Jaci Dawn

An online friend saw yesterday’s blog and offered to send me scraps of fabric to work with. I was very flattered, but it doesn’t work that way. The fabric has to tell me a story.

When I went shopping for the “clothes” for Zith, I had an idea that I wanted natural colors, animal colors. I was looking primarily for silk (which works best), but I found the animal print cotton blouse and decided to give it a whirl. It seemed to have a “story” and when it was draped onto Zith’s frame, I saw the story fit. Same with the boy’s long underwear that I found (in camo print, no less): I “knew” the arms would work for leggings for Zith and they would somehow blend in with the blouse.

Sometimes I find the fabric long before I find the story.

I have just such an item now. I’ve been wearing it around (my arms are always cold & it has long sleeves). It’s a little incongruous with my normal t-shirt & blue jeans, but it’s comfortable. My husband thinks it’s ridiculous and makes fun of me.

Tonight, he dubbed it “the muse shirt”: “So, does that thing inspire you? The muse shirt?”

Hmmmm. It does, at that.

The red velveteen flower pattern dances on a sheer blouse: no doubt this was meant for something finer than Jaci sitting at her computer desk, trying to keep her arms warm. Someone must have thought it was dressy and purchased it off the rack, new.

Off the rack, new, and I would have passed it up. Not my style.

Hanging on a Goodwill rack for $4.99, now – that’s a different story.

That’s a story waiting to be told.

The shirt is withholding its secrets, so I wear it and wait.

It is 85% Rayon and 15% Silk. Hand wash only.

Not that I am ever going to worry about whether machine washing will hurt it or not. I’m more concerned with the stories it has to tell and what it will become. Pantaloons? A fancy Elf vest? A tutu? A headband? or all of those things?

Sometimes the fabric has a lot of tales to tell. It’s my job to pull the stories out of the fabric.