summery textile projects

This spring and summer I have been feeling inspired to add whimsical elements to clothes I already own. Here’s a little round up of recent textile projects.

Slowly adding classic-tattoo-inspired embroidery to the sleeves of this denim shirt for my sweetheart:

This striped shirt always felt a little over the top to me. I realized that if I made it EVEN MORE over the top with a rainbow pansy, it suddenly works (yes there is a pansy theme right now):

Slappin’ cute patches onto boring gray clothes, and using up a few fabric scraps in the process:

I embroidered two summer adventuring hats, inspired by plants I see while hiking: deer fern + western bleeding heart, and salmonberry + skunk cabbage:

I started this sewing project literally years ago and it was hanging in my closet unfinished. Sometime when I get stuck or frustrated I need a huge amount of time to pass for those feelings to fade and a project to seem appealing again. But it was satisfying to finally finish this, transforming a weirdly shaped thrifted dress into a super vibrant two piece set:

And I got to go back to the printmaking studio and print some fun cake merch! I am trying to think of excuses to do more screen printing soon:

Things finally felt spacious enough this spring for me to clean out my studio. This was partly inspired because Claire gave me this amazing flat file / chest of drawers, which suddenly opened up many possibilities for changing how I store things. For example, my collage papers used to all be crammed into an insane folder, but now they are beautifully spread out in the top drawer, easy to sift through:

With this momentum, I took some time to refresh the rest of space. I am always trying to find a balance between making my workspace feel invitingly chaotic, like it’s okay to make a mess and there are lots of materials around to work with, but also calm and functional and like I know what I have:

I’m switching gears a little now and shifting back into a busier, more outward facing season, but I will try hang onto the peace and satisfaction I’ve found in these slow, low stakes projects. If I think of my creativity as a divining rode, sometimes it pulls me towards embroidering pansies, and it feels important to make space for that too.