Pat Zastrow Retrospective

Pat Zastrow, a talented fiber artist from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, is having a retrospective showing of her wearable silk art as a benefit for the restoration of the Crosse House in Sun Prairie. The event will be held at the Crosse House at 133 w. Main Street from March 12-31st. Pat will be showing 6 ensembles that she did for the invitational Bernina and Fairfield fashion shows plus other creations.

There will be an opening reception on Friday March 12th from 4-7 pm and on Monday, March 15th there will be an artist talk from 1-4pm. Double click on photos for more detailed information. Don't miss it!!

If the Shoe Fits 2010 - "Before"

One of the most fun projects I do every year is to come up with a shoe for the annual "If the Shoe Fits" benefit. It is sponsored by the Center for Patient Partnerships at UW-Madison and trains advocates to help patients and their families deal with life-threatening diseases (check out

http://www.patientpartnerships.org/).
The shoe gala will take place on Thursday, May 20th this year at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art from 5:30-8:30 pm., at 227 State Street in Madison, Wisconsin.

The hardest part is coming up with the idea - after that it's "relatively easy." I try to stick with an Asian theme so I decided to incorporate the Kanzashi flowers that I have been making into my shoe this year. Here is a photo of the shoe before - a Carlos Santa wedge in what must be a size -4!! After decorating a size 10 shoe my first year, I'm always looking for something smaller!

First I decided to finish off the inside of the shoe. I was able to make use of some beautiful red and gold silk that my niece (Thanks Megan!) sent to me from China where she currently resides.

Next I worked on the wedge heel using some silk brocade and red frogs that I bought at a fabulous fabric market in Shanghai. The fabric market was a sewer's dream.

The components were last. I made the Kanzashi flowers in various sizes, from 2" down to 1"--- lets just say it's nearly impossible to fold 8 tiny one inch squares into a flower, I only made a couple of those. The bigger the square, the easier they are to fold. The buttons are covered with more of the silk fabric that lines the inside of the shoe.

So - check back later to see the completed shoe - like most things I do, the descriptive word I would use to describe it is "overload."