Kimono « Lucy Patterson HANDS-ON

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Fresh start and a GIVEAWAY!

Wednesday, September 1st, 2010

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been two months since I last posted. Ouch. I’m afraid I somehow managed to get myself stuck in a great, fat, muddy blog block and just couldn’t get myself out of it.

Thank you to all you lovely people who hung in there and kept coming back to check in on me, leaving me comments and sending me messages, letting me know you missed my posts and were wondering what had happened to me. You’re wonderful!

Well, Spring is here, the season of fresh starts, and I’m beginning my blog Spring with a competition giveaway as a way of thanking you all for joining me on this (sometimes rocky) blog journey I’m on.

The competition prize contains one set of my Paper Fan Inspiration Cards (in the little black purse), one pack of my Kimono Paper Tape, two sets of my vintage kimono postcards, and a fan-shaped decoration I made out of a piece of a 1930s brightly coloured girl’s kimono.

To enter: simply leave a comment by the morning of Tuesday 7th September (New Zealand time), saying where in the world you are, and something that you’re loving right now about this time of year. I’ll choose a winner at random and am happy to send the prize anywhere in the world. Good luck! Here’s a few more pics of what’s in the giveaway.

The set of Paper Fan Inspiration Cards (below) comes in this black, salmon, ochre and sky blue kimono fabric purse.

The Kimono Paper Tape is a pack of ten different strips of lusciously coloured sticky tape printed with real vintage kimono fabric prints.

The giveaway also contains two sets of these 100% recycled postcards. Each set has three different vintage kimono designs.

Over the next few days I’m going to be showing you some things I’m loving about this time of year, and I look forward to reading your comments and finding out what you’re enjoying wherever you are.

Oh it’s good to be back in blogland! Till tomorrow…. Lucy x

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Celebrations, Giveaways / Competitions, Kimono, My Shop, Spring | 40 Comments »

Pin board inspiration

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

Oh dear! It’s funny how life can sometimes just stop you dead in your tracks for a while. I’ve been flying along this week juggling all sorts (getting things ready for my shop, giving Reiki treatments, attending meetings, celebrating my 34th birthday, helping my Dad with various things…) and then this morning I found myself completely immobilised by a pulled muscle in my back, simply from reaching round to open a gate from the wrong side. Hmmmm…

The good news is that I’m still mostly feeling upbeat and happy, the bad news is that everything I was planning on doing at the moment has now had to be put on hold. So I was going to be launching my shop today, but instead I’ll show you some pics I took the other day of the pin board above my computer (and the shop will open soon, but just not today!). As you can see I’m at least up and about this evening, but moving s-l-o-w-l-y!

We made the pin board by covering a sheet of fibre board with hessian / burlap. At the moment I’ve mostly got bits and pieces of things to do with products for my almost-open shop pinned up there, mixed in with other odds and ends.

This first picture shows some more mini bunting made out of my kimono paper tape, this time using the cool colour range. The bunting is hanging over a Murobond paint palette, and below that is a letter I sent from Sri Lanka when I was 17 years-old to a school friend of mine (she lent me the letter recently to re-read) – ah the writings of a teenage girl! : )

Words of wisdom from Yogi Tea.

My mini bunting again and more of the Murobond paint palette, one of my new vintage kimono cards which will be in my shop, and an information card about my Paper Fan Inspiration Cards.

The photo of the man in the top right corner is one I took in Ladakh, North India when I was 19 years old. I asked him if I could take his photo (which I later sent to him) and he posed with his friend for me. I love the combination of his jewellery (including mother-of-pearl button ear ornaments) and his suit jacket. Great moustache too!

The cut-out face is for one of my Matryoshka kimono doll cushions.

The photo in the top left is from the same trip to Ladakh when I was 19. That’s me in the purple Tibetan dress, playing knuckle bones with the kids. We were staying in a tiny remote village, sleeping on the roof of a beautiful two-story mud house under an incredibly bright full moon. This particular day my friends and I spent hanging out with the kids, eating mulberries off the tree, swapping songs, and playing games. One of the most simple, joyful days of my life.

