Hello.....
I met Janine about a year ago in my store and she told me she had been collecting vintage kimono fabrics for a while now and in fact she had a bit of an "addiction" to them..... From one addict to another I completely understood her desire to acquire & admire amazing textures and colours. Having said that I was completely blown away by Janine's stash.
"Whoa girl I'm impressed"
Janine expressed a wish to use her fabric so she could appreciate them in and around her home everyday however she was hesitant to cut them up incase she made a mistake.
Janine booked some one on one class time with me so together we could make her ideas become a reality. (At Materialise we dovetail our classes to suit the individual needs of each customer. Therefore I don't a write a class list with a list of projects.... Each customer comes in and tells me what they want to make and together we workshop the idea and then we make it happen.......)
Drawing from her outstanding collection of kimono scraps, Janine added a luscious selection of raw silk & silk velvet in a variety of enriching colours & pieced together (front & back) two amazing oblong cushions 40x60cm
The dark jade green, ochre yellow and coral red tones in the delicate oriental floral piece (above - down right side) perfectly compliment the other oriental prints Janine has used.
It starts to get even more exciting with the addition of purple in both dark violet & grape tones. This torn & frayed scrap piece (above) has been naively stitched using an aurifil thread in a "violent" violet shade bringing forth the true beauty & crunchiness of this silk fabric.
Using the selvages as a feature on the grape purple & green stripe fabrics we overlayed these pieces then stitched them into place using several lines of straight stitch in complimentary thread colours. An invisible zip (above) was inserted along the bottom edge.
Some of the kimono pieces used had small holes or marks so we employed a variety of creative techniques to mask imperfections & improve the overall structural integrity of the fabric. All the fabrics were individually stabilised using a very good quality cotton backed iron on vilene. This makes the fabric more manageable & adds strength.
In order to integrate the embellishments and add to the overall design Janine carefully chose a stunning array of aurifil threads in colours which serve to highlight & compliment the colours of the kimono fabrics.
The overall layout & design has been carefully considered in this beautifully balanced combination.
Janine chose to back this cushion with a stunning akky green silk velvet which she trimmed top & bottom with midnight blue raw silk.
Janine's second cushion will be used in a different area in her home and uses a more vibrant selection of colours combining orange, watermelon pink, yellow with a hint of green & purple.
This traditional watermelon coloured shibori piece has been embellished using this outstanding canary yellow silk scrap.
Stitching detail.....
Using thread ends as a low key embellishment
The amazing pieced back of this cushion is another cushion all on it's own!! Pulling the colours from the kimono prints on the front Janine pieced together the back which compliments perfectly!!!
"I love it"
Using quiltlite as a thin wadding at the back of the raw silk Janine has used this square quilting detail to anchor the quiltlite. This extra padding makes the cushion feel really 'phat'.
Stitching detail using aurifil thread (watermelon pink).... up close & personal
The quilting lines look better if they are sewn uneven.
Above are 12 blocks Janine has pieced together for a quilt she is making using the kimono fabrics as a series of central blocks that will be bordered....
See you soon....!
"....hmmm where am I, am I lost? ........."
