New Work on Progress

My favorite sewing machine is working so nicely now that has been cleaned and serviced! I’m finally sewing this new work in my Loss series, repurposing three embroideries with collaged pieces of a monoprinted construction fence pattern.

More New Work in Progress

I cut the very large rectangular piece (I shared a few days ago) into two pieces that are almost the same square-ish size. Here is one of them. Then I cut more of the insides of the stitched squares from the top layer of this double layer of fabric out to reveal the drop cloth fabric behind. It’s modified reverse appliqué for lack of a better description on what I’m doing. Next, some hand stamping and some more painting. Stay tuned.

More New Work in Progress

More progress in this new work. I’m cutting out the insides of the stitched squares from the top layer of this double layer of fabric to reveal the drop cloth fabric behind it. I’ve never worked this way before, and it’s fun (though tedious) as I cut the squares away in this modified reverse appliqué.

New work in progress

First, I sewed together two very large pieces of fabric, with right sides facing each other, following the grid of the back side of the piece with a monoprint of a construction fence. Because it’s a sandwich of fabric, it’s technically a quilt, though there’s no batting in between. 

Now I’m starting to cut the insides of the squares out to reveal the drop cloth fabric behind it. I’ve never worked this way before, and I think it’s going to be fun (though tedious) as I cut the squares away in this modified reverse appliqué.

Jeanne Repairs Jeans

I am having way too much fun repairing my husband's jeans.


A lot of new holes have appeared since my last post back in February. Instead of patching them from the front, I'm patching them from behind. Each of the three pairs being repaired have their own color of patching denim and thread, so they each have a different "look", if I can borrow the term from Project Runway.


So far this pair has mainly been repairs on the edges of the pockets, but I have a fair amount of the striped denim for when it's needed.

French Style Female Mannequin

I ordered a French style female mannequin on ebay that's similar to this one, and I can't wait till she arrives. She's going to be used to model the sweaters I've redesigned at Natick Artists Open Studios on October 18th and 19th, as well as (hopefully) a few other venues.

There were many mannequin options available at different price points, but I went for a black one for the contrast, that will be easier to keep clean(?), and also one that is pinnable, just in case I decide I need to pin fabric/clothing to her Project Runway style.

I learned that French style female mannequins have broader shoulders and hips than traditional style female mannequins. I wanted to get a mannequin with a more realistic female shape instead of a petite shape. It felt like a more realistic shape.

I'll post pictures of our new roommate wearing a sweater, after she arrives. :)

The Fashion Show Finale

I watched the season finale of The Fashion show last night. Without spoiling the end by announcing the winners, I have some thoughts I wanted to share.

When I was in Art School, final critiques of our art work could be pretty tough, and sometimes they were very mean, and did not offer any positive suggestions, which I think makes for a better learning experience.

On last night's The Fashion show, besides summing up the season, and showing different out-takes, I listened to very good suggestions from the judges that I hope the designers will listen to.

I thought that during the season, and especially on the finale last night, the three judges, Isaac Mizrahi (a fashion designer, and the host of The Fashion Show), Fern Mallis (Senior Vice President of IMG Fashion, and known as the creator of New York's “Fashion Week”), and Glenda Bailey (editor-in-chief of Harper’s Bazaar), offered very valuable ideas and opinions about fashion, and the fashion industry to not only the three finalists, but also to the other designers too. The more blunt criticism was offered gently, and there was almost a nurturing feel to a lot of what was said. Glenda Bailey even offered to privately talk to each designer about their work, which in my opinion, is worth more than prize money. Good for her! I wanted to reach into my TV and give her a huge hug.

As I said on July 2nd, I've learned a lot about sewing and wearable fashion while watching The Fashion show. Even if the show was meant to be a replacement for Project Runway, which has moved to Lifetime TV, I think it's its own show, and it does show promise for the future, assuming Bravo TV offers future seasons.

The Fashion Show

I've been watching the The Fashion Show on Bravo TV, and I like it. The show has a more educational slant than Project Runway.

Each week the designers take part in two challenges, a mini challenge, and the elimination challenge. The Mini Challenge is very short, and is usually educational from a TV viewers point of view. In the the elimination challenge, the designers are assigned a theme when creating clothing that is not only functional but also attractive. A variation of the winning outfit each week is offered for sale on Bravo TV's website.

