So let's face it, rockstar velvet is not for everyone.

This waistcoat called for embellishment when it was given to me by a friend. It is a bit dull and needs some uplifting color, so I took it on vacation to Switzerland.

While in Switzerland I sewed and embroidered imagery from my daily adventures.

This vest is not complete, and I feel the need to embroider and embellish the vest from current day happenings. So it is a work in progress. This is not a boro project, but rather, an embroidery project. When I think of boro, I think raw edge patchwork and this vest has no added cloth.

Last week, I tried wearing the Rockstar Garment out in the world and found the ties to be an impediment to comfort. So I tried it on in front of my Man. We tied the ties, considered creating button style belt loops and then David said the word snaps. I love snaps and feel they are not used often enough. Once he said the word, I couldn't do anything else.

So I held the ties up and David pinned the placement for snaps.

Snaps are it.

When you decide on a garment to play with during the month of December, consider your personality, are you a blazer type but want to jazz it up? Do you have a favorite denim shirt that needs repair? Are you interested in embroidery? Maybe your garment can be an exploration of the Kantha style of stitching. My suggestion to you is to research what you would like to focus on. Here are some of my research ideas: here, here and here. Take some time to find your direction before we begin sewing together.

And hey, if you are having a hard tme coming up with ideas, check out Pinterest and search for Kantha, Boro, heck, anything will send you off on a jaunt. The point is, you need inspiration and a personal focus. Get to it.

And don't forget to join the Flickr group.

David and I have been on a kick of carrying our cameras about town, long aimless strolls are the goal. We have been playing with our cameras and learning to look and see. The Photo Silly 2 was just the sort of visual aerobics class we needed.

Meet Alex, a 15 year old dog whose human had coffee with us. Alex has a gravely bark that required a small jump to fully get the point across. He endeared himself to us.

Here, I am playing with depth of field, I can't seem to make my camera do this all the time but I am starting to understand the basics.

Down in Dumbo there is a park where I took this portrait of David and I.

This Little Altar has been growing. The face cup has been with us for years and recently made its way into this tableau.

I have been working the rockstar garment, and documenting my ideas and divergences.

Jeannie, where did you get the animal print cloth in these photos? Is it current day fabric?

Ricë and I did a podcast on Cancer and Creativity this week. I invite you to listen to it and enjoy.

Before I blithely proceed, I need to slow down a bit. A few folks have asked, what is boro? And isn't that just a great question.

This is a piece of boro in my personal collection bought at Sri

The following definition was pulled directly from the Sri web site (I have been to Stephen's gallery and it is scrumptious, if you come to NYC, go to Sri Threads. Please check out his web site and blog):

"Japan's mended and patched textiles are referred to as boro, or ragged, both in Japan and abroad.

Boro textiles are usually sewn from nineteenth and early twentieth century rags and patches of indigo dyed cotton. The diversity of patches on any given piece is a veritable encyclopedia of hand loomed cotton indigo from old Japan. In most cases, the beautiful arrangement of patches and mending stitches is borne of necessity and happenstance, and was not planned by the maker."

If you would like a slightly more in depth description of boro cloth, click here.

Jude Hill is a fabulous artist who blogs and teaches her techniques through online workshops. Jude uses the concept of boro cloth extensively in her work, definitely check her out too.

I don't plan to teach what I am doing, I just want to start blogging again and so have asked you to join me in a sew-along. I want to reengage with you after this long quiet year of cancer treatments, book writing and recovery. I plan to use embroidery and to illustrate some ideas through stitch onto the rockstar wrap

Here is an example of a piece I completed last year around this same time. It uses kimono fabrics, indigo dyed cloth and my own hand dyed threads. This hip pack 'journals' my trip to Spain and can be read about here and here.

My hopes for the Rockstar Boro project are to use rich, current-day fabrics to update and improve a velvet wrap. I may use velvets, organza and cottons that I hand dyed, or I may use commercial cloth from my stash. I will work in both hand dyed threads and whatever suits the next stitch best. Last night I was searching around and came across a link to Johnny Was and was inspired to do some big blowsy floral embroidery. I found that link thanks to Ricë. The point is, I could see Janis Joplin wanting to wear a boro inspired garment stitched by me, but I get to wear and keep this garment when it is complete!

I have set up a Flickr group for us

http://www.flickr.com/groups/rockstarboro/
Here is the link if you would like to spread the word on your own blogs.

Head over and become a member.

