Cascading Tiger's Eye

#6 in the trinket chest. First piece in the Cascade setting which is kind of inspired by Frank Gehry.

I was looking at this piece of Marimekko fabric and weirdly felt compelled to use only the mustard and black squiggly bits in the middle. Weird because I'm not usually drawn to things with too much black in them but I like how there is a fucked-up "flow" of lines? And I wanted to make a piece that went with the "flow"?

Anyway, when I finally got down to cutting out the pieces of "Tiger's eye", a re-run of Sketches of Frank Gehry was on TV and I thought, "Ooooh, the squiggles sure remind me of his drawings and amazing buildings!". I wasn't paying much attention because I've seen the documentary before but one bit got me - he was talking about how, for a certain new building, he needed it to flow(!) with the old historic ones that are situated around it. In the loopy way that my head works, the Cascade setting was born.

I have not decided what I'm going to do with it, as in give it away, keep it or try to flog it. My indecision lies in the availability, or more like the non-availability, of the fabric - I can't seem to find it on the Marimekko website so that means that they are not printing it anymore which makes Cascading Tiger's Eye a one-off. Well, all the pieces from The Empress Dowager's New Jewels are one-offs anyway - even if I use the same print for two different pieces, they'll never look the same. But I can't keep all of them, can I?

#4 Is Good To Go

These Dainty Bullets Of Chrysoprase & Blue Topaz are finally ready to be shipped off to their new owner.

A new way to wear The Empress Dowager's New Jewels!

Bye Bye, Emerald Grapes!

The Bunch of Emerald Grapes, the very first piece of The Empress Dowager's New Jewels, was carefully bubble-wrapped today, ready to be delivered to its new owner Gigi (previously known as Gervy) from Gervorama.






















Here she is, modelling the piece that was made with her love for green things in mind. Glad she wore her very pretty Alannah Hill cardi with the lovely neckline to our rendezvous.

A Clump Of Granite

The fifth piece but the first in jersey and a plain fabric.

It's for my pal Mommy Noi-noi who's mad about grey marle.

This is the source...

...a ratty 5-year-old bed-going cami that has seen better days.

I don't know if I'd work with any stretchy fabric again for The Empress Dowager's New Jewels. It's just too soft - I had to double-layer it to shape the "stones" and that still didn't help its lack of shape-holding property.

But a single-tone fabric allows the necklace to be worn reversed without making anyone dizzy like a printed one would with its mish-mash of colours on top of the fussy pleats.

I really like the raw "granite"-ness of this piece.

Also like the fact that I've used up every bit of my old cami right down to the straps. Wonder if there's anything else in the wardrobe that I can recycle...

Edit-to-add: See the "jewels" on their new mistress here.

Dainty Bullets Of Chrysoprase & Blue Topaz

Catalogue Item #4 - work-in-progress.

For Bella the Superior Courier. She's a petite girl so I made her a less-chunky more-dainty piece using only smaller "stones" of "chrysoprase" in a vibrant pastel green and "blue topaz".

The Marimekko fabric used here is the Maalaisruusu, first printed in 1964. Again by Maija Isola, who designed the Unikko print that we've come to associate with the Finnish textile company.

I forgot to photograph the actual piece of fabric that I used but it was of the same flower, only of a much larger scale. It gone now...cut into "gems".

Dewdrops Of Jade

My third piece. But the first piece I made in the Dewdrop setting (Yes, like those with real precious stones, these come in different settings too. Hee.)

And I'm keeping it!

My grandma (the "Empress Dowager") has been bugging me to wear some jade on her recent holiday here. "Chinese girls should always have a piece of jade on them! To ward off evil and bring good luck", she decreed.

Until my mom sends me the pieces that my grandma has given me over the years, this will do.

I used my favourite Marimekko print again. A combination of two colourways from the Unikko range. I not only love the print but the story behind it:

"Unikko came about in 1964 after Armi Ratia had announced in public that no floral fabrics are designed at Marimekko. Maija Isola (the fabric designer) did not accept rules or restrictions and designed in protest a complete collection of bold floral patterns.

Today, Unikko is probably more popular than ever, and an innumerable amount of different Unikko-pattern products is available."

I'm glad she went against the grain or the iconic poppy print would not have existed.

A Gold Band Of Fiery Sapphire & Onyx Chips

My second piece.

