sew is your face! » vintage key

this week in sewing:

micheLLe — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:39:57 +0000

how many pin cushions is too many pin cushions?

i bleed for my art!

i finally got the right dress form and started Nieves’s custom vest:

i made this necklace from thrift store chains and an antique key from England. it is available for sale at Trunk, 544 Haight St. San Francisco, CA

i made this necklace from thrift store chain and two antique keys from England. it is available for sale at Trunk, 544 Haight St. San Francisco, CA

if you’d like to donate neckties, old jewelry, or fabric to me, please email me at: micheLLe@sewisyourface.com

i hold the key…

micheLLe — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:44:10 +0000

finally, i’ve made these new chokers that i’ve had stewing in my head for a while…i got a hold of some really cool, vintage keys that came from england with the intention of incorporating them with my current upcycled necktie trend. upcycling at it’s best, i say! it took me a while to collect the pieces needed to assemble these chokers, mostly because i’ve been so busy fulfilling retail commitments. but also, i’ve been treasure hunting many times, looking for old necklace chain to use and couldn’t really find what i needed. i ended up going to Michael’s and finding some antiqued silver chain that they were discontinuing. sew i bought it all. i have no self control. but now that i have the supplies needed for construction, look out! here’s a peek at one of the chokers, i plan on making a handful of them for my upcoming trunk show (details on that soon). i made it with two snaps on the back sew it will fit a wider range of sizes. here’s the story that comes with the keys:

These keys came from England almost 30 years ago. “Blue Peter,” the long-running BBC children’s program has often promoted fund raisers for various charities. In this instance, the program encouraged children from ‘throughout the land’ to send in their parents’ no-longer used keys. They received keys of every kind, from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. These were sold to an antique dealer in Seattle, with the proceeds presented to Oxfam, the charitable organization.

pretty cool! look for them in my artfire store soon.

not your grandfathers neckties!

micheLLe — Fri, 01 May 2009 00:41:12 +0000

here are my latest renditions of wearable tie art. i’ve created three different necklaces: one is a collar, one is a choker, and one is a mini tie of sorts that can be worn two ways. the collar behaves much like a shirt collar except it’s far more fashionable and fun to wear. two vintage neckties are used here, one of them folded down over the other. the top tie is a pink and blue paisley with a light brown background while the bottom tie is a gunmetal silver with a stitched pattern on it. the stitch work that holds them together is an heirloom stitch that i like to call the chicken foot stitch, due to it’s shape. on one side the thread shows as a sparkly blue and, on the other side it’s a silky burgundy. a shiny, silver snap holds this collar firmly in place. the choker is made of one vintage necktie and is held together by a shiny silver snap. the pattern on the tie is a blue background with beige and cream outlining repeating circles.Â the chain holding the key is a scrap that i got from a key chain that was on it’s way to the dump…the key is an authentic antique called a “Saturn” or “Flying Saucer” design that came from England 30 years ago and is estimated to be from the 18th, 19th, or 20th Century. all i know is that it’s a really fun shape and kinda rusty…the third necklace wears a bit like an unaltered tie would, except that it snaps together in the front. it is made from one shiny silver vintage tie and the pattern is of diagonal stripes of different colors and patterns. it can be snapped in two places, thus changing the look. i enjoy each one for different reasons and the only drawback is that i can’t wear them all at once!

these one’s are for me but i’ll be offering them to you very soon!

if you want to see more, click on any of the photos.