Friday Archives

I wanted to participate in the Friday Archives this week. So, this is part of a piece I did for my senior show in college. I hung large knitted pieces against stretched fabric - it incorporated several themes, but visually it was a nod to the color fields of Barnett Newman and Mark Rothko via fiber arts.



I soaked each knitted piece in rabbit skin glue so that they became stiff before finally hanging them on their stretched fabric in the gallery. Now, I think that was pretty unnecessary, because they hung just fine by themselves. But this image is of one of those hanging in the studio before the show.

It was titled, "Woman," which was a referenceto de Kooning's women, where I gathered the color scheme for this particular "painting."

Looking at it now, I love the shape and form away from the frame of the stretcher. At the time, I was still thinking of my art in the context of painting, and so I thought that it needed the structure of the color field to stand in, but now I see that the craft, perhaps, has enough weight to stand on it's on (metaphorically speaking).

Sewing, sewing

I've been sewing like crazy cakes lately.  I got some new wool stuffing and cotton batting, and I can't believe how awesome it feels.  Somehow, I've been much more productive than usual, and boy, is that fun!  Our new local Arts Commission is having an Arts event at the end of the month, and I really want to participate - because, seriously, isn't it great we have a new local Arts Commission?

So, I'm sewing and sewing. I've got a growing basket of turtles, flying pigs, a giraffe, crocodiles and sharks (yes, sharks!), turnover dolls (ooh, that's new, too), some old fiber art, and a few flip dolls.  Also, I'm finishing up a custom George and the Dragon flip doll, an Alchemy request, and working on a submission to the Renaissance Regional Art Exhibit, which was the inspiration for the turn over dolls.

So I need to show you these new Turn Over Dolls - at least that's what I'm calling them.   One set is a bunny on one side, and a duck on the other. The other design is a cat and fish.  Cool?

And check out my shark.  Yes, it's basically the Smile Crocodile pattern, but in a shark shape. I'll be adding the pattern to the shop as Hungry Shark, unless you guys have a better name?

I had a bit of housekeeping to do, to get legal with the new CPSIA.  If you don't know, all items intended for children now have to be tested for lead and labeled with the makers information.   Items made of fabric and natural materials are exempt from lead testing - thank goodness.  My crocodiles and sharks are made with zippers that I did not test, but the manufacturer did and has a certificate stating there lead free, and yada yada.  It's complicated, and I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm trying to comply with all the  requirements.  And hey, don't my tags look super cool? 

Have you seen Alchemy on Etsy?  Buyers can describe something they'd like to have made, and then designers make bids for the job.  I've sort of ignored it until now, but now the possibilities for collaborating with interesting folks is totally exciting.  Right now, I'm working on a Plush Walking Stick (Bug) - I mean, what a fun idea, right?

 Whew, that's a lot of pictures for today.  After the Arts in the Alley, I'll be adding all the left over plushes to the shop, so be sure to check in at the end of the month.

Pesto!

Among our New Year's Resolutions, John and I are trying to take a more active role in our health and try to eat specific foods for our bodies needs (like MonoUnsaturated Fats and Fiber - thank you, Tara). Tara gave me an old nutrition text book of hers, which we use regularly. So in order to help us stick to this, and just for general organization, we developed a weekly meal plan (This was John's idea, I resisted for a while because I like to be uncommitted). We've developed this schedule:

Monday: Fish night
Tuesday: Asian Food
Wednesday: Italian
Thursday: Mexican
Friday: traditional meat main dish meal (like mom's chicken and rice, parmesian chicken, meatloaf, or whatever, with plain old veggies on the side)
Saturday: left overs, eat out or "other"
Sunday: crockpot day (which will primarily be soup since John loves it, and I rarely think to make it).

I make no claims for how long this will last, but so far it's been fun to plan out meals in advance.(which also helps with the shopping). We've also mixed up the nights already, based on bean burrito cravings (which are full of trans fat at Taco Bell, but good-for-you-ish when I make them). We've gotten the chance to try to new recipes that've been hanging around too, like Broccoli Beef and Pesto! (not at the same time)

Handy List of Tutorials

Here's a handy list of my tutorials (or you can search for posts tagged "tutorial"). If you've made anything from one of my patterns, I would love to see! Please add a photo to the wewilsons flickr pool.

