on decorative re-fashioning + M3 day 23

Is it really almost Memorial Day? Hard to believe when it is chilly enough this morning to make this kind of wintertime layering feel comfortable...

grey rayon knit top light blue jumper grey chambray apron stripey wool re-fashioned vest ** blue handknit shawl/scarf blue Polartec leggings

** I have several of these re-fashioned vests made from various combinations of old thin soft lambswool sweaters, They are fun and fast to make, compared with hand-knitting, and are a good way to re-use thrifted sweaters that are perhaps too damaged to simply wear as is. There is a great and heady sense of freedom in simply doing a kind of cut and paste by snipping old sweaters to pieces, and reconfiguring them with simple running stitch and blanket stitch in wool yarn...

This is the stenciled patch on the back of my re-fashioned sweater vest. (Kanji say "akita dog".) Stencils are a great way to decorate pieces of clothing, as cutting stencils is rather labor intensive, but can be used many times. If I know that the design I want to make will be used only once, I will do freezer paper stenciling, but if I suspect I will want to use a design several times in the future, I cut the stencil from plastic instead. (report binder covers work well). There is a bit more information about multiple color stencil process on my website.