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jude
I am having issues with the internet again so I cannot upload video today. I am not going to dwell on it really.
On the heels of yesterday then...pinned to Sanity. A Wom(b)man's Cloth.
Womb Woman's Apron. I added the red fringe (continuing) and some old garden ties (holding) from my old garden back there, I think to stake the sunflowers before a big storm. I was going to weave some ties but this seemed an act of kindness to some old cloth. It can rest here for now. It has inspired new direction for a robe called Wind.
What if a field of stitch will ground this thing?
Whispering, the Man had a sleepless night and is finally resting, hope you can hear me. Too cold for the porch this morning.
I've been enjoying the pics on Instagram and seeing where you are.
Where am I?
I ask that a lot. Sometimes as soon as I rise in the morning. But here, today, I am still at where was I. ? .
I use the term Design Mending to describe a form of real time design. It's really about continuing from where you are. Reconsidering based on what is. Not returning to check if you are on plan. Where you should be. Everything is new at each moment. From a creative standpoint I think Boro can be used as an example of moment to moment problem solving, going, as each moment changes the shape of what was, and what you need, and what you have to work with. And ultimately what you get.
So that morning, so long ago, Wind was hanging. On a stick in the home I no longer live in. I noticed how different it was from my original drawing but how my original needs had still been met. I thought about what I may have done differently to begin with, but how that didn't matter as long as I ended up with a light weight summer robe that I might throw on as I jumped naked from the bed on a hot summer morning. Maybe just to go out to watch the sunrise. Maybe to feed the goats if I had some. Probably just to put out the trash. And if it was today, just to gaze out the window and wonder where I am.
Anyway, back in June of 2012... I looked at where I was. I talked out loud to myself. (And oddly, I am talking to you now)
I think it's time to be here and now with this robe. Because so much unrecorded work has been done. And still there is so much more I could do to make this more into a finished garment. Next Wednesday I will ask myself where am I? In real time and get on with it.
I usually take one of 2 approaches when binding an edge. Turned or ragged, but mostly binding the front openings of simple garments is just like adding a simple seam binding to enclose and strengthen the edge. A place that gets a lot of wear. The place where outside meets inside. With a bit of imagination, it could be decorative and functional at the same time.
The basic turned casing is the strongest and most common.
A little more about edges edges from another class that was not about garments...all these techiniques cross over really, you just adapt them to your own situation.
If you want a more padded edge you can add another layer of cloth or use a thicker fabric. Once I used a strip of old quilt with the batting still in. OR you can sew one binding over another. A lot of times that happens from repeated mending. You see the result of that on a lot of old boro garments. For Wind, I wanted a thin edge. At least then. I never finished the Kimono Shirt. I was naming it East-West. And I had plans to weave into it. We'll see...
Have a good weekend. Blog issues will keep me busy. Hopefully next week Typepad will feel like cooperating and I can continue...I want to start a quilt.
Today's note to self...posting here, for now, well, it's ridiculous. But I know it's possible. Moments here, moments there, OK, it's a patchwork. Little bits at a time. Duh jude, figure out a way to hold it together. That's what you do. So less often, posts being built over a series of days. Content, in smaller pieces perhaps. In perspective, appropriate.
The thing I like about cloth is that it seems kind.
You can make friends with it, it will cooperate if you give it's nature some consideration. Like working with anything,(anyone), it is basically an exercise in problem solving (not always JUST going), based on what you have to work with. I often say ingenuity springs from a relationship based on patience and flexibility. Love, I guess. Yes, I just love cloth.
Cloth is like clay. I will be like Clay.
I had been slowly adding strips of that patchwork curtain to the front of the robe. I added one of the other pieced strips as well. but I moved the strip slightly, off it's original course, because cloth lets you do that...to fit the one side of the neckline. I like the gentle curve of the seams. How it flows. Seems to adapt to the situation. Seems to soften. Like gentle wind.