For the Kids
Turtles coming out of their shells
Giraffe
Kangaroo Apron
Swatch Frog
Bear Bag (with man, dog, and cat variations)

Reusable Bags
Reusable Snack Bag
Knitted Market Bag

Purses/Bags
Fat Quarter Purse
Airplane Bag

Around the House
Spring Cleaning Dust Mitt
Terrariums

Crafting
Fiber Content Experiment

Experiment: Fiber Content

I like to be thrifty, so I frequently buy scraps and yardage at rummage sales, yard sales, and goodwill. This can be a problem whenever I want to make something for L, or something to sell, and I want to know what kind of fabric I'm using.

I recently found this experiment in 101 Sewing Secrets from the Singer Sewing Reference Library, and I knew I had to give this a try. Below is my paraphrased version of their experiment.

Here are the fabrics I used:


1. Birdseye Pique 100% cotton - this was my control fabric, since I knew for sure what it was.
2. a remnant bought at local craft store labeled "assorted flannel"
3. a scrap that I have no idea where I got, that seems kind of wooly
4. a nice piece of yardage I got at a rummage sale that I'm thinking is linen or cotton (I'm wanting to make a new baby blanket from this.)
5. cute patchwork print that feels kind of scratchy, I've had it forever, but never used it because I figure it's polyester
6. some kind of satiny feeling synthetic, I bought for a project in college before I paid attention to what it was made of. I have tons of this and like to use for linings and tags.
7. a grey fabric that feels like men's dress pants, I got it at a locally owned craft store going out of business and it had no labels

To start: get a candle and matchces, tweezers or tongs, a glass bowl or other non flammable surface, your fabric scraps and pen and paper

Next: Hold a piece of each scrap (one at a time) in the fire for a moment, then drop in the glass bowl and watch.


Note how it burns. Does the fire go out as soon as you remove it from the flame or does it keep burning? Does it catch fire or just melt? Does it smell like burning leaves or paper, or chemically and plastic?

When the fire is out and it has cooled to the touch, note what's left. Is it soft and ashy, a charred ash, or a hard melted bead?

Take notes and compare to the list below:
Cotton, linen, rayon: will burn vigorously, smell like burning paper, and leave a soft gray ash

Wool and silk: will burn well, but more slowly. may go out after taking it out of the fire, smells like burning hair or feathers. will leave a crushable ash.

Polyester, nylon, and other synthetics: will burn or melt only while in the flame or shortly after being removed. has a chemical smell and will leave a hard bead.

Acetate, and acrylic: burn and melt in the flame and after being removed, have a chemical smell, and leave a hard bead.

Blends will burn like the dominant fabric, although you may see signs of both types.
Obviously this won't give you very precise information about blends, or distinguish between two types of fabric in one group. But it's very helpful if you can't tell by sight and touch what it's made of.

Here are my results:

1. I was glad I used a control fabric, because it gave me a good idea of what burning "vigorously" and "soft ash" meant. It would have been smart to do this with wool and polyester, too.
2. My flannel acted just like the birdseye, so it seems to be cotton or at least a predominantly cotton blend.
3. My "wooly" scrap seems to be wool! Or maybe a wool/cotton blend.
4. I was surprised that what I thought was linen seemed to have some wool in it. I feel pretty confident it is all/mostly natural fibers. It wasn't quite as crunchy as number 3, so I'm guessing some kind of wool/cotton/maybe linen blend.
5. This one sort of half melted, half burned, but stopped as soon as I took it out of the fire. It had a little ash. It smelled chemically, but didn't leave a hard bead. I'm guessing it's a blend of polyester and cotton.
6. This one melted in the flame, and stopped as soon as I pulled it out leaving a nice plastic-y bead. Clearly a synthetic, who knows which kind.
7. This one burned a little and melted. Also, clearly a synthetic, but I'm not sure what kind.