Poppy robe- finished

Overall I'm very pleased with the way poppy robe came out.  I like the simple shapes of the sleeves,  the asymmetrical wrap of the neckline, and the combination of large and small prints which contrast botanical and geometric patterns. I also like the optical effect of the big loopy lines and solid shapes of the poppies with the fast, flickery movement of the diamonds.

For the lapel,  I used red cotton batik with a design that reminds me of peacocks.

It's designed like a classic wrap dress with two attached belts at each of the front panels

and a side slit under the arm.

I decided on a cotton tartan weave for the belts, a leftover from one of my sister's projects that reminds me of her, and of our shared love of sewing.  In terms of the patterns, I like the contrast of the woven grid with the printed diamonds.  

One nice thing about the wrap-dress design is that it  holds the panels in place without an interior tie or button, 

which creates a neater fit than a basic belted robe,

and makes it feel a little more like a "dressing gown" , 

like this one that I like so much from Horrockses.

I really love that there are poppies running crazy all over me.

The double wrap design also allays my fear of degenerating into a version of Eric Stoltz's character in Pulp Fiction

-- not a good look on me--

but then considering what I'm wearing today, I really don't know why I'm obsessing over this robe.

Maybe it's simply a desire to make a place where I can feel that all the pieces fit together.

Given my background in architecture, 

it's no surprise that I approach sewing as series of small construction projects made up of parts, pieces, and attachments. I like to consider details, such as the placement of the rectangular top stitching (above) where the belt attaches to the panel . This looks like no big deal, and in a way it's not, but the offset stitching is strategically placed to avoid creating bulk.

That idea worked out well, but others, such as using the selvage for the, hem didn't.

The thought here was to expose the copyright and design credits along the bottom of the robe, but it came out too long; the first time I headed up the stairs I nearly broke my neck, so I'm afraid the hem will have to come up at least a couple of inches.

Time to wrap this project up. 

The pattern, which is made of pieces of old cotton sheets, is full of revision notes for next time,

and there are notes to organize from my sketchbook.  

 But first I think I'll  take this robe on a test drive.

Everything but the robe

As I complete various parts and pieces of the robe-- that's the lapel above--  I realize that I'm both working on the robe and not working on the robe-- that the process of making is just something to do while I think about things which have everything and nothing to do with what I'm doing.
For example, as I was making the pockets

                                                      --those are the dye-lot numbers for the textile inside the pocket--
I thought "I wonder what I will put in these pockets? an I-Pod? a bobby pin? a pen?"
which brought to mind this little film of Etgar Keret's short story
"What do we have in our pockets?"

(-definitely watch full screen and high res. It's a visual treat.)

...and that gets me thinking about random objects and how my dreams are jam-packed with them and so are the Italian folk-tales I've been reading, so much so that I did a drawing the other day of 

a baby, a bottle of wine, and a horseshoe 

which appear in the story  "The Count's Beard"

-- that's from Calvino's Italian Folktales  , who coincidentally (or not) wrote:

"... the moment an object appears in a narrative, it is charged with a special force and becomes like the pole of a magnetic field, a knot in the network of invisible relationships.........We might even say that in a narrative any object is always magic."-Italo Calvino. "Quickness" from Six Memos for the Next Millenium.

I think about stories and humans making up stories and how completely crazy it is that we have this array of stuff, not just in our pockets but in our heads, and how we loop and weave threads of logic and association to make a baby, a bottle of wine, and a horseshoe somehow not just relevant, but actually crucial to one another's existence.

Meanwhile I've decided to hand stitch the hem in the sleeves

which gives me plenty of time to think about things I might do when I wear the robe-- like maybe make a cake:

I think about how I always put my hair up when I cook, then laugh because I'm reminded of this piece in the New Yorker by Emma Rathbone called "My Wedding Hair" in which the protagonist describes her desired wedding hairstyle as:

Definitely an up-do. Maybe like a kind of messy bun.  I'm thinking--- and stop me if this doesn't make any sense--- but kind of a homesteader vibe? Like a kind of "Little House on the Prairie," "I'm gonna stand my ground and don't mess with me or my kin" kind of deal? But, like, sexy. Like, it basically says, "I've got a ton of stuff to do, like shuck corn, and muck out a barn, but I've still managed to retain a femininity that glints in the most attractive and unexpected ways." Like, picture a lady standing in a field with her dress flapping nobly in the wind, and maybe she's holding a basket of wheat and squinting into the distance, and she's like, Oh man, when is he gonna return, because I've borne so much already? Except I don't want to look all weathered, just, like, super pretty but also like I have a ton of inner reserves? Does that make any sense? No?

What? Did I bring any pictures? You’re in luck. Here is a patch of burlap.

Here is a movie still, of Maid Marian in the Disney Version of "Robin Hood".

Here is a photo of wild horses.

-- read the whole story. It's a hoot.  

In the meantime I look at the fabric I've laid out for the belt-- 

neat rows of woven diamonds aligned on the grid of my sewing board-- 

and think about geometry and order, patterns and imagination, and I wonder if this Sewing + Daydreaming thing I'm doing is related to ideas of Geometry + Nature that have been on my mind lately, both in my waking and sleeping life.  

In any case, it's a very satisfying feeling when all the parts and pieces finally come together.

Scraps

                               I'm well into sewing the Poppy Robe , and as I was cleaning up the scrap fabric, I was so taken with the eccentric curves and shapes-- what are essentially the negatives of the pattern pieces-- that I put them on the floor on a piece of black fabric, took a pic, uploaded it, and used the crop tool in Photoshop to create these smaller compositions.  This is a great way to learn about not only what I do and don't like, but to take the time to ask myself why  I'm drawn to some compositions and not to others.

This long skinny arched piece is an example of the kind of leftover shape that comes from trying to save on material by putting pieces as close together as possible. It's also the kind of shape I would never think to cut out, which is why I find these so interesting.

Three dreams

Dream 1. 
21 April: Men in dark blue shirts are mounted on a grid of steel posts....

at the Lightning Field in New Mexico.

     

     

Dream 2. 
23 April: Nature and grids were the theme this week-- two days later I dreamed I made a nest, but it was really an egg carton

with individual molded recesses for the eggs organized on a grid

and made of compressed reeds.





Dream 3. 

"Build a car... 


out of rose petals."

Huh?  

Note that I have no drawing with this dream... even my subconscious balked at attempting a solution, although I can't help wondering if that's exactly the point, that it's the directive which is important, not the solution.

In any case,here is some new cotton fabric I bought with giant flowers on it that look like they were printed with a gargantuan potato.

"Bold and cool" was a friend's comment.