Last week, Arrow was under the weather, a few people have asked about him and as he is so important to me, I figured I would give an update. Arrow got through whatever was bothering him and is his lovey-dove self again. They sure do know how to pull our heartstrings. I like the above photo because I see quiet in Arrow's eye. I have always wished we both spoke the same language and I could hear what he was saying. At the same time it is fabulous that we don't.

Someone asked for unadorned photos without any artistic perspectives. Someone just wants to see what I am working on. So here you go.

But really, I wanted to point out what folks have been doing with this idea over at the Rockstar Boro pool on Flickr. Like Lyric, Ilene has been reconstructing old clothing and reinvigorating it. I am impressed with her serged seams and love what she is doing. She says she has been wearing it a bunch and is eyeing other clothing in her closets!

You may also want to check out this, this and this. I can't link up to every photo but it is impressive to see what folks are doing with the idea. Head over there, check all of them out.

I am really enjoying working on this wrap and blogging each day this month. My sense of time and my ability to apply myself to a task has changed, I love the internet, love reading blogs and checking in on facebook, but I need time to sew, to paint, to engage with myself. I need time for walks.

I have been partaking in all of these things in the last couple of days but I have also been sewing. It feels good.

I bought some new needles this weekend. I asked friends on facebook what their favorite needles are, and Deborah said, Jeana Kimbal. I am putting together an order. I have a weakness for buying hand sewing needles. I like new brands, type and uses. I bought some Clover Gold Eye Milliners, No. 3-9, and I like them. They are sturdy, long (they are milliners needles) and the eye is big enough for most of the flosses I am using right now. They are not a subtle needle. Good needles are truly good needles, these are worker bee needles.

I like how the stitches are piling up.

Think a few good thoughts for Arrow. He is a bit under the weather.

Alright, I started embroidering the lace and I like what is happening. I especially like the red on the 'tape' in the upper left. I think I will continue doing that for sure. I am not so sure about the dark green on the vines, but I am not ripping it, the velvet would not like being ripped and is too fragile.

Now, I like the rose but feel its leaves need some oomph. And perhaps the rose needs a definite stem, which it doesn't have.

Cheryl, I will sew the snaps on soon, but I do think the lace will look lovely tucked behind the ties, or straps, I don't really know what to call them.

And here is a message from the World of the City.

I have moved forward on the lace. I have begun to embroider it on using the Valdini threads (which are scrumptious). My mom commented yesterday that perhaps this addition will be too heavy or might compete with the rose embroidery. I heard you Mom! I am going to work this and make sure it looks integrated.

Speaking of my Mom (and Dad), I was given some Punjammies (I love saying this word). I mention this because of the blue cloth seen in the photo above. That cloth is a bag, made to contain the PJ bottoms and will become a much loved addition to my travel as I sew kit.

I love the PJs that go with the bag. I found them through Pinterest. These PJ's help fund a program to help women acquire skills after living a life in forced prostitution. I have made a personal vow to wear patterns (I do call myself a textile/surface designer, right?). So while wearing these PJs, I am also helping women on the other side of our planet.

When I picked this grey hankie out of the pile, I fell in love. Look at how well loved this piece of cloth is and it has survived and found its way to me.

Should I so this down or not? It is too white? Too dominant? What would happen if I embroidered it on using red floss?

After receiving the linens from Ricë, I have been sorting, shuffling and reorganizing. This means I have been coming across stuff. It also means I have been handling the 'stuff of women'. I imagine what Ricë bought was her friends' hope chest items. Some of which I plan to use. The pillowcases are fabulous and won't wear thin for years to come and are just too pretty or too much time was put into them not to use them.

These seem to be kitchen towels, which will be used as cloth, perhaps even shirting material. I love the embroidered work on them.

Most of what I was sent are hankies, which I will use as hankies, in my artwork, and to dye. Many of the hankies are really pocket squares (of the womanly sort). But from what I can tell pocket squares and hankies are an interchangeable idea-the same name for a hemmed square. This needs to be looked into. Some of the squares have fancy lace edging, which makes me think they are pocket squares, while others have usable cloth right up to the hemmed edge. Did you know there were so many ways to fold a pocket square?

Another box made it to Casa Melly. I am feeling a sense of Largess Beyond Measure.

