Nancy Shriber is one of those teachers with the unique capacity to inspire, nurture and instruct in a way that always leaves her students wanting more. I had the good fortune to take one of Nancy’s Contemporary Sashiko classes a number of years ago. In this weekend-long workshop I learned to paint silk, and then transform that fabric, through hand stitching, into a unique work of art. The weekend began on Friday night when all of us gathered with our wet silk and applied textile paint and just a sprinkling of salt to create the canvas for our project. Almost immediately I learned a “Nancy-style” lesson: when the fabric I had intended for the lining turned out to be the more beautiful of the two pieces I painted, I changed tack and used it, instead, for the outer fashion fabric.
The rest of the weekend was spent designing our garment, cutting our fabric, layering it on flannel and finally, stitching by hand our chosen design with lovely hand dyed threads. Nancy also encouraged us to make the interior of our garment as beautiful as the outside. Out came more paints, stencils, stamps and lots of creative ideas. At the time I was taking this class, my husband and I were (somewhat desperately) trying to have a baby. I decided I would use this jacket as a positive affirmation project. When I created the lining (the inner life of my garment, as Nancy would say) I stamped Asian characters with a positive message and hand painted the words they represented (hope, believe, change, dream, transformation). At Nancy’s suggestion I also added a little treasure pocket made from organza.
I chose Loes Hinse’s lovely Kimono Jacket as my pattern. I carefully marked the sashiko design that I wanted to stitch on the flannel side of my project, matching the patterns across seam lines. I created a sort of landscape effect, with water along the bottom topped by rocks and grass and finally a geometric pattern for the sky above.
For the next several months I carried my jacket pieces with me and stitched at every opportunity. I added metallic thread and beads to portions of the stitching. When I was finished I constructed the garment, adding velvet lapel bands in a matching blue color.
Here’s my confession: I’ve never worn this jacket (in fact, there are still pins holding the lining hem in place). This is a great example of making a garment that is the wrong style for me. I will probably finish it one day and wear it – it is the sort of garment that you can’t get away with wearing too many times as it is pretty memorable. I put many, many hours of work into this jacket but I don’t feel at all sad that I have not worn it. I view it as a piece of artwork that I made with my own two hands. I loved every single minute I spent creating it and every single stitch I put into it. It was the process, not the result, that was truly the prize.
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