Talking about Weaving: August 2008

Friday, August 29, 2008

ART PIECE 5: LAST SECTION WOVEN

Here, at the top of the photo, is the last section. It is the mirror image of the beginning section, not visible here. Below you can see part of the central section. What is visible is part of the central section. This gives an idea of how the parts work together.

I still must weave two more inches in blue for the rod hem.

I wanted to weave next the identical same piece except weave the background in red instead of blue. Then I would hang them as a pair, which might be interesting. Unfortunately, I have realized that if I am going to weave samples for the Crackle Exchange group, I had better start weaving. I think I have barely enough of the warp left.

So this, it looks like, will be the last of the art pieces, at least on this warp.

MINDLESS FUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Like I have nothing better to do...........

These are the words from my last blog post. The more often the word was used, the larger it is. If you too want to be crazy enough to try this out, go to Wordles.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

MIDDLE SECTION OF ART PIECE 5 DONE

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Here is the middle section. In this section I have thrown the pattern weft in the same shed on each block. Also, I have woven a small amount in between each pattern block grouping simply in blue.

PATTERN WEFT

But it is hard to see the subtleties in color. The colors graduate slowly from yellows to orange and then rapidly back to the original pale yellow. The orange, unfortunately, looks quite red in the photo. Also it is hard to distinguish the yellows. What is visible, however, is that this part is asymmetric in in the way color is distributed.

BACKGROUND WEFT

There is also a change in the blue. In the beginning section I used dark blue. In this section I changed to a medium dark blue and then to a medium dark teal. This change in color is not symmetric either. When I start weaving the final section, I will return to the dark blue.

Related Post: Art Piece 5 Begun

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

ART PIECE 5 BEGUN

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Here is the beginning of my next art piece. I have based it on the previous sampling. Go here to see that.

As in the sampling, I am using just two colors: a medium dark blue for the background and a light yellow for the foreground. The first block (at the bottom) is an introduction. The yellow is on treadle 3, and the treadle groupling of 3-8 is treadled four times.

Then the design begins. The first block of the design (second from the bottom) is treadled with yellow on treadle 8; the second block with yellow on treadle 7 and the third block with yellow on treadle 6. The treadle grouping of 3-8 for each block is repeated 8 times, not the 4 times I did in the sampler. This constitutes, in essence, the bottom border.

What comes next will be the center portion, which will be treadled quite differently.

Monday, August 25, 2008

TIME TO DREAM

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

The last few days I have been focused on work, both in my doing and in my thinking (and blogging). Now I am beginning to realize how much I need to create dreaming time.

IT ALL BEGAN WITH "REAL" LACE KNITTING

This summer I bought some lovely silk and alpaca lace weight yarn. For Christmas last year, I had knit our daughter a lace scarf out of my handspun. Knitting this gave me great pleasure. I did it during the evenings when I had time. I didn't push myself. I treated the knitting of it as a delightful time out of time.

Then I saw the silk and alpaca at a yarn sop in Brevard, NC. I thought, this year I'll do it "right." I'll use "real" lace yarn and knit her the loveliest lace scarf she has ever seen. Always begin with boldness......!!!!

Knowing I was still a rank amateur in lace knitting, I found a simple lace pattern and swatched it. Something was wrong. As far as I could tell, the problem was with the pattern, not me (sure.........). so I found another lace pattern. I didn't swatch that.......... And don't anybody yell at me---I know I was WRONG! So I cast on the required number of stitches and started knitting. Slowly. Two rows a day (evening). Last night I was feeling very confident so I knit a whole pattern repeat. I had markers in for the lace repeats and everything was working out fine.

Then I stretched it out and looked at it. It didn't look at all right. I got the book out so that I could see the picture. What I was knitting was just plain wrong, except, strangely, for the first repeat. The other four repeats were all off. I checked my paper where I had copied the pattern against the pattern in the book. I had made no mistakes. So it had to be the book.

