Wednesday

I noticed the sweet potato seemed to be vibrating on its own this morning.  I watched from the door wondering what was going on and eventually a cardinal hopped out.  Guess there were some tasty insects on the menu!

Wish I'd had my camera ready to show you the cardinal, but once he hopped out, he was quickly gone.

Continuing to work on the boro shirt, which I want to look like a jeogori jacket.  I wish I could have signed up for Jude's class !

Yesterday, I showed you one sleeve; here is other sleeve in progress.  Not that I've finished the first sleeve...

Sri Threads (a textile gallery) has a website and a blog specializing in antique Japanese boro; the following pic is from the blog.  The Japanese and Korean style jackets are different, but have similarities.

These worn and homely garments are beautiful examples of the utilitarian and the imperfect.  Real boro garments, those created by necessity, have a simplicity and elegance worthy of survivors.  They have been patched and patched again, cared for because there was little possibility of replacement, and ultimately, they have achieved a sense of dignity.

In that respect, what I'm doing is not true boro, but imitation.  Although using an old torn and paint-stained shirt, the patches I'm using are left over scraps from various projects, bought new.  Nor is this jacket being created through necessity, but through an appreciation of the genuine article.

Handwork is so slow, even when just doing kantha stitching, but I can watch television while working, and as long as I'm not stitching through seams, it goes fairly smoothly.  I've put in a couple of hours this afternoon and will work on it more tonight.

Too hot to work outside; air conditioning is a beautiful thing.