Mail, Stitching, Reading

I still have some  incoming mail that I have not answered

or taken pictures of, but will be getting to them soon

now that I'm getting back to my usual routine.

Outgoing Mail:

 And I forgot to take a picture of the letter I sent to Hannah!

(While the kids were here, 

I forgot a lot of things 

or just didn't get around to them...

like writing letters or doing chores in a timely manner.)

Incoming:

I love the purple stamp and the way it matches the purple on the envelope!

 and another one of Jacque's lovely cards  :)

 from Emilie

 love the New Orleans stamp

 from Naomi in Australia,

one of her beautiful gouache envelopes! 

 with lots and lots of stamps!

 and all kinds of mail art ephemera

in her snail mail kit!

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Stitching

In 2012, I took one of Fee's old shirts and began cutting 

and manipulating

and adding scraps from my scrap bag of blues.

I wanted a boro jacket--

which meant I had to make my own, 
so I cut off the collar and reshaped the neckline.
Cut off the sleeves and the length and altered the front.

It was a slow process,

and the more pieces I added,

the slower it got--with each additional layer

harder to push a needle through.

Here it is when it was almost finished.

I don't think I took a picture after finishing completely.

I tried for a style similar to the Korean Hanbok tops.

In 2014, I started altering another

of Fee's old shirts to wear in the studio.

(not that it has done much good, 

I still get paint on my good clothes.)

There were plenty of scraps from the boro jacket project,

and even now, I'm still recycling those blues.

Instead of cutting off the sleeves,

I shortened them in various ways,

and then began adding pockets from

some of my eco-dyed fabrics, and

embroidering, and adding

other embellishments.

If I want to watch any of my shows,

I start adding scraps to the shirt.

or embroidering

 I don't think ahead or plan.

The purpose is to keep my hands busy

and to experiment.

Maybe in five more years or so,

the thing will be full of patches and embroidery,

but there is plenty of room left for play right now.

:) And this isn't the only shirt I use for keeping my hands busy

if I decide to watch Netflix or Drama Fever--
I have another one I use for a studio shirt
and keep adding embroidery to!

Fortunately, most of the time I would rather read,
saving my fingers from being punctured with embroidery needles,

but right now I'm on a binge catching up with Downton Abbey,
so the blue shirt ends up with more patching and stitching.

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Reading

Since 2006, I've participated in Carl's annual R.I.P. Challenge.
If you enjoy the occasional Gothic, spooky, or ghostly book,
check out the link to Carl's challenge.  :)

Over at A Garden Carried in the Pocket,
I've been thinking about past challenges
and contemplating what I will read this year.

It is a great lead-up to Halloween!