I have to say that I've been sewing for 35+ years (that makes me sound old but I'm not), and I almost always learn something during the mini challenge. I also enjoy watching the designers create their clothing for the elimination challenge each week, seeing it as the models wear it on the runway, and listen to the critiques at the end. The canned lines like "you're hanging by a thread," and "we're just not buying it" are goofy, but otherwise I'm enjoying the show.

Isaac Mizrahi is the biggest reason to watch The Fashion Show. His fashion/design/sewing knowledge is worth its weight in gold. I've also been learning a lot from the comments of the guest judges.

My friend Elizabeth Barton wrote a post about The Fashion show that is a good read called An Interesting Exercise. Check it out.

The Fashion Show is on Bravo on Thursday nights at 10 pm ET/PT. If you aren't watching it, Bravo repeats each episode often, so it's not too late to catch up.

Project Runway used to be on Bravo. Check out past seasons. It's moving to Lifetime TV next season, which I'm looking forward to watching when it starts on August 20th at 10pm ET.

Whole Lotta Lace

My three spools of vintage Cluny lace were delivered. Wow! I didn't realize what 144 yards (per spool) would be like. To help show how big these spools are, I placed a 6" ruler on the yellow spool to explain. This is enough lace to last me for the rest of my life, and then hand down to any heirs.



Read why I ordered the lace.

Ribbon

One of my two ribbon/lace orders arrived after my Surtex and The National Stationery Show field trip. Yeah! Can't wait to use them when I work on more sweaters.

Cluny lace

I discovered that the lace trims I have from my husband's grandmother's sewing supplies, that I've been using on some of the sweaters I'm working on, is called "Cluny lace." I never knew the name of it. Here is the definition:

Cluny lace –noun
1. ivory-white bobbin lace made of strong linen or cotton thread.
2. a machine lace, usually of cotton, copied from it.

After some research, I found an online resource for vintage Cluny lace, and have ordered three different colors, each on 144 yard spools. They were very reasonably priced, so I cancelled the bottom two laces I ordered at the The National Stationery Show shown on my post this past Wednesday, which were a little pricey and weren't exactly what I was looking for.

I'm very excited to have vintage lace to use as I work on more sweaters. I'll use the black and ivory a lot. The yellow, not as much, but the price was right. I wish the other colors I found were also inexpensive. They had green, purple, blue, brown, and some other colors, but they were double the price. Sigh.

Outdoor Installation Preparation

I performed Operation Cut Up on Orange Construction Fence Series #16, which is a piece I made in 2003. By today's standards, I didn't like it as it was, and since I want to use a piece for an outdoor installation in my back yard, so it's a perfect candidate to tweak and update.

This piece, just like all of my Orange Construction Fence Series, is based on monoprints of orange construction fences that can be found around construction sites. I cut in to it to remove what would be considered the "holes" so it looks like a fabric construction fence. (Am I making sense?)

After cutting the holes, I've been sewing the edges of the fabric to help keep the edges from unraveling, and to help hold it together when it starts its new life outside. The picture above shows the cut holes being sewn on my machine. Every time I rotate around corner, the holes get stuck on different parts of my sewing machine. Bummer. Sewing a simple zigzag stitch is easy, but not when you keep getting stuck. I wish this process was easier.

If you haven't read it yet, you can read my post "Thinking About Installations" to find out how I got started with this idea. (The piece shown in that post is not the piece I'm going to install outside.)

In a day or so, I'll post pictures of what Orange Construction Fence Series #16 looked like before I cut in to it, what it looks like when it's ready to be installed outside. When it's installed, I'll also post pictures. Then I plan on documenting it with photographs weekly as it spends a year outside in its new "home". I'm hoping to install it by June first.

Planning Ahead to Next Fall/Winter

For the past few years, I have decorated, re-designed, and given new life to, some of my wool sweaters. (If you click this link, scroll down to see the posts about my sweaters.) Some of my sweaters were too small and needed to be enlarged slightly. Some were pullovers that I made in to cardigans. Some were boring, and needed to be livened up.

Since I started doing this, many people have asked me when I was going to start selling sweaters to others, instead of only doing my own. Well, I have decided that I am going to work on tweaking used sweaters, and start selling them by next fall at the latest.

Now that I'm starting to work on this project, I need wool or wool blend sweaters. Many of them. A local used clothing store had an 80% off sale this weekend, so I visited three of their locations, as well as another used clothing store nearby one of them. I bought a total of 27 wool, wool blend, and cashmere sweaters, in various sizes, colors and patterns. I need to plan a few more trips to some more used clothing stores, to get more sweaters in a variety of sizes.

