Jammy Jacket, Dots and Sheers, Plus Autumn Jacket, Part 2

Another day, and still feeling out of sorts, brain-wise. I need a session of outfit-creating, or more wonky outfits like this one will be happening. 

Yeah, I don't think the skirt quite works with it, but my pink Boss Lady Pants need hemming and I haven't gotten to them yet. 

• Jacket - H&M, consignment, Vancouver; last worn here in June 2021 with my pink Boss Lady Pants
• Polka dot top - no label, consignment; purchased here for $23.00
• Skirt - Adidas, consignment; last seen here in February with pinks
• Shoes - Zoomies Ishshoes, Fluevog; last worn here in September 2021 with black and floral
• Poncho (below) - Welsh, thrifted; last seen here in April

There are only so many things I own that go with this jacket! 

I knew I wanted to wear this new-to-me polka dot top with it, but I looked high and low for something to put on the bottom. Red pants? Too much red. White? I only have my ripped white denim skirt (not a work skirt). Pink? Needs hemming! 

So I went with this sheer black skirt, mostly because of the three Adidas stripes down the sides. 

From there, I added more black and white with  the shoes and accessories. 

How I felt about the outfit overall. "Meh." 

The top is fine, but dips a little low on my cleavage - I might try to take the shoulders up a titch. 

Masked up. 

Ah, you can see the stripes on the skirt there, and I'm cleverly showing off a pocket. 

Outerwear - will it rain if I don't cover my head? 

Absolutely! Rain rain rain. Can't complain, though - what if we have another "heat dome"? We'll need it! 

Accoutrements: 

I've certainly gotten my $1.95's worth out of this scarf. 

• Scarf - fake Louis (Lewis!) Vuitton, thrifted
• Mask - by Mom
• Gloves - Echo, consignment

The stuff: 

I'm always happy to have these white shoes back. 

• Octagonal cuff - vintage fair
• Round cuff - Zsiska
• Silver/aventurine ring - consignment
• Silver/enamel ring - antique store, Sidney
• Cat pin - Charmaine's
• Earrings - vintage fair

Oops, forgot to take the Bling picture. 

 Autumn Jacket Art Project - Part 2, The Lower Back

When I last updated here, I'd finished the spiderweb spelling out "Eternally Autumn" on the upper back. 

It was inspired by the book "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White. Blogger Autumn (who is getting this jacket when I'm done) had the final word on what she wanted it to say. 

I'd also been experimenting with leaves on the lower bottom. 

All of the leaves had been thinly drawn on, and I'd just started thickening the black borders, main veins and drawing in more thin veins on each leaf. 

Now, for the new stuff. I finished thickening up all the lines on the leaves, and drawing in the veins.

And then it was web time! I plotted out how the webs would connect them - here, the connector/anchor lines are all in place. 

My idea is that the spiders are keeping the leaves from falling by hanging them in webs. 

So that it's eternally autumn, get it? Get it? I really like drawing spiderwebs, I've discovered.

I obviously got in a groove during this session and forgot to take progress pictures! Once I get going, hours fly by! 

I'd done all the web-weaving here, and have begun thickening up the webs (note how the web on the left side really stands out). 

Adding a few more spiders (this is a job for more than one spider!), including this one creeping up a thread. 

I've done the lateral lines and the "weaving" around the centres of the webs here (but have not yet thickened these ones). I tried to make the webbing as realistic as possible, reinforcing where the leaves would pull or weigh the webs down.

As with the top section, I then have to go over all of it to thicken up the lines - this is where it all starts to look less sketchy and more intentional (the thickening hides a multitude of small errors!).

That part took a long time. It was probably about 4 hours to thicken up all the black - that's the most labour-intensive part of the whole process. 

Then I started playing with the leaves. This was the first attempt.

That's two shades of green, chartreuse, yellow, orange and red. I did a minimum of 5-6 colours on every leaf.

Dang this shiny leather - it doesn't photograph well. 

The colour is definitely needed to differentiate the leaves (veiny) with the webs (webby), otherwise it's just a big jumble. 

The colour is my favourite part - it goes quickly and makes such an impact. 

I tried to take my pics out on the deck in full natural light - the jacket looks very dark indoors - as the shine is annoying.

I tried another style of leaf, this time with yellow edging to red. 

I liked that a lot - so pretty! I searched online to see how actual maple leaves turn in the fall, but apparently there are many different kinds of maples and they all turn slightly different. Ah, screw it, I'm just going to do what looks good. 

Let's do another one! 

Then I added a green leaf done in the same "pattern" as the red one, only with just green, in the lower left. 

A better look at it here. That leaf is "turned" on purpose to give it a narrower profile.

The leaf on the right has red edging - this formula, plus the red one, is how I finished all the leaves. 

And here we go, all the colour done. I worked on this during my "Covid days" off last week, out on the deck.

I wish I'd done another red leaf on the lower section to make it look a bit more random, but once I do the sides and front of the jacket, it will look less regular. I can add more leaves on the sides to where I've connected the webs to the pockets on the front.

One last look at the back all done. 

I probably spent about 8 hours on the lower back, and I've rested from this now for almost a week - it's time to get back into it! Sitting and working on this project, enjoying the deck while Vizzini chills with me, sipping tea and listening to music - it's all so good for my mental health. 

I hope you're enjoying this project!