Author: -N-

Japanese Knot Bag – Sewing Mojo!

I really enjoy sewing, but it has gone by the wayside as I have pursued painting and drawing. Determined to get other areas of interest back into my life, I have taken a few days off from the above, decided to limit it to a max of 2 hours / day, and then decided I needed a simple project to get my interest in sewing back.

It worked!

I looked up bags to sew – free patterns, too – and found a lot of them. The Japanese Knot Bag caught my eye, and this video from http://www.hellosewing.com got my immediate attention. First, the instructions for the bag are written here, and then there is a free pdf for the pattern, and finally there is this video! What a treasure trove of information.

My two cents is watch the video, slow it down a bit, and read the web page. I enjoyed the project enough to research more about the knot bag. On YouTube a lone you will find a variety of tutorials and bag styles. The one I made is from the pdf at hellosewing.com; it is small and will make a good bag for small knitting projects, such as socks.

I was too lazy to dig through my stash of fabrics; instead, I went to the local JoAnn and found sale material and bought enough for 2 purses. I made one yesterday, and total time was about 2 hours, beginning to end. I watched the video, slowed down by 50% to catch a few things, such as seam sewing early on and then how to turn the bag right side out. (Hint – through the opening of the longer strap!)

This is the bag, completed. This is a batik fabric and it is lined with a navy bluish solid color. The handles of the bag are really 2 different lengths. See below!

To close the bag, you pull the longer strap through the opening of the shorter strap. This closes up the bag, cinching it a bit, and the long strap then acts as a handle.

Then my machine presser foot handle decided to die – but it is, I think, a simple fix, and we should be back in business. I have another one to make!

Winter in Hill Country

I needed a change of pace – a way to relax – after yesterday’s very intense painting of buildings and people. It’s nice to visit familiar territory. But, I was not without goals. Here I worked on subtle gradations and color change in the sky; misty / soft trees in the horizon using moist paper to blur and indicate distance; a couple of buildings with subtle rooftops; snow. On Arches CP 140#, 9×12.

A World of Calibans

Well . . . I prefer the land, the tree, the ocean, the field. I prefer not people or buildings.

But, I must put aside my prejudices to progress in painting. Andy Evansen’s watercolor course has challenged me to such. I did people, reviewing proportions and where the elbow ends and the knee. People are 7.5 to 8 heads tall, depending.

Buildings and people – crowds – hmm. I usually avoid them, being the reclusive and exclusive and somewhat misanthropic. Nonetheless, they exist. So do buildings. And value studies! This is like trying to fit my tiny foot into a tinier shoe – painful, painful.

I tried this painting in watercolor by starting out on used paper – the reverse of other studies or failed paintings. Cheapness does not do me any good. I was not getting anywhere except PO’d.

I do not like being PO’d.

A new sheet and voila! Life, while not sweet, definitely improved. And I did a crowd of people, and buildings in a plaza, and only one solitary, lonely tree suffocating in the midst of civilization.

This was probably the most challenging painting I have done so far in any class . . . but I lived! Any good? Who knows.

Improving My Social Life?

I never paint people in any form. Draw them, yes. Now it is time to add them to paintings so that I can pretend to have a social life!

Watercolor is the first area to which I am adding them. The reason is that watercolor in many ways is very forgiving. As well, there are a lot of photos with people in them in Andy Evansen’s class, so I figured I better stop being intimidated.

And you know what? After watching a lot of videos, and hearing that the general shape of people in a crowd is that of an elongated carrot (supposedly said by Frank Clarke), I had a laugh, and then it began to be fun, not a horror story I had to live.

Before beginning though, I felt it was important to get an idea of where things belong. Yes, I do know the general proportions of the human body – 7.5 to 8 heads tall, depending on your source. But where do elbows go? What level is the wrist? And so on. A bit of research and then the fun began.

Different ways to portray people, too. Blobs of color with some suggestions added, such as darker color to separate figures. Negative painting to show off highlights, back lighting, or light-colored fabric.

And so, people are showing up in my watercolor life. It was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Proportional formulae help and just playing around, letting go, and practicing.

About time!