OK, I wanted to share some aprons that I made from old overalls, shirts (I later added pockets), and jeans.

I've gotten the hang of shibori tie-dyeing as evidenced by the jacket that started out as a solid white cotton poplin and ended up blue and white.

These are two of my latest baskets with shells stitched around the top edge.  I love the contrasting denim while the bottom basket was created from discharged black denim.

I've completed a series of discharge tie-dye shawls that will eventually be made into waterfall vests.

I am delighted to announce that this past week, I was able to get my baskets displayed for sale in the new shop located on Water Street near the plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  The shop's name, Le Ciseaux, is French for scissors.  It contains the works of eight women artisans who make jewelry, silk flowers from recycled men's ties, handmade dolls, aprons, and much more. Le Ciseaux is a new gallery in Santa Fe NM at 207 W. Water Street across from Collected Works Book Store. It is a professional presentation of select handwork that is beautiful and useful to daily life. The gallery currently represents seven local artists ages 13-80. As a working studio, there are on-site demonstrations, individual and small group lessons and on-going workshops. 

I've just set up a display at the new consignment shop in Los Alamos.  It's called Nu 2 You and located next door to the Urgent Care Center on Central Avenue.  Please check it out.  The store is owned by Keith and Barbara Lindsey.  They have an assortment of beautiful items that include clothing, furniture, kitchen items, and gift items.  Please check it out.

These are the latest baskets that I've made.  I call them "Fiesta Baskets" because of the multi-color fabric that I used.  I love the way they turned out.  

First, I select the fabric.  Next, I cut the fabric into strips measuring 1 1/2 inches wide.  Then, I sew the fabric strips end to end before adding the cotton cord that I stitch into the strips.  It's like making piping.  Once these steps are completed, I begin the process of making either a round or oval basket. The entire process takes about three hours per basket.  I also sew a label on the bottom of the basket once I've built the starting coil to about 3 inches in diameter.

My current project is to make machine embroidered leaves to applique onto vests.  More about that process next time.

I am occasionally asked why I use so much denim in the recycled items that I create.  Here are few facts about denim: (reported by Daphne Sashin and Toby Lyles, CNN updated 2:22 PM EDT, Mon May 20, 2013)

1. Jacob Davis, a tailor in Reno, Nevada, came up with the idea of riveted pants in response to a customer whose pockets kept ripping. He feared someone might steal his idea and recruited Levi Strauss, owner of dry goods wholesaler Levi Strauss & Co., as a business partner. They obtained a patent on May 20, 1873.

2. Denim jeans -- or trousers, waist overalls or dungarees -- started out as work-wear for hard labor in mines, factories and fields. By the 1980s, as high fashion brands began to introduce the concept of designer jeans, the shape and fit began to slim down.

3. Consumers in the United States buy approximately 450 million pairs of jeans every year.

4. On average, U.S. consumers have seven pairs of jeans in their wardrobe, according to Cotton Incorporated.

5. Environmental awareness has pushed denim laundries to improve techniques for bleaching and coating jeans to give them different looks, Corrente said. Where lots of water, aggressive washing and sandpaper was once the norm for creating that worn vintage look, lasers and ozone gas cameras are now being used to minimize water waste and chemical runoff
6. A typical pair of blue jeans consumes 919 gallons of water during its life cycle (this includes the water to irrigate the cotton crop, manufacture the jeans, and the numerous washes by the consumer).

Whenever I create something to sell at craft shows, I try to keep in mind what we are doing to the environment and what I can do to help protect it.  

I was inspired by my friend Maryna to create these baskets.  The blue ones are made from strips of used blue jeans and the brown basket is made from a piece of calico that was given to me several years ago.  I love the idea of making something beautiful and elegant out of something that might have ended up being thrown in the trash and end up rotting in a landfill.

I've been spending more time crafting items from denim.  The photo above shows samples of my latest creation, denim pouches crafted from tie-dyed denim.  I use a bleach solution to discharge the blue dye specific to denim.  Once the fabric is tie-dyed, I cut the pattern and embellish it before assembling the final piece.  These pouches have magnetic or button closures and straps crafted from vintage, hand-woven belts or corded straps fashioned from bias tape and cotton cording.