It would be easy for Jessica Sund to consider herself a late bloomer.

At 49, the lifelong artist launched her first major exhibition at the Cannon Beach Gallery last month. The show, titled An Exploration of Fiber Arts, which ran from Dec. 7 through 31, was the culmination of a year of sewing, knitting, spinning, stitching, dyeing, felting and embroidering.

It is also the result of a lifetime of learning how to make yarn, threads, textiles, fibers and hardware decorations (buttons, clasps, rivets) do exactly what she wants them to do.

But perhaps it wasnt a matter of finding the perfect patron or the appropriate venue.

Perhaps a better explanation for Sunds sudden midlife success is that the accelerating do-it-yourself arts-and-crafts movement finally caught up to her.

As Americans, were individuals, so why would you want to dress like somebody else? Why dont you create your own style? she said as she pointed to the dyed-green doilies festooning her cowboy boots.

Sund prides herself on being a kind of trend-setter. She said her work often anticipates design industry changes well before they reach the public.

I have predicted trends that end up on runways, she said. I dont know what it is. I just say, OK, there are going to be flower embellishments this spring … and all of a sudden, there they are.

Her friends have repeatedly told her that she should be on the fashion reality series Project Runway.

I figure, if I can handle Cannon Beach, which is a tough audience, I can handle Heidi Klum, she said, laughing. Klum was the former host of the television show.

Sund doesnt have cable and usually avoids fashion magazines. When she seeks out inspiration, she prefers to get it from her fellow anti-corporate, anti-sweatshop DIY-ers on Pinterest, lest mainstream trends pollute the integrity of her vision.

When I get on Pinterest, I say, Ive finally found my family, she said.

Wearable art

By the last day of her exhibition, Sund had sold one of the five garments on display: a steampunk-style womens coat made of dark-green velvet, fitted with a bustle, a corset and Marie Antoinette sleeves.

The woman who bought it walked out the door wearing it, she said.

The other four — a frock coat, a poncho and two capes (one felted, one knitted) — were fashioned out of some amalgamation of wool, felt, silk, cotton, velvet, mohair and other ingredients that require a certain technical mastery to manipulate just right.

Sund was able to find time to produce these strikingly detailed pieces after being awarded the $3,000 Cannon Beach Arts Association Individual Arts Grant in November 2012.

I actually said, I have enough materials to clothe a small third-world country, and so Im going to use it to take care of my needs, she recalled.

Her objective was to take well-known historical clothing and update them.

The felted cape, for instance — a piece called Capuchon Mabinogion — is a medieval-era garb dyed shades of deep red, purple and magenta. Sund then used doilies for decorative scallops along the bottom edge.

The unsold pieces will probably wind up on Etsy.com, where she also sells her popular kitted gloves.

One might say that Sund, a woman with an intensely tactile sensibility, is a dyed-in-the-wool DIY-er: She first learned the feminine art of crafting from her mother.

Sund discovered textiles at age 10, learned embroidery at 14 and took private sewing lessons throughout her teens.

Its a small wonder, then, that Sund has built a hearty repertoire of what she calls wearable art products, which also includes scarves, dresses, leg warmers, pajamas and bags.

As a fierce proponent of upcycling — taking old materials and transforming them into something new and usable — Sund practices what she preaches. On any given day, she can be seen around town, sporting the fuzzy fruits of her labor.

Touchy topics

Sund is a known entity in Cannon Beach, and not just for her fiber work.

She has served as one of the Cannon Beach Gallery docents (educated volunteers) for more than three years.

Especially if youre an artist working at home, its nice to sometimes get out and be around people, she said.

When she isnt crafting, Sund teaches hula hooping classes and workshops. At sunset, she often heads down to the west end of Adams Street and hula hoops for passersby, who are constantly taking videos and pictures.

Thats what I do to balance the very sedentary nature of sitting and knitting, she said. The good thing about knitting? Its hard to knit and eat at the same time.

Sund plans to get her blog going soon — she just needs to come up with a title that doesnt pin her in. As someone with a masters degree from Portland State University in applied linguistics, Sund knows she isnt shackled to writing solely about fiber arts.

But her fiber arts wont let up. She will be entering a wearable art fashion show in Fort Townsend, Wash. In addition, she hopes to get accepted into an exhibition in Vancouver, Wash., devoted to recycled materials, and another at Edgefield Lodge in Troutdale titled Crackedpots.

Before too long, Sund plans to teach classes at the Astoria Fiber Arts Academy, and perhaps in Cannon Beach through the Cannon Beach Gallery or the Tolovana Arts Colony.

When asked what people need to know to get her work, and why knitting became so important to her in the first place, it was clear Sund had given the question some serious thought over the years.

My major sense is touch, she said. And if I had to give up my senses, I would want to keep touch.