I decided I was never going to be a "real" lace knitter. I ripped out what I had knitted and put the ball of yarn away.

This morning I realized that the mistake was not in the pattern but in what I had done (finally I had come to my senses!). And I even knew just what I had done wrong. Amazingly, that not only made me feel better, it also made me realize that I didn't have to do lace knitting with "real" lace yarn. Knitting with "real" lace yarn, lovely as it was, was not giving me nearly the pleasure that knitting lace with my own handspun had given me. So now when I am fully recovered from this fiasco, I will find some of my handspun and start again.

LEARING TO SAY NO

I realized something else as well. I realized how much I am obsessed with always having to be actually doing something. Because of this obsession, I frequently try to add just one more thing to my life. Knitting a lace scarf, for example. I have learned to say "no" to requests others make of me. What I have not learned to do well is to say "no" to requests I make of myself.

CREATING OPEN SPACES

I very much need to allow open spaces in my life to dream. This does not take away anything of the importance of the serious kind of sampling I have been talking about. It is simply that my creative life has become way too one-sided. Too much working time, not enough dreaming/playing time. I have been somewhat aware of this lopsidedness of my creative life for a long time. It's kind of like being somewhat aware of the need to go on a diet. You don't want to get too aware or you might actually have to do something about it!

I have been working on eliminating distractions. But the point of doing that had been so that I could accomplish more, i.e., do more. Now I realize that I need to think of eliminating these distractions as a means of allowing me to create open spaces in my life, time to dream, time to look at paintings and imagine, time to browses through weaving books and magazines and imagine, time to let something of beauty sink into my soul, time to lie in the grass and look at the sky and listen to the birds and just smile.

Related Post: Resistance and Finding Time

Saturday, August 23, 2008

A DIFFERENT TAKE ON COPYRIGHT

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I know, this is Saturday. I don't post on Saturday (or Sunday!). But I found this post when I was looking for information on My Free Copyright. I had seen this on Leigh's latest post. Go here, to read it. As usual, she has done a great job. I was ready to jump through the hoop.

As I was looking through the sites that Google brought up on the program, I found this gem on the Zenhabits blog: "Open Source Blogging: Feel Free to Steal my Content." Yes, I thought this post was going to be satire. It wasn't. Go read it. I liked it. What do you think?

Friday, August 22, 2008

SAMPLING FOR NEXT ART PIECE

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

The last sampling woven, I decided I still wasn't finished. I wanted to see what would happen if I used a pattern color on only one treadle for each block. Alternating the pink and yellow in the last sample, while I liked the effect, turned out to be a bit confusing in terms of understanding just what is going on. So with this sample I used only one pattern color: pale yellow.

I began with the pale yellow on treadle 3 for the first block at the bottom (just above the white rug filler weft). Then with each consecutive block I treadled yellows 4 through 8 but finishing, at the top, with the yellow on treadle 3 once again.

Also, I used a medium-dark blue for the rest of the treadles. Enough of the last sample is visible at the bottom, which used a medium dark-green for the background wefts, to reveal clearly the different effect the two different background colors have.

I had intended this particular sample to be simply a general informational sample, as was the previous sample. And, indeed it is. When I was done, I planned to remove everything I had woven thus far so that I could study more carefully these last two sample warps. Study these would help me decide what I wanted to do with the next art piece.

When I finished weaving this particular sample, however, I realized that I had right there the information I needed for the next art piece. So I studied it carefully and thought; now I know what I want to do. Subject, of course, to my ever changeable and fickle mind...........

PHOTOGRAPHY NOTE

I did learn how to turn off (and on) the flash. I can do it right on the body of the camera......

Related Post: Unexpected Sampling

Thursday, August 21, 2008

SPECIALIZING

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

I have been focusing for some time now on one weave structure: crackle. I fell in love with crackle during my first year of weaving, but did not take it up seriously until about three years ago. I am focusing on this structure simply because I am fascinated with it. Not for its own sake however. I am fascinated with how it can create complex color interactions.

