Custom made cloaks

I have been working on two custom orders over the week. The first is for a wedding. White crushed panne velvet lined in garnet with fur along the hood. It is gorgeous!! Very long at 64 inches from shoulder to the floor. It has ties at the neck and is reversible. The second is a black crushed panne velvet lined in black fleece with a japanese frog closure at the neck. The woman lives in Maine so it will keep her warm this winter. My newest custom order is for an old fashioned nurses cloak. Navy on the outside lined in red. It has a collar and a button closure at the neck. It is for a woman going to a haunted mental hospital for Halloween. I should have the fabric next week. It will be my first Halloween costume made for this year. Can't wait for more!!!

Quote by Nelson Mandela

This is one of my favorite quotes.
" Our worst fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves-who am I to be brilliant, gorogeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually who are you not to be. You are a child of God. And your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. It is not just in some of us. It is in every one of us. And as we let our own light shine we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."

New rag rug

I just finished a new rug. It is blue and tan and 26 x 34 inches. I was inspired by the pale blue delphiniums that are blooming in my garden. This is about the 15th rug on this warp and now I am at the end so I will have to wind on more. It is a lengthy process as there are about 200 threads on the loom. But once I have that done it is smoothe sailing from there.

My loom is a 2 harness Union Loom no. 36. It was originally bought in 1949 for $49.95. It is very heavy and weighs 170lb. It was shipped back then by train. I was fortunate enough to have it given to me. And after a lot of work fixing it up, it now works well.

art supplies

I was checking out a Blick art supplies catalog today and it made me think of all the great places that I get supplies. So I thought I'd make a list.

Polaroid transfers:
669 polaroid film from Adorama.com. Lots and lots of camera equipment and film.
Arches watercolor paper from dickblick.com. Every art supply you could ever need.

Paintings:
Oil paints from dickblick.com. My favorite are the Van Gogh oils.
Canvas from hancockfabrics.com and joannfabrics. com

Rag rugs:
I get lots of fabric from Goodwill. Old sheets work well. If I need a specific color DnL Fabric Crafts and More on ebay is the best. She'll even cut the strips to 1 inch size.

Cloaks:
My favorite place for fabric is realfabricman on ebay.com. He has the best velvet and sells it in 70 yard bolts. Fast shipping and great quality.

That's it for now. I'm working on a new rug today. Tan and blue checks. Check out my site mwestdesigns.etsy.com and I will list it later. Have a great day!!

BUY HANDMADE!!! etsy.com

Have you checked out etsy.com??? It is a site devoted to handmade items. I love this site. You can buy jewelry, clothes, rugs, hats, blankets and the list goes on and on.

I have my polaroid transfers, paintings, rag rugs, and renaissance cloaks listed on my site mwestdesigns.etsy.com.

You might ask what is a polaroid transfer? It is basically where you take a 669 polaroid apart before it has completely developed and print the negative side. Then you can texture, scratch and hand tint it.

I listed some new ones today. Several windmills, sunflower, and some Italy pictures.

I like the idea of listing something new there everyday. It is a goal of mine to list 1 to 2 new items a day. Because being creative everyday is the best thing in the world.