From time to time I enjoy departing from weaving scarves and tops in order to do "one of a kind pieces". When I weave a garment many times there is left over warp so I continue to weave cloth that can be used for something else at another time. These pieces of handwoven cloth go into my extra fabric stash. When I am ready I pull them out and make something with them. Sometimes it's a handwoven embellished purse, sometimes it becomes the embellishment on something, and other times it becomes a shrug.
A shrug for those of you who do not know is a shawl type garment that has a very small sleeve seam so that when worn if it falls off your shoulder the sleeves will keep it from leaving the body completely.
I just finished working on one of these. They are time consuming as I am designing the embellishments as I go. I am hunting through my stash of interesting fabric, trims, beads, buttons, etc. in hopes of finding just the right items to use.
This time I looked into my stash of samples from a complex cloth class I took which was taught by Jane Dunnewold (the complex cloth guru!). These samples are only about 10" x 12"and are dyed, over dyed, discharged, screen printed, stamped, and painted. Multiple techniques are used to make the cloth design. Since I have documented all the processes used for each sample, I am free to use them , soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I decided to cut them on the bias and use them for trim and binding.
Here are a few pictures of the process. It goes like this:
These are my complimentary complex cloth samples. One has been dyed, over dyed, discharged, stenciled, stamped and printed. The other has only been dyed and over dyed.
Bias trim is cut from both cloths.
I organize the fabrics. Here are 3 complex cloth fabrics and 2 handwoven fabrics. All will be sewn together. I love this color combination!
The bias trim is applied to the handwoven fabric. The other complimentary fabric is used as piping.
Seams are covered for a couture finish.
Here is the completed piece with the third complex sample creating the binding along the upper edge.
Hello Friend!
ReplyDeleteI love what you have done in this piece. I was just reading Jane's website, came to yours, and found you using your art cloth in your work, what fun.
Are you heading to New jersey anytime soon? I was wondering if we could piggyback a visit before or after. Maybe we could do a mini art retreat in Cape May.
Miss you, Sunshine
Sunshine,
ReplyDeleteSo glad you liked what I did. I've thought I would be more successful with making small art cloths than large like Jane does. I like the idea of reworking them into the garments I do. Small seems more manageable to me.
I've wanted to get in touch but there is so much to share, writing didn't seem adequate. Art retreat sounds like fun. Not sure when next trip to NJ will be. We'll talk!
Judy