SAMPLING

Managing these color interactions is not easy and I am not anywhere near that mastery. To repeat yet again the statement I so love from my new knitting book:

"Beautifully made, considered sampling underpins contemporary textile practice, while informing the next step in the development process." (p. 123)

To deal with the challenge I have given myself, this is the way I must sample. I must sample not just because I like to. Not just because it is fun, which it usually is. I must sample thoughtfully and with purpose as well. And the samples I make should themselves be as beautifully made as I am capable of. I am in awe of British fiber artists whose samples are often themselves works of art.

SAMPLING VERSUS "REAL" WEAVING

Also, though sampling is fun, there always comes a time when I get bored or tired of it and just want to get on with "real" weaving. I always suspect that it is precisely at that point that I should keep on sampling. That is the point when I have done all the obvious stuff, have covered the surface. That is not enough. I need to learn how to push myself through that point.

ART PIECES AS SAMPLES

This art piece series I am working on has been, I believe, an attempt to push myself through that point. By turning my sampling into "real" weaving, I can continue the explorations. Not a bad thing. And not unlike weavers who weave samples that can be used as towels or scarves.

Many artists, whether painters, quilters, weavers, sculptors focus on one basic technique and/or genre: oils, overshot, the nude, self-portraits, flowers, strip-quilting, for example.I was aware that artists often tend to focus on one basic technique, oils, pastels, quilting, for example. And many artists work in a series. Picasso is one very well known example of this, with his various "periods."

Here is how one contemporary painter describes working in a series:

The idea is that you keep all variables the same. This includes the choice of pigments, the dimensions of the canvas, the method of applying pigment, and, of course, the subject. This forces you to focus on developing your vision and not on your tools. You can really grow as an artist this way.

These words describe quite well what I have been doing, though, as a weaver, some of the variables are different. The one variable which I tried to abide by but found I did not, was that of size. Only the width of the pieces has stayed the same, not the lengths. But I can see how keeping the lengths the same would increase the challenge and further my own growth. You can go here to read the piece for yourself.

CATHERINE ELLIS

There is an interview with Catherine Ellis on the WeaveCast podcasts. It is Episode 13 and is called Woven Shibori. Go here to listen to it. About 35 minutes into the interview, Catherine talks about the need for weavers to specialize. She makes two basic points:

It is impossible for a weaver to know everything about everything. There is just too much.
Specializing allows you to become creative and express yourself, to make your weaving YOUR weaving.

Catherine says it all much better than I can and speaks with the authority of many years of experience. Go listen.

Why Crackle?
A New Fiber Book Filled with Ideas

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

UNEXPECTED SAMPLING

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

WHAT I HAD PLANNED TO DO

I had finished the planned sampling and was getting ready to start on the next art piece, #5. This was to be a new (and hopefully improved!) version of Art Piece # 2. Go here to read more about that piece. I wanted to make a successful piece using the concept of yellow blocks against a dark blue background.

Ready to start the first few shots and do some hemstitching, I hesitated. What treadles would be the best to use? I looked at the information on the original piece. I decided I wasn't really sure.

THE PLAN CHANGES

Lodged in my head, as well, was the sentence I had quoted from my new knitting book, Knitting as Art:

"Beautifully made, considered sampling underpins contemporary textile practice, while informing the next step in the development process." (p. 123)

I needed to do more sampling. I needed to try out all the different color distributions possible on any two given treadles. I have not finished but here it is

In order to make it easier to separate the blocks visually, I alternated pink and yellow for the pattern wefts. That is the first and all subsequent odd-numbered blocks I used pink for the two pattern treadles. On the second and all subsequent even-number blocks, I used light yellow. For the rest of the treadles I used a medium-dark green.

