Guardian Angel Art Bra Done

Well I've finished embellishing/decorating my Art Bra. I used silk ribbon, braid, yarn, beads, sequins, and organdy ribbon. I dyed the fabrics and many of the embellishments using Jacquard's Dye-na-flow. It's so easy - just paint it on! I bought a couple of exciter packs and was disappointed that JoAnn's no longer seems to carry them - but they are so good to try out the different dyes/paints in small quantities. In the case of fabric or ribbon, I washed it, then heat set it by ironing. If it was some embellishment that would be flattened or ruined by washing/ironing, I just shot it with some steam from my iron to set it. I have to say, this was one of the funnest(is that a word?) parts of the project - to be able to make whatever color I wanted. I looked for this color of pink fabric at my local JoAnn's, but could only find pale pale pink or hot hot pink. So, back to home to dye some! Besides I have boxes of fabric and really try hard not to buy any more.


Here's the angel, with her archway of mother-of-pearl stars in the sky....She was really fun to make also. The ribbon encircling her dress was pale turquoise with white stitching, so I dyed it to match the dress. The gold edging on the top of her dress is the edging on some woven ribbon that I cut off. Her breasts are, guess what, pom poms! They were just the right size and I made a little "bra" cover for them so she wouldn't have bumpy boobs! It was a good idea to use something lightweight like parachute silk for her dress, since she's rather small and I could make it look compact while still being able to manipulate it the way I wanted. That was one thing with some of the other paints by Jacquard - I painted some ribbons, etc. with Lumiere, but it changes the hand of the fabric, so the ribbon was then too stiff to gather, etc.



And here are the two put together...I almost think the bra is fine without the angel, but after all she WAS my inspiration, so...


All in all, this was a very satisfying project to work on - very few limitatations, very open-ended, I loved it!

Happy creating,
Lin Moon

Half of Bra Front Done

Well, I'm almost done with the front of my Art Bra. Ironically, most of this won't show because it will be covered up by the guardian angel, but I am still having lots of fun!

Happy Stitching,
Lin Moon

Art Bra Angel done

Well I've finished the guardian angel for my Art Bra. The cups of the bra are almost all done, then I just have to cover the sides of the bra and the straps, then finish the inside cups and cover up my stitching mess!

The inspiration for this Art Bra comes from an old song by Mario Lanza my mother used to play. I just love this song, although it's not the usual genre for me. But while making this bra, I kept thinking and hoping that the women suffering from breast cancer know that there are tons of women like me who would love to be their guardian angels, wiping their tears, shooing away the bears. Women who wish them hope, health, comfort, happiness, and healing and who send prayers their way constantly.

Guardian angels around my bed
Joining me in my prayers
They hush the shadows when they dance about
They shoo away the bears
Guardian angels to comfort me
If I wake in the night
They gather all my dreams
Their halos are my light

They dry my tears
If I should weep
They tuck me in
They rouse me from my sleep

Guardian angels around my bed
Standing by till I rise
There's one with shining wings that holds my hand
And shows me Paradise

Art Bra started

Well, since the angel and her wings are done, I've started working on the actual bra. It has 3 color areas on each cup and I am adding lots of texture to each area and then trying to blend it in with the next color. It is really fun to use beads, sequins, yarns, ribbons, trims and embroidery! These 3 colors are the colors I used in her wings. There's lots more to do, but it is really fun!

Happy Stitching,
Lin Moon

angel done

Well I finished my angel's head/hair - it took me hours! I painted sequins, then rejected them. I settled on a flower bead, then changed my mind. I made ribbon rosettes, then chucked them. I tried this bead, that bead, this color, that color - I changed my mind a million times! This is a really small face, so it was hard to use small enough items to stay in scale. I hope I didn't overdo it with all the decorations near her face. I was going for a sort of Art Nouveau look, and so many of my ideas didn't pan out.

I didn't really have a plan for her hair, except that I wanted a bun, and I didn't really leave long enough strands to work with, so I had to work around that. To make her bun, I wrapped a pipe cleaner into a donut shape, then wound it with floss to match her hair in case any showed through later. Then I pulled her pony tail through the donut and pulled the strands of her pony tail down over the donut. I added some parts of earring findings (bead caps) to her bun, after coloring them with an 18K gold pen. I wound 2 strands of floss around a doll needle and ironed it to make her tendrils.

Well, now it's time to work on the bra that she will grace; I painted it with some dyes and have been waiting for it to dry. Gotta get this in a mail in a few weeks, so time is running out...but I am soooo enjoying myself working on this - it's all I think about!

Happy Stitching,
Lynne