War and Peace

 

Last September, I met up with some friends in Charleston to play with eco printing before we went off to an Indigo Retreat.  My darling friend Sharon, who quite suddenly and unexpectedly passed away on New Year's Eve, was one of them along with our friend Jeanne.  We met at another friend, Judy's, who lives in Charleston and who very graciously hosted us and provided her studio for us to use.  And what a wonderful time we had with a lot of laughs and learning.  We had absolutely no idea what was about to befall Sharon and were in such shock (still am) at what transpired.   Anyway, I'm so grateful that we had the opportunity to be together - that is how I will always remember her -- we giggled and laughed so much because she brought her enormous bullet steamer all the way from Washington and between all the supplies and materials they packed in, there was not much room for either Jeanne or Sharon; we really experimented a lot and one of my favorite pieces was this heavy silk that got a tiny bit singed along the fold; I named it War and Peace, since it is peace silk and looks like its been in a war ;-)      I've since seen someone online doing arashi shibori and purposely singeing some of it over an open flame.

 

I wasn't sure what the most effective way was to use it - first I thought wall-hanging, then I thought of cutting it up to sew a jacket and I'm so glad I waited.  It came to me that it should just be a simple rectangular wrap with slits for your arms and it has turned out just spectacular!  I turned the top part over as it was quite wide and it makes a stunning collar.   I still need to stitch the front edges and armholes by hand but it hangs so well and makes a very elegant statement.  Now I need to come up with a closure that will do it justice.

 

And then here are a couple of other pieces of chiffon that have been eco printed also.