Created for Project Quilting 15.5 Wearables challenge.
I was on a road trip with my husband, Frank, on Sunday when I read this latest challenge. "RULE ONE: your project must be wearable, or have been made from previously worn items, or have another connection to clothes, shoes and fashion accessories."
A very different challenge. We were to return home Tuesday evening, so I needed to have a good plan. I made lots of wearables in my past after learning to sew in 4H. I earned myself 3 days at the Wisconsin State Fair when I was in High School, so I did have some skills and made most of my own clothes for many years.
I learned to quilt about 35 years ago and it's been my passion ever since. So, I had no desire to make something wearable. But, because I can see everything as part of a future quilt, I do have a collection of things that were once worn.
Maybe denim for a background and some 3D flowers on top. 3D flowers seem to be a theme of mine. They've been made of many materials in the past and I knew I could come up with something.
I returned home and immediately started by cutting pieces from worn out jeans using a pinking blade on my rotary cutter. I simply layered them on a foundation square and top stitched them down. I probably made this more complicated than it needed to be, but, hey, it was fun.
I found a bag of previously made flowers in my magic dresser of future embellishments. I rejected all those that were not made from wearables and ended up with this collection.
You might say these were not started and finished this week. That is true. However, I consider them embellishments that I made instead of purchased. I decided on a wreath shape, and used hot glue to attach them. Sounds like cheating, but I am the artist and it works for me.
Here are some closeups where you can see the variety. There are t-shirts that had been hand dyed. Mesh bags that Matilda Jane clothes came in. (The bags were never worn, but the clothes certainly was and still is.) Those big beads that came from the ponytail holders my daughter used to wear in high school. Various other clothes that may have been worn by members of my family or hoarded by me after someone abandoned them at a garage sale because I thought the fabric was interesting. Buttons. An old chenille robe that I dyed.
I wanted to add some leaves, so went looking for materials. I found a couple of things in a stack of cut off pieces from t-shirt quilts I had made. These are cotton and make great rags. I was thankful to find something green. A bridesmaid's dress and lining and the white net underskirt. And one of those Matilda Jane mesh bags. I layered them in different combinations to give me a little variation in color and stitched leaves. Then cut thin strips to form some twining vines.
Okay, one more thing. This is pretty heavy. Layers of denim and lots of flowers. So, I decided to forgo quilting. Instead I took a piece of cardboard and topstitched the front and back together around it. And I did stitch through all of it including the cardboard in a few places near the flowers to, hopefully, keep it from sagging in the future. Then I hung it on the wall by using straight pins through it all in each corner.
Once again, something it would never have occurred to me to make without this great challenge.
Made by Diane Lapacek in rural Poynette, WI
24" x 24"