My next step is to look at each sweater, make a plan for what to do with it, and then find/buy rickrack, fringes, lace, buttons, and etc, and start cutting and sewing. This is going to be fun. I hope to take as many pictures about this project as I can, and share them here on my blog.

I don't know where or how I will sell them, nor for how much. If you have any suggestions about where (besides etsy.com) and how, please send me an email at jeanne@jeannewilliamson.com. I would love to hear suggestions and get feedback.

Repairing/Patching Clothing - Part 2

After repairing one of two pairs of my husband's jeans near the front pocket (I have no idea how a hole was made there!) on December 2nd, I repaired the same pair again a month ago, on both knees. I placed a piece of black denim behind each hole, as a patch, and I used black thread to make the repair, with what I call "scribble stitching", by sewing back and forth over the hole and the patch material.


I patched this knee then (above), and again a few days ago, when I added another patch above it (below).


I feel other worn spots that will need patching soon, on this same knee.

Repairing these jeans is a little to save money, but mostly because they are really soft, and my husband loves wearing them. It's fun to do this for him.

Another Sweater

I couldn't help myself. I have an old Ann Taylor sweater from the sales rack 8-10 years ago, that's very comfortable, with a nice zipper closure, but I felt that it was a little boring. I've been trying to think of how I could tweak it to make it more funky, and I couldn't come up with anything. Then, all of the sudden I realized that it would be fun to give it a collar and some patch pockets.


In the attic was an old sweater that may have been my husbands (?) that I had already cut up for some other project. It has a nice black/white/grey knitted herringbone type of a pattern, that I thought would work well with this sweater. I cut four few strips that were 1.5" tall and sewed them on to make the "collar". Then I added the two patch pockets in the front, because it needed some balance.

The collar is reminiscent of the peter pan collars from yesteryear, which I have always been fond of. Now the sweater is funkier, and I'll enjoy wearing it as though it was brand new. Total dollar cost = nothing. Total time = 20 minutes.

You can see other sweaters I've tweaked by clicking here.

Repairing/Patching Clothing

In an effort to save two pairs of my husband's jeans, I've been repairing/patching them. It's a little to save money, but mostly because they are really soft, and he loves wearing them.

When I was in high school, my friend Mike had a pair of jeans that were patched so much that they weren't jeans any more, but were many (many!) small pieces of stitched fabric that were holding his pants together. I wish I had a picture of them because they were beautiful. They were full of color and pattern, and the envy of any hippie.

At this time in our lives, I don't want to replicate Mike's jeans, but simply fix them by adding a little color but nothing inappropriate for a fifty-something year old man.


My solution was to put the denim patching material behind the hole (in the inside of the pants), and to do what I call "scribble stitching" back and forth over the hole and the patch material. On the pair of jeans with the black denim patch, I used black thread (shown at the very top), and on the pair with the blue denim patch (above), I used a blue-ish gray thread, that matched the jeans as best as I could. The difference in thread made the repair job look totally different.

My patching project once again reminds me of my textile/mixed media artist hero, Dorothy Caldwell. I once attended a talk of hers, where she showed images of work she's repaired, and also of textiles she's collected (from antique and used clothing stores) that were repaired by the previous owner/s. In focusing on the fine detail of the repairs she showed, you could see that the beauty in the handwork work. I tried to find some of the images from her talk on the web, but couldn't find any, so you'll have to take my word on it.

* * * * * * * * *

Don't forget to visit Small Art Showcase, and The Fine Art Department.

Teaching Kids to Sew

Home Economics class (or Home Ec) is not offered in many public schools any more. When I was growing up, girls in Junior High School took Home Ec and boys took Shop class. I loved my sewing class, but not cooking, and when I asked if I could take Shop, I was told only boys could. When my son was in Middle School, both the boys and girls took Home Ec (there was no Shop class), though I can't remember what they called it. It might have been "Life Skills" or something like that. At the time, they taught sewing and cooking.

Because sewing is not taught in many schools any more, the age of people who sew is getting older. Younger generations do not have the skills to do simple sewing skills, such as sewing on buttons or hemming pants, let alone make their own clothing, curtains or a quilt, to name a few projects.

I was very interested in reading "Enriching fabric of their lives, Teaching the lost art of sewing in Needham and West Roxbury," by Susan Chaityn Lebovits on November 30, 2008, in the Boston Globe.