A swatch of one of the fabrics I use for making the little purses for my Paper Fan cards; old stamps that I used in my Colour palette: Green, and Coral, shell and bone posts; and a black and white photo taken by a photographer in India of my brother, Beren (hi, B!), and two little street girls we made friends with.

Another photo of a woman in Ladakh that I took, and two vintage kimono decorations that I made a couple of years ago.

What’s on your notice board? If you’ve posted about it on your blog, do link to it in your comments. I’d love to see.

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Colour palettes, Kimono, Mood boards, My Shop, Travel | 4 Comments »

Kimono paper tape PREVIEW!

Monday, June 7th, 2010

I can’t wait any longer! I have to give you a preview of something fun I’ve been working on recently for my soon-to-be-open shop (which will be up and running this week for sure!). I’ve been creating sets of kimono paper tape from images of my own vintage kimono fabric collection. So far there will be two different sets to choose from: a hot range of colours (reds, pinks, orange), and a cool range (purples, blues, green).

The tape is perfect for all sorts of creative projects – scrapbooking, gift wrapping, collages etc. Here are some little ideas I’ve been experimenting with today, using some of just one set of the hot colours to complete all the projects.

The first thing I made with the tape was mini bunting. I got the idea from a great tutorial that Lisa Tilse gave over on her blog the red thread.

I made my bunting by sticking pieces of tape at even intervals along the edge of a sheet of paper, leaving a little bit of each piece of tape sticking up at the edge. I then placed thin string (you could use embroidery thread, cotton, dental floss etc) along the edge of the paper and folded down all the ends of the tape over the string to hold it in place. Finally, I simply trimmed each piece of tape into a little flag (being careful not to cut through the string).

Isn’t the finished result so pretty? It makes me happy every time I look at it! The card in the background is one of a set of kimono cards I’ve designed which will also be for sale in my shop.

Other uses for the kimono tape I played around with today: collage artworks made from cutting out shapes and letters. My sweetheart’s on the other side of the world at the moment, so this is a little shout out to him. Hey, baby!

…and of course gift wrapping. Simple brown paper, ribbon off-cuts, a cute little Japanese decoration… The cards in the background are two more of my kimono postcards.

More fun with kimono paper tape coming soon! …and of course it will be available to buy online very shortly.

Hope you’ve been having a good weekend.

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Craft projects, Kimono, My Shop, Tutorials, Vintage | 3 Comments »

Vintage kimono palette

Friday, June 4th, 2010

I’ve been spending a lot of time these past few days being creative with photos I’ve taken of my vintage kimono collection over the years, as I get stock ready to launch my Etsy shop. Below is part of a label I’ve designed for some of the things I’ll be selling in my shop. All will be revealed soon!

I thought I’d show you some pictures from the very first bundle of vintage kimono fabrics that I ever bought over the internet, direct from a seller in Japan.

It was a mixed lot of about 30 pieces, each cut neatly into a rectangle not much bigger than a post card. Many of those pieces are now long gone, made into purses or lavender wheat pillows and sold at markets in London or at Reiki events that I went to, but I took photos of each of those pieces and still use them as inspiration or the basis of designs and prints that I’m working on now. Such a beautiful range of pattern and style and colour.

Later I also bought many whole kimonos. Each time a new one arrived in the post I’d lovingly hang it up in our home for awhile so I could admire it whole, before painstakingly unpicking all the hand-sewn seams and sewing the fabric into new creations.

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Colour palettes, Craft projects, Kimono, My Shop, Vintage | 6 Comments »

Pirate’s treasure bag

Saturday, May 22nd, 2010

This week has been very busy for me, and I’m afraid it’s meant I haven’t managed to post as much as I wanted to.

This afternoon I grabbed some time to make a present for a little boy whose 5th birthday party we’re going to tomorrow. Mum had the idea of making him some kind of treasure bag that he could put small, precious things into. I developed the idea further into a pirate’s treasure bag. We’ll put some old, foreign coins into it -”pieces of eight” if you like – and he can add his own treasures after that.

I started by creating a skull and crossbones pattern from a piece of scrap paper, which I then cut out of dark blue felt. I then gathered together various fabric scraps: denim, vintage kimono silk, indigo Japanese print, some red and white linen upholstery fabric… The idea was for the bag to look like it was made out of various bits of old flags. I then sorted through my metal buttons and mother of pearl buttons for added embellishments.