I have been posting content from an old class, just wanting to finish up the basic approach to robe making as it applies to a large cloth base you might choose to work on. I will get through the basics of that soon and with May, move on to other forms of large cloth. But know that all these techniques might be applied to a quilt type project as well. My goal is never actually to lead you through something step by step but to inspire you to find your own comfort with problem solving. Offering my perspective.
As I look back, at any point, I might have taken another direction. Watching all of you doing your own thing reminds me how that might happen.
So we started from scratch here, but the same method I will show here could apply if you just decide to resurface any old garment, like a bathrobe or a robe that has worn out etc. Here I will cover the entire surface, but if working with a pr-existing garment you might just decorate certain areas while mending at the same time. Redesigning is mending too, in my world. Design Mending.
Coating a base with pre-pieced strips
So with the goal of coating the sheet based garment with a second light weight layer, and to use up a lot of small scraps, I want to talk about what I will call pre-pieced foundation patching. Based on a habit I developed a while back, piecing scraps, grouped by color, developed to both organize and store a stash of color related bits. And to live with process...
Here I decided to coat the base with pre-pieced scrap. And I have chosen a neutral palette, thinking that wind is somewhat colorless. And also because I had a lot of neutral eco-dyed scrap. Especially brown, so easy. That is how I began. Consider this a way to use any leftover patchwork as well. And to transform a surface into something else.
The patchwork I was temporarily using as a curtain was pieced on the machine and then dipped in the black walnut dye and left for a few weeks. I blogged about something similar here. One way to get similar colored scraps is to over-dye them as a group. Anyway, now I am cutting the large patched color blanket into strips to use in this project.
Additional strips are being made straight from the scrap basket. As needed.
I had in mind here, to keep things light, only coating the front, but the same method could be used on the inside, in this way, you can achieve a reversible garment where the base actually ends up to be the batting. This concept is where my quilt making and robe making might overlap. I often work from both sides of a foundation when making a blanket. Quilt. There is so much more to say about that. My internet is fading again, so next time.
I did not plan to focus on the Robe thing in such detail here in "Large Cloth".
But how it goes is simply how it is. And I let you lead me my friends. Lead me and accompany me at the same time.
You might recognize this robe "Without End" from one of the videos I published from the Contemporary Boro class in the last few days. It's the one made from grandma's linen curtain. With the binding made from scraps of my son's baby quilt. It was patched and dyed and mended and worn. My first attempt at ROBE. Dates back to 1975 or so. And then the cloth began to weaken. To honor it I undid the seams and attached it to a foundation cloth for support. To take the strain of tension away. It is now a wall cloth. And I renamed it Temple. It is not a religious statement. It is symbolic of a dwelling place for an aging deep seated feeling of honor. I have only begun to put this together, it has been hanging on walls for a while and needs more stitch.
I put this here today simply to emphasize how one thing might become another. And still be useful. It could have become a blanket. Maybe it is now an art cloth. One I wanted to create , wanted it to make an impact. Maybe just a Ceremony. Because I needed it as a reminder of how I feel about cloth. In a new way it is still a robe. It wraps me in peace. And tells, to me, my own story.
How strange,it has grown larger now, Larger than Life.
2012, wow, I wonder if I would actually remember how it happened with out this record of days? I find this blogging such a great tool, well, digital recording, and sharing, in general, helps me learn from experience. Because I do not prepare ahead of time, the truth of how things happen is more present. Real. And what can be more powerful than truth. Marketing has a different kind of power which scares me really. The power over others. Instead of... well, getting off subject here.
This is my audio from 2012. And me in an old sheet. Silly me, not knowing what I am doing. Trusting in something.
I always say this...this isn't brain surgery or anything. If you cut something away and don't like it, you can always put it back. We are design mending here. Right? The sewing on a simple rectangle based garment, well it's simple seams, change can be easy. Even the add and take away. Sometimes even in the middle of the making, things might be deconstructed and reconstructed. And worn at any stage. Get to know it.
At this point I decided to call this Wind. It was even making it's own wind when I moved.
Next is cut and maybe shape, then some basic stitch to create the base garment, then look again.
