Right now I am working on a projected called a Rakusu. It's a miniature Buddha's robe that is sewn to be worn by monks and lay people who will take
Bodhisattva vows. I always thought of Zen Buddhists as being kind of stiff and boring, but they have come up with some of the most amazing sewn garments I have ever seen. The Rakusu is basically like a mini hand sewn quilt.
Here is a close up of the stitching to give you and idea of the precision of the stitches.
It is really lovely and intricate. I was a little upset when the beautiful blue fabric I picked out for it was rejected by the priest and I was forced to dye it a deep, deep blue which might as well be black. So much for individuality. Actually after I dyed it I decided I liked the color and I was told it was the color of the monks robes back in the old days when all they had available were indigo dyes.
All this Zen sewing has given me inspiration to make some "Art Rakusu" with all the fabulous multicolored fabrics and embellishments I would have liked to use on my real Rakusu. Right now I am working on the border having already finished the main panel. I will take my vows on the 28th of March so I have plenty of time to finish. I will keep you all up dated on my progress. Enjoy this beautiful day.
Recently I went to the yarn store and saw this amazing basket full of multicolored wool and mohair yarns. They were mill ends which means they were cheap, but it also means that there was only one skein of each color. What's a crafty girl to do?
Well I decided that I was going to make purses out of them. I had never made a purse before because they seemed, well...boring. I mean a flat square piece of crochet material doesn't leave much room for imagination, or does it?
I realized that I could add embellishment and mix different colors of yarn together to get some very interesting results. I could make the purses in the round or flat and sew them together in a variety of different ways. I have been going purse crazy for the last month and have made a few things. Any shape or size you can imagine can be a purse as long as it can hold something. All of these bags are in the finishing stage. I have been making these cute wet felted buttons and flowers to embellish them. I haven't done much wet felting before so it's fun to get to use it in my crochet projects.
I am especially fond of what I call my watermelon bag. It looks so good you could eat it. The design is very simple. It's a crocheted circle folded in half. I am going to wet felt a handle for it which will be fun because I have never felted a rope before. I am currently working on a new purse that's a sphere. Maybe next I'll make a pyramid purse or even a tetrahedron.
Happy Crafting!
