hessian bodice

I have been developing a corset pattern, but wasn't quite happy with my result so far. I decided to approach it from another direction and unearthed a bodice pattern from some years back. I happened to see some hessian and thought it's suitably earthy for sewing a sample.

 

 I decided to leave the raw seams on the outside.

If this actually is a sample I got a bit carried away with detail. I cut some silk velvet strips from a piece I burned when the dyepot ran out of water... For stitching I used red silk that originates either from my mum's or grandma's sewing box.

 

PSst! Now you can view the outfit here!

Kultaturve

I had quite a grand moment cutting a big piece of peat felt I've had for over a decade. The Finnish company that made it, Kultaturve, is sadly no more. They developed a way to use the rotted fibres of the cotton grass (Eriophorum vaginatum) that grows on top of the sphagnum moss. After nearly a thousand years buried under the earth, in the peaty bog, the plant becomes a fibre with exceptional properties for textiles and clothing. It is warmer than wool, exceptionally light, breathable and antistatic.

Mind you my felt is so thick that lightweight is not one of it's attributes. Or perhaps the sheep's wool blend makes it heavy.

The thick earthy felt belongs perfectly in my current project, where I work under the theme "beginnings". The material itself is very primal and connects me quite literally to my home country. I'll construct at least a couple of garments out of it, a skirt to start with.

PSst! Now you can view the outfit here.

wreck this cloth - from wrecking to constructing

This post follows on from what got started here.

Mid-December we had started to enjoy the beautiful berries of the Nelson region. Some mushy ones in the bottom of the bowl ended up giving some colour to this experiment.

The next day I felt I was doing things too pretty, not letting myself actually... let go.

I took the cloth in a shower with me, and stomped on it while I shampooed my hair! Needless to say, the pretty pink was history.

After a couple of weeks I found myself looking at the unevenness of the fibres. That gave me an excuse to start picking at them. I pulled and yanked until they snapped, working quite randomly. I've always been into pulled thread work, but I didn't want any of that type of planned discipline here.

I really liked the combination of soft stripes and bigger holes where the horizontal and vertical meet.

The remaining stains and distressed weave started looking like a good backdrop for something... 


At some point in January plums came along to part some purple and an idea of a chart was forming...

I've used a lot circular shapes before and wanted to draw them with stitch this time. To honor the male relationships I've had and the impact they've had in my life I drew up a chart with a timeline from birth to present. I was thinking part radar screen part linear time.

I started with my dad and the two time periods where I've lived together with someone. Added some other formative encounters, romantic partners, crushes that went nowhere but shaped my life and changed who I am.



Some relationships have an impact way beyond their presence, like when you drop a pebble in still water and the rings keep getting bigger. But on the timeline they won't ripple backwards, only affecting future...

R - to create is to destroy

Our R collective gathered today at Jo's. Well actually one R was missing from action since Meg is in Japan. The rest of us got together and each of us brought along generous helpings of irritation and frazzled nerves. We reckoned this was a combined result of two weeks of annoying windy weather and Saturday's election result... However, a couple of hours later we finished our meeting buzzing with excitement! Let me explain.

First a personal update. After our last meeting I got to work on my part of the exhibition project. I decided to dedicate at least 15 minutes of quality time per day towards this. I started researching archetypes and have a handwritten post somewhere on my desk waiting to be typed... When Term 4 started 6 weeks ago, my time just got sucked up by all the extra employment I had committed to. And I'm still on that track, slowly losing my mind with not enough time for myself and my very important projects... Not even 15 minutes a day?? Ouch.

During my busyness I have been delighted by two dear little books on creativity that I spotted through Brain Pickings. One of them is WRECK THIS JOURNAL by Keri Smith. 

I got this book with the intention to apply the same principle on cloth. I have relaxed my approach since I started making art and not just clothes, but still bump into the feeling of needing to be in control, being way too precious, planned and careful with how I use my materials and tools. India Flint has been a brilliant teacher of seeing bold opportunities everywhere, but I still resist putting it into action.

I have a huge respect for books and keep them well, so I love the opposite approach this workbook has: 

We thought Ronnie had lost her mind when she was doing weird moves with the book...

"Tie a string to the journal, go for a walk, drag it." must have been our favourite recipe, as we could see ourselves applying it to our projects...

After a good giggle we decided to set a challenge for the next month and a bit. Each person would start with a piece of white or cream material, 30x30 cm square, and manipulate it with wild abandon. We agreed to exclude deliberate cutting and stitching as we would nornally do these with a piece of cloth. And we agreed to keep a journal on the progress...

So here goes! My perfectly white piece of cloth on a white wall.

Let the fun begin.



  

beginnings

My artwork from the recent years has been very universal, deliberately so. I knew the time had come to get more personal, reveal my soul a bit more. When 'Beginnings' got chosen as the exhibition title by group R, my initial feeling was that it would point to exploring my roots, as I'm far away from my native country and never explored it in my art. But I didn't even get home from the meeting, before I realised I was in the middle of living a significant 'beginning'. I was six months down the track from a separation - hence the silence here on the blog! - getting used to just being me, taking turns looking after our children, being back in paid work. I had no need to look any further for inspiration did I...

I had an instant vision of expressing the various emotions I've been going through as well as the different roles I juggle between through a collection of garments. I saw some of them them being quite unwearable as the inside and outside would be just as expressive. Private vs public. Feelings inside vs the image you see on the surface. Putting on social masks? Sometimes the inside would be way too prickly or painful to actually wear ON your body!

group "R"

There are five of us (6 to start with) textile/fibre related creatives, who have been getting together once a month since May, plotting a group exhibition to be held next year. When we get together 3-4 hours just fly by. Coffee group it isn't, even though we fit in some drinks and treats as well. The discussions are intense and hugely inspirational. There is a sense of openness, sharing a journey and supporting each other in our creative growth and discovery.

We have the whole Refinery Artspace in our use for October 2012. I'm quite familiar with the gallery as I've had my work hanging there twice at the Changing Threads National Fibre Arts Awards.The main space is big with lots of natural light, high in the ceiling; front is intimate and lit by spotlights.

To start with we discussed a name for our group in great length, as well as a vision statement and a theme for the exhibition. Each of our input has truly revealed who we are as individuals. We have come up with all of the above, but nothing is written in stone and I suspect that the name "R" and vision are of less importance for the time being, as the process itself has pulled us together. Now we are even getting very open about our common theme or exhibition title "Beginnings". There is an underlying trust that we are under way and various techniques and styles will somehow gel as we keep working together.

There are two other bloggers in the group. Check out Jo and Meg!