Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot – Page 2

The Fashion Show

What a great day! We concluded the three day workshop in Garment Construction Techniques, with a seminar in Closures, starting the morning with Bound Buttonholes, and then moving into Triangular Bound Buttonholes. When the students took a break to sample, I saw some really lovely triangular buttonholes coming from their sewing machines. We went on to discuss many ways to close a garment. Lots of ideas, some simple, some fun, no more excuses for outerwear with no closure!

I really loved this group! There was a huge range of skill levels in the class, some felt like they were beginners, and others were very skilled, needing some inspiration, there was even an experienced educator looking for ways to teach these kinds of techniques. I hope all got something from the class, and I’m looking forward to the weekend seminars.

After I packed up and brought my two 70 pound suitcases over to the dorm room, I went over to the fashion show rehearsal. I wasn’t actually participating in this show, but I wanted to preview the garments back stage, as I will be the judge.

As it turns out, because of the scheduling, I will have to actually judge the fashion show garments after the fashion show takes place. So I requested the privilege of actually judging the fashion show garments during the fashion show.

OK, so here is the problem. This is a pet peeve of mine. I have judged many many fashion shows over the years, and judging a fashion show, usually means, sitting in a room, with the garments, each one laid out in front of me, like a dead carcass on the table. See, I am looking at a piece of fabric, more often than not handwoven, sewn into a garment, laying on the table in front of me. I have nothing to judge the garment on but technique, suitability of weave structure, and originality of design. That isn’t really the problem, the problem is, I’m only seeing a very small piece of what this garment is about. A garment is designed to be worn, to be viewed on a body. A real body. A post menopausal female, with graying hair, and a wonderful outlook on life. I never get to see that part of the equation, who the garment was designed for, how does it fit them, does it wear them, or do they proudly wear it? Later, after judging, I get to view the real fashion show, and 40% of the time, I want to change my comments and my judging scores, because I find that the pieces come alive when they are filled out with the person whose hands created them. I love when the maker wears their own garment.

So tonight, I had a chair, and a clipboard, and a list of the garments at my disposal, and I felt like Nina Garcia on Project Runway, judging the work as it came down the runway. Wow. I cannot say how this experience has changed the way I judge a garment. I did get to preview the garments backstage before the show, but the garments came alive as they walked across the stage, and down the runway, I was really really blown away by some of the garments that just looked like nothing on the hangers.

I couldn’t actually take pictures of the pieces, I was too busy scribbling notes! After the fashion show, dessert was served, and then, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Michigan League of Handweavers, a vintage garment retrospective fashion show took place. This was so much fun. I laughed and squealed in delight, as I recognized fashion looks from the early years of handwoven clothing. I have been weaving clothing since the 1970’s, and this represented a history I really remember. I did manage to snap a few shots, the first model out wore, what else, but a 1950’s handwoven apron!

Of course every weaver remembers the horse blanket reversible poncho from handspun yarns. And then came the 60’s cotton shift, this one had cutouts in the waist area, it even had the fringe at the hem! And then who hasn’t made a leno skirt and shawl! I loved the orange color of this set.

Millie Danielson, a long time member of MLH, moderated this retrospective of vintage works, and some of the pieces were actually hers.

This very vintage ensemble of Millie’s featuring yellow hotpants, brought the house down. The commercial decorator fringe really completed the outfit! All that was missing were the white go-go boots!

Millie also created this outrageous coat, woven with warp remnants tied into the structure with Ghiordes knots. I don’t know what year she wove it, but it was a pretty impressive piece. And the model carried the whole look off effortlessly!

The finale of the retrospective show, featured none other than our own fashion icon, Anita Mayer, who wore Ann Flora’s contemporary felted coat and hat. It was a stunning piece, and she looked fabulous in it.

I of course, wore my now infamous Frosted Florals dress. Not only did I get to sign a few autographs on page 81 of the current issue of Threads Magazine where it appeared in the Readers’ Closet pages, but the latest issue of Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot has just come out on the newstands, and there were a number of copies floating around, with my new article on the Convergence Challenge project. I’ve gotten some very kind emails so far, telling me what a wonderful piece Loretta and I created. I got to autograph a number of those issues as well. My friend Robyn Spady has two articles in that issue, and since she was teaching across the hall from me, there was a lot of autographing going on!

