“How do you make that?” asked the excited purchaser of the lovely Kasode jacket you see pictured. It’s a frequent question.
Laurie Schatzberg said, “Thanks for a fantastic afternoon of shopping, and communing with you all … And those wonderful dogs and alpacas! I’ll be back for sure!” Doesn’t she look great?
First, of course, one white and one brown alpaca had to be sheared. In this case, rich white fleece from Saki and the rich chocolate brown from Cisco. Both are lovely accoyo alpacas.
Second, as with all raw fiber, we skirt it here at the ranch and then ship it to one of the several fiber mills we use. In this case, and because we want a blended fiber and they have proven their creative talent in the past, we ship to Evergreen Fiber Mill, Woodinville, WA, where the all white and all brown fibers are combined into lovely, striated, batts.
Those batts are then returned to us and we needle felt them to a silk scrim. We really enjoy the results of blending these two rich colors together while maintaining the uniqueness of each. As a result of the richness we couldn’t help but call it “Brown and White Chocolate.”
As the Kasode is one of our regular designs, we delivered the fabric to Heather Briggs who did the expert sewing. Sandy then added the beautiful stenciling via materials she obtained this summer at Diane Ericson’s Design Outside the Line retreat in Taos, NM, and ….. Voila!
Another admirer of this jacket has placed an order and that one is just about finished. Happily Saki and Cisco produced enough fleece for several jackets. But not an unlimited supply and the animals won’t be sheared again until May. We already have another jacket in the making so go to the Whispirit Shop and order your own! Special orders are no more expensive. Or order this sweet bag made from the same fabric. We can also make this fabric by the yard for you.
Thanks Saki and Cisco!