At first I didn't particularly enjoy this sampling. The results seemed quite blah. But still I knew that they would be helpful. As I wove I began to grow more excited, so excited that I forgot about lunch---forgetting about lunch simply does not happen to me! I think what is happening is just delightful! What I may do for the Complex Weavers crackle exchange group is precisely what I am doing in this sample. Maybe add a light green. I have enough warp to weave it up for the fall exchange.

One thing I had not anticipated: the neutralizing effect on the red warp of the green wefts. This helps the pale yellow and pink blocks become more effective. I knew about the concept of opposites neutralizing each other, but this is the first time I have seen it actually happening.

I am a very happy camper. I am only angry that I have so many other things to attend to today that I cannot continue weaving. On the other hand, it is nice to end the weaving being excited because that will carry over till tomorrow. I always try, when possible, to stop in the middle of things, so to speak, because that makes starting again the next day so much easier. Stopping with excitement is a gift.

To find out more about Complex Weavers' Crackle Exchange group, go here.

A NOTE ON RECENT PHOTOGRAPHY

I have not been happy with my photography lately. The camera just didn't seem to work right. Changing the color balance seemed to have no effect, which was so unusual that I began to think that the camera was in some respect broken. And it was difficult to get a properly developed image where the colors weren't washed out. The result is that I had to do more experimenting in Paint Shop Pro to get the likeness right.

Then I checked the digital information on the computer. It said that the flash was on. I knew it had been off and I wanted it off. I checked earlier photos to make sure. Yes, the flash was off. So somehow, unintentionally, I inadvertently turned the flash back on. Now i have to check the gosh-darn instructions to figure out how to turn it off.

A New Fiber Book Filled with Ideas
Third Sample Begun and Some Photography Issues
Photographing Textiles

Posted August 20 , 2008 by http://talkingaboutweaving.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

A NEW FIBER BOOK FILLED WITH IDEAS

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

It is a knitting book. I do knit and so buy lots of knitting book. But I almost didn't buy this one. Met up in the book store with my husband, showed him the books I was going to buy, and told him I was going to put the knitting book back. He wouldn't let me. He said it would give me ideas. He's an accountant so I dithered a bit. Finally bought it. Thank heavens for husbands!

The book is by Ruth Lee. Back in the few years I was engaged in machine knitting, I had a book by her on machine knitting. I adored the book. It was creative, imaginative, everything I was not, wanted to be, could not be. And this book is published by Batsford, a company who used to publish tons of wonderful English fiber books. The name of the book? Contemporary Knitting for Textile Artists.

I turned first to the back pages. I am always interested in bibliographies and sources of supplies. Nothing out of the ordinary here. Mostly English sources, which is logical.

Then I looked at the last chapter. One page. "Knitting as Art." This sentence convinced me of my husband's wisdom:

"Beautifully made, considered sampling underpins contemporary textile practice, while informing the next step in the development process." (p. 123)

I think that I shall do something with these words, print them out and frame them.

I proceeded to go through the book backwards. There I found interesting bits about Lee's creative journey. I found interesting material on decorative surfaces, on felting (could I felt crackle woven in wool? crackle woven partly in wool and silk?) on spool knitting (could I weave with hand-knitted cord?), working with jumbo yarns, often created by plying or winding yarns together (wouldn't go through the heddles, but who needs heddles, and what about plying very fine yarns together), working with unfamiliar materials such as lingerie elastic, netting, wire.

Did I mention the photographs? They are beautiful.

This is not a book about (knitting) technique, though she talks in kind of generalized ways about techniques. This is a book to inspire. It has inspired the weaver in me.

Monday, August 18, 2008

LAST SAMPLING

Posted by Peg in South Carolina

Here is the last bit of sampling I did. This is the weaving at the top, above the light blue line.

Here I used the point twill treadlings once again. In the first half (just above the blue line) I used three colors: orange, green, and blue. The blue and the green are so close in value, however, that the fabric reads as only two colors, blue and orange. And because of the warp colors, the orange tends to read as read rather than as orange.

