Interesting stuff – Weave Story

Doin’ Demos

April 29, 2015/0 Comments/in Interesting stuff /by bschutzgruber

I would not be doing what I do today if it were not for demos.

Yes…. I was the kid mom and dad would lose at places like Greenfield Village – part of the Henry Ford museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan, Historic Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, or any of the Mackinac State Historic Parks at the northern tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula. The 5 of us kids would all be there one minute and the next thing they knew… there were only 4. Luckily, it did not take them long to figure out where to find me = simply backtrack to the last place that had demonstrations and there I would be… still watching….. completely spellbound. At all of these places.. and many more…. I saw weavers, spinners, dyers, blacksmiths, woodworkers, glass blowers, ropemakers, coopers…. all plying their trade for everyone to see. Everyday people actually DOING these crafts with skill and artistry – creating magic right before my eyes and I would lose all track of time… and my family as they moved onto the next thing.

Demonstrations are a fabulous way to connect the general public to skills and crafts that are no longer part of our modern everyday life and I love doing them.

I’ve done them at our guild sales and at fairs. My work as a storyteller, along with my fascination with odd bits of off-beat information, certainly helps.

Showing how things are done….

letting people touch the wool and yarns….

and giving them have a chance to throw the shuttle….

create tactile hands-on experiences that can stay with someone their entire life. Telling the stories of the workers in the mills, how fortunes were made and lost, and where the terms and sayings we use today originated brings dry facts of history to life and connects us to our past. This is where cloth comes from….. this is how it’s made…. and these are people who make it today.

One of the fun things about doing demonstrations is that you never know what may come out of the experience. Because I’m talking with people as I work and need to be able to stop at any given moment to answer a question or give a quick recap, I do not attempt to create anything complex – I just play and try out ideas. This was true at the last AAFG Holiday Sale when I made a hat using silk chiffon fabric covered with layers of merino wool and silk fibers as embellishmentto to demonstrate wet felting. Because this hat can be turned inside out, you get to choose which ‘look’ strikes your fancy = more intense color or muted color.

I was pleased with the experiment and continued playing with the idea in different colors.

Not only can doing demonstrations educate and allow for experimentation, they can be a welcome distraction. For the past 12 years members of the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild have been weaving at the University of Michigan Medical Center as a form of entertainment and distraction for patients and family members who are waiting to see the doctor. Currently we are in the lobby of the Cancer Center and the cloth woven is made into hats that are given to patients undergoing chemo and other treatments.

“We are so pleased to have this wonderful skill shared with our patients,
not only for the calming affect it has by sitting and observing the weavers,
but also for the lovely hats made for our patients from the weavings.”

Share….. Educate…… Outreach…… Connect…….
all this and more can be found when doin’ demos!

Cartography Chic

March 30, 2015/0 Comments/in garments, Interesting stuff, Projects, weaving /by bschutzgruber

Guilds and associations are great places to connect with other artists, bounce ideas around, get support, feedback, and be challenged to push one’s creativity and art. My fiber guild is the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild and back in May 2014, a challenge was issued for the April 2015 meeting:

Recycled and Repurposed Runway

Tablecloths, cassette tape, telephone wire, discarded garments, curtains and draperies, old sweaters, cast off jewelry – any and all of these materials might go into a garment or accessory you create for this creative runway show.
Your object of fashion may be wearable and useable…. or not,
sedate or flamboyant…. or something in between,
fashionable…. or not.
The only criteria is it must be made from used materials.
How creative can Guild members be?
We will learn the answer to that on the runway!

I had already woven a garment using audio cassette tape [see July 2013 post “Recycle… Upcycle…. Fairs… and more…..”] which had been part of our annual spring fashion show in 2014 so I wanted to come up with something new. What to use and what to do? For the next 9 months ideas simmer in the back of my mind…. and then I cleaned out a cabinet. There were the National Geographic maps that had been collecting for over 30 years!