I wanted it all to look like it had been roughly patched together so I sewed everything a bit wonkily with stitches showing in contrasting colours. I sewed a little hidden patch pocket inside. The skull and crossbones I sewed on by hand with small red backstitches. I then added little brass beads from India, vintage mother of pearl buttons, and three old metal buttons. The bag closes with a blue zip, and has a long strap so he can wear in slung diagonally across his body.

Here’s the (almost) finished bag, front and back. The strap is actually only held on by pins but the light was fading and I wanted to photograph it in natural light! I’m still undecided whether the skull needs eyes or not. I’m thinking of maybe embroidering them on in red. What do you think?

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Celebrations, Craft projects, Friends, Kimono, Toys, Tutorials, Vintage | 5 Comments »

Gratitude

Friday, May 14th, 2010

I just wanted to post a little thank you note to all of you who have found my blog and are taking the time to read it, and especially, to those of you who have been kind enough to tell me that you’ve found something inspiring or informative that I’ve posted about. You don’t know how much it means to me! All this is still really new to me, and I kind of hold my breath each time I hit the ‘publish’ button, and hope and wonder if people are actually out there reading what I’m posting.

I love creating my blog (ok, I’m actually obsessed by it and dream about it all the time!), and it fills my heart with joy each time I receive a sweet little comment from someone in response to a post I’ve made. It truly makes my day.

I’ve made you some electronic vintage kimono bunting to express my gratitude to you all for sharing this ride with me, and below are pictures of the original pieces of kimono from my collection.

Have a happy weekend!
Lucy

Posted in Artwork / Illustration / Design, Celebrations, Kimono, Vintage | 3 Comments »

Matryoshka kimono dolls

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

I have always loved Russian Matryoshka dolls. I’ve had one since I was a child and, even though it’s now a bit cracked, and the dolls don’t fit together so well anymore, it’s still one of my most treasured possessions. It’s the magic and delight of opening up each perfectly painted sweet doll, and revealing yet another equally perfect but smaller sweet doll inside. Mine also has a certain smell of wood and lacquer that instantly transports me back to my childhood.

I also love vintage kimono fabrics (as you may have gathered!), and had the idea a while ago to combine these two loves of mine together into Matryoshka doll cushions.

Vintage kimono

The dolls below are ones I made for Christmas presents a year ago for my closest friends. The faces were simply hand drawn, then scanned into Photoshop and finished there. They’re then printed onto transfer paper and ironed onto white cotton fabric.

Most of the kimono pieces are from the 1930s. Probably the most time consuming part of making these dolls is choosing the fabrics and cutting them out. The kimono is then appliqued onto a cotton background.

Posted in Celebrations, Craft projects, Friends, Kimono, My Shop, Toys, Vintage | 6 Comments »

Monday’s Inspiration: Surrender

Tuesday, May 4th, 2010

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that it’s now officially not Monday anymore. That’s because every single thing that I had planned for today, ended up not happening, and a whole lot of other things happened instead!

Paper Fan Inspiration Cards, Surrender

The card I picked this morning as inspiration for us all for the day and week ahead is:

Surrender
I allow myself to surrender control
and open to the gifts life offers me

Well, sometimes things just don’t go the way we plan, and we can either keep struggling and fighting, or we can let go, surrender, and see what unfolds for us instead.

Early on today, when my day was starting to unravel, I grumbled to my man: “you’ll never guess what bloody card I picked today…!” Up until that moment I was still trying to control my day and the card helped me have a laugh at myself and then just let go of all the preconceived ideas I’d had about what should or shouldn’t be happening, and simply enjoy what is, and find out what unplanned delights my day had in store for me instead.

So what if the international phone call I thought I was having this morning didn’t happen? I got to grab a few precious moments with my man instead. So what if I didn’t get to do all my work (and write my Monday post) until after midnight? I got to spend some important time my friend and her lovely baby. So what if my evening plans were cancelled out from under me? I got to hang out with another of my best friends and do some great work together instead.

It’s good to plan, but it’s also good to not hold on too tightly.