I treadled three different sets of 3,4,5,6,7,8,7,6,5,6,7,8,7,6,5, 4,3,2,1,2,3,4,5,4,3. With each set I changed the color order.

For the second half, I did the identical treadlings but changed the colors. This time I used yellow, green and cherry. This I thought more interesting since all three colors are easily distinguishable with one color (yellow) being dominant. More interesting, however, does not necessarily mean better. In this case the look is rather messy.

All and all, this was kind of fun to do and a challenge to my ageing brain to keep the colors straight! But the results are not particularly pleasing to me. I won't really know, of course, until I see it again after a period of time when it comes off the loom. But for now I like the earlier two-color samples better. In the case of the first, the three colors do not read as three colors. In the second case, the three colors are just too busy. Perhaps if I treadled each group for several repeats, but I don't think so.

Posted August 18, 2008 by http://talkingaboutweaving.blogspot.com/

Friday, August 15, 2008

Friday, August 8, 2008

GONE NEXT WEEK

Just wanted to let any readers know not to expect any blog posts next week. Chuck and I will be on a mini-vacation, away from computers. I will have knitting with me.............

THIRD SAMPLE BEGUN AND SOME PHOTOGRAPHY ISSUES

The thin light violet line is the separation between sample two and the beginning of sample three.

SAMPLE TWO (below the violet line)

I wove a bit more on sample two. I had used an advancing twill type threading, moving up. I decided to finish it off by repeating the treadling some more, but moving backwards. The result is a mirrored image design with blocks moving in one direction in the first half but in the opposite direction in the second half. None of this seems to be visible in the photo! Indeed, the photo suggests a very different kind of effect. This is very strange and I do not understand it!

ANOTHER PHOTO

I noticed that I saw the pattern in the fabric, not when I looked straight down at it, but when I looked at it from the side. So I took more photos. Looking at those photos on the camera's LED screen before I snapped them indicated that I had caught the pattern. But when I put them on the computer and looked at them there, no pattern. So I decided to choose one at random and put it in the post just to see.

OK, this is a very strange angle. It also shows a bit of the first sample at the very bottom of the image. But that's because Windows Live Writer turned the photo on its side when it brought it into post. Rather than correcting it, I decided to leave it in this goofy position because it gives an idea of what it would look like hanging straight up and down. In any case, finally, the design itself is visible.

And why does the pattern show in the photo on the blog post but not on the photo when I view it in either Corel Photo Album or Corel Paint Shop Pro?

SAMPLE THREE (above the violet line)

Here I used the point twill treadling I had used in the first sample. Go here to read about that sample. But instead of using two colors, I used three colors.: dark blue, dark green, and orange. But you certainly can't tell it from the photos. After a completed sequence, doing the points both at the right and the left, I rearranged the colors.

But where's the green? Good question. It sure doesn't show up in the photo!

CONCLUSIONS

On the second sampling, I rather like the way the optical effects change depending on how you look at the fabric. Color blocks dominate the threading/treadling pattern when viewed from one direction. From another direction, that pattern comes through. This is a kind if iridescence phenomenon. If you want to see a spectacular example of irididescence, go to Sandra's blog post here.

When I finish weaving the third sampler, I will try more photography to see if I can get all three colors to show. Perhaps using a different three colors in the weaving would help here as well.

P.S. for bloggers and wanna-be-bloggers: go here to learn more about Windows Live Writer. I have used this blog writing tool for a couple of months now and like it very much.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

SECOND SAMPLE

For this sample, instead of a point twill treadling, I tried an advancing twill treadling, using two colors. Here are the two samples I have done so far. They are separated by a faint blue weft. At the bottom is the point twill treadling I talked about last time. At the top is the is the advancing twill treadling.

When I blew up the image in the last post (by clicking on the image), the warp over shots were very clear. Blowing up this image also reveals warp over shots but they are not nearly as problematic. Actually, they look more problematic in the blow-up than they do in the fabric. In the fabric they simply add to the design element. At least that is my less-than-humble opinion.........

