Day 4- Fun Fur is Moderately Fun and Definitely Furry

2/27/14

I set out today to take the ugliest material I could found in my apartment and make it fashionable. Lucky for me, I found a fabulous ball of Fun Fur in a red-orange-purple combo. I believe the Fun Fur was given to me as a joke by my cousin several years ago.

In case you're not sure what Fun Fur is:

It's ugly. 

I started to crochet the yarn but after about 20 stitches got frustrated with how difficult it was to keep track of my stitches amongst the fur. I pulled out my loom and started to apply the yarn as the warp. I played with a few different ribbons in the weaving but rejected them all. Everything looked absurd. I realized there were only two ways to go: cover up the shameful Fun Fur or go totally crazy with it. I decided to make two very easy pouches today experimenting with both.


Because the yarn is 100% polyester, I was certain it would melt if ironed enough. So I ironed away at the yarn on the loom, and backed it with fusible. I put a few stitches in the end to keep it together long enough to get it off the loom and I cut the piece in half; one for each pouch.

Semi-melted Fun Fur, backed with interfacing

The subdued piece was going to be very simple. I wanted to cover the Fun Fur with chiffon or something that would be sheer but calm it down, but I found a great lace I purchased on a whim a few months ago. I'm not a huge fan of black lace over color because sometimes it comes off as tacky, but the nature of the project was tacky to I went for it anyway. Turns out the tacky canceled itself out. Fantastic.

For my wild piece I knew I wanted the Fun Fur to be exposed but I wanted to make sure the half melted remains didn't come apart during construction. I fell back on an old technique of mine: rows of stitching 1/3" apart. I used a heavyweight navy blue thread (Although in retrospect I might have benefited from a lighter color that blended better) and the back and forth stitching gave the texture a vague chevron effect. I thought the resulting piece looked like an Impressionist interpretation of Fun Fur.

1/3" Stitches

Wild vs. Mild

I chose a navy wool felt to border the Fun Fur and construct the pouch. I cut a rounded rectangle shape and inserted and stitched the Fur fabric in place. I played with some border ideas including beading, but decided to make use of some small crocheted flowers I'd been holding onto for a while.

Both of the pouches still require zippers (must go to the trim store next week!), and the Wild version is meant to fold over. I added more Fun Fur to the flowers because they needed some vibrancy and to blend in a bit better.
While I do think both end pieces are interesting and I enjoyed making the fabric, I think Fun Fur may be more trouble than its worth. Because it's not worth much.

Fun Fur fabric covered in black polyester lace 

Navy wool felt foldover pouch with Fun Fur insert and crocheted cotton flowers 

xo,
Arielle

Day 3- The Curious Heart Obsession

2/26/14

I don't know why but lately I've been feeling like putting hearts on things. (I mentioned this in my "Poetry and Clutches" post.) Today I decided just to go for it and put a heart smack in the middle of something. In rhinestones. Iridescent rhinestones. I blame it on the migraine.

I was cleaning up today and found one of the ugliest gold boxes that a piece of junk jewelry came in. Actually, I only found the bottom. Although I threw initially threw it away, later in the day I realized it would make the perfect base to cover to make a small clutch.




I started with one of my favorites in the fabric stack, a navy blue fabric with red and white plaid. I got it set up to embroider and considered appliqueing a heart and then beading it when I came across a selection of rhinestone chains. Definitely leftover materials from a project for someone else. I am really not into rhinestones, but something about the high-low quality of the cotton plain juxtaposed with the rhinestones agreed with my project. I knew I was headed for a heart shape, so I stitched each rhinestone down, being careful to line up the shape with the plaid. I added gold painted tube beads to give it a little edge and to keep it from being too precious.

(During this time a friend came over and needed to borrow my iPad for a business trip, and was concerned that it had no case, so I stitched him up a project-of-the-day themed pouch to keep it cozy.)

Project of the day 3.5

Back to the clutch. I padded the box with a thick knit fabric and covered it with the plaid fabric. The construction became complicated when I started the zipper. I had to sew corners into one side of the zipper and leave the other side flat to wrap around the box. I may have to go in and replace the zipper with a smaller one in the future, as it wraps too far around the clutch. I sewed the entire zipper to the back panel by hand with thick thread. I also need to start applying my linings better. I tend to work as I go, and those sort of things need to be planned in advance.

I used twill tape and leather to line the piece which is structured like a very tiny suitcase. It's just large enough to fit a phone and a lipstick, and maybe one or two small items.

Plaid Heart Clutch; cotton exterior, rhinestone chain, glass beads, leather lining, twill tape

Inside view

I love the simplicity of today's piece and the iconography of the heart shape. I'm still obsessed with the plaid fabric. I also like the hard case-like structure of the clutch. 

Some thoughts from today's project:

1. Wow, I'm really feeling the rhinestones more than I care to admit. They will probably pop up in a few more projects in the next few days.
2. I want to make a beaded plaid fabric to make the plaid three-dimensional.

Any applique or beading shape ideas?

xo (<3)
Arielle

Day 2- The Yarn Mill in Montgomery, NY

2/25/14

The yarn mill

Today I headed out to visit my cousin about an hour north of New York City. We visited an old yarn mill in Montgomery, NY, although unfortunately most of the machinery is gone and most of what they do is resale. The bins of undyed yarn appealed to my texture obsession so obviously I grabbed the biggest, bulkiest yarn available.

My favorite was a felted yarn that resembled a skein of dreadlocks. I anticipated a woven piece using the felted yarn as the warp (the lengthwise yarn) and a very thin yarn as the weft (the yarn woven side to side) to give a corded appearance.

Concept sketch for woven felted yarn

I would still like to work with this concept, but the yarn was terribly expensive. I'm considering alternatives! In the meantime I opted for another felted yarn that had a thick-and-thin spin to it. It has a great spongy quality and will also be great for dyeing.

