Weekly Writings II: Cast On, Weave Off

Wow, thank you for all of the encouragement on my last post - weekly writings seems to be a hit, or least something worth continuing!  

Weekly Writings for November 4th through the 8th, and a little beyond. 

This second weekly writings was meant to be last week's, but since it just needed pictures, I decided to finish it off this morning.  I'll be skipping ahead a week in the next installment, so stay tuned...Also, for the time being, I plan to only record weekdays, giving myself weekends off to catch up on editing, life, and, of course, more studio work.  So, without further ado, let's dive in - 

Monday, November 4th 

Continued the weekend work in the costume studio.  By this point in the semester, I'm used to spending Mondays and Wednesdays in the costume studio, and Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays in textiles.  Ask anyone in either studio, and they probably know me - I basically live between the two studios and have since I've come to Kent - it's the running joke here.  I don't often mind it though, and I take pride in being considered the "studio mom."  I swear I spend half of my time working on my own projects, and the other half either chatting, offering my critique/opinion, or assisting the newcomers.

I'll also throw in that I dragged a friend to see the Fall musical, Hair, with me on Saturday and it was definitely the best I've seen at Kent so far - congrats to the cast and crew!   

KSU's production of Hair, directed by Terri Kent
in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the May 4th Massacre
Photograph by: Kent State University's School of Theatre and Dance

Back to sewing:  Despite making some progress on my 1860s dress over the weekend, in a brief panic of only having four days until I leave for the domestic symposium, I decided to switch gears.  Regency working class here I come!  Going back to my comfort zone, I patterned a new short gown based off a few examples in my pinterest board:19th Century Short Gowns.   

I've always been drawn to working class fashions -
and the bold mixing of colors, patterns, and prints.
(Image via: Pinterest)

Inspiration for the bodice pieces.
(Image via: Pinterest)

Inspiration for the sleeves and skirt.
(Image via: Pinterest)

I made a mock up, corrected my pattern, and will be using a turkey red, striped reproduction fabric that I picked up at Zinck's Fabric Outlet.  I'd also like to make a new, checked apron too if there's time, but, per usual, this may be too ambitious...

Short gown mock up sans sleeves.
The waistline was raised by 1" in the corrected pattern.

Apron fabric (left), short gown fabric (right)

Lastly, I had fun practicing with diamond netting on the pinnable sewing tables.  Tomorrow in my dimensional class I'll probably begin the final netting sample.  

My first attempt at diamond netting - definitely needs more practice!

Tuesday, November 5th 

Today in the textile studio, I continued practicing netting techniques, including increasing, decreasing, and changing threads: 

I also began a circular net: 

Then, I took a break to darn a sweater for an art history professor.  There were seven holes, so it took a while.  Here's a helpful diagram for the next time you need to darn something: 

Diagram for darning holes from
"How to Mend Your Knits"
(Image source: MarthaStewart.com)

In the evening, I continued to work on my overshot sampling.  The following sample is woven with a 3-step gradient that I dyed with Pro-Chem's WF fuschia and WF turquoise for the pattern pick, and a gradient of 10/2 cotton yarns from melon to yellow for the structural pick.

More overshot sampling in progress.
Pattern weft: hand-dyed 2-ply wool yarn
Structural weft: 10/2 cotton yarn

Wednesday, November 6th

Back in the costume studio.  Aside from my regular class work and few chapters of reading, I began to put together my short gown.  

Fashion fabric is a reproduction cotton print, lining of cotton muslin.

Mostly finished the apron: 

The apron is hemmed, gauged, and ready to be attached to the band! 

And finished the night with the college late night skate, a weekly event that runs from 10:30pm to midnight.  We all need our hobbies, right? 

Thursday, November 7th

For dimensional, I finished my first circular net in class, and began the final sample (this time for a grade) which will need to be completed over the weekend.  

Netting samples: 2 circular (left and middle), 1 square (right)

Circular netting sample

Detail of circular net

The sample collapsed

For advanced studio, I finally finished sampling!  In total, the sample warp was 150", and I ended up with eight color studies.  

This final sample was actually woven to trade with another art student.
Paige picked two textured yarns, which had an interesting effect on the pattern.

After my ice skating lesson, I removed the completed samples and gelled the edges in preparation for Fridays' critique.  

Ready to remove samples - and that's a wrap! 

Friday, November 8th

Today's the big day - packing for the weekend and then studio in the morning.  Several of us had critique in the afternoon.  I received some good feedback and direction for my final project. 