These little samples are really pieces to be enjoyed close up. I realized that before I posted the image, but seeing the actual image confirms it. Close-up is where the liveliness is. As you step away, they become rather dull. That suggests to me that if I were to weave an entire piece in this style, I would have to have an occasional spark that will attract the eye from a greater distance and invite the viewer to come closer. I have no idea at this point what that spark might be!

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

SAMPLING AGAIN

Instead of moving directly into the next art piece, I decided to spend some time sampling. Here is the first of the samples.

The treadlings on the art pieces have all been straight twill treadlings with no tabby. What I tried here is a point twill treadling. For two of the blocks (number one and three) I treadled the point from the right side (i.e., 8,7,6,7,8). For the other two blocks I treadled the point from the left (i.e., 1,2,3,2,1.

PROBLEM WITH BLOCK ONE AND THREE

I do not think this problem is going to be visible in the photo. But what happened with blocks one and three was a series of uncaught warp threads on some of the threading blocks. It looks a little interesting, but, frankly, I think it ends up looking sleazy. I think that if I take the point down to treadle 5 instead of down to treadle 6, the problem will be corrected enough so that it no longer looks sleazy.

END OF PREVIOUS ART PIECE

You can also see the end of the art piece. I alternated the two blocks I had been using so that there is the effect of a slight narrow stripe.

Monday, August 4, 2008

RESISTANCE AND FINDING TIME

I mentioned the other day how I have been procrastinating getting the art piece ready for hanging. I finally decided I had to drag out an old trick. I picked one very very small thing to do, in this case, finding the saw to cut the wooden rod. And I made an appointment with myself to do it: 10:00 this morning. The trick worked. I have now cut the rod to what I think is the right length, sanded it, and applied two coats of stain. Tomorrow I will put on the first coat of protective finish.

A book I have just finished reading helped to this point. The book is by Phil Cousineau and is called Stoking the Creative Fires: 9 Ways to Rekindle Passion and Imagination. Cousineau is writing about the creative journey, a journey he divides into three parts. The first part is about inspiration, the source of the creating, how and where to find it. The second part is about the work process itself. And the last part deals with handling issued centering on the finally created piece. Go here to find out more about the book

MAKING TIME

The chapter which resonated the most with me was on time: "Seizing the Moment." In this chapter Cousineau includes an exercise called "Five Simple Ways to Make Time." The following two (found on page 72 of the book) are the ones that stopped me

Turn distractions into free time.
Every day do two things you've been avoiding.

It is the second one that helped me realize that needed to make the appointment with myself to take the first beginning step in finishing up the wall hanging. The other thing I am going to do today that I have been avoiding is to make an appointment with the vet for my cat's annual physical. Whoops, not weaving related!

SOME CURRENT DISTRACTIONS

Dealing with distractions, however, does not seem to be quite so easy. I love my distractions: The computer. The internet. Email. Blogs. Blogs. Blogs. (Also Ravelry--except I'm not particularly fond of that so it is not really a distraction.) And because I love them, it is hard to think objectively about them. It is hard to ask the question: how much are these taking away from the things I really want to do? The question is hard to ask because I know the answer and i don't like the answer. Instead I readily give the easy answer: I don't watch TV and I barely read the newspaper, so what's wrong with all this internet activity? What is wrong, is that all this internet activity is taking lots of my precious time away from the activities that really matter to me.

WEAVING BLOGS

Blogs. I am not going to stop blogging. Nor am I going to stop reading blogs. Weaving blogs, that is. I need to write about what I am doing and thinking about in terms of weaving because doing these things helps to keep me focused. And I need the weaving community provided by the blogs because this community breaks the isolation. No, I am not going to stop writing nor am I going to stop reading weaving blogs. These are activities that help to sustain me. They are activities that I give me great pleasure.

