Creating Cloth

One of my favorite things about weaving is the drafting process- analyzing cloth and figuring out its construction. There are infinite variations of interlacements possible. Working in the fashion industry has a few perks- I work in the fabric department, so all day long I am looking at hundreds of swatches and sample yardage cuts- it's a fabric lovers dream in that regard, even if the fabrics themselves can be a bit... moderate and, dare i say, tacky? (I make my case with image 1A. Yes, that is a leopard's face on a leopard print- and it did not scan well, but they really took it to another level with a good hearty layer of silver foil.) And as I am one for beating my point into the ground, I bring you image 1B, a velour basecloth with animal printed foil in an animal pattern. Gorgeous! With this legging craze still going around and getting more and more outrageous by the moment (printed and solid sequins, back for another round of printed velvet), I would not be surprised to see this velour/foil made up in leggings in the near future.

1A: leopard face 1B: velour & animal foil

Ok, so back to the woven swatches with their intriguing constructions! In my pre-loom days, dreaming of weaving, I started collecting tiny swatches of fabrics so that I could keep my head in the construction of cloth- weaving on grid paper for a lack of a loom. I now have a box full of swatches, some drawn out, some still waiting. I am interested in them primarily for construction, usually not color or fiber. I love the possibilities of masking and enhancing structure by color layout or creating contractions and texture through adding wool or high twist yarns.
Here are two of my more recent ones:


I was happy to find that I could recreate this first one! It is such a simple draft, but the colors and plaid layout really make it nice. (please forgive the pen mistakes! this is why having a good pencil around is key)



This one is also just in my shaft range! I start out with graph paper so that I can draw these out on the go- the subway ride to work, or at lunch in Herald Square, but then I move to the computer for ease of catching mistakes and a clearer read when threading. I haven't had much luck finding Mac compatible software that is affordable and user friendly- and no, running Windows on my Mac is not an option. But I keep looking- and the joy of figuring it out pick by pick is well worth it.

More to come- how about Friday constructions?

friday at MoMa

On Friday at lunch, I rode up to the MoMa to walk around the galleries. I try to do something useful on my lunches so that my day feels worthwhile. Attempting to visit MoMa on Friday afternoons is always a precarious choice- throngs of visitors coming in on the cusp of Free Fridays can really crowd the galleries. Free art in any permutation is a Good Idea, but it can be a bit hard to concentrate on the objects in the galleries when it seems that every other person is either posing with Marilyn or viewing the artwork with solely a camera lens. What has happened to experience? Time. Thoughtfulness. Associating. Respect. Documenting has a time and place, but much of it seems to be more of a visual consumerism or collecting. Of course, after thinking all of this, I took some photos, contradicting my own words, thinking that this would be the best time for a secret camera embedded in my glasses. Oh what a childhood dream I still wish to come true.



I visit my favorite pieces every time I come, one of them being Jean Dubuffet's "Soul of the Underground" from "Matériologies." It's oil and aluminum on composition board. What deliciousness. I love the subtle color changes, textures, size, and framing.


"Wall with Inscriptions" Jean Dubuffet 1945


"Joë Bousquet in Bed" Jean Dubuffet 1947 (avec les Gauloises et tout!)

llot llov light love

I came across these lights in researching wire and wool for a work in progress, and had to share them. They are from llot llov - a collaboration with la la berlin. Wire can be such a beautiful sketching tool, and of course I am partial to the knitting and wrapped wool. Such a delicious mix of hard and soft, light and grey, sweet and distressed.

What is on the progress list for me currently is wire and wool- it has been slow going since summer 09, but i have a deadline of 4 weeks from today, so I have hit a stride. However, after wrapping all the wire to make the connections between pieces, it occurred to me that a soldering iron might make my life much easier, not to mention quicken my pace significantly. So, it's off to soldering research for me! I love adding tools to my collection. The more tools and skills that are mastered, the more precise an idea can be executed... must keep learning! there is so much to learn.

wire, rope, cement and growth

I'm currently working on a proposal for a 16x30' sculpture on the side of a building. Tonight I'll construct the moquette with wire and rope. The joy of writing proposals is that everything must be true and correct, but the work does not have to be actually done yet and you don't have to worry so much quite yet about where you're going to get the money to weld together a 16x30 foot sculpture on the side of a concrete wall with wire and rope and plantings.

triangle summer & winter weave : dukagang

Here are some sketches on summer and winter weaving using Weave Draft:



I have always been partial to dukagang structure, as it creates clean blocks of color on a plainweave ground. Summer and Winter is really spectacular for its ability to construct shapes with "blocks"- threading groups- it feels like magic to draft your own patterns. I am so overjoyed to be weaving again! If I could do this all day for the rest of my life, I would consider myself a very lucky person.

edy helps twist fringes

pardon the "look at my cat" picture- she loves helping.

finished shawl on the mannequin at work- what else is the fire escape for?





now onto prepping a line of neckware for fall/winter 2010- wool, silk, cotton, linen it will be. colors to come. sketching with summer and winter: dukagang - will post sketches soon!