Ornamentation

I found a couple of examples of ornamentation during a busy weekday. The beautiful lace sleeves of my 19th century period costume at work, and a handbag that I made about ten years ago.

I remember how frustrating it was to sew that handbag! I don’t know if I’ve ever told you the entire story. I had the vintage handles and designed the purse using a secondhand suit jacket. I had borrowed my mother-in-law’s sewing machine for a little while, and had a habit of breaking quite a few needles while I had it! It was quite difficult sewing the little angles in the bottom and making it look somewhat straight. To make matters worse, the cat we had at the time in Vancouver actually decided to urinate on a piece of the cut fabric on the floor! Of course I laundered it but it was not very fun.

People often ask me to make more items like this, and I think I’ve learned I am more of a designer than a producer. I like making things once. I like making the prototype.

This was Day 19 of the artsy forager instagram project, #artsydefined.