Cartography ~ study and practice of making maps
The premise being that by combining science, aesthetics, and technique,
reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.

I’ve always liked maps. The lines, shapes, colors can be beautiful works of art. We even used them to decorate the nursery when the kids were little. I would weave something out this pile of maps!

But what?

In 1999, I attended my first Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers summer school taking a course on weaving with bulrushes taught by Linda Lemieux. In the USA, bulrushes are a protected plant but in the UK, they can be cultivated and harvested making this was a unique opportunity for me. We wove braided bands, containers and finished the week with making a hat.

I would use those same techniques to weave a hat & purse out of maps! I made samples weaving on the bias and plain weave to see how pliable the map paper was. It was quickly apparent that the paper on its own was very flimsy and I would have to reinforce it to keep it from tearing and to be firm enough to hold the shape.

Using my notes from a workshop I took in 2000 from Jackie Abrams weaving with painted cotton paper as reference, I used a spray adhesive to attach the map paper to sheets of artist canvas. I made several more tests cutting the map/canvas strips into 1/2″ and 1/4″ widths and used waxed linen thread when twinning was needed. This worked much better and I was ready to start!

I laid out 1/2″ wide map/canvas strips in a plain weave….

and laid that on the bias over a hard foam hat block to weave the crown using pins and clips to keep it in place. I stitched the base of the crown to secure the proper diameter.

I was not able to weave the brim as I had done on the bulrush hat but made it separate and attached it to the crown using hot glue.

Next I trimmed the spokes, used the spay adhesive to attach a map to the underside of the brim, and machine stitched around the edge.

Making the purse was MUCH easier!!! Using 1/2″ map/canvas strips and a styrofoam block for the mold, I wove a 12″ x 5 1/2″ x 1″ clutch bag.

All the pieces were given a coat of matt varnish to provide added strength and protection.

The Cartography Chic Hat & Purse Set is just the ticket
for any explorer with a flair for fashion!

Building a Tapestry Loom

February 28, 2015/1 Comment/in Interesting stuff, Projects, tapestry, weaving /by bschutzgruber

The summer of 2011 I took my first tapestry weaving course at The Association of Guilds of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers summer school held in Edinburgh, Scotland that year. Our instructor, Dot Seddon, had us working on simple frame looms which are very portable, fast and easy to warp, plus I brought along one that I had made.

Midweek we took a field trip to the Dovecot Tapestry Studio in Edinburgh. When I walked into the space I was immediately hit with a déjà vu experience = I’ve been here before!

The building that now houses the Dovecot Studio is the old ‘Infirmary Street Baths’, the first public baths in Edinburgh – built in 1885, designed by Robert Morham – and I used to swim there in the mid 1970’s when I was a student at Edinburgh University! The baths closed in the 1990’s and fell into disrepair. The Dovecot Studio moved into the space in 2009 after a 2 year – £12million renovation. This is a perfect studio space with tons of natural light from the glass ceiling, the pool has been filled in to make the weaving floor, the changing rooms have been turned into office and meeting rooms, and the observation walkway is used as gallery space. Click here for a wonderful visual tour of the studio.

Here I saw vertical/high warp looms built of steel scaffolding pipe.

When I came home I was inspired to try weaving a larger tapestry. But looms are expensive so I adapted a triangle loom I already had into a larger version of what I had used at summer school.

I liked working upright but it was difficult to get and keep an even tension on a warp that large, plus I wanted to have an option of being able to lift the warp threads for faster/easier weaving and the frame I was using had nails on all 4 sides. I got another large frame, added nails to the top and bottom only, and figured out a shedding device to lift my warp threads. This was an improvement but there were still problems with the warp tension and the easel stand took up quite a bit of space.

I took another tapestry course at the next AWSD summer school in 2013. [see ‘Weaving in Wales’ posts from September 2013.] Our instructor, Alastair Duncan, brought his scaffold loom. I was able to get a good look at how it’s made and to weave on it for the week.

