Saturday, October 14, 2006

I'm in Love!

I am the product of a deprived childhood. When my siblings and I were young, my parents, thinking what terrible things could happen to their four precious girls, would forbid us from leaving the house save to go to school. Playtime was almost strictly always indoors. So we learned to entertain ourselves, for example making paper dolls for which we fabricated elaborate lives, complete with Spartan-tsinelas automobiles and Safeguard-box furniture. Come Christmas, we'd be making all sorts of gifts for relatives. The most famous were old neckties we stuffed to make soft-toy snakes. Unfortunately, a cousin with no imagination only got scared upon opening his present, and proceeded to very loudly cry.

Now a grownup I have predictably enough transformed into one of those girls who like making things with their hands. I make jewelry, I sew, I can even knit and crochet, all that corny stuff, you know. When Nicky, Mirren, and I were exploring Arles last week, we happened upon a little market devoted to craftsmen of all things woven and knit. There were sculptural dresses, artsy wraps, impressive coats that wouldn't look out of place in an art gallery. Mirren tried on one of the funky hats:

While Nicky was snapping pictures, I got to talking to a lady who told me that the hat was made through a technique called feutre de laine, which in English would be felting, I think. Someone was offering a course, but 180 kilometers away from Aigues Mortes. Through the magic of Google, I found an artisan closer to home here, and a few days later I was attending one of Madame Pouget-Gavriloff's workshops. She gave me balls of quite uninteresting wool, had me work at them with soap and warm water, and, an hour later, I had made myself this cute little bag:


As they say back in Manila these days, Ahlavet! So, sometime in the near future I'll be making a second blog where I'll be posting pictures of all my new felted creations, to save those bored by all this the spectacle of me waxing ecstatic over wool. To those interested, watch for more bags, some jewelry, a few scarves, and maybe even my own hat.

8 comments:

Makis said...

Chige, I'll wait for your bonnet collection ha ;-)

Anonymous said...

now i know why you tara and maya are friends: all positive, look- on-the-bright-side kind of people =). looking forward to your future designs.

Apol said...

Game, MAKIS, you'll be my model!

TUESDAY, you got that through a post on felting??? Haha, my enthusiasm for it must be overflowing! But, yes, we are some kind of rah-rah sisterhood,I suppose. EVERYTHING is exciting :)

Anonymous said...

That market sounds like a place I'd go wild in; I love sculptural clothes and accessories. Never mind that they're made of wool. May aircon naman sa Pilipinas. ;-)

I'm so envious of your craftiness! I've always wanted to make my own stuff...I watch hours and hours of those DIY shows on TV, imagining myself filling my closets and home with my handmade creations. Unfortunately, I'm just not handy that way. So I just buy what other, more gifted people make. Remember how many pieces I bought of your jewelry? :-) And now you're learning to felt! You do know I collect hats, right? If you decide to specialize in hats and want to sell, I'll be first in line.

Apol said...

KATRINA, yes, I remember. And the market would have been a great place for you. There were magnificent, magnificent hats! And these dramatic capes! (Aircon on full blast ha.) A promise: I shall send you the first really funky hat I make. It may take a while though, as at the moment I'm trying to master this weird sort of lariat :)

Anonymous said...

Making these stuffs makes you a patient person! I have always wanted to do this but don't have the patient and imagination enough kaya I opted for bricolage hehehe ! BTW, let me know if you have your collections ha, I would love to see them ;)!

Apol said...

I love being quiet and can spend hours doing crafts, HAZE. I guess, for you, it is made super difficult because of the kids, no?

Anonymous said...

WOW, THANK YOU, Apol! Hmmm...maybe that's why I'm not crafty: because I don't "love being quiet?" ;-)