the bag, before, as I found it

Dearest Needlework Friends,

social sewing, glass one

Euch! I did too much socialising this week, and it has made it very difficult to get into the space for concentrating fully on sewing!

branding: also very euch!

Nevertheless, I've plodded along like a donkey, and at least made it to the end of a couple of rows of significance... Here are some snaps of the yellow leather handbag that I am restoring.

breaking into the lining, to remove back-plates on these big branding-nonsense metal tags

One of my bests friends and most generous supporters, Michael angel, gifted me a BIG sack of clothes and bags a couple of weeks ago: a great mix of things that can be recycled, repaired and reworn! This is my favourite of all the pieces: a glorious bright borsa which unfortunately was endowed with a) loud branding, b) horribly chunky metal details, and c) some glaring ink stains (my beautiful friend is a writer)... I set to work removing the metal plates and name labels, and to finding a solution to cover up the holes and spaces that they left...

yey! removal of tags: on a less high quality bag, this might not even be possible

The removal of the old attachments wasn't so hard; cutting open a seam on the inside of the bag, prising open a hings of sorts, and using two sets of pliers to twist open circular links - and the bag already looked a lot more natural and attractive to me!

I tried out several ideas for covering the branding tag holes...

The hardest part, the most laborious effort to make change, is now the cleaning up of the threads: they are beautifully worn over many years of use, to-ing and fro-ing from a job in a university in New York, and as much as I love the stories they hold, I love more the look of shiny new thread colour. It makes the yellow pop more, too. However, the transformation is extremely painstakingly, fiddly.

some thread stitches I could cover over in the same direction, because I could get into the pockets or zip edge, to reach the back of the stitch...

I love the attention to detail in any garment or accessory: the effort of returning and returning; the ongoing concentration required. It is a slow but incredibly fulfilling activity, keeping on and keeping on. It is the kind of job that most folks would throw to the side, as a thing requiring too much time - which most people 'don't have', or at least, choose not to spend on fiddly things!

...but these stitches needed to be 'wrapped' from the front

But I adore this labour of love: I adore how long it takes, even how hard it is to continuously get the doubled-thread to flow nicely through the leather holes. The holes are premade: I am going over the existing holes, and they are quite easy (mostly) to slide a needle into, until the fourth or fifth needle slide. Then they are full, and the needle has to be pushed very firmly to slide in. Ouch. My right hand and wrist got QUITE sore this week and even kept me from sleeping last night, until I massaged them a lot. It makes me think that - as satisfying as it indeed is to do - my hands might want to use a machine this week.

This right pacing is vital in my practise; as with my painting, I am familiar with how one can 'paint oneself into a corner' - both in the senses of e.g. painting the floor of a room (and forgetting to paint towards the door!), and also in the sense of getting tangled emotionally-mentally-energetically in a painting - so that it becomes stagnant and very difficult to move forward in any significant way. This is a common part of the creative process, and it needs attention: it needs a strategy, even, to reverse out of.

When I feel like I am in a sewing cul-de-sac (dead end), my body usually tells me first - and I tend to ignore the first symptoms, as I really want to finish a thing - but of course the discomfort begins to penetrate and raise its voice a little. OKAY! I will get up, stretch my legs and arms and massage my fingers: check in; am I cold, hungry, tired, needing a change of task? Or does my discomfort call for hhhmmmm, a major spring clean of the whole house? Or just a change of project?

late at night, working along the edge of the straps...

I often opt for the latter, and this week I'm excited at the possibilities that my atelier holds: just myriad clothes and fabrics and options for combining them... Plus, a lingham robe project that I've had floating in the ether of my imaginal realm this past month... That might want to come into being: I have a sense of playing with the hard and the soft - as I've essentially been doing with the yellow bag repair... I'll update about that soon.

So I hope that this sharing finds you all well and thriving, and learning more and more in your sewing adventures, as I am doing! I've been chatting this weekend about what a huge year this is for us in Guardia Sanframondi: it's the 7-yearly Rites this summer, alongside our big wine festival, so this brings a vast new influence and energy into the town. Many, many visitors and participators, family threads and folks who live outside of Italy - all returning to witness or be involved directly in this important cultural event. It is the third Riti I will be witnessing, and as someone who has woven creatively and spiritually into the fabric of this town, I feel connected to the power of it. I'm aware of all the activity going on behind closed doors; choirs practising, planning and orchestrating, and the myriad costumes and cloaks being sewn into being... I was at the haberdashery the other day, and all the gold brocade edgings were out on the counter - and Massimo was telling me about the uprising energy of the needlework going on. Beautiful. And meaningful.

veeerrryyy slowly, nearing completion: I'm not FULLY hapy with these tabs and cover-up solutions, but will wait and see how it all looks at the end

I look forward to seeing your posts here today, dearest needlework community... Sending you warm wishes from a chilly medieval quarter, as I consider getting the fire going this morning, whilst I upload my photos for you,

With LovE!

Clare.signed.JPG

Sewing Myself Out Of A Cul-De-Sac

Dearest Needlework Friends,

Euch! I did too much socialising this week, and it has made it very difficult to get into the space for concentrating fully on sewing!

Nevertheless, I've plodded along like a donkey, and at least made it to the end of a couple of rows of significance... Here are some snaps of the yellow leather handbag that I am restoring.

I look forward to seeing your posts here today, dearest needlework community... Sending you warm wishes from a chilly medieval quarter, as I consider getting the fire going this morning, whilst I upload my photos for you,

With LovE!

www.claregaiasophia.com

🤗

🥰