Ocean and Forest: A Collaboration Completed

Crab by Kristy of Fog and Swell and Fish by me.

I’m so pleased with this pair! The crab was made by my new friend, Kristy, a talented and lovely soft toy maker on the West Coast of Canada and the fish was made by me. We used the same fabrics (these came from Kristy – deep red and pale pink cottons and linens she dyed herself). Our theme was “ocean” and this is what we each came up with. They are $120 for the set.

Kristy has our “forest” set: a deer I made and her little owl. These were both made from wool that I dyed and a vintage flour sack. Pop on over to her blog to get that pair.

Working with Kristy was fascinating. Her skills are incredible, she does a lot of hand-sewing and detail stitching on each piece, her scale is small and she works mostly in cotton and linen. This experience reflected back to me that I have a bigger, rounder, more childlike style and that I’m drawn to thicker fabrics that stretch like wool and fleece.

I guess I knew this about myself, but seeing our work together highlighted these aspects of my design choices for me. The biggest takeaway for me has been en effort to further develop the tiny details that make a piece truly special. All those little stitches draw you in and make you really cherish a handmade thing.

I hope that at some point down the road Kristy and I will meet in person. Until then, I feel like working through this collaboration together has made us into friends across the continent and that is really a very special thing.