Sunday, February 9, 2014

Kanzashi Bracelet, Part Cinq



When will we get a little break from this weather? You can probably tell from my expression that even an indoor cat like myself could use a little warmth. I didn't know how easy I had it when I lived with Helen's friend Jason's sister in Houston.

Just a new configuration of bracelet "components" makes this new bracelet post-worthy. It came out a bit larger than the others that are similar to this one; Helen's other bracelets fit Helen (big surprise). This one really needs a larger wrist for the design to make sense. Made mainly from dupioni silk.....


this bracelet has leaves grouped in threes and a snap closure, with a chirimen silk kanzashi flower concealing the snap....


....and a freshwater pearl sewn into the flower's center.Our modeled photos came out kind of crappy, so we'll skip those, shall we? We have something else to discuss, anyway! Helen has been busily preparing for the bridal trunk show at Third Coast Style for like, months. She is now finished with sewing and is almost done with display preparations, which involved making tags or cards, among other things, for 118 different items. Here are some of them....


As you can see, they are not all kanzashi.....Helen really enjoys making flowers from singed fabric. Singed fabric flowers are often faster to make, but the technique does bring a certain amount of volatility that you might expect when melting the edges of synthetic cloth. Plus, who knows what kind of pollutants you might be inhaling? 

Anyhoo, I want all of you who live in or around Milwaukee to go see Helen's stuff at Third Coast Style! The bridal show will be going on for about 2 weeks, February 12-March 2. Even if you aren't a bride, there's lots that you might be interested in.....many brightly colored items, some of which are not available at Helen's Etsy shop, plus a whole store full of cool stuff, all of it designed in the Milwaukee area. Go check out Milwaukee's newest boutique!