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Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Glorious Denim

A few days ago Martha of http://nowsewing.blogspot.com/2013/02/design-mending-la-jude.html posted these pictures of a denim piece that she has been working on. All of the stitching that you see is done by hand.
I think it is really lovely. She said that the denim is beginning to show some signs of wear along the edges. I think that is the beauty of denim. Check out her blog as she has some nice resources listed on this post.
I saw this video posted I think, on Facebook. I tried to find who posted it, but alas, I lost the information, so I am unable to give credit to the person who posted it initially. It's only a minute long, but it takes you from cotton in the field to the finished garment. Rather fun.



Finally, I wanted to share this book. A friend of mine shared her copy with me and I fell in love with it. Now the quest is on to find a copy for myself. The title is "Boro, The Rags and Tatters From The Far North of Japan." You can find it here, http://www.amazon.com/Boro-Rags-Tatters-North-Japan/dp/4757215967/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1361282243&sr=1-1&keywords=boro. The problem though is that the cheapest copy is $54.50, so I have placed it on my wish list. I can be very patient, it may take a while, but I'll find one at a much more reasonable price. It will be mine!!!

When I read Martha's post, I thought of this book. The colors and the mix of textiles is a delight to see. You may want to put it on your wish list as well.
Below are a couple of pictures from the book. The first picture I found interesting just for the shape of the pants.
The second picture shows some of the wonderful stitch work, like Martha's.
In the book are many examples of how the clothing was patched. Their clothes were far too precious to throw away. Although the fabric is not denim, indigo was used a lot for the dye, so I was reminded of denim.
Just wanted to share a few things that I found to be quite interesting.
Have a wonderful day!



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3 comments:

  1. Rhonda - you are so sweet to post this. I will definitely add that book to my wishlist. I am enamored of boro too!

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  2. I thought you might be. When I saw your beautiful stitching, and your comment on the fraying edges, I immediately thought of this book. Hopefully someone will sell a book for a little more reasonable price. Hope reigns eternal!!!

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  3. I know a big group of people who did this when I was patching and re-patching my clothing as a lifestyle choice as a young college kid. It's one of the most fun and creative things to do. My daughter and her friends continue in the tradition, making their work clothes from cast offs they find in free boxes. Thanks for highlighting this book. Fabulous!

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