Drove home to NY to see the Mom and the dog.  Looking forward to the 2019 Domestic Symposium this weekend - stay tuned for the post on this event!  

Weekly Writings I: Beginnings

Trying out a new style for my blog posts with the intention of a more casual, conversational format and journal-like entries for this week's works-in-progress.  I'd love to hear what you think of the change - and if I should continue!

Monday, October 28th

I began a new passion project - an autumn 1860s dress!  This will be a "nicer" day dress of a striped, reproduction cotton with shirred coat sleeves and velvet trim on the bodice.  The goal is to have it wearable by GCV's domestic symposium if I can attend, and finished for Thanksgiving.  Not sure if either will happen, but here's to hoping...today's progress included assembling the skirt and preparing the hem facing for hand stitching. 

Materials: (top) dress fabric, (bottom) hem facing, (right) gold velvet trim.

Inspiration for bodice trim.
CDV of a young woman, c.1860s
(Image via: Pinterest, sold on Ebay) 

Shirred sleeves
(Image via: Pinterest) 

Another example of gathering on the sleeve.
CDV of Isa Vanfossen from Wellsville, OH, c.1860s
(Image via: Pinterest, sold on Etsy)

Tuesday, October 29th

Spent the day, 10 am - 8pm, in the textile studio.  In my dimensional class, we began our basketry samples.  Simultaneously wrapping, coiling, and stitching proved a challenge...I can see why basketry is an art!

Afterwards, I worked for my studio hours on an overshot sample.  Currently, I'm testing colors for my next, much larger project.  I dyed a four-step green gradient (ProChem's WF golden yellow + WF brilliant blue) last Friday for the pattern weft, which is crown colony 2-ply wool yarn.  The structural tabby weft is another gradient of 10/2 cottons, over a 5/2 cotton warp.  That's three separate color systems to consider - it's looking a lot like Fall on my loom!

Weft color systems:
Hand-dyed 4-step gradient of 2-ply wool for pattern picks,
(5 colors) 10/2 cottons for tabby picks

Progress on the loom.

It's almost impossible to tell, but there is a color transition
from light yellow to lime green in the structural or tabby pick.
In the next sample, I will probably make sure the color change is more dramatic.  

Plans for the rest of my night include (1) hand-stitching the hem facing, and (2) beginning my basketry project.  It's already 10pm, so we'll see how much actually gets done.  Our critique for all of the basketry samples is on Thursday, which is a crazy-fast turn around!


Wednesday, October 30th

I wrapped, coiled and stitched a thing!  It took forever and my hands will probably hurt for the rest of the week from keeping the tension...Thank goodness for Amazon Prime though - I watched all six episodes of the BBC series Aristocrats (1999), re-watched The Fabulous Life Of Elisabeth Vigee Labrun (2018), and listened to more musical playlists than I'd care to admit.  I also really, really want to sew all the 18th century things now. 

Basket in progress - here you can see I am wrapping a rope core with light tan wool,
and alternating color blocks of brown and puce-colored cotton yarns.

Here's the finished basketry sample: 

Not too bad for a first attempt, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be a basket-maker.  Bring on the circular and diamond netting next! 

Thursday, October 31st

Happy Halloween - wishing everyone a spooktacular day!

Today's #OOTD or outfit of the day featured my glow-in-the-dark spooky skirt, paired with a black and white striped shirt, clocked stockings, and pointy-toed flats.  I intended to write a blog post just on the spooky skirt (and a matching witch hat that I neglected to bring to college), but that will have to wait...so here's a preview picture or two:

Spooky Hat
(Materials: cheap velvet, wire, gauze, thread,
plastic skulls, hot glue)

Spooky Skirt
(Materials: glow-in-the-dark fabric,
interfacing, thread, metal skirt closure)

As for other class news, the critique of our basketry samples went well, and now we're moving onto netting.  Oh, and I began a figure skating class, which means of course I'm watching Olympic reruns and dreaming up skating costumes now.  Like I need more projects...

Friday, November 1st

Fridays are my textile studio days!  Not only do I have the graduate/advanced studio seminar (a meeting time for critique and discussing our weekly readings with Professor Janice Lessman-Moss), but every first Friday of the month, there's a visiting artist lecture at noon.  This week featured Wayne Gonzales, visiting artist in drawing and painting.

Afterwards, I spend the rest of the day working...sometimes I don't leave the building until 2 am, which makes for a long (16-hour!?! 10am - 2am) day.  I often do all of my dyeing on Friday nights (since I'm usually guaranteed to have the dye lab all to myself haha), but today I continued to work on sampling.  Here are the two pieces I finished this afternoon:  

Sample #5
Hand-dyed 2-ply wool and 10/2 cotton weft; 5/2 cotton warp.