OTHER BLOGS

But............I must confess that I subscribe to a lot of non-weaving blogs. Some are fiber-related. Some are not. It is so easy for me to subscribe and read lots of blogs because I use Bloglines, a blog reader which makes for great efficiency in reading blogs. To find out more about Bloglines, go here. But now when I read a non-weaving blog I ask myself what I would lose if I unsubscribe. And for the most part I unsubscribe. Having been doing this for a couple of days I am down to 157 feeds. No, that is not a typo. I will continue to get rid of a lot more. And a lot of them are very inactive, but many are not. So I will continue onward chopping off blogs.

EPISCOPAL BLOGS

But I have not mentioned one of my most awful time wasters. I am an Episcopalian. An active Episcopalian. Episcopalian born and bred. The Episcopal church is in a dreadful turmoil with the Anglican communion, of which it is a member. Because of where I live, the intensity of the conflict and the fear of what is going to happen is for me personally very very high. So I read daily four or five major blogs that I like which cover the latest of what is going on.

For awhile I limited myself to reading them only on Fridays. Doing that freed up an amazing amount of time. I am thinking of compromising. I think I will read my one favorite blog daily, the others once a week. I've already failed at this today.........

Email. Over the years I have ended up subscribing to a lot of retail email notifications. I do buy a lot on the net and it is just very easy to click the little box, or not unclick it, as the case may be. So today I have begun to attack that time waster For almost every retail email I am getting I am immediately unsubscribing.

And then I have recently added a couple of lists from Yahoo, but they have turned out to be neither useful nor entertaining so I will unsubscribe from them.

I know I could do better. I know I am probably keeping some of the distractions that I shouldn't. I know, too, that I could put time limits on my internet activity. But I have made a start. And this, for now, this is where I am.

Resistance
"Cut Back on Distractions"
Weaving and Blogging

Friday, August 1, 2008

COUTURE SEWING: BOOKS

I do not do a lot of sewing anymore. The children are grownup and gone and I really don't need any more clothes. "Need." of course, rarely factors in the purchase of either fabric or clothes. But on the few occasions when I want to make something special, usually a jacket these days, I have two books on couture sewing which I refer to.

Claire B. Shaeffer, Couture Sewing Techniques (published by Taunton Press). It is available here.
Roberta Carr, Couture: The Art of Fine Sewing (published by Palmer&Pletsch). It is available here.

I like the Shaeffer book the most. The book is in two parts. In the first part she explains basic techniques, beginning with hand sewing (whether temporary or permanent) and ending with closures. In the second part she discusses garments -- skirts, pants, blouses, dresses, jackets and evening wear -- and parts of garments -- sleeves, pockets. I personally have found her extensive explanations of setting in sleeves and sleeve heads one of the most valuable parts of the book. I also have used her information on making patch pockets and set-in pockets. I avoid all other kinds of pockets. I have made welt pockets but making them was so agonizing, I did it only once. And I always go through her chapter on jackets and coats before I make a jacket. Invariably I find something I missed before or something I have forgotten.

Carr's book is much more user-friendly than Shaeffer's but it does not have the depth. It consists primarily of relatively short "tips." Many of them I have liked but I much prefer the in-depth approach of Shaeffer's book.

Also invaluable is my subscription to Threads Magazine (published by Taunton Press). Before we moved to South Carolina I owned all the issues published to that date. In the effort to cut down on what we had to move, I went through them all and cut out only those articles I thought I might have a use for. A part of me still wishes I hadn't done that. Go here to get more information about the magazine.

A book which I have not seen is Bridal Couture: Fine Sewing Techniques for Wedding Gowns and Evening Wear by Susan Khalje. It is available here. The book has received excellent reviews. I was also very impressed by Susan when when she was interviewed on the Sew Forth Now podcast. Go here to listen.

Related Post: Weaving and Couture Sewing

Friday, August 29, 2008

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Monday, August 25, 2008

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Friday, August 22, 2008

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

Friday, August 15, 2008

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