romanic decay at its finest) and the Boro textiles of Japan.The fabrics were all neutral cottons & silks cut from old clothes. I like the idea that these colors aren't permanent and I look forward to this piece changing over time.

Tiny Repurposed Embroidery

I've been really interested in embroidery lately, but not the traditional kind. I decided to start small -- this tiny embroidery is less than 1 inch square. The base is a pair of white linen pants. I've used little scraps of paper and cloth that ended up on my studio floor and built up the layers until I was satisfied. Fun! More to come ...