pocket fun

I get a little thrill out of having things manufactured. Why is that? It is like major birthday when the objects arrive -- that is why I started my ribbon business. It wasn't enough, I suppose, to make one of a kind tapestries every few weeks; I needed thousands of yards of fabric which sprang from my prolific interior designer. Well, not jsut that, I suppose: I love having things made which I can't make myself here in the studio by hand, and it also throws the handmade into a special new light for me, often when I am taking it for granted. Making cloth by hand is totally unlike the kind of cloth one can have manufactured -- both can be wondrous but they exercise different attitudes for me.

A long way around to introducing my new toy -- a pocket mirror design. I have thought these little things were charming for some time. Last year, for Arts In Harmony (the art fair for which I was the founding chair here in New Harmony -- coming up again this May!) we had little pin on buttons made with various artist's imagery and sold them as a little fund -- fun -- raiser. So great! What is it about these little tschotskes! so far from my MFA...

The same company that made the buttons, Busy Beaver in Chicago, makes pocket mirrors, so I had a bunch made with the Dahlia ribbon design I am so fond of. Then I decided to make little felt cases for them -- a sweet and fun day's project on what I call my toy sewing machine. This is an inexpensive Janome which makes 5 or 6 pretty little embroidery stitches.
I am almost embarrassed to tell you how much fun I had making these: using all these luscious colors of wool felt, I found quite happily that this ribbon goes with the whole rainbow (well, a slightly pastellated version of it). Coordinating color is sort of a crucial aspect of designing trim, after all!

The finished products are on etsy (where else?)