It's just great if you can get someone to take pictures of you in it. Even a video of you moving in it. Great fun. And you can learn by looking. If you are posting pics anywhere other than Instagram (use #ragmates 2020) let me (us) know in the comments. It would be great to see ourselves draped in cloth! If need be, you can send me a photo, I can post some pics here or there if you are not shy. (If you are subscribed by email, there is a link to #ragmates2020 in the top menu bar of the actual blog, you do not have to be an Instagram member to view)
After cutting/sewing and deciding on a shape that suits and feels ok, well then you might think about the front/ neck edging and another layer or layers.
As you can see, I did go with the simple curved cut to make the sleeves. It didn't make too much difference but it bunches differently under the arm and softens the overall shape. I often sew totally by hand, but because of my aching thumb way back then, I used the machine for the long side seams. I don't have a sewing machine anymore. Long sticks are a great way to hang these garments when you are designing, so you can see the whole surface. I remember that the next day after this pic was taken, I went to take care of mom for a few days. Those were tough days, like these. I miss her when I remember this class. A big cloth can hold days.
And it feels funny to see the old house again. My studio.
Next, I will review how I attached a second layer to give this substance.
And there was a bit of Robe Storming last night...
Note to self: I'm amazed I still sound pretty much the same after all these years. Still the same person but so much not as well.
The Wind robe. Also from the Contemporary Boro class. Started out as Summer Breeze. This one made using the bird robe as a guide. I have it hanging on the porch today. It's freezing again. Snow expected!
I made the photo into a kind of sketch using an photo editing app. I've been doing that lately. Because I am looking back and the look of it makes it seem more like a fairytale or something. My Story.
It started like this...using an old sheet.
And I was saying something like this:
So I am beginning a new garment from scratch. Since I have made a few before, I can simple use those as patterns, and actually jumping off points, Experience always provides you a new place to start. And then to mend from, since you might remember the story of the projects that went before. what you liked, what you dreamed of changing. What you needed then, what you need now.
I would like to revisit this lesson in detail. Put the old audios (needing some reformatting) here and focus a bit more on the process that followed. I have more to say now that time has passed. (it feels so good to bring all of this "HOME") In this instance the fabric base becomes invisible, and mostly acts as a foundation to patch and stitch on. Which means you can use cloth you don't like much to start. Then cover it with tiny bits of something else. I will continue with this tomorrow.
Maybe we can just consider for a while before deciding on a method.
This one is light, meant to be more of a whisper. To be worn in summer. But I also use it as an under layer. Under the bird robe in winter.
There is a category for A robe called Wind. I started it when Mom fell ill.
Note to those subscribed by email. If you would like to interact and see the comments of others, click the title of the post to come to the blog. When you respond to the email, you will be in touch with only me. That is fine too. Just to know.
This, again, is the bird robe. Today. A large cloth project from way back, that I still shelter in. Just appropriate for the times.
Some folks have expressed interest in making a simple robe. Have asked about the method.
I will be talking about using old garments when I get to pre-existing bases. Of course this has become one over time.
But if you want to start from scratch, I will share my method here, for making a simple pattern. And robe base. These videos are from my Contemporary Boro class which has never been re-released as part of feel free, mostly because there were some glitches in the media that needed to be resolved. At one point I will make the whole class available.
What if? I don't have a large piece of cloth to cut from? Patchwork. Sew what you have together to make a bigger cloth. Yup, that's the point. Starting with patched cloth will yield unexpected and delightful results when cut to shape.
Because this is such a loose boxy thing, perfect alignment and seam allowance doesn't make much difference, you can add a bit extra to allow for seams but it has never mattered much to my making.
Once it is basically stitched together it becomes a base to play with. I was wearing mine right from the beginning.
or you can just play paper dolls.
General Note: I have decided some sort of social media will be more inclusive, so I have chosen Instagram and the hashtag #ragmates2020 for sharing if you are there. Because a lot of you are there, I know. It's fairly easy for me to be there too. Feel free to share anything you are working on. Pics there but Lessons still here, of course.
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