my life in stitches

server issues now seem to be a thing of the past - thank goodness. when i first realized there was a problem last wednesday night, i was frustrated. tried to convince myself that some quiet time would be nice.

it didn’t work.

i missed you.

in cleaning out during my forced electronic exile, i found my old smocking machine, gave her a dab of wd-40, and rolled a piece of batiste through (breaking only 42 needles in the process and inventing more than a few new cuss words). a former jeanne taught smocking and enjoyed smocking clothes for the chiclets.

090908smockedbag2.jpg

being a bag lady then and now, i pieced the salvageable ticking fabric from grandmother’s clothespin bag around the smocked panel and created a little tote.

090908smockedbag3.jpg

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Comments

7 Responses to “roots reunited”

  1. Debra on September 10th, 2008 3:45 am

    that’s making a silk purse from a sow’s ear, eh?

  2. Steph on September 10th, 2008 5:32 am

    Glad you are back, it’s nice to be missed.
    I find smocking fascinating. I tried to do it once. I got as far as marking all the dots on fabric, running the gathering threads. The pleats never lined up and I gave up before I got to the smocking part. ‘course I didn’t know about machines.
    Very interesting roots.

  3. jeanne, herself on September 10th, 2008 11:44 am

    hey debra, yes, i suppose it is . . . which is another reminder of my grandmother who spent her adult life doing that very thing. “making the best of” she called it. thanks for the comment. your reminder/perspective will increase my enjoyment of this bag.

    steph, the machines help. they’re frustrating as all get-out when needles start to break, but they definitely help with the gathering. back in the day i did a few pieces that were hand-gathered. they weren’t nearly as much fun cause i spent so much time in the prep stage!

  4. Acey on September 10th, 2008 3:52 pm

    sure is nice to find you back “home” on this blog. Love that your new tote has a history.

  5. jeanne, herself on September 10th, 2008 5:43 pm

    yeah, acey, i’ll be toting around a lot of history (actually, HERstory), won’t i? too bad it’s not “old” money . . .

  6. Judith on September 10th, 2008 7:06 pm

    Welcome back and glad you are sorted out. I love that bag-smocking is another of those techniques that looks so good and makes me want to learn how. It looks perfect with the ticking.

  7. jeanne, herself on September 10th, 2008 9:14 pm

    well, judith, the internet fiasco is sorted out. me, i’m not so sure about;) you’d enjoy smocking. i begin to drool imagining what you’d create, given what i’ve seen of your exquisite work.

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