Three Ring Circus

Whew!  The days sure flew by this week, kicking off with a wearable art workshop I taught through our wonderful local library.

I had one student, J, a very focused third grader who brought her own recycled fabrics and great design idea drawn up in her sketch book.  Very impressive!

headband sketch by 8 year old student

While my librarian friend and I cut out flower shapes for her, J stitched away on her project, attaching the flowers to her t-shirt with buttons and beads and sequins.  

She designed this charming headband to accessorize her outfit (see sketch above).

After 2 solid hours of determined hand sewing, J's wearable art was complete. She was pleased and we were amazed at her tenacity.

Back at my studio, more wearable art is evolving as I develop a second 'look' for next month's show.  This one will be modeled by a young friend of mine.  

The base for the head piece is 16 ga. wire bent to encircle the head and rest on the shoulders

Cardboard shoulder pieces being attached to the wire frame with paper mache.  (My paste recipe is 1.5 parts flour to 1 part cool water plus .25 part white glue, stirred smooth).

These silk yoyos will adorn the head piece, along with leaves fashioned from the velveteen I dyed last week.

Hand-dyed rayon with Dynaflow textile paint vines and leaves.   (These are incorporated into the skirt).

I also spent some time wandering through my fabric deciding on a split complementary palette for the next Fiberactions challenge.  All in all, a great work week.  I like the three-ring circus approach, do you?