Sew Easy, a sewing store in Needham and West Roxbury Massachusetts, was founded by Laurèn Johnston. I read about her classes, and the positive reinforcement she provides kids who are learning to sew. I'm not only very impressed, but I'm also thankful. As I've posted a few times on my blog, fabric stores have been closing because very few people sew any more. I hope, that Ms Johnston's mission (and business) catches on, and that sewing becomes a part of more people's lives again.

Fabric Shopping Trip

A few weeks ago I made my last shopping trip to the Fabric Place in Framingham MA, and it was very sad. The walls and shelves were quite bare. In August, they announced they decided to close at the end of November, which prompted my post "Sad News About Fabric Stores."

One of two final purchases I made was a few yards of what I think is "pleather." The plan was to use it to re-cover my dining room chair seats, which I have wanted to do for probably 14+ years.

I was taken with this fabric because it is machine embroidered in a way similar to a sheepskin coat a friend of mine had in high school in the mid 1970's. I loved her coat (actually, I lusted after her coat!), and seeing this fabric, I had to have it. Here is a picture of a similar coat, but my friend's coat was a maxi-coat, which was the rage back then.

The top photo is the front side, which is nice, but I am also especially fond of the back side, shown below. Besides the embroidery, the back is sort of felt-like.


Below is a front detail, and below that, the back


After some discussion at home, the jury is still out on whether I'll end up re-covering the chair seats, but if not, I will find a good use of this fabric. And, I will always think of the Fabric Place, and my friend's coat, when I see it.


Fabric Place, like thousands of other sewers, I will miss you.

* * * * * * * * *

Don't forget to visit SmallArtShowcase.com and TheFineArtDepartment.blogspot.com.

Tweaking Sweaters

I have some pullover sweaters that I like, but since I'm at that point in my life when I'm either cold, or suddenly warm, I now hesitate to wear them since they can't opened (or removed) quickly and easily. This past weekend, I decided that tweaking two of these sweaters is better than having them sit on the shelf, so I took the chance, and made them in to cardigans.

The sweater above is the result of my cutting an opening in the front of this simple blue-ish pullover. It came with the fun little round wool bead-like things on the edge of the neck, arms and bottom. I wanted to play on that, and also add some black to make the sweater more bold, at least in the front.

I used my needle felting machine and felted some different colored circles on the black wool, and then attached it to the sweater. I then made a trip to my local sewing store where I found some fun buttons to funk this sweater up some more.


This is the sweater opened up. Success!



Next I was on to a black wool and angora blend turtleneck sweater, that came with pink yarn stitched in to it as a decoration. I love this sweater. I was extremely nervous about cutting it but since I find myself too warm when I wear it, I held my breath and got started.


I wanted it to button, but I didn't want to sew button holes. I already had this very large scale black rick-rack, so I decided to put it to good use. I attached it to a thin strip of black wool, and then sewed it to the sweater, so it could act as my button holes. I got black velvet covered buttons at the sewing store, and sewed them so they would button through every other zig-zag apart from the rick-rack. Above is a close-up buttoned closed, and below partially opened.


Both of these sweaters came from Marshalls, my favorite clothing store, a few years ago and cost under $20 each. The buttons added to my expense, but not much.

Since this project worked out so well, I'm going to see what other sweaters I have in my closet, that could use funking up or be transitioned from pullover to cardigan.

(Note: The black sweater is jet black, but I had to lighten the photo to show what I did.)

New Collection

Yesterday, I went to the Vintage Fashion and Textiles Show & Sale in Sturbridge MA, for the second time this year. I went to see if I could find some good fabrics, lace or trims to use in my art work, and also to look at vintage eyeglasses.

I went to the May show, and posted about it on May 13, 2008.

I saw a lot of wonderful things, but what caught my eye this time were two antique toy sewing machines. The last thing I need, or have space for, is another collection, but these were very inexpensive and hard to resist, so I bought what is shown in the picture above and below.


I have no idea how many makes an official collection. I already had this funny looking "Hemmer & Stitcher," so now that I have three sewing items, I think it's gotta be a collection.


I didn't know until I got home, that there's an actual market for these small sewing machines. If you go to ebay.com, and search "antique toy sewing machine" or "toy sewing machine", you'll see there are many to choose from, and the prices can be quite high, depending on the condition of the machine.

The "Hemmer & Stitcher" was only listed for a starting price of $3.99 on ebay, so I assume they're not as popular.

The 2009 Vintage Fashion and Textiles Show & Sale dates are May 11, July 13, and September 7. I'm going to try to go again, if I can.

Women, please note, if you have a husband or male friend who likes vintage clothing, they will also enjoy this show. I know this from experience.