And I mean, just look at that picture up there. What humble hankie could stand up to the shiny hussie from France. I mean. There are flowers, ribbons and charmeuse all in one darned hankie. Pretty good if you ask me. But there are hundreds of Hankies in this gift. Hundreds.

Life is changing. The tools, my thoughts. It is time for me to start sharing! In the new year I will open up about my plans.

Look at the color here. I have been giving much thought to textures here in New York City. I am taking photographs and cataloging my experience. It is fun. I am happy to be alive. I am happy to be able.

We have been meandering again. I love meandering the city. When was the last time you saw this font?

I feel blessed, like roses in December. Thank you.

I couldn't blog yesterday. I got tired and went with it.

I have been having fun. Behind the scenes fun. I feel like I am re-entering life. Time has changed this year. Or the way I have experienced time has changed. It feels good to walk among the bustle, be a little cold, wear a hat.

I love the theme of Rockstar. I keep asking myself, "What would Janis do?" And what I mean when I ask that is, what other way is there to do this? I am in essence asking myself to sew, paint, draw differently. It has been a fun adventure. I look forward to seeing where it goes.

Am I crazy for liking the lighting in this photo? I am calling it, moody.

Ricë sent me a bird hanky. It is a very delicate screen print on silk. I love the feel of it. It will be a fiddle with, not use, sort of Hankie. I love hankies, don't you? I tuck them into all of my coat pockets. I love tootin my snozzle in linen! You should experience this too.

Hop on the hankie bandwagon, will you?

Ok wait. This week I was given two hot tools, tools that work with heat, that is. A L'orna Decorative Touch Wand Hot-fix Embellisher. (Is the name of this tool suggestive or is it just me? I mean it is confusing, to say the least). And a more aptly named, Creative Versa-Tool and you know, creative goes without saying, it shouldn't be a selling point.

Parts and pieces of cigar boxes....

So there is a convergence of new tools and media happening over here. Change is happening. I can't wait to show you.

And ya know what? I bet if Janis were asked if she would rather sew rhinestones by hand or use a L'orna Decorative Touch Wand Hot-fix Embellisher, I think I know what her response would be. What do you think she would say?

And also, check this out.

I may well be dotty this week. I will be visiting family and don't I don't want to carry my computer or have a responsibility. I like blogging more often and will be taking up the habit again. It feels good to be able!

So, lets see what I come up with for the two hot tools.

I fell in love with two local stores this year, Mongo Mongo, whose website does not do it justice. And Swallow. That was fun.

The internet is a huge, extended family. We each live closer to our fellows because of it. Jude Hill puts it all out there, opening up her thoughts on sewing, cloth, creation and making. I love her blog, I love her work, her freedom and spontaneity. In fact I am taking her Beasts class right now (though I will do a real write up about it in another post). Go take that class, it is on Sale Right NOW!

But the long and short of it is that Jude turned me on to Glennis Dolce, an exquisite shibori and indigo dyer.

There are some of Glennis's Shibori Ribbons in the loot from yesterday. Although it feels almost sacrilegious to use the ribbon, and by that I mean ironing it flat and cutting it to fit an area of my Rockstar Wrap, it also feels sacrilegious not to use such a beautiful piece of cloth. So this fabric now lives in the sleeve of my wrap.

Pretty stitching. Pretty cloth. Shiny. Pretty. Maybe some of Jude and Glennis's offerings will end up in a shopping cart with your name on it.

I received a package in the mail today. I haven't gotten permission to state her name, so I won't. But when I went down to greet the mailman and take this box up to the apartment, I sort of thought. This is bloggable. And I know that I am supposed to be talking about my Rockstar Boro project, but it is my blog and I create the rules here, right? I mean, I am committed to blogging every-single-day during the month of December and well, this gift sorta knocked me off game, in a very special way.

Each of the boxes were wrapped in cloth. Scrumptious cloth.

And when I opened the boxes up, it was as if I had gone shopping and had had some fun. Every item is something I would have gotten for myself.

And I must say. I have been struggling as a textile artist since my diagnosis. I don't think I want to use dye anymore. And that leaves me in a state of panic, in a way. What else can I do? My friend was inspired to send me these things because of my Rockstar project. And the project is working. It is making me open up to ideas that up until I started stitching, hadn't been able to come to the surface. I have been excited, and this is good, because I want to feel excited about cloth again.