I started a weaving with today's yarn purchases which I will have to work on for a few days to incorporate into an upcoming project. I'm working on a simple lap loom (however it really is too big for your lap...) and will end up with a piece that will be good for applique or for a smaller accessory. 

For today I decided to keep it simple. The felted quality of the yarn makes it easy to sew, so I lined up several pieces and started to stitch them together at regular intervals while leaving some gaps. At the time, I considered filling the space in with some beads. Instead, I found some copper wire and wrapped coils to encase the yarn. The materials have to compromise, the yarn holds the copper in place but the spring gives the yarn a bit of shaping. I'm sure there is some influence from the industrial atmosphere and machinery that I saw at the mill today in this piece. 

Felted yarn stitched together with thread

Copper wire for coils: I used 2 different sized cylinders to shape the coils.

I completed the piece as a necklace by creating a wrapped hook and eye with the copper wire and using a lace weight yarn to wrap the components together.

The wrapped end of the necklace with a handmade copper hook closure. 

The finished piece, made with 100% felted wool yarn, cotton lace weight yarn, and copper wire. 

Eunice is a fabulous model. 

Today's project really emphasizes the importance of pushing through to finish a piece, despite tangents and distractions in the creative process. I had my heart set on crafting something with the woven piece I was making but I had to set that aside and bring it back another day. I have so many fabric treatments in mind for future projects, and as they tend to be time consuming, I'd better get them started before I plan to use them.

Day 1- Poetry and Clutches

Today is the first day of my 30 day project, a challenge to create a new piece (a garment, accessory, or another product) every single day, and to emerge with 30 finished pieces.

2/24/14

This morning I called my grandmother to chat. She is struggling with memory loss, so sometimes the conversations are choppy and sometimes she uses conversation to try to make sense of her surroundings. This morning, as we both drank our coffee, she methodically described the back yard at her house:

"I have a big tree,

And it stands in the middle,

And I'm very proud of it."

She said it just like that, almost as a poem. 

I was lacking inspiration today before that conversation so I was grateful for the poetry with my morning coffee. My project today is an illustration of my grandmother's words.

. 

I began by cutting paper at random, folded in half, (a la Rorschach, however I'm sure I was highly influenced by my trip to the Museum of American Folk Art yesterday which featured a piece by Fabio Costa that included symmetric pieces in a similar form*) to create a quilted applique to a oversized t-shirt I was imagining. I cut about 10 designs and appliqued a few to test them out. 

Paper applique mock-ups

An attempt at some layered applique which looks far too futuristic for today's efforts.

For this project I pulled out a variety of muslin and twill tape in different shades of white. I had intended to use the waffle-knit fabric on the dress form, but I didn't end up using it today. It was, however, one of the reasons I chose to work in white. 

Applique placement

Bodice piece, quilted front and shoulders

I worked on the shirt for a while after deciding on the applique shape. I added stripe-quilted shoulders to help balance the weight. I wanted to finish a piece by the end of the day though, so I opted to make a clutch using the same concept and leave the shirt to be completed another day. 

Part of the objective of my 30 day project is to use up most of the materials I have in my apartment, for the sake of both thrift and creativity. I had some scraps of mattress ticking that I thought would look great with applique. 

The final piece is made out of mattress ticking, muslin, twill tape, navy blue leather, and features a large glass crystal in the center. It functions as a foldover clutch, and I will add magnetic closures as soon as I buy some.

Finished piece. Lined with muslin, base is leather.

The crystal was a last minute addition, but has a pretty fantastic affect. 

I'm loving the quilted effect, particularly over the patterned fabric. Next time I will try a leather applique, although I imagine the sewing process will be much more complicated.

One work in progress and one final piece. 

Some ideas based on today's work:

1. Using a sheer fabric such as organza and quilting beads into the applique (my sewing machine is crying already...)

2. Appliqued hearts using the mattress ticking...on something. I don't know. It's February. I can't help but make a few hearts. 

3. Stitching on paper. Tested my zigzag stitch on paper and was surprised at how well it sewed. Actually saw some like this in the museum gift shop yesterday. Considering some sort of drawing-with-thread decoration on a card stock accessory; maybe a reinforced clutch or a bib necklace... backed with felt?

xo

Arielle

*http://fashionandfolkart.tumblr.com/exhibition?

PS- This item is now available for sale in my Etsy shop! https://www.etsy.com/shop/SalkinAccessories

Create30: The 30 Day Challenge

This is a pretty wild challenge for me, and one I'm approaching with eagerness and high expectations. 

I'm calling it Create30. It boils down to this: 

Every day for the next 30 days I will create something new. A garment; an accessory; a product. This blog is mostly to keep myself on track and motivated and to allow a platform for feedback and criticism. I am so interested to hear what you love and what you don't, what you'd like to see more of. One outcome of this project that I am hoping for is that by the time I finish I will have determined a way to make my design work profitable, so your feedback is wonderfully valuable to me. 

I have an urgent need to restore creativity and productivity into my life. My mind is constantly designing, but for the last two years it's all been tucked in away somewhere in the back of my brain, or if I'm lucky, somewhere in the back of my notes. At this point I have so many things I want to do that I can hardly focus. I've been completely immersed in my job managing a retail store, but fortunately circumstances have allowed me to take a break and have some time to myself. For 30 days I am enabling myself to act on every creative idea that comes into my mind and to take advantage of the opportunity to be delightfully selfish with my time, energy, and ideas.

I need a new kind of challenge, and I need to return my energy and focus to design. It's such a blessing to wake up in the morning and have endless creative potential. Here's to a month of productivity and creativity!

xo

Arielle