Constructing a ‘maker’ identity

Hand-made masks, constructed during the pandemic

In Making as Self Reflection, Perdue alumni Dr. Avneet Hira talks about how, when she was attending classes in engineering at Kalpana Chawla (her undergraduate college), everything was “just so theoretical” and “not what [she] thought engineering was going to be like” (Sari & Huber, 2020, pg. 2 of transcript).

‘I found a quilted heart,’ #IFAQH

Some of the things that matter most to me are cats and reading / libraries, and I had a walking adventure this weekend that featured all of those things.

Face masks for COVID-19 pandemic

I dipped into my fabric stash to create face-masks for Jonathan and me. I worked from instructions shared by The Turban Project​.

Divided skirt and tunic, repurposed from tablecloth and men’s shirt

My latest sewing project is a divided skirt repurposed from a tablecloth that I got from The Legacy crafting shop in Sebastopol. Being a cyclist, I like the freedom of wearing a divided skirt. But soon as I laid it out to take a photograph ... how quickly it became a cat bed!

With it is one of Jonathan’s shirts, repurposed as a tunic for me. I marked the shirt along cutting lines from a paneled blouse pattern that I like. Then I cut along the lines and resewed the shirt, matching hem and shoulder seams.

I added a length of lace along the collar, put a new pocket where the men’s shirt pocket used to be, and added a length of eyelet-lace trim along one of the front panel seams. The accent pocket is also from the tablecloth and the trim came from Legacy as well.

Sewing helper Starfire

Starfire has been “helping” me sew.

Book-cleaning rags from old towel

“Greener” tools for book care in the library: this stack of book-cleaning rags were repurposed from an old towel. I cut the towel into smaller pieces, and bound the raw edges with my Serger. Now they’re ready to embark on their new life, used for cleaning books.

Reverse applique on ‘Big Bang Theory’ shirt

Sonoma County crafters, who else has visited The Legacy near downtown Sebastopol? It’s a great thrift-consignment shop that features crafting supplies.

Came away from my first visit to The Legacy with some great floral-patterned fabric, which I used to create a reverse applique for my “Big Bang Theory” T-shirt.

(Yes, even something as awesome as this shirt, depicting “Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock,” can become even more awesome through the marvel of customization.)

Best of all, the “fabric” was a no-longer-used cushion cover — thereby diverting something for repurposing that may otherwise have had no further use.

The Legacy is located at 789 Gravenstein Highway South. The merchandise has been donated, and it’s run by volunteers for the Sebastopol Area Senior Center.

Reverse-applique on this year’s ArtWalk T-shirt

One of the ways that our generous community supports Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts is the sponsoring of T-shirts for students and staff for the annual ArtWalk fundraiser. This year’s fundraiser took place last Friday, and here I am wearing my shirt. I spent the weekend customizing it with reverse-applique along the sleeves, shoulders, and front neckline. I used patterned fabrics in the white, black, yellow, and blue of the T-shirt’s Narwhal design, plus I threw in some squares in green cutwork fabric because it’s my favorite color. Got a lot of appreciative reactions when I wore it to school today.

Staff picture for 2018-2019 school year

Off to the start of a great new year at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts, and here is my official staff photo for the year, which was taken by MugsyClicks.

Completed work on the hat and blouse just in time for school-picture day; I assembled them from quilting fabric in school colors of black, white, and gold.

‘Art Walk’ T-shirt with reverse-applique

Over the summer I was given a stash of unused quilting fabric, and a lot of it was in official colors for Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. (Those colors are black, white, and gold.) Here’s the shirt for last year’s “Art Walk” fundraiser, embellished with reverse-applique along the neck, and ribbon accents along the shoulder seams and sleeves. Lookin’ forward to this year’s fundraiser; students are collecting pledges.

Hat and blouse from repurposed fabrics

My latest hat and blouse creations repurpose fabrics from other uses. Lace and embroidered trim are from a now-retired blouse, and the patchwork fabric is from a computer cover. I love the way that the patchwork fabric, in its rich dark green and burgundy, work with the white lace and the trim.

Hat and blouses in school colors

Completed just in time for school pictures this past week at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts: a couple of blouses, and a “newsboy” hat in the school colors of black, white and gold. Over the summer, I was given an unused stash of various quilting fabrics, and these projects made good use of it. The blouses each come from commercial patterns (shown in the photograph), while the hat is based on piecework I used to do for Hat People in southern Oregon.

‘Helmet liners’ sewn with patch-work

Reverse-engineered Jonathan’s “helmet liner,” to produce these new articles for him to wear over his hair during exercise. I’m especially proud of the black-and-white, for which I pieced together various squares of fabric — part of a long-term, lifelong-benefit result of being taught Home Ec in high school.

Green-herringbone jacket and hat

Here are a couple of my recent sewing projects, out of a beautiful green herringbone flannel. The jacket is from an old McCalls pattern, #7799, enhanced with a layered applique that I made from repurposed garments.

The newsboy hat is a rare monochromatic creation. I usually combine various colors, textures and patterns when I sew these hats, but I needed a hat in a plain neutral color — and for me, “neutral” is dark green. It’ll easily go with the many other shades of green that dominate my wardrobe.

SRCSA Spirit: Narwhal hoodie with gold trim

Beginning Friday, Oct. 6, every Friday will be “School Colors Day” at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts.
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Brother sewing machine

What an amazing gift! One of my colleagues at Bellview school gave me a Brother sewing machine as a goodbye present. The timing was perfect, as I’d just disposed of two machines no longer fit for service.

Plenty of school spirit with this newsboy hat

I managed to create one final hat before packing up my sewing supplies for the move back to northern California. With the black-and-white brocade patterning of its brim and quartered panels, this newsboy hat is just the thing to wear with the school colors for Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. And as is often the case with my unique constructions, this hat is entirely assembled from repurposed garments. The patterned pieces come from a thrift-store jacket. The green solid was repurposed from a man's work shirt and the blue comes from a skirt.

Hat People’s ‘Leaf Corps’ hat

Walking around Medford, we got so many compliments for this “Leaf Corps” hat by Hat People that I got Jonathan for Christmas. (I assemble crowns and brims for Hat People’s “newsboy” hats, and that piecework financed Jonathan’s gift.)

Like its name suggests, the “Leaf Corps” hat has unique sylvan touches: a point to the brim suggestive of a leaf, leafy top-stitch embroidery, and a fabric tail at the top of the hat reminiscent of a plant’s stem.

Two ties wrap around and hang down the back, providing a patterned accent to the solid-color body of the hat.

Where they’re secured around the hat-band, the ties can fold down to keep the ears of the wearer warm; the dangling ends at back can serve the wearer as a scarf.

Jonathan has long admired Jim of Hat People’s “Leaf Corps” design. For Jonathan’s hat we chose the fabrics and expressed our preferences in detailing. We really appreciate Jim’s care in creating what turned out a masterpiece.

His and her newsboy hats

His and her newsboy hats are assembled from scraps of Guatemalan cotton, interspersed with panels of black cutwork embroidery (repurposed from a skirt) and solid black linen or wool.

Brother 1034D Serger

The Brother 1034D Serger will really streamline bill-assembly for “newsboy” touring caps. I want to credit Candice Ayala for starting me on a firm foundation with my overlock sewing machine. In her YouTube video, she explains the importance of labeling each pathway through the machine in the order that they should be threaded.