So, tomorrow I do the final judging for the show, and I will write all my comments and choose the winners. Stay tuned…

A date!

I love Tuesday’s. Especially after a week away. Monday is always so chaotic, but Tuesday feels like the beginnings of a familiar routine. I tidied my house, dusted the downstairs, had my tea and toast (with Nutella, OK, I’m an addict…), checked my emails, read my favorite blogs, and then got everything together to finish up my next article for SS&D. I am writing a series of three articles for Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot, about the three design teams who created ensembles for the Convergence 2008 Tampa Bay last year. If you are new to the blog, I was part of one of the teams, we were given yarn dyed for the conference in Floridian shades, and we had a year to create an ensemble. I spent the beginning of this year, recounting my yearlong experience, partnered with Loretta Dian Phipps, a surface designer and felter from Texas, whom I didn’t know, and I published that experience in a CD, PowerPoint or PDF presentation suitable for a guild program (without having to fly me there) which is available on my website.

Anyway, I am also writing a condensed version for Shuttle Spindle and Dyepot, and the first installment, is going to print as I write, due out soon for the Summer 2009 issue. I just finished up the second installment, on handweaver Nancy Peck and pattern designer Diane Ericson. The third installment is due in mid-September, which will feature handweaver Irene Munroe and pattern designer Louise Cutting. It was really great fun for me to explore one of the other teams, and how they approached the collaborative process.

Of course, sitting at my computer all day, I can get into so much trouble. I am slowly working my way through all the non essential emails cluttering up my box from my week away, and I got another one of those wicked emails that I have to sit on my hands not to click on. I lost… This one is from Interweave Press, publishers of Handwoven and a gazillion other magazines and publications, and they were having a “Hurt” book sale. I am assuming these books have been damaged in some way, but a book is a book. And a sale is a sale. Curiousity got to me and $53. later, I have about 8 books coming to me I didn’t have on my shelf.

This prompted me to start looking at my book shelves, which span a couple of rooms, I have a serious addiction to books, since some of the titles on sale seemed familiar enough I was sure I already had them, but realized that my shelves were in such a disarray, I couldn’t find anything. I fear I’ve ordered duplicate books. I’ve done that before. All this means is I have to start reorganizing my shelves, and finding ways to make more space… I need all the weaving books in one place, the art books in another, the fashion, spinning, knitting, surface design, lacemaking, and sewing books, all in their own sections. We are talking major out of control here…

I did manage to finish one of the four scarves on my 8 shaft 25″ loom. I had showed the warp layout in the Color Class I gave in Iowa and in Massachusetts. It felt good to just sit at the loom. Once my article was put to bed, I packed it up to send out in the morning, and I went in to my husband and I said, “I’m done in the studio. Lets go out!” He works down the hall, and blissfully he was at a stopping point as well, and with no kids for the evening, we headed out, caught a movie, dinner, and just enjoyed each other’s company. A rare treat. So I went out on a date, with my husband, and for a brief couple of hours, felt like I came out of my rabbit hole and saw a bit of life. We went to see Hangover, which was hilarious, and poignant.

My friend just bought a Netbook, and I went to visit her last night and play with her new toy. Wow. I couldn’t get over the size. I took my presentations down, and ran through them, they read with no problem, and the keyboard was comfortable, actually it was bettered suited to my hand size. The Netbook weighs nothing, and we will be ordering one this week, as my regular travel laptop is having issues with the Power Button. Meaning it won’t turn on. After struggling with it over the weekend, and getting it to finally power up, I haven’t turned off the computer since, for fear it won’t work for the workshop I’m giving this weekend at the shore. So, I expect within the next couple of days, I’ll have a new toy, and some more books to play with…

The morning after…

It was a productive Monday, I did my laundry from the week away, and started to “find” my house. All of the members of my family are quite comfortable in their clutter, sadly I’m completely opposite, I find I can’t concentrate when there is clutter everywhere, and I can usually keep the clutter monster at bay while I’m home on a daily basis, but when I leave for a trip, the clutter monster comes out from hiding and well, lets just say I always expect to spend a couple days “finding” my house, once I return.

I got all the banking done, made a deposit, did my bookkeeping, and got all the bills in order to be paid. I dusted the upstairs, and tidied the kitchen. I stayed busy, answering emails, updating my website, and I proofed my article for Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot on the Challenge project from 2008. Look for that in the next issue.