And healing tears of joy washed down my face, because. Well. There are some gorgeous supplies in this pile of stuff. So now that I have shared my greatest fear as an artist and have felt a torrent of love from a friend, I think it is time to see if any of this swag will be the next great piece of cloth added to the beautiful, magical, rockstar jacket.

So yesterday I asked about transferring a drawing to the velvet in order to embroider a design. You guys came up with some really good links! Thank you. Deanna offered these two (link one, link two), both of which have been bookmarked-great resources.

But you know, part of this project is about pushing past my own expectations. In a Rockstar like way. I mean, What Would Janis do? I started thinking this through in light of thinking about using a tear away stabilizer. But then I thought, It almost feels like the velvet gives no relief. Then I remembered the links Ricé had on her blog a few weeks back. And I cooked up a half baked idea. I hope it works.

And Lyric is doing something that Really Works. Check it out.

Everything above this is eye candy. What I really want to talk about it technique.

How do you transfer an embroidery design to velvet? I want to hand embroider this design. What you are looking at is a Duralar stencil and a trace paper drawing of a rose. I have a chalk marker thingie but it is made to be used on straight or slightly sloped lines. Pairing that chalk tool with this stencil is apples to oranges. Suggestions? Links to videos? how-to's?

I am getting those snaps back on there!

Progress has been slow this week. I am in the process of editing and I am supposed to be writing a magazine article and today I got tired! But I made a commitment to self to blog everyday, so although short and succinct, here I am.

We don't have cable television but we do like to rent serial tv shows, anyone have a favorite that I might try out? Time to couch potato.

I finished sewing the foxy fabric to the waist line! That took a while. So today is a day of gathering. It will be another day to jog the garment out of its current state.

So I woke this morning and started digging through my goods. I need to decide if I want to make a move away from the color red. Or perhaps stick with it but add small bits of other colors.

I am not sure how I will proceed. But having piles of cloth near my project sure does help me imagine possible outcomes.
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I have been good friends with Deborah Boschert for a very long time. I love her work and she is a wonderful person too. She is working to get the word out on a great project she has collaborated on and I am helping out by talking about it here:

STITCHED is a collection of 20 online video workshops by 20 talentend fabric artists. Students have access to all 20 workshops and can choose to view and work on the projects any time of the day, any day of the week. Registration opens on Dec 1 and the workshops kick off on Jan 1 and run through June 1. Registration is only $89.

Deborah is teaching a workshop titled, "Branches, Buds and Blossoms: A Botanical Fabric Collage." She includes videos on selecting fabrics, adding surface design, composing and improvisational hand embroidery. Click the above link to get more info and to register.

And she is doing a giveaway too, so go.

I am almost at the halfway point of the month and although I really like the progress I have made so far, it is a slow project, just by the nature of hand sewing. The border I am sewing to the waist takes a fair amount of time and I don't want to bore you with the same photograph each day!

When I tire of an area, I go and sew up another area, so I am working the garment all around. I like this approach, it feeds my need to see progress and it brings the entire project up to speed at the same time.

The label from yesterdays post made it onto the end of the tie. This will serve to strengthen the area under the snap, I still really like the idea of using snaps. Each area that will hold a snap needs to be strengthened. Previously when I unsnapped a snap I could hear a small ripping noise. Stitching the layers together really does seem to strengthen the cloth as a whole. It is an interesting approach.

And do you remember this? I received this label through Leslie who met Lea of Leaf Cutter Designs in San Francisco last year. I sewed the label into a reconstructed peasant blouse. I have contacted Lea to see if she has more labels to share because I would like to place one on the Rockstar Wrap.

Yesterday a package came in the mail from a special corespondent. It has everything we like in it. A bit of somthin-somthin to excite Arrow. I was so immersed in the gifts and gewgaws that I forgot the package came with a bunch of Cat Nip. I started ripping a label off a salvaged piece of silk, sent as wrapping, and Arrow kept jumping up on the table and hunting for his gift. It took three times of my picking him up and placing him on the floor for me to realize what Arrow wanted! Thankfully Arrow is tenacious and focused and knows how to make me listen.

