“Brasstown Boho Skirt”, May - June 2022

I’m looking forward to teaching my “Brasstown Boho Skirt” workshop in 2022!  This one week class takes place May 29 - June 4, 2022 at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  This class immediately follows my weekend class, "Vintage Denim Jacket with Boho Flair". 

This easy-going class is just right for those who know the basics of operating a sewing machine.  Ideally, you can bring your own sewing machine.  If not, the school has machines available.  Some rotary cutting experience is recommended.  You may or may not finish your patchwork skirt in class.  If you do finish it, you can choose to model it at the week’s end student exhibit!   If you don’t complete the skirt, you’ll leave with instructions for finishing it.  Send me an email if you have any questions about the workshop:  fiberotto <at> gmail <dot> com.  Somewhat cryptic to keep spammers at bay.  Registrations and general questions are handled by the Folk School (1-800-365-5724).

I do a lot of garment sewing and I often use cotton batiks for clothing.  I've made outfits out of many of the fabrics shown below.  You'll see some of them in Brasstown.  I used batiks exclusively for my first skirt.  

Early stages of the Brasstown Boho Skirt:

Finished skirt is featured below!  It's colorful and fancy free . . . as Boho should be!

With the amount of sewing I do, I often have leftover scraps.  Once in awhile I'll buy small lengths of fabric solely to use in one of these skirts! 

Photo: starting a skirt made with cotton prints:

I used an orange/white origami print for the border at the bottom.  I love this print.  I purchased it at Bless My Stitches Quilt Shop in Murphy, NC on a previous trip to Brasstown.

The mostly pink skirt shown below is a slightly less full version of the Boho Brasstown Skirt.  Generally my Brasstown Boho skirts are comprised of a spontaneous and random collection of fabrics. In this case, I opted to use mostly pink fabrics.

Relive your hippie days and wear your skirt with a denim jacket, denim shirt, or a T-shirt!  Add a beaded necklace or a macrame bag to complete the look.  Once you finish your skirt, wear it as you tiptoe through the tulips, enroute to a Folk School dance!

 

You can choose to pair your skirt with a T-shirt, blouse, or jacket.  And of course, you can tuck the top in if you so choose.  The elastic waist makes this a comfortable skirt to wear!

Photos:  Fun ways to wear your Brasstown Boho Skirt:

"Vintage Denim Jacket with Boho Flair", May 2022

I invite you to join me in beautiful North Carolina in late spring of 2022.  I'll be teaching a weekend workshop at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC.  Workshop dates are May 27 - 29, 2022.  My workshop is titled "Vintage Denim Jacket with Boho Flair".  This workshop will be followed by my one-week class, "Brasstown Boho Skirt".

Sign up for my workshop and you'll gain numerous ideas for transforming your denim jacket from boring, to bedazzling!!  Shop your local thrift shop for an unlined, light to medium-weight denim jacket.  Prewash your denim jacket, then gather embellishment supplies, ie lace, beads, buttons, etc.  You will be sent a supply list at registration.  

The following photos are eye candy to get you excited about this easy-going, casual workshop!  Note: I use hand sewing most of the time to embellish my garments.  I hand wash or spot clean my embellished garments.

The denim garments shown below are crying out to be embellished!

 

 

I purchased the jacket shown below at a Maxwell St. Days sale here in Madison more than twenty years ago. It was just begging for some ornamentation.  I dug through my extensive collection of trims, lace and beads to create the Boho look I love!   More photos of this jacket follow.

 

 

 

The jacket shown below was also a sale find.  It is decorated with seed beads, bugle beads, a button, a patchwork square, and my favorite embroidery stitch, Raised Chain Band, around the patchwork square.

 

 

 

The next jacket shown is embellished in a more subdued fashion.  I applied vintage tatting, enhanced with seed beads, on the collar and cuffs. 

 

The next jacket shown was purchased at a local Goodwill store.  I love the aqua color.  I do not love the weightiness of the denim.  Lesson learned:  heavy denim does not lend itself to hand embellishment.  I trudged onward with this one, using vintage trims and pieces from my stash.  I used a vintage crocheted motif on the back of the jacket, adding seed beads of different sizes to the mix.  Vintage lace trims the collar.  I applied hand dyed contemporary rick rack to either side of the front zipper.  "Baby" rick rack was used along some of the seam lines.

 

 

The jacket shown below was featured in my blog post of March 15, 2021.  View that post to see details of how this jacket was embellished!

While not a denim jacket, the cotton/poly blend shirt below was brightened up with some Boro stitching.  I used Perle cotton (size) #8 for the stitching.

The following photos show some of the "ingredients" I like to use when decorating jackets or other garments.

 

 

All text and images ©️Suzanne Myers Otto

New Post Coming Soon!

Greetings,

My next post will feature more info about my May 2022 jacket decorating workshop at the 

John C. Campbell Folk School!  Stay tuned for more about "Vintage Denim Jacket with 

Boho Flair".

 

All text and images ©️Suzanne Myers Otto

Denim Jacket Revival

I enjoy embellishing vintage denim jackets!  So much so, that I'll be teaching a 

class on this in May of 2022, at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown,

N.C.  That class is titled "Vintage Denim Jacket with Boho Flair.  I will also

be teaching a one week workshop called   "Brasstown Boho Skirt".  

That class immediately follows the denim jacket class.  I love the creativity

of Boho style and the fact that pretty much "anything goes".

 

I purchased a vintage J. Jill denim jacket on Etsy a few months ago.  When I'm

decorating vintage jackets, I usually do it totally by hand.  This was a rare case

where I made use of a sewing machine. Deciding that the fit was slightly snug, 

I cut the jacket apart.  I then inserted lighter colored denim strips from the jacket

hem, up the sides, and down the sleeves.  The strips were cut from the legs 

of jeans my husband was about to throw away!

 

The first two photos show the jacket as purchased, and after I washed it.

Pieces of jeans, calling out to be reused!


Photos below show the jacket cut open, then with the denim strips inserted.  The

light denim strips were inserted with the use of my sewing machine.  Ultimately,

I machine stitched the side seams together and turned the edges to the inside, 

attaching them to the inside by hand.

Thinking my jacket needed some embellishment, I remembered a one

yard piece of hand-painted lace I had in my stash.  The lace was another Etsy

buy, purchased in 2012.  I cut the lace to size, then basted it on just to keep it

in place for my more thorough hand-stitching.  I almost always use hand

stitching to apply embellishments . . . I feel like I have more control over it than

I would with machine stitching.  I also think it looks better!

I added narrow heart-patterned lace along the top edge to cover the raw edges 

of the dyed floral lace.  Then I added a small purple heart-shaped button at each

end.

I used some green woven ribbon with white polka dots to cover the (bottom) raw

edges of the purple floral lace.  Sewing the ribbon on was a bit difficult as there is

a bulky waistline seam underneath it.  I used my jewelry pliers, when needed, 

to pull my needle through multiple thicknesses. 

My finished jacket is shown below.