Sample #6
Same hand-dyed 2-ply wool and 10/2 cotton weft
and 5/2 cotton warp as above.

The plan is to finish sampling this week, and critique at the seminar on Friday.  Then, I'll be planning and prepping for the final project.  

Tonight, I also had the chance to attend two MFA thesis show receptions!  I've had the privilege of getting to know both Nate (MFA in glass) and Erica (MFA in jewelry/metals) through a few textile courses, and it has been an honor to weave side-by-side with such talented artists.  I will miss them both, and wish them all the best in their careers and continuing artistic practices!  

Nate's glass weavings are incredible!  These few pictures of my favorites from the show do not do them justice.  To see more of his work, please visit his website here: Nate Avery Glass

Glass weaving by Nate Avery, MFA.

Glass weaving by Nate Avery, MFA. 

Glass weaving by Nate Avery, MFA.

Erica's multimedia body suits are equally inspiring and just fantastical!  Her woven pieces often feature an array of found materials, and her transformation of "trash" or plastic bags in this costume is beyond words.  On a more personal note, the textiles studio will definitely not be the same without her - she's been so kind and supportive of my own work, in class and late nights at the loom, I will really miss her.  Luckily, you'll find her and be able to follow her work over on Instagram @eurrrca

"Chaosmomalia" body suit by Erica Hoosic, MFA. 

"Chaosmomalia" body suit by Erica Hoosic, MFA.
All of that weaving! 😍 

All in all, a wonderful way to end the week.  See you in the next weekly writings! 

Spring Fiber Update: New Beginnings

Ode to the new Spring semester - how I look forward to all of the wonderful opportunities, friendships, sewing and weaving in store!

A woven study in primaries and co-primaries.

"New Beginnings" is the theme for this post, and the reason is two-fold.  One, it's another semester with new classes, including three studios and a composition class.  Two, I'd like to resume the monthly, college fiber-related class updates, which ended up being only a single post last Fall...(eventually I'd like to finish those, but we'll see what time allows).  For the Spring Fiber Updates series, you can expect to see projects from two, "special topics" classes - Draping for Theatre II and Textiles: Color & Weave.  If you're interested in what's currently on the sewing table, loom or even in the dye pots, make sure to follow the blog (or our Facebook page), so you won't miss an update - let's get started! 


Draping for Theatre II: Period Draping

Is this the perfect class for my interests, or what?!  A brand new, "special topics" class this Spring, designed as a part II to Draping I (which I wasn't able to fit in my self-designed program), the goal is to become proficient at draping over period undergarments.  Working with various corsets and petticoats, bustles and paniers, we are responsible for creating patterns and finished half-muslins for four, distinct time periods.  Our first project is an 18th-Century Dress, based on a period reference of our choice (for undergraduates), or a self-designed rending (for graduates).

For my first foray in draping, I chose a deceptively simple Robe à l'Anglaise from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  The first step was to lay out the seam and style lines over our stays (mine were actually made during my independent study in corsetry last Fall!) and paniers.  The process is very much like sketching, but with 1/8" twill tape.  Since we are only responsible for half-muslins, we are sharing stands, my lines are visible on the right.

My reference image for the first project:
Robe à l'Anglaise, c.1776
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009.300.952

Taping seam and style lines over stays and paniers.

You'll notice that for theatre, pleats become seam lines to make the garments more alterable and to conserve expensive fabrics: 

The next step is where the actual draping happens.  First, a length of muslin was pinned and fitted to the stand, and the lines for the front of the bodice were marked.  Once removed, the muslin markings could be transferred and trued up on paper.  The process was then repeated for the back, completing the pattern for the bodice.  

The draping process in a picture! 

Here's what my draped pieces looked like after removing them from the stand...

...from muslin to paper patterns!

It's a very different technique than the flat patterning I've worked with in the past, but it's definitely a skill I'm eager to become comfortable with - just thing of all the perfectly period possibilities!  Now onto the skirt and sleeves this weekend...

Textiles: Color & Weave

What kind of a semester would it be without a weaving course?  Unfortunately, I had wanted to enroll in more textile studios, but both the Jacquard and the woven accessories studios conflicted with my other classes.  Being that #artstudent with those looong studio classes and hours can be a juggling act, especially when it comes to course registration...That said, I did get into my first choice - Textiles: Color & Weave!  