Made with my pal Poochie in mind because she's the only girl who can wear an outfit plus accessories in combinations of colours that I would never have thought of. And she pulls them off with such ease and insouciance.

I've sent her photos and she loves it. Phew! And she is going to send me some fabric for a commissioned piece soon.

This is the Marimekko fabric that the Gold Band of Fiery Sapphire & Onyx Chips was cut out of. I believe they are not running the print anymore so Poochie is lucky to have a one-of-a-kind piece. With a pooch on it!

Edit-to-add: See the "jewels" on their new mistress here!

A Bunch of Emerald Grapes

This is my first piece.

Not too bad, I thought, for usually, when I first try something out, I have a picture of it in my head but the finished product will not always turn out looking like that initial image. This has so I'm well-chuffed.

Wearing it slightly off-centre.

I like how the white bits evoke the sparkle and shine that you get when light hits jewels.

And it looks good long too.

This is the Marimekko fabric from which the Emerald Grapes were cut. The Unikko is one of my favourite prints. Please read the very interesting story behind the print here.

This special Bunch of Emerald Grapes is going to a pal who loves green as much as I do.

Edit-to-add: See the "jewels" on their new mistress here!

The Thoughts Behind "The Empress Dowager's New Jewels"

Impetus
You know how they like to keep old people busy and their brains active after retirement? I'm not near that age and have only just conferred upon myself temporary lady-of-leisure status but I thought I should keep the brains well-oiled and the fingers nifty (should a suitable job come along). And keep myself occupied at home and my purse away from the shops.

Medium
Some sort of a sewing project (and an accompanying blog tracing the progress) should do the trick, I mused. Preferably one that does not call for new materials and will make me use up those that I have accumulated over the years. Something that requires repeated action and thus addictive...Grandma's jiap-boh!

Jiap-boh literally means "join cloth" in the Teochew dialect and in English, I suppose it's "patchwork". My grandma taught me how to make these little shower cap-looking bits and join them together to make bigger things.

I haven't made any since I was, like, nine and it's been always blankets and rugs but never "jewellery". Time for a self-taught refresher course and finally, a chance to put all my pretty jewel-hued Marimekko off-cuts to good use.

Inspiration
My naive work is nowhere close to the brilliance of those by these designers but they sowed the seeds of unlikely material-substitution, mild mockery and cheeky mind-fuckery in my head...

Mike And Maaike - Haven't been able to get their Stolen Jewels out of my head since I saw them about a year ago.

"An exploration of tangible vs virtual in relation to real and perceived value" - I'm a sucker for this sort of clever conceptual art-type thing that actually looks good and makes sense.

Slow and Steady Wins The Race - I'm a big big fan of their Manifesto and goods.

Ina Seifart - This is what she has to say about watches being increasingly used as status symbols and fashion accessories rather than timekeeping instruments.

Natalia Brilli - Leather vs Metal...Leather vs Pearls...Leather vs Wood...Leather vs Plastic...she's done them all.

The Simpson Girls - Not designers but I've always admired their necklaces and wanted some for myself.

The Name
A very obvious spin on The Emperor's New Clothes.

The Empress Dowager's New Jewels is similarly about how we look at things and why we choose to see them the way we see them - like how I look at the shower cap-like pieces that I've modeled out of cloth and see "precious stones". I am not delusional. Nor on hallucinogenics. Just equipped with a vivid (at times, child-like) imagination.

Not "Empress", "Queen" or "Princess" but "Empress Dowager" because it's a Chinese thing and it's the family's nickname for the grandma (quite a tyrannical matriarch) who taught me the fine art of jiap-boh-ing.

The Great Rock('n'Roll) Swindle
If, like me, you see value in The Empress Dowager's New Jewels and would like to adorn yourself or your pals with a cluster of these 100% handsewn "precious rocks", I'll be putting some up for sale soon...between filling pals' orders and trying to figure out how to piece together a "bejewelled" capelet for myself. And if I can detach myself from the new pieces.

If you'd like a commissioned piece made out of, say, a special piece of vintage fabric, or an old dress that holds fond memories but which you can't fit into anymore, I'd be happy to convert them into "jewellery" that you can wear. My only request is that they be of cotton or a pretty stiff material because anything too soft or thin would simply not hold their shape. You can write me at likklegirl(at)gmail(dot)com or leave a comment with your queries.

The con job starts here...