Perhaps you have a velvet shirt in your closet, perhaps you need to find a garment more suited to your temperament. If you would like to start discussing clothing options, upload photos of your garment to flickr and we will comment on them and help you get started. I have a few photos uploaded to the group already.

Let the fun begin.

I am trying to sit on my hands and not sew, we will see how long that lasts.

A little business: I will use the comments to answer questions and converse with you. I have a filter on the blog to help me combat spam-a growing problem. I hope this means that I can approve you as a commenter once and that my blog software will know you thereafter. If you have posted a comment in the last day it would be helpful to me if you would post again so that I can check to see if the blog is functioning properly. Thanks

I sort of like the idea of Rockstar Boro better than Contemporary Boro, so there is a name change going on. I think that I will be able to really push myself and the idea of working Boro to its limits with this sassy and playful name. I want to sew silks, satins, velvets with hand dyed threads in silk, rayon and cotton to this garment. So why not embrace a name with some funk?

I am too excited to wait for December 1st to start stitching, though I will do my best. Because I am impatient, I made a stuff sack for the wrap so that I can sew-on-the-go. What are you doing to get ready?

P.S. Anna left a comment asking, 'What the heck is Boro?', well she didn't use those words but... Tomorrow I will create a post and be informative. See? I gotta get back into the swing of blogging!

Hello people. I have been feeling quiet, wondering how to re-engage myself creatively. I have not been feeling blog crafty for a while and would like to get in the swing of it again. So, like I did last year with the line a day project, I have decided to blog daily while working on what I will call Contemporary Boro.

Last year my friend Dana was diagnosed and died from pancreatic cancer. She was a waif of a woman and she knew how to sew clothing. On retreat two weeks back, we divided Dana's fabric stash and textile findings between our selves. This silk lined velvet wrap was among the beauties I brought back. The velvet is at the stage of disintegration. So a thought came that I could make this an exploration of the idea of pushing Contemporary Boro to the limit (with a Janis rockstar style velvet wrap), I mean, I am American, so why not use cloth from my own culture and re-create a beautiful garment and keep it going for a few years longer.

I am going to combine fabrics from my stash and used embroidery floss to secure and decorate this garment. I would like to try to make it reversible, or able to be worn both velvet in and out.

So what do you say, wanna grab a garment and embroider during the month of December? I will create a flickr group if you want to sew-along-and-share-with-me. Comment on this post to let me know if you are interested, this will be a friendly and informal fun project that will start December One, thread up your needles!

And while we are at it, raise a strong fist of strength and gratitude to Dana.

You know how reusable bags are all the rage? Everyone is giving them out, our houses are filled with them. I was given a bag to promote Susan Carlson's new book, Serendipity Quilts. It is a very pretty bag, made of woven plastic. I don't see myself using this bag very much so I dissembled it and made it into something I could really use.

I love to sew on the go and anything that helps me get organized and to carry everything I need is a fine thing. Clear plastic pouches with zipper closures are indispensible and so much prettier than ziplock baggies.

You will need:
Woven plastic cloth or cloth of your choice (7 5/8x8")
Woven plastic cloth or cloth of your choice (19.5x3/4" folded in half lengthwise-for pouch binding)
Woven plastic cloth or cloth of your choice (7 5/8x3/4" folded in half lengthwise-for zipper binding)
1 zipper 8"
6mm plastic sheeting (7 5/8x4.5")
scissors, pins and a zipper foot
Sewing machine

I tore the entire bag apart, keeping every piece. This 'cloth' is woven plastic, it sews up just like cloth, although it is stiff. The nice thing about this cloth is that it is super strong. You can cut 3/4" strips, fold them in half and and sew in place over your raw edge. Easy peasy.

This tutorial is really about zippers, which folks seem to be afraid of. Zippers are easy! 'Installing' them requires a zipper foot and that you move the needle either to the right or left most position.

In this photo you see the zipper pull faces the clear plastic. The zipper pull is the 'right side' of the zipper. I sewed within a 1/4" of the edge of the zipper tape. Turned the plastic away from the zipper and finger burnished a fold in the plastic right where it was sewn to the zipper.

Apply the zipper to the 7 5/8" measurement.

Place the right side of the zipper to the right side of the cloth and wedge this between a 3/4" fold of the plastic cloth. Sew in place at a 1/4" from the fold.

You can trim the extra tape after you are done sewing it onto both the clear plastic sheeting and the plastic cloth.

Open the rectangle, which now has a zipper down the middle (ish) and fold in half so that the right side of the cloth faces out.

