Creating Cloth: grey/white basketweave

I'm back in the swing of transcribing weaving drafts from commercial fabrics. This next one is a swatch that the company I work for can't afford to use, as it's from Italy. Basically, we'll see vendors who sell fabric from Europe so that we're up on the trends- then we take swatches and send it out for sourcing, to China if it's a basic or novelty woven, Korea if it's a novelty knit or woven, and Mexico and Guatemala if it's a basic or jacquard knit. The cheaper production price prevails always for a vast majority of the fashion world, always looking for trade agreement discounts (NAFTA, CAFTA) or fabric finishing tax breaks. Here is a two year old article on the garment industry. Based on what I know and have learned about the industry, it appears to be pretty accurate, even today.

This swatch is 60% wool 40% poly. It's gloriously soft in a wooly way, with such thin threads. I wish I had yardage to make a scarf or, if I had better tailoring skills, a jacket. This construction is a basket weave variation, the draft below:
6 shafts, 6 treadles, 12 thread repeat.

Syracuse University visit

On Friday I was invited to speak with Fiber/Textile/Fashion students as an alumna from the Fibers program. It had been almost three years since I left Syracuse and returning was like coming home. It even flurried- the day after an 80 degree day, which I took as a kind traditional welcome! It was so lovely to see my weaving teacher, Sarah, again and to meet the other professors, Janet and Olivia, and two of the majors. The program seems to be flourishing with a joined vision of fine art fibers, craft, and textile industry practices. The number of majors has more than tripled to 10 since I left, which I imagine gives everyone even more discussion and collaboration opportunities!

While I was nervous to speak, (I am always working on my fears of public speaking) it went very well. I hope I was able to articulate my current circumstances and experiences in a way that would be helpful to current students looking toward the “real world,” for showing similarities, contrast and comparison. I feel that I am straddling much of the fiber/textile world, as I am working in a garment company in the fashion industry, creating a line of scarves for sale on the retail/craft side of things, and working on a body of art work that will hopefully allow me to show in galleries and gain entry into a graduate program. While it is a lot of work, I love to have my hands in just about everything. There is so much to learn in this world: I have a renaissance (wo)man dream.

During the presentation, I talked about the things I wish I knew- what I would have liked to know before graduating (and some that are still on my list of things to learn). I kept it simple and left out useless regret, focusing on classes and computer programs I think would be helpful in job searching and keeping on top of today’s technology. I was asked what I felt was the most useful in my learning at SU. I answered weaving and explained how it supports my knowledge in my current job and my dreams of self employment, but coming back to this question in my head, ALL of my education was helpful, and will continue to be helpful in my life. There is nothing that I would leave behind. If it is not in use now, it will be filed away in my head for another time and place. All knowledge informs and inspires all parts of life, even seemingly unrelated aspects.

Syracuse is a particular city: populous with 147,000 people, but the city center is struggling to act as a weighted downtown. It has its class and race issues, like any city, but the city infrastructure and geography, like the building of 81 in the 1950's and Syracuse University (also the city's largest employer) being on top of a hill apart from the rest of the city has not helped matters. Despite these issues, it is the heart of Central New York: a city in the midst of countryside, host of the New York State Fair. The former Salt City, grown through the prosperous times of the Erie Canal, a prominent spot on the Underground Railroad. What I miss most are the hills around the city and the food. Roji Tea Lounge, Doc's Little Gem Diner, Erawan and the cannoli places on S. Salina's Little Italy. There are art, music and food festivals in the summertime and the winters make any place with less snow seem like nature's not even trying.

Even though there are great things about the city and area, most of the students that are educated at Syracuse University do not settle in the area. Many use it as a way to get closer to New York City, others are off to large cities like LA, Chicago, Boston, Philly, or return to their own communities. I was one of them. It seems that almost 75% of my friends and Syracuse community are now living in Brooklyn. It's wonderful to have the community of SU alumni throughout NYC, but it leaves me wondering about our relationship to the city that educated us (and very well I might add). What can we do to give back besides money? What can we do to connect our current communities to our former? How can those of us living outside of Syracuse create a meaningful relationship - to not leave it behind as a sort of "education factory of graduates." I've been thinking of this for some time, especially after my return to Brooklyn. Brainstorming abounds.

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?

Premiere Vision 2011

January 12/13th was the Premiere Vision Preview show for fabric in NYC. I went yesterday as my work requires, to see what the Spring/Summer '11 should look like. The first time I went, I could have stayed for hours, looking through all the fabric selections. This year, it was really all over the place. Even the color chart was a mix of incongruous neutrals and pops of fluorescent color. There was your generic floral spot, mix of "ethnic" elements, and a nautical theme. Haven't we seen this all before? I absolutely adore fabric, and a good piece of fashion can make my heart skip. But the fashion industry has a scarily similar "projecting" aspect to it that reminds me of the stock exchange. We in the fashion industry go to these "forcasting" shows for inspiration and to know what will be "next" in the waves of fashion trends. It's all about one trend idea and fitting it to your particular customer/marketing base. Going with the flow. What if they didn't listen? What if it was all left up to chance? Ha. Then no one would make the massive amounts of money they wanted. (although this is no longer true for most) It's best, for them, to be seen as one powerhouse of retail trending. Alas.

(all images © Premiere Vision)

push and pull sequins

(a few quick patterns)

SEQUINS. You may be seeing a lot of them around- currently they seem to be everywhere. And they are probably not going away anytime soon, based on the amount of sequins we've been sampling at work. Solid, metallic, matte, printed, embroidered, embedded in faux fur... and that's only for our specific target market. oh boy! Today, what I might call my favorite sequins so far in the assortment came in. I suppose technically they are paillettes, since the hole is off-center. These are two different colors on each side and are able to be flipped by dragging your fingers across them. I can't help but be intrigued by the construction. Like finger drawing patterns in a plush rug or couch. Vacuuming carpet. The rows of cut grass left after mowing a baseball field.

It reminds me of the other "design-it-yourself" clothing coming from artists and fashion designers lately. Such as the "renewable clothing" from Fernando Brizio. Although I am skeptical as to its renewable properties, functionality and practicality, I love the concept. Here's another approach based on the rug idea: Giles Miller 'Miranda' Surface Tiles via dornob.