Look what’s cooking on the floor in the corner of my studio. I grabbed a handful of fleece from the garage, and stuffed it into the crock pot this morning, threw in some water and sprinkled in some Cushing dye, a burgandy color, it was the first color I pulled out when I reached into the box. I poured in some white vinegar, and turned the crock pot on to ‘low’. It cooked all day, and I turned the pot off this evening. I’ll look at it tomorrow morning, and rinse the wool before I head into NYC to catch some fiber shows with my daughter.

I had a number of conference attendees tell me how much my gallery talk at the Small Expressions Exhibit meant to them, and others tell me they were so disappointed to have missed it. Since I had actually written up the talk and put it onto PowerPoint and emailed it ahead in case I didn’t arrive in time last Wednesday night to actually give the talk in person, I decided to just convert the whole file to a PDF, and post it in the “extras” section of my website. The gallery talk was titled “Parallel Threads that Parallel Life“. Anyway, enjoy the presentation, mostly I’m known for my garments, but there is an artist in there, who has something to say, and I really appreciated all those who listened to my talk and said such kind and supportive things to me afterwards.

I’m off to NYC tomorrow, and I’ll report back tomorrow night with some more fiber overload!

The Party’s Over

And what a party it was! But sadly, all good things must come to an end, and reality takes over! So now I have a studio full of stuff to make, lots of wonderful ideas, and no time to actually sit and make stuff. Sound familiar?

I leave in two weeks for the first of a half dozen teaching commitments, which will take up most of my summer. In between I’ll be working on an article on the Designers Challenge from 2008 for SS&D, and a book review, revamping my keynote address for New England Weavers Seminar, and building the newest seminar on Website Success. This last one is a killer, and has been haunting me, lurking in the back of my mind since I agreed to do it last fall.

The more I research, the more I get overwhelmed. And all that stuff lurking around me, just calling me to come and play with it…

But I got up early, dusted my downstairs, fed the snake (don’t ask), put in the next load of laundry, cleared away all the clutter, made some breakfast, tackled some of the emails I didn’t get to answer yesterday, filled a book order, and finally sat down to work on the website seminar. Surprisingly it went well. I’m moving along on it, I have a number of resources to pull from, largely it is deciding what is important to cover, and what is “Way Too Much Information” for a 2 1/2 hour seminar.

So, I won’t be any fun until this seminar is put to bed, you’ll just have to entertain yourselves for awhile, but meanwhile, I did promise photos of the fabric I bought at the Fabric Depot in Portland, OR. for $5./yd, for my poor fading rocker. My mother in law gave this rocker to my husband and me for our wedding, we reupholstered it when she gave it to us, and we have been married now for more than 30 years. The fabric is worn to shreds, and it is on the list, the very long list of things to do around the house, but finding a fabric that I think looks great moved the reupholstering job up on the list, just slightly. Maybe in September. No wait, I promised my guild I’d redesign their website. October? No, I promised my other guild I’d redesign their website. Well, for now, I’ll just leave the fabric sitting on the rocker.

I darted out to my car this morning during a massive thunder storm, to gather up the silk scarves that were curing in black plastic, still on the floor where I had left them. I rinsed them thoroughly, like Kerr told us, and hung them to dry.

I’m so loving this technique. The lack of planning, the instant gratification, and the possibilities are making me really want to just dive into getting some screens, a padded cover for my work table and running amok! Alas, I have things to take care of first…

But they are pretty, and I have lots to look forward to. I’m hoping to spend a couple of days this summer, mixing dyes for some warps, and getting a bunch of warps painted to work on through next year, I’ve run out of handwoven fabric to sew, and am really itching to get my big loom up and running again. It has been naked waaaay too long… Of course, whatever dyes are left from that escapade can be thickened and screened on whatever is laying around. Too many techniques, not enough hours in the day….

Stay tuned…

Busy Days

The days are just getting away from me, and my to-do list is starting to get a bit out of control. And I feel like I am moving through Jello, going through the motions but not accomplishing much. There are lots of things on the calendar taking me away from a good solid day’s worth of work, plus I am procrastinating big time, starting the new presentation on Website Success. Once I’m into it, I know I’ll get lost in it, and not come up for air for about six weeks, so I’m hesitant to jump in.

