Yelena Dressmaking & Accessories

  These “feathered friends” were made amass (10?) as presents to graduating university students — participants of a music ensemble. Since most music they performed was either Russian or played on traditionally Russian instruments (like balalaika), I picked a fabric pattern that resembled Russian traditional designs of Khohloma (painted and lacquered wooden dishes and figurines). This fabric came from JoAnn Fabrics as Premium cotton Folk Floral, lately discontinued. The stuffing is cotton balls. The pattern was adapted and modified from a quilting book bought at Barnes&Noble. The practical use of these birds might surprise you: beside making a colourful Christmas tree or home decor ornament, they could become a cat toy, a worry relief (if squeezed in one’s hand), a purse adornment, or a good addition to a baby mobile. These birds were created from the same piece of cloth, but it’s not a rule set in stone. Each part of a bird could be made of various fabrics and patterns, similar...

 Growing up, I didn’t know Christmas. A holiday with a decorated tree and presents under it was New Year. Even the tree was called "New Year's fir". The jolly old elf who brought presents was not Santa Claus or St. Nicholas. He was (still is) called Дед Мороз, Grandfather Frost. My vision of Grandfather Frost, made of silk, reclaimed fur purchased from Alaska indigenous people, beads, wire, and cotton yarn was created for a Christmas ornament contest in the Town of Herndon. After the exhibition, the ornament returned to me and now decorates my Christmas tree year after year.