This is a tricky photo because you can't see the clear plastic sheeting. Rest assured, it is folded to meet up with the raw edge of the plastic cloth.

The binding will finish three sides of the pouch, the forth is a fold and does not need binding to close it.

Stop at 1/4" from the raw edge, turn the pouch by 90 degrees, back up so that your needle pierces the outter most edge.

Fold the binding down and over the raw edges, trying for a neat corner.

Now I know that many of you might also like a tutorial on creating a zipper closed square bag but, ha! That is a challenging project with much swearing and difficulty. I could more easily do a tutorial on how-to-swear-like-a-trooper-while-trying-in-vane-to-make-a-pretty-bag-with-no-major-problems. Like the zipper pull falling off (they are easy to replace if you free the opposite end of the zipper tape and resew the bag), or the corners not matching up and making a torqued square, but whatever! I sewed this bag to within an inch of its life and am happy with it.

And I made three zippered pouches to hold all my travel-on-the-go sewing supplies. You can too! Show me what you make with this tutorial! I wanna see.

Here is the fabulous list of tutorials and blogs:

1. November 9: Jane LaFazio Sketch & Stitch Gift Bags
2. November 10: Lyric Kinard Glitter, Glisten, Glimmer: a beaded snowflake ornament
3. November 11: Tracie Lyn Huskamp
4. November 12: Melanie Testa Zipper Pouch Mania
5. November 13: Traci Bunkers Moldable Foam Stamps
6. November 14: Diana Trout Furoshiko
7. November 15: Judy Coates Perez Folk Art Inspired Ornament
8. November 16: Kelli Nina Perkins Colorful Stitched Ornament
9. November. 17: Lisa Engelbrecht Experimental Lettering
10. November 18: Jill Berry Geo Papers and Projects
11. November 19: Gloria Hansen Resizing a Digital Image

I have to put a disclaimer here. I have a terrific tutorial all lined up. I scheduled it to publish Saturday morning at 8:00 A.M. I haven't used that function on my blog before and really hope it works because I am going away! This weekend is my twice yearly quilt art retreat. 3 days, all meals prepared, 10 of my good friends, art making. Yeah!

I have been taking the Photo Silly 2 class by Steve Sonheim. I love it! I am a little behind on lessons but I have begun going through each lesson and working with my cameras' settings. I have set my sights on improving my photographic skills.

I have both a Canon PowerShot A3100 and a Nikon D5000 .

Today I went into the city early and took a walk into Central Park. The light and air was amazing. It was a sparkly sort of morning. I am glad I had my (Canon) camera on me.

Today I work on exposure. I am impressed with the class. The instructions are clear, precise and playful. It really is silly too. It makes you have fun and laugh in wonder while learning. I decided to take the class on a whim and am really excited that I did. And the pdf's? I am going to print them all out and make a Three Ring Binder for them. Jane. :)

I am just back from Houston and feel rejuvenated and excited. It was so much fun! I walked the halls, sparkling with quilts, humming with excitement and interest, I meandered, I strolled. That was a great way to go to Quilt Festival! I wasn't teaching, I was experiencing and enjoying every moment.

Even my Monster High Dead Tired Cleo De Nile Doll had fun (seen here with the Judy Coates Perez doll)!

We had dinner and celebrated life! We ate cake. It was wonderful. I just kept walking around while feeling happy and grateful to be alive. That may sound funny but this year wasn't the easiest.

People I have never met walked up to me and congratulated me on getting through the year. Folks just touched me, not knowing what to say but wanting to say something. I kept tearing up. It was great. So healing and wonder full.

And of course I brought home some swag. Vintage silk embroidery thread pared with some wooden stamps by Colouricous.

More wooden blocks, I laid some cash down at that booth!

Mary Fisher has a new line of fabric out. Looking into her eyes is like jumping into a cool pond on a crisp summer morning. Her eyes are amazing. We hugged and talked and cried. Good thing I had a hankie in my pocket.

I stopped in at the Marcia Derse booth and got some 2" sample squares of cloth (not shown). Then off to Wendy Richardson's booth where I nabbed this vintage collar.

I am going to upload some candid shots to facebook, so check there latter in the morning.

I can't live without sandpaper, I love the stuff. I say this because when I saw the results of this photographic self portrait, I named it Self Portrait Swiss Scratch. Scratch because it is blurry and out of focus. I have another similar photo in front of the same door with very different results. But that'sa post is for another day.

Instead I am heading off to Houston to have some fun with the Girls. If you are not there, daydream my way. I will share photos upon return.