Have a great week and let yourself surrender some of that control and see what magic Life has up its sleeve for you. And do let me know what this card means for you today!

Posted in Kimono, Monday's inspiration, My Shop | 1 Comment »

Monday’s Inspiration: Creativity

Monday, April 26th, 2010

I was just about to choose a Paper Fan card for this week’s inspiration, when the thought popped into my head that I should count the cards in the deck I keep by my computer, to make sure that all 22 cards are still there. Well, guess what? There were only 21! Here’s the 22nd card for this week’s inspiration.

Creativity
I express my true self
Through creativity and beauty

I love it! It’s perfect. I’m feeling more creative at the moment than I have for ages. (I must admit that a big part of it is doing this blog.) I wake up every morning with my head swimming with ideas. It makes me feel happy and alive. I’m rediscovering creative talents that I haven’t used for years. I feel like I’m expressing sides of myself that have been slumbering, dormant for far too long and it’s wonderful.

What are you creating this week? What creative talents have you not been using for a while? What new forms of creativity have you been wanting to explore?

Have a great week and make sure to create some beauty in the world around you!

“Let the beauty of what you love be what you do” Rumi

Posted in Kimono, Monday's inspiration, My Shop | 4 Comments »

My new crafting space

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Shhhh! Don’t tell anyone, but at the moment, only about 4 people (other than myself) even know about my blog! Now, I know that’s not exactly the point of having a blog but… You see, I decided I’d start blogging on the quiet at first, just while I was learning the basic ropes of this bright, shiny, new blog world. OK, I’ll admit it straight up: I’m a terrible perfectionist, and I couldn’t bear for people to see my blog before it was “ready” (whatever that means).

This last week, before the “world” knew about my blog, I thought I’d grab a few days away from the computer and do some much needed Spring, or should I say, Autumn Cleaning. For five days in a row I’ve been sorting and moving things and cleaning and tidying and rearranging. I’m not quite there yet (the house is in that horrible disheartening place where you’re nearly there, but it feels like it’s even more disorganised than it was when you started).

Anyway, the most exciting part of the Autumn Clean for me has been the claiming of the spare room / library as my own craft space. It feels so great to have my fabric collection properly organised. Just looking at these piles of sorted fabrics inspires me.

vintage fabrics, Japanese Indigo, Rajasthani, quilting fabrics

There’s quilting fabrics, printed and woven striped fabrics that I bought in South India, Japanese indigos and Rajasthani prints…

Ahhh, and then there’s my treasured vintage kimono collection. Here’s just a little taster. Don’t you love the quality of the colours? Dusky mauve, bright salmon, inky purple…

Here’s some of my vintage embroidery collection. The left-hand pile is mostly family heirloom pieces either embroidered by my grandmother or collected by her in Palestine when she lived there as a child in the 30s-40s. There’s also some pieces done by my mother and some I’ve picked up in op shops and flea markets.

Vintage embroidery Palestine Palestinian India Indian Pakistan Pakistani Afghanistan Afghani Rajasthan Rajasthani Gujarat Gujarati

The right-hand pile are pieces that we’ve bought on our travels in India, Pakistan and Thailand. Some of the Rajasthani work was old when we bought in 20 years ago. I love the contrast between the rich, colour-saturated Asian work, and the restrained, delicately coloured European work. Both beautiful. Both using a whole variety of different techniques.

Ah the simple pleasure of organising sewing threads and embroidery cottons into colours! The wooden tray that the sewing threads are in is an old nail and screw organiser that I bought at a garage sale.

I think it might be time to let the secret out. I’m a blogger! And I love it. Let me know if you like what I’m doing, I’d love to hear from you. It feels a little scary letting the proverbial cat out of the bag!

Posted in Colour palettes, Craft projects, Kimono | 6 Comments »

Archive for the ‘Kimono’ Category

Fresh start and a GIVEAWAY!

Pin board inspiration

Kimono paper tape PREVIEW!

Vintage kimono palette

Pirate’s treasure bag

Gratitude

Matryoshka kimono dolls

Monday’s Inspiration: Surrender

Monday’s Inspiration: Creativity

My new crafting space

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