Meanwhile, I have an article to write for Shuttle, Spindle and Dyepot, and a book review as well. I have to finish the remaining two placemats for the exchange, I have to write up and get out the contracts for my guild, and get the information to the newsletter editor, and I have to review 5 scholarship applications for the Music Parents Scholarship for this year. Those are probably due first.

And, big news, I have to finalize my contracts for Convergence 2010. Yep, I finally have contracts in hand. It took longer than usual because there was a lot of back and forth as to what I would actually teach for them. This is an unusual situation, and kind of complicated, and partly what triggered my bout of whining a couple weeks back, about being a ‘has been’…

Convergence is an international conference for not only handweaving, but many other disciplines in the fiber arts, and one that can keep you visible and open other opportunities. I have taught at every Convergence since 2000 in Cincinnati. Therein lies the problem. First off, I am known in handweaving circles for my garment construction classes for handweavers, I have those classes down to a well oiled machine, there are only so many ways to teach garment construction, and I’d like to think I have streamlined the process to work for conference and guild situations of mixed skill levels and all body types. I’m good at what I do. But trying to reinvent oneself each time for Convergence, where cutting edge and up and coming teachers and topics get first priority, is pretty darn impossible. I try to come up with new workshops and seminars yearly, but it isn’t enough. So, I am grateful to the HGA for giving me a full plate at the next Convergence, but I know that after 10 years, there are others out there that are developing newer and more cutting edge kinds of workshops, and I’ve been told by many that mostly I am thought of as the ‘Go To Girl for Sewing’. Even my ‘Photographing your Work” seminar, though extremely well received when I give it, many have opted to hire a ‘professional photographer’ instead to do the seminar. Most don’t know my original degree was in textiles and photography. But I digress….

So, I’ve spent a lot of time this week thinking about where I’m going with all this, I’m not “washed up” so much as having to look down the line to what’s next for me and where can I take my skill set and stay personally challenged and still make a living. No answers are coming, but I’m more comfortable with the idea of just seeing where life takes me for the moment….

So, I am teaching at Convergence in Albuquerque, see the full list of what I’m teaching on my website Schedule.

So, with all this stuff on my plate, what did I actually do today? Not any of the above…

I started a new project! Unless you have a fantastic memory, have been reading this blog since back in December, and have actually been keeping track of the six projects I outlined back then, you don’t remember Sandstone Layers or Project Two! The yardage for this was woven back in 2007, and it is one of my favorites. I’d like to make a jacket out of it, but I am longing for a different kind of jacket look than my last couple, and I found a great jacket in the January 2008 issue of Burda World of Fashion. It is sort of slouchy, and has a big belt, and a great big flowing collar. Some of the engineering still has to be worked out, but I spent all afternoon yesterday and this morning tracing the pattern, and then fitting it onto the dressform. It took much longer than normal, because there were so many pattern pieces and because the jacket was actually designed for plus sizing and I had to regrade the smallest size in the pattern down another three sizes.

I tried it on the form, and liked what I got, except for a couple of areas, one being the asymmetrical hem. I thought the angle and pitch of the right side was too much. So I pinned up what I thought was more appropriate.

Once I added the belt to the jacket pattern, it was pretty clear I would have the same problem as the last Burda jacket I made, the waist was too high for me. I am really long waisted. So I knew I would need to chop all the body pieces above the waist and lower the whole waistline, carrying the belt loops with it.

Of course as I puttered with the pattern, I got sidetracked here and there, wondering what sort of buttons I had in my stash that would work with this. I have bins of buttons, some in order, but most not…

Recently a friend who was cleaning out her deceased aunt’s house, gave me a cookie tin of buttons, lots of Bakelite, and some pretty interesting shell buttons, sadly with a coating of powdery mildew, and I rooted through there and found some I thought worthy of cleaning and set out with a tooth brush and some Softscrub.

After a couple hours of trying to find three buttons that I liked with the fabric that were the right size, I took a couple of the whitish abalone buttons and turned them over, and voila! The perfect color buttons were hiding on the back!

The flash is making them look a little too white, but they are beautiful and creamy pink/green on the back, and perfect for the fabric. And my favorite belt works as well. So, now for the layout…

This is going to be another one of those layouts that when I’m finished cutting, I’ll just have dust left. I love when this all works out. I won’t line this jacket, but will figure out what if anything I’ll interface with since I want the collar pieces to drape well. Stay tuned…