After a long period of painting, being very busy to create a body of work for the exhibition I was fortunate to have had in February/March, I am back to sewing bags.
Did you ever hear of the concept of hiring a shelf in a shop? There are quite a few in Europe, in Germany and Switzerland, and they have gorgeous names. The German name for shelf is 'Fach', or 'Regal', so there are Fach-geschaefte (shops), Einfach, Vielfach, Mehrfach, Fachregal, etc. The artist or craft person can hire a shelf for a monthly sum. The owner of the shop will also take a certain deduction from the proceeds of the sale, and then the shelf can be stocked. In Hebrew a shelf is called 'Madaf', 'Madafim', shelves in plural. At the Tel Aviv-Yafo flea market a new trend is emerging. Many up-scale shops open there for business in the midst of the Alte-Sachen and typical flea market stalls. Shops for designer clothes, shoes, jewellery, gifts. So did a very large, pretty and elegant shelf-hiring shop, which is called, quite rightly 'Madafim'. I did not have an outlet for my bags for a long time, since the gallery where I sold for more then ten years closed, and other opportunities I tried did not work out so well. I signed up with 'Madafim' for a trial period of two months to see if this will be rewarding. I am creating a small line of bags with Bedouin embroidery. The pieces of embroidery were all bought over time at various Arab sellers at the market.
The last days I figured out a new pattern, which I remembered seeing in a book once. Small wristlests, which close with a ring. The ring slides over the handle and closes the bag, very smart and practical. And they look really cute.
I have two totes almost finished and another messenger bag. I will show them soon.
I never tire of using this beautiful old embroidery in my bags. It is harder to find now. On my last trips to the market in Jaffa I was not lucky. I used this piece for the flap, and another part of it for a large pocket on the back of this bag. Black linen brings out the red and pink hues wonderfully and causes elegance. Under the flap a cell phone pocket is hidden, and this bag too has two inside pockets, one zippered.
Not all the embroidery I get my hands on is equally masterful executed. This one certainly is perfect. I wish I could meet the Bedouin woman who for hours on end sat with idle fingers, choosing colors and pattern, and stitching away.And I would like to find out how her dress ended at the flea market, cut up into pieces.Nothing do I know about her and her life. Handling her gorgeous work makes me wish to honor it and give it new meaning.
This one sold on the spot - but no wonder, it is beautiful. Dark blue linen, ethnic vintage embroidery, zippered pocket inside, cell phone pocket and key swivel inside, leather handles, fuchsia cotton lining.
Recycling is an important issue and today many people are aware of its necessity. While industrial recycling is controversial and it is argued that advantage and disadvantage is not leveled in a sense of profit and job availability, and in how much energy is needed to obtain a worthy outcome, there is no question about how the environment can be protected, restored and maintained by cleverly reusing materials. More and more efforts are made to obtain this, starting with simple household recycling.
In art and craft recycling has endless possibilities and it is really fun and rewarding to look for ways to create something beautiful, decorative or useful out of "waste".
I had a very pretty long skirt of different colored and textured silk squares, made in Nepal, that I loved and wore for some years. Silk is delicate and tears did happen. I would fix them with scraps from the hem I had saved from shortening the skirt in the beginning. But one day I felt it was enough and it had to go.
I still could not bring myself to toss it out and it was sitting for a while in a drawer of my sewing table. A week ago I wanted to make new hearts, and my eyes fell on that skirt. Well I got fifteen big lovely patchwork hearts out of it that I embellished with old buttons and pieces of crochet lace I had found at the flea market in Yafa, and had darkened with tea. That skirt now lives on for a while longer and the shiny beauty of the silk fabric is still not diminished.
My name is Yael, I live in Israel, and I am pleased to meet you!
This blog is about art and craft, and about sewing. There will be stories from traveling. I will tell a little bit about myself, and about my family. I will mention my wonderful friends. I shall introduce our beloved four legged companions. And I would like to talk about nature. And about sun and rain and flowers and trees, and the sea and the desert - about the beauty, the history, the ancient places and the views of the Land of Israel, and about its people.
If you want to know a little bit more about me, go down to the February 2010 posts.
contact me at: yaeleshkar@gmail
Al pozzo dei pazzi, c'era una pazza, che lavava le pezze, passo' un pazzo, vide la pazza, (che lavava le pezze), butto' nel pozzo dei pazzi, la pazza e le pezze.