A copy of this catalog is the focal point of this gift. Mottainai: The Fabric of Life published by Gallery Kei and Sri is a gorgeous, photographic story of Japanese textiles. The subtitle says it all, Lessons in Frugality from Traditional Japan. I am so happy to have a copy of this book, so glad that it was published, I think you should order a copy too! Let's buy them out and suggest they make more!! This title seems like the first in a series, (if you ask me).

Jeannie (my special correspondent) included a few shisha mirrors, buttons, silk wrapping, a sari ribbon. A special gift, indeed.

I began removing the label straight away. Somehow labels have become important in the Rockstar project. But I fell in love with the 'wrong' side of this one. I think it is because my eyes have been dazzled by the color pink and this label uses shiny pink thread. On the reverse side of the label the words look abstracted and the color becomes its own design.

The Chicken Footed Fairie has been hanging out with me in studio. A month or so back we changed the apartment around. The Nest became David's studio and much of the art was taken off the walls. I made this doll 7 or 8 years ago. Last night I started to imagine how I might create a new set of wings for her.

I think Monkey is the proprietor of a traveling Freak Show. I think his placard needs to be tricked out to explain the nature of his show.

And because I do not like Rat Fink and his nasty ways, I sewed a 'wow' over his crotch.

Wow, it is a challenge to blog everyday. Today I got a good start on sewing and embroidery. My eyes are filled with pink. I find pink to be a very happy color.

I wonder about color having emotional weight.

This guy (standing almost out of site on the right), he is a bad guy, a rat fink-I just know it.

I have fallen for the fox, with his little smear of blood and back turned glance.

Today was a day of sewing. Not many words. Fun, calming. Good night! I have had a long day.

Last night over dinner I was thinking about this project. I have to remember that this velvet garment is old and falling apart. In order to preserve it and wear it for an extended period of time, I have decided to work with it in a boro like fashion. It became stagment in the state it was in even just yesterday.

So I decided to make a bold move. The snaps have been temporarily removed. The inside waist is getting a reinforcement layer. The stitches used to secure this cloth will be visible on the outside of the garment and will become a 'design element'.

As I said before, I love this cloth-what is it, a toile? What better way to love cloth than to use it?

I find the imagery on this cloth compelling. It tells a story. What does the Monkey have to share? Is he a medicine man, snake charmer, a tinker? Is that an image of a woman's head on the placard behind him?

This couple has just been to market, baskets full, and they stop to see the Monkey. The bird woman isn't 'sold'.

But look here, look at the fox with his tattered clothing and slippers. He appears to have been handled poorly, perhaps even caned by the authority figure who has chained he and his friend. The fox has a red mark on his forehead that looks suspiciously like blood.

I am preparing to write an article, the first in a very long time. Because not all of my thoughts are together just yet, sewing is helping me think.

I love the orange atop the red, it looks rich, sumptuous and deep. It is time to hunt through my fabric and scraps, I need more like this. Putting cloth inside the sleeve is another opening, this piece needs change, it is a bit stuck in how it looks right now.

I bumped into this grouping of photographs. I think it appropriate to our found fabric discussion. Please check it out and tell me what you think.

Sometimes I forget how long stitch takes. Stitch is a true meditation, a quiet centering. Today I 'top stitched' a line along the left sleeve. I will be doing more stitching throughout the draped portion of the sleeves, because I hope the stitch will make that portion drape better.

And I have secured the size label of the hat I deconstructed this week.

Speaking of deconstruction, check out what Lyric is working on. And also what Christine has been up to, great stitches there.

David and I have been going on long, ambling walks through the city. It is so much fun to do, there are so many people here that you stumble upon things, little altars, or street art that is either in progress or embellished by the locals who live near it. This weekend we walked to Fairway in Red Hook. There is a beach that over looks the Verrazano Narrows, Statue of Liberty and Staten Island right there and it has become...

my new place to shop for fabric. This new cotton length is very pretty, don't you think? It is aged and softened, mottled from sitting in the sun and drying after being wet and rewet so often. And it has holes! Natural, beautiful holes. The one thing about shopping for cloth on a New York City beach is that I need to carry a plastic bag with me and I need to wash my hands as soon as I am able after touching stuff! Luckily Fairway has a bathroom and hat water!