I decided that this is the type of loom I wanted. Looking at my pictures and notes, my engineer husband was able to come up with plan to use galvanized pipe so all the parts would be available at the local hardware store. I received a professional development grant from my guild, The Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild, to help with the cost of materials.

We used 1 1/2″ pipe for the top/bottom and 1 1/4″ pipe for the sides with bushings to connect and it can be taken apart to transport; scaffold level jacks are used to adjust the vertical sides for control of the warp tension; attached it to a wood base; and added measuring tapes to the top and bottom.

The finished size is 4′ x 6′ with 3 1/2′ x 5′ weaving space.

I still need to create a shedding device like the Dovecot looms have to lift the warp threads but I am excited to get started on a new tapestry!

Critic or Critique?

January 26, 2015/7 Comments/in felt, Interesting stuff, Projects /by bschutzgruber

Critic (noun) a person who expresses an unfavorable opinion of something

For many people, including myself, the idea of having your art judged does not bring happy thoughts to mind and can crush creativity. My elementary school did not have an art teacher. A picture from a magazine would be taped to the chalkboard and we were simply told “Draw this.” The results were always graded using letter grades (A to E) one for content and and one for neatness. My work, if I was lucky, might…. just might…. get C-/D and there were no suggestions to help me improve my work. To this day the thought of drawing something sends me into an anxiety attack.

Critique (noun) a detailed analysis and assessment of something

Getting a thoughtful critique can raise art to new levels, broaden perspective and increase creativity. Last year I worked on large felt wall hanging for the annual Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild show which runs the month of February in the lobby of the Power Center for the Performing Arts here in Ann Arbor, MI.

View From Above
(28″ x 82″- felted wool fibers)

This was one of the largest felt pieces I’ve ever made and felting it was physically demanding. I was pleased with the design – the mix of colors and line movement. It made a statement, especially from a distance. I believed it was good enough, so fingers crossed….. I submitted it.

It was not selected and in my disappointment I suddenly found myself emotionally back in elementary school. But here is where ‘critique’ turned this experience from the negative ‘critic’ into something positive. The jury committee had made comments. Some were positive (it was felted well and it did catch attention from a distance) PLUS there comments about where it still needed work:
1) there is no real change in value (light/dark) within each of the colors used
2) there was nothing new to discover once you stepped closer

So for the next year I thought about what I could do to embellish this piece yet stay true to my desire to only use felting techniques.

Using a barbed needle to punch fibers into place,

I needle felted silk fibers to give a broader range of color value and bring more interest and details, then I repeated the wet felting to blend everything together.

Top detail – before and after

Bottom detail – before and after

I am happy to say that Coastal Waterways was accepted for this year’s Power Center Show.

Critic or Critique? It’s all in how you say it and where the emphasis is placed.

Coastal Waterways
(26″ x 79″ – felted wool & silk fibers)

Riverbend Studio – another year of work

December 30, 2014/0 Comments/in Interesting stuff, Projects, studio /by bschutzgruber

At the end of 2013 the rough construction was competed for my studio space on 5 acres of woodland in central Michigan. See the November & December 2013 achieve for Riverbend – rustic beginnings and Riverbend – building the studio [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4]

2014 has been a year filled with continued work.

In May steps were built….

and a contraption for maintaining the lane.

The metal roof was put on…

and a small folding table and a sideboard were added to the living space.

With the addition of vinyl flooring, curtains and rugs…. the inside space was coming together nicely.

Later in the summer came the building of a Murphy bed…

and the picture that hung over the fireplace in my parent’s house for 55 years has a new home.

In the spring and fall the overnight temperatures inside the studio can easily drop into the 40’s F…

so one thing was left on the list for comfort = getting a propane heater that would vent to the outside.

With the painting of the front door…

and hanging the nameplate made of Welsh slate…

my Riverbend studio retreat is coming along nicely.

Here’s to more adventures in 2015!

