paper bag book- month 2

Posted on February 26, 2007 by mimik

I just finished my pages for Theresa’s book.

I stuck closer to my comfortable medium this time- fabric and sewing.

Here is the west coast house open-

and the east coast house-

The hard part was figuring out how to put the goodies into the pocket without having everything spill out, every time anyone picked up the book. I made a card and attached my little goodie bags to it. I put papers and other stuff straight into the pocket- the things that are less likely to fall out. Look how fat the book is already! I can’t wait to see how they look in a few more months!

If you are interested in seeing other paper bag books, I found some by putting “paper bag book” into an ebay search. Very interesting.

babies and pillows

Posted on February 18, 2007 by mimik

Besides the blanket, I’ve been working on other stuff… things are not going smoothly.Â Back in January, I posted a photo with some sketches of ideas I wanted to work on.Â For at least 2 weeks,Â I’ve been working on making a big head baby…Â I can’t get it to work for me.Â I can’t get my little sketch and the vague idea in my head to turn into a finished 3D design that I’m happy with.Â Maybe I need to get the idea into better focus…
So, I’m trying a different approach.Â These guys are little- just about 6 inches tall.Â Sort of 3D sketch dolls.

Yesterday, I broke down and set up a work table in a heated room.Â My attic studio has been unbearably cold.Â I think the cold had cut off my creative juices.

And remember that personal rules discussion?Â Now that the blanket is finish, here is the project next in line for my not-art/ house stuff category.Â It’s going to be a sofa pillow.

:-) heart

Posted on February 14, 2007 by mimik

Happy Valentines Day everybody. But that isn’t the big holiday this week around my house-

Yesterday was my third year blog birthday- and considering how much this blogging thing has enriched my life, it is most certainly worth celebrating! I am hoping for another wonderful year of meeting new people, swaps, round robins, feedback, exchanges of information- the community. That’s been the best part.

It’s a snow day today. Peter has no school. In our town, they blow a very loud horn when school is canceled or delayed. Seems so very old fashioned.

I managed to get a lot closer to being done with my blanket this past week.

When we were visiting Eleanor this past weekend, we sat around and talked and I knit… It is now 47 inches long. I have 2 more color stripes I want to do. I ran out of brown (the constant stripe color)- grrr. I thought about buying some more, but no, the whole point of this project is to use up what I have. So, the last stripes are black. I doubt anyone will complain.

A clarification of sorts- I start tons of projects that don’t get finished. It’s just that the blanket project is in my head in a different category from what I think of as my “art” projects. The blanket is a home project. I have a long list of home projects I want to get done. Curtains and throw pillows for our new futon sofa are at the top of the list. It’s these home projects that I am trying to keep under some control. My personal rules are VERY complicated with oh so many exceptions, footnotes and extenuating circumstances. Good thing I can make them up as I go along!

Wednesday update

Posted on February 7, 2007 by mimik

My postcard is up on the ArtStream shop now- check it out. There is loads of great artwork for under $100.

Week 4- The blanket continues to grow. It is now 35 inches long and weighs 1 pound 2 oz. It seems much heavier as I’m knitting it. A big plus right now- it covers my lap and it’s been freezing around here!

I’ve been thinking about pears-

I’m not sure where this is going.

And, I’m working on a new design which involves…

messes. Scrap paper, scrap fabric, tape, glue, and a trash can.

This is what I’m working on. No, they aren’t aliens.

bag doll so far

Posted on February 5, 2007 by mimik

Here she is, sitting in the kitchen. She is not done yet. Her wig is not finished, just pinned on. I’m thinking about a hat. There were a few other things in the bag that I haven’t used. I’m still thinking about them. I don’t have to use them but it would be fun to use it all…

I really struggled to get the center opening of the vest and the cross-over of the coat to match up. I put lace around the collar but it doesn’t really show here.

the coat button- it was part of my bag.

The vest and the lining of the coat-

sleeves and lace at the wrist-

Here she is with my hand which may give you some scale. Also, little buttons on the sweater.

One of the challenges was how to make the layers close, without having too much bulkiness in the center with buttons, snaps, overlaps, etc. I decided to butt the edges of the sweater and make loop buttonholes. Same with the vest, except I used hooks.

Here are the shoes-

Since I’m not quite sure what else I want to do and I have another project pressing, I’ve started on something else… But really, I will try to finish this and not get completely distracted!

works in progress

Posted on January 31, 2007 by mimik

I didn’t get much done on the blanket this week-

It is 29 inches long now. It is getting bulky to work on- warm, but hard to maneuver.

My doll is coming along, although she won’t be finished for doll club tomorrow. Here is where I was this morning-

I wanted the sweater to be more form fitting. I ended up cutting it down the front and took some darts at the sides. No buttons yet- actually, I’m not sure about how I’m going to close the sweater.