In continuing with the tags and labels theme, I am considering putting this label into the facing.

But the real next step is to use some of my new cloth somewhere. In the sleeves, like Jeannie suggested? On the inside of the ties for a little eye candy that can only be seen once in a while? Hm.

Remember, I am conversing with you through the comments on the blog. Check back to read my response to your comments or better yet, leave a comment. If you have a blog I will visit you. Part of the reason I am blogging everyday is to get back into the swing of our vibrant and exciting on-line community.

And don't forget about the Rockstar Boro Flickr group where Russty is flying about, Arrow has a friend and Jeannie is doing interesting work. And hey! I got an email from Lyric Kinard this weekend saying she was going to join in the fun too.

Look at this eye...

I couched some chenille yarn to the facing yesterday.

I also sewed the label to a hat that I dissembled. I am pretty sure it will disintegrate the first time I wash the garment, and although I expect this, I sort of hope that using tulle will stabilize the process and keep it together for a bit longer. I like that the label says New York on it.

Our local haunts are gearing up for the holidays.

David took this photo.

A self portrait.

One of the things I love most about apartment living is the need to balance economy of space versus its use. It feeds into my need for an organized and fully usable studio setting. I want to be able to grab the needed object or supply without hindrance, my goal is to execute the next painting, drawing or stitch, not to go looking for supplies and getting distracted for want of cleaning. I use cleaning as a way to ease into my creative process, so you can see my conundrum.

This morning a brilliant thought, 'You need an embroidery drawer in your studio and that means the glues, oil paints and mediums are consigned to deep storage'. So I started this studio day by cleaning.

While switching stuff around I came across a pot of gold. A bag of embellishments, threads, yarns and color. I wonder if I need to couch something...

Years ago David and I went to England and took a trip to Bath. These are the spoils of that trip and have been traveling with me from Connecticut to Arizona to Brooklyn for years. It is time to use them.

When I was a child I took an illustrated book about eyes from the library. I remember curling in a nook and reading intently about cones and light rays. When I was a teenager, I would draw eyes, perfected, ethereal eyes with perfectly shaded pupils. I drew the same eye so many times they became formulaic. At that same time I went on vacation to Providence, Rhode Island with my mom and dad and saw many blown glass Evil Eyes. Pinterest has various images of Evil Eyes.

This led me on an exploration of Shisha Mirrors, which, now that I am writing about them and finding links to share with you, I pine over (tis not the season to be purchasing art supplies for myself). But. We are talking about a quest I had in my early years, right? I learned that mirrors were used to deflect the Evil Eye and protect the wearer from harm. And what teenaged girl doesn't want to wear long flowing skirts embroidered with mirrors?

As I was creating this post, I came across a tutorial on shisha embroidery, using pennies.

hmmmm...

This is my work from yesterday. It needs something to push the eye image forward but I will put it aside for now.

We now have 17 members over at the Rockstar Boro group.

Here is my garment as it stands. I have sewn snaps to the belt so that it now wraps around my body rather than hanging at the waist. I have begun to stitch red satin sari strips as if to create a facing, I have sewn tabs down to 'close' the tear that proceeds up each sleeve. I started to work a gold ribbon into the neckline too. This last bit is nice because it makes me want to embroider with metallic thread. This opens up a wealth of possibility, and broad thinking is what this project needs right now. I don't want to remain stuck in how the wrap looks right now. I would like to break up the intensity of the velvet and introduce new textures, colors, fabrics and threads into the mix.

These open and drapey sleeves call for some heavy Kantha style stitching, if you ask me.

The back neck area already has some stitchwork and when I woke this morning I thought about this next photo:

The Eye. This image was taken in the Duomo in Milan. I think it is the side of a confessional.

Ever since I was a teenager I have been interested in the idea of the Evil Eye and the protection one might need against it.

So, today's mission: Sew an eye onto the back of the garment as protection from the things behind me.

These are some vintage Japanese silk embroidery threads bought at Quilt Festival. They are yummy to stitch with.

I will answer questions and begin speaking with you through the comments on this blog starting today. Let the stitching begin.

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?

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!