Staycation at Shibori Vortex
It has been three wonderful weeks since I went on vacation from my day job. I decided to stay home and take a Shibori staycation in my new studio. The weather has been sunny and warm, just perfect for my purpose. The lilacs are in bloom and their fragrance is welcoming. After a thorough cleaning of the space, particularly in the sink area and vacuuming the carpet in the office and the tile floor in the studio, I was ready for some action…
Let me tell you of the virtues of a work table such as mine. It has a prize position, located in the middle of the space along the wall. There are a couple of beautiful lighting fixtures on the wall, as well as a couple of hanging fixtures above the table. The table is compact in that it folds out to twice its width to easily accommodate 45” wide silk in a marvelous way, with plenty of cabinetry and drawers underneath, specially designed and constructed by my boyfriend. Made of sheets of pressed wood, it is easy to visualize straight lines on it. Therefore, no pinning is necessary and no use of weights is needed to hold the silk in place before cutting takes place. When the table is full width, the center of the silk can be lined up along the fold in the table, and the edges line up with the wood grain. Then just measure the length you want for your scarf and cut along the fold for a straight line. On the cross grain, cut along the pressed wood grain again, and cutting out scarves becomes a simple exercise! I cut out 10 scarves, each one being 2 yards long and about 22.5 inches wide.
In starting up the new studio space, it quickly became apparent that certain little things that were needed had not been planned for in advance and would have to be dealt with. My washer and dryer, hidden by sliding mirrored doors, sit across from the work table, next to my cabinet and deep double stainless steel sinks. This is all fine and everything…but where to hang the scarves to dry if I want to? I opened the French doors that led out to the drive way and put up a line across the lilac and maple trees. It was high enough to still park the truck under it without hindrance. Eventually, I will need to get a rack or such that the scarves can be hung on after they have been ironed flat. Being resourceful, I used my lighting fixtures on the wall for that temporary purpose!
(more to follow tomorrow)
