Red Thread Studio

The Opposite of Tomboy

I finished the second silk throw, and this one turned out better, I think, though it's not steamed or pressed in this picture:

And here is a detail of the beaded edge:
This was a more successful way of incorporating beads. I did not wash the silk dupioni, and I left the velvet the full width of the fabric so the selvedges remained, and that kept the fabric from stretching or growing along the edges.

And here, because it was in the camera, is another of my mini-mood boards from 2001:

My young friend Aidan, almost 6 years old, was trying to figure out exactly what it meant to be a tomboy. His mother used me as an example of a not-tomboy. I guess these pictures are some pretty strong circumstantial evidence of my not-tomboy sensibilities. 

Silk Throw and Mini-Mood-Boards

There isn't a whole lot of art happening in my life at the moment, but I did manage to finish a gift project this weekend -- one of the silk throws I mentioned forever ago. The idea of fringe went by the wayside in favor of a very simple and minimal row of pearl nuggets stitched onto each side. The silk velvet proved true to its reputation -- hard to work with but so incredibly soft and seductive. The challenge is that the silk velvet has a loose weave and a tendency to "grow" while the silk dupioni does not, so you end up with more fabric on one side than the other no matter how carefully you've cut.

I think a take-no-prisoners approach to staystitching on the velvet might help, and I'll try that on the next one. This one is for my friend Angela and her new husband, who live in Germany. Angela is an expert belly dancer and one of the people who inspired me to take classes, which is another post for another time.

I also came across something else I thought might be interesting to share. Here's the backstory: In the summer of 2001, I applied for an editorial job at Threads magazine. This was before they changed over to strictly garment-sewing technique. I got an interview, and booked a flight for  . . . you guessed it . . . September 11, 2001. The flight didn't take off, of course, but I was the last person outbound from Denver whose luggage they took before everything shut down, so I was in the airport for many hours trying to get my luggage back, with thousands of others in complete shock and confusion.

Though I did end up flying out for the interview a couple of weeks later, by then the economic downturn had begun and everybody's plans had changed, so I didn't get the job. But to get to the point . . . they had asked me to throw together some pages of images and fabric to show them how I worked visually and how I might put together a page. I created five or six of these; I guess now we'd call them mini-mood boards. I love the mood board concept -- it was a great exercise to create these.

So I found my Threads mood boards the other day -- here's one, and I'll photograph the rest and put them up. These have fabric swatches layered over collaged paper images -- this one has a narrow swatch of lavender silk along the left side. The lower image is a postcard of a painting by the magnificent Wolf Kahn.

I keep a collage box full of pages torn from magazines -- often just for the colors, as these were, or pictures of clothes for the "style file"  -- old postcards, cancelled stamps, maps, all that sort of thing. It's full of enough ideas and idea triggers for a lot of work. I know the current thinking is anti-clutter, and this box would be clutter to a lot of people, but it's hidden treasure and inspiration to me.

As the Silkworm Turns

Back in the last century, I met a very bright woman in Santa Cruz who was a study in contrasts -- Goth on the outside, crunchy on the inside. She wore black from head to toe every day and worked for an organic farming organization. But the thing I remember most about her was that she wouldn't wear silk because the process hurt the silkworms.

This was before inexpensive silk began to be so readily available here. Silk was still a luxury, and it was the first time I had heard anybody reject silk. Now, my friend's attitude seems less fringe and more aware. We tend to think of all natural fibers as environmentally friendly, but as with most things, there are layers upon layers of complexity. With virtually every natural fiber, there are social and environmental concerns that demand change. Likewise, some synthetic fibers can be designed in ways that do not pollute and make the best use of our resources and technologies. In between there's a lot of gray area.

I'm planning some silk bed throws that sent me on long visits to Aurora Silk, natural dye expert/artist  Cheryl Kolander's site for her fabrics, yarns and threads (and check out these amazing print blocks -- Cheryl designs these -- they are beautiful and loaded with spiritual significance). Aurora Silk is a source for Ahimsa and Peace silks, made without harm to the silkworms. You can read more about them on the site. On Cheryl's advice, for my project, I ordered the 3-ply reeled silk cord:

"This cord is incredibly strong and durable. The sheen of the reeled thread is fractured by the tight twist of the ply, resulting in a light play of sparkles."

Shibori artist and natural dyer Karren K. Brito has written "Is Silk Green?" in the newest Surface Design Association Newsletter. Her greater concern (and I agree) is the use of child labor and inhumane conditions in the silk industry.

I am still buying silk, but learning more every day about the greater costs to much of the fabric we buy. Yet I do believe that every person who engages in the creative act of making things with fiber or fabric in a conscious way is contributing to a better world. Changing the structure and dynamics of our resource base is a process that will take time, but knowledge is always the seed.

So. On to my project. I am still in gift-making mode, frog caddies and cosmetic bags, and haven't yet begun any art or the Take It Further challenge project for the month. But these silk throws are quite special and I've been wanting to try one for a long time; now I'm making one for Angela's wedding gift and one for my dear friend and karmic sister Lisa. I was inspired by the gorgeous throws at Hyena Productions that sell for many hundreds of dollars. They are silk velvet on one side, silk dupioni or taffeta on the other, lined with flannel (not batting, so I don't think quilting is necessary) and have a beaded fringe or other exotic trim on the borders. I was further inspired by the vintage Moroccan wedding quilts on MyMarrakesh, with their flat silver sequins, and Yoshiko Jinzenji's pillows fringed with silk cord and pearls in her Quilt Artistry book.  So I'm combining all these influences into what I hope will be something both modern and luxurious, with a sense of enchantment. As soon as my orders all arrive I'll post a photo of the fabrics.