Within the first week, we were winding and dyeing skeins for our first project.  A "syllabus week" simply does not exist in studio classes!  In the picture below, there are 1800 yards of Crown Colony wool simmering away in pots of brilliant blue 490, turquoise 478, sun yellow 119, golden yellow 199c, bright red 351, and magenta 338, all of which are ProChemical's washfast acid dyes: 

Dye all the colors!

Then, during the second week, we threaded our looms.  Though we had some parameters, like needing a minimum of a continuous inch of each color, I fun playing with some end-and-end, or alternating colored threads, in the warp: 

All threaded, tied-on, and ready to begin weaving.

A view from the back -
oh and don't worry, the threads that seem out of sequence
will be sorted as they go through the reed, which is like a giant comb!

Just yesterday I finished weaving the first 20" section which included stripes of each color (with some pick-and-pick, again alternating colored threads, to match the warp) and a gradient using analogous colors.  I also dyed some tints and shades for section two, which I need to go rinse after posting this!  

Section one weaving in progress.
The color quality isn't the best, sorry.

Keep a look out on Facebook for more progress on this weaving, as you probably won't see it again here until it's finished.

That's about all I have to report on as far as classes go - it's going to be a very different semester from the last, where I had to eat, breath and sleep or rather not sleep sewing and weaving projects, 24/7.  Though January allowed me to ease slowly back into being a full-time art student, things will no doubt pick up in February - when you can look for the second Spring Fiber Update!  

Bonus: A Visit to the Kent State Fashion Museum 

Since this is opening post for the Spring semester, I thought I'd share a tradition of mine...Every semester thus far, I've visited the Kent State Fashion Museum within the first week of classes to see the new extant garments featured in my favorite exhibit, The Fashion Timeline.  (It also gives me a chance to catch up with some of the employees, especially the head of security and a few of the student guards, who have gotten to know me by name and face.)  

My favorite and the permanent exhibit - The Fashion Timeline.
This features highlights from the collection on a rotating basis.

Here are a few of the highlights as it's too difficult to choose a single favorite:  (As always, feel free to click on the images for a larger view!) 

Robe a la Polonaise, ca.1770s,
with linen needle lace engageantes, ca.1715-25
KSUM 2004.27.8 ab 

Silk dress with matching collar, ca. 1830
KSUM 1983.1.52 ab

Silk plaid taffeta dress, c.1840s
KSUM 1984.16.15 a-c (dress)

Patterned silk dress trimmed with black fringe, late 1850s
KSUM 1985.5.1

Silk taffeta evening dress with self-fabric trim and fringe, late 1860s.
KSUM 1983.1.103 a-c

If I had to choose a favorite?  The details are exquisite!
KSUM 1983.1.103 a-c

This fancy dress is fun, and may be of interest to my co-workers who are awaiting the arrival of our new telegraph office at GCV&M! 

Dress printed with an issue of the Ahstabula Telegraph from November 1889
Cotton dress, bag and sash; paper fan and hat, 1889-90
KSUM 2018.3.1 a-f

A few accessories from the hallway timeline: 

Ikat, is that you?  I'd love to try weaving some silk ribbons in the future...
Woven spoon bonnet trimmed with warp-printed ribbon, early 1860s.
KSUM 1983.1.1635

Black leather boots with scalloped edge, ca. 1880s
KSUM 1994.48.53 ab

White leather shoes with rosettes, ca. 1880s
KSUM 1998.38.13 ab

And finally, what fun!  To make the exhibit more interactive, you can now leave a "post-it" note with the "historic period [that] you wish you had lived through."  Unfortunately, there was a lack of enthusiasm for anything before 1920...so I set to rectify that immediately!  Readers be proud, I restrained myself to only three eras - the 1830s, 1840s and 1860s - as it is just the beginning of the semester.  Though, there's no telling what I'll do at the end if this current trend continues haha...more love the 18th and 19th Centuries! 

Which historic period you ask?  My answer - the entire 19th century?
Okay, how about just 1830-1860 for starters; then at the end of the semester,
if the rest of the century remains blank, I'll be happy to fill in the timeline!

I'll also take a turn around the current exhibits again, as something new catches my eye every time!  The other exhibits on view right now are For the Birds, Fashion Meets the Body, and Beyond the Suit, which I've had the pleasure of viewing several times.  The Kent State Fashion Museum is an outstanding resource to have access to, and one of the main reasons I came to KSU.  I only wish I had more reason to be there (beyond haunting the fashion timeline), and would love to make a few research appointments in the future.  If there are any requests for specific costumes or textiles out there - please let me know!