Winter Blues Jacket revisited
I had a little jacket, it was old as can be…
Tralala lalalala lalala
What I’d ever do with it, I just couldn’t see
Tralala lalalala lalala
So I thought a little while
And made myself a vest in the very latest style
Tralalala lalala – Tralalala lalala
Made a vest in the very latest style.
–from a Yiddish folk song
What does a fiber artist do when she realizes that she has not worn the hand-woven jacket she spent months weaving and constructing? She turns it into something else. Or even better… ends up with 2 items of clothing!!
In 2012, I created ‘Rapunzel’s Winter Blues’ jacket
when I took Michelle Moenssen’s workshop “Making a Jacket from Hand-woven Fabric”. This was fabulous learning experience, as I had never sewn a tailored jacket (i.e. suit coat) before… let alone one from hand-woven fabric. [click here for the slide show of the full process]
After 2 years… I realize I had not worn the jacket even once. My life at this point doesn’t need that style of jacket. But as any fiber artist who makes her/his own cloth for garments knows, one does not just toss away that much ‘time, sweat, and tears’; and though I do sell my woven and felted garments, this one has strong emotional ties for me so it would be like selling one of my children! So… I began to think what could the jacket transition into that I would be more likely to wear?
I decided that remove the sleeves – transforming it into a vest – would be the simplest as I had no desire at this point to completely deconstruct the jacket.
Now… what to do with the hand-woven fabric from the sleeves? Mary Sue Fenner’s ‘One-of-a-Kind Jacket Trunk Show’ at the March 2014 AAFG meeting inspired me to make a second garment using lightweight commercial wool and the hand-woven fabric as accent panels creating this ‘Two for the Price of One’ vest.
I’m happy to say that both vests will be on the runway at AAFG’s Fiber Feast on April 5, 2014.
The song begins with an overcoat becoming a jacket – jacket to vest – vest to tie – tie to button – button to nothing – nothing to song and Simms Talback’s 1999 picture book Joseph Had a Little Overcoat is a Caldecott Metal winner so who knows… over the years to come this hand-woven fabric may continue to be re-imaged and transformed, giving it renewed life and rebirth. Tralala lalalala lalala…..
Enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing.
Cheeni @ http://www.cheenithoughts.com
Lovely! Thanks for sharing!!