The coat is mostly done- no button yet. She’s got felt shoes- no buttons yet. I am trying out this hair- undyed cashmere goat.

I decided she needed another layer- vest in progress-

And here she is at the end of the day with her vest on. I’m thinking of going with tibetan lambswool hair- it fills more space and the frizzies have a lot of personality.

Everything is pinned on- hair, sweater, vest, coat, shoes. Everything needs closures of some sort… well the hair will need glue. I’m still thinking about some lace too- I paint “dyed” some, but I’m not satisfied with the color yet. And I’ve run out of time for today.

my other paper bag project

Posted on January 30, 2007 by mimik

I am doing another paper bag themed project- this one with my doll club. The idea for this one was that each person who wanted to participate would put a selection of materials into an opaque paper bag- a fat quarter, trims, buttons, whatever. Then, all the closed bags were shuffled up and redistributed. The idea was to get people inspired and excited about something new. Not that I need inspiration… I’ve got a huge long line of ideas I haven’t gotten to yet, but I wanted to participate anyway. I am finally getting to work on it (doll club is Thursday and I’ve had the bag since November!). I am using this project as a way of dressing some of my poor naked dolls- see New Years resolutions.

This is what I got in my bag- oops, I photographed the wrong side of the large floral fabric. There is also a beautiful button that somehow got misplaced before I started taking pictures.

Here you can see the doll I’m using- I took off her hair- it really gets in the way while I’m working. I’ll glue it on at the end.

and that is the right side of the fabric- it is beautiful. I was very lucky with my bag- thanks Jenifer!

and one more photo- I’ve got the pants mostly done. You can see the dotty waistband in the 2nd photo. The sweater and socks was what the doll was wearing before I started. I’ll have to decide about those. I have one sleeve on- very fancy, 2 fabrics because … I didn’t have enough fabric to make the sleeves so I improvised. I’ve got the lining chosen (the hard part), cut and sewed. Now I need to go put in the other sleeve and put the lining in. The girl probably won’t be finished by Thursday, but she will be a lot closer to being finished. Yeah!

And, thank you, thank you to everyone who has bought my cards! All the orders have been mailed so you should be getting them soon!

some things get done

Posted on January 24, 2007 by mimik

Here is the weekly progress report on my blanket-

let’s see, I started it on 1/9 and now it is 24 inches long. That might be half way. It is very drapey and warm to work on.

Well, I got a piece into the show after all! It turns out they are being very relaxed about accepting work so I brought over my piece today.

First though, I framed it up. I was lucky that the postcard fit perfectly into an 8 x 10 standard frame. I backed the postcard with linen. As I was pulling out various lengths and scraps of possibilities, I came across a reminder of why I like working with my Mom’s fabric-

It all feels like so much family history.

I also framed up this one-

and it will be going up to New Hampshire for the Lovely Hearts Show at Artstream.

Update on the cards- I have the original postcards back from the printers and that why I could submit them to the shows. The notecards are suppose to be ready for me on Friday… they had to order the paper and various other delays. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I will put them into my etsy shop then. Does anyone have a great source of the clear sleeves for packaging them? I am a real beginner at this end of things!

weather, update, projects

Posted on January 17, 2007 by mimik

We are having winter today-

It was cold in my studio, but it was cold everywhere else too, so I worked anyway.

Here is the one week update on my blanket project-

technical information – I cast on 155 stitches with worsted weight wool. I am doing only garter stitch. I am using size 10.5 plastic circular needles, 29 inches long. It is about 50 inches wide and so far about 18″ long. It weighs 1/2 pound so far. My design- knit irregular rows (ie 3 or 5 rows of each color except when I run out of yarn), 2 shades of similar colors and a dark brown stripe between. The goal- use up what I already have.

I am working on Valentines with several thoughts in mind. I am thinking of doing the cafepress cards. And several galleries I know are having small works February Valentine’s themed shows- some for charity, some not. We’ll see where I end up going. These are similar to ones I’ve done before-

and here is an idea I’ve been playing with with the robots- sweetheart robots?

starting up again

Posted on January 14, 2007 by mimik

This is my desk after I cleaned up. Yes. It is.

I know it really isn’t cleared off. It must have been for a minute or two, but then I got started on something. While I was clearing things, I kept finding little sketches that I’ve done in the past few months- things I was thinking about, but I was in the middle of something else.

Now that it is time to get back to work, there are so many possible directions to go in. Which ever one I chose will very likely lead me down a path where these other ideas get forgotten or at least delayed a lot longer. They are all calling to me! So, I freeze up. But I know it is important to do something, anything, start somewhere. Start on the thing that has a deadline of sorts. So I am making Valentine postcards and Valentine robots-

above, that is my work table. Below, the ironing board. All surfaces are covered again. In my studio, that seems to be a good thing.

Doll

the art and craft of Mimi Kirchner

Category Archives: progress report