Early Medieval Tunic found in Glacier to be Recreated

November 28, 2014/0 Comments/in garments, Interesting stuff /by bschutzgruber

Astonishingly well preserved Iron Age tunic will be recreated (mostly) using the ‪spinning‬ and ‪weaving‬ techniques available at the time. You can read about the examination of the wool fibres, method of spinning, the diamond twill weaving pattern and other factors which have been revealed by this project.
Click on the link to read this fascinating article.
http://www.medievalists.net/2014/11/24/early-medieval-tunic-recreated-norway/

Look Ma….. No Seams!

September 30, 2014/3 Comments/in felt, garments, Interesting stuff, Projects /by bschutzgruber

In the middle of September I spend 3 fabulous days in a felting workshop with international feltmaker and clothing designer Charity Van der Meer from the Netherlands. The workshop was organized by Michigan felt artist Dawn Edwards and held at Design Street, a community art education center in Plainwell, Michigan.

The old fire station has lots of natural light and plenty of space for 12 large felting stations.

Charity’s work is amazing! She combines colors, textures and shapes to create clothing that is soft, light weight and comfortable to wear.

The focus of this workshop was to make a one-piece nuno felted dress or skirt with an emphasis on pleating, layering and adding godets to the design. Using her very simple but effective patterns we were encouraged to use our imagination and develop our own fashion ideas. We calculated our starting dimensions (the dress will shrink 100%) and Charity showed us how trace out our patterns onto plastic and add the godet panel(s). [A godet is a triangular piece of material inserted in a dress, shirt, or glove to make it flared or for ornamentation.]

Using silk chiffon fabric and merino wool fibers we created layers wrapping the silk & base wool around the plastic pattern. The plastic works as a resist to keep the wool & silk from felting into a 2D shape instead of the 3D shape needed to be a dress. Overlapping the silk fabric and wool fibers at the shoulders and sides creates the ‘seam’ so no sewing is involved!!

Day 2: The silk fabric & wool fibers are layered for the other side but this time making sure to cover the godet separately.

Now the fun begins = adding the details and embellishments to the dress!! I used wool fibers, silk fibers, polyester lace fabric, blended wool/silk fiber, plus wool and silk yarns.

Wet down the front of the dress with warm soapy water.

Layout my design and wet down the back.

Sandwich everthing between plastic……

Roll it all up in an anti-skid rug mat and old sheet then start rolling…… rolling…. rolling….

Day 3: Continue rolling…. rolling… rolling…..

Now it’s time to unwrap and try it on! (Oh…. was this the part soggy!!!)
And…. oh my gosh…. it fits like a glove!!

Charity helped smooth and give finishing touches to everyone’s dress.

And we all went out for a group photo. Each dress and skirt was true one-of-a-kind work of art!!!

I even had enough time to layout a shorter top before leaving and felted it at home the next day.

This workshop was just the ticket to my get my creative juices flowing this fall! I will definitely continue to work with this technique and I’ve made a note in my 2016 fall calendar = Charity may be back to give another workshop!!

Waulking and Art Fair and more…. oh my!

July 21, 2014/2 Comments/in Interesting stuff, weaving /by bschutzgruber

July has been a month filled with one event after another!

Starting with demonstrating in the Textiles Tent at the Saline Celtic Festival which combines my 2 artistic loves…. stories and weaving.

The weather was sunny and relatively cool for a Michigan summer so attendance was good for the festival. Mary Underwood and CJ Kohoyda-Inglis organized the Textile Tent filling it with fabulous fiber folk so besides my weaving demonstration, there were members of The Spinners Flock demonstrating different forms of spinning and knitting.

One of highlights of our tent is ‘Waulking the Tweed’ with Frances Acar leading us in song. ‘Waulking’ is the Scottish Gaelic word for fulling. Woven woolen fabric needs to be ‘fulled’ when it comes off the loom. Pressure, warmth and moisture creates tiny pockets of air that lift up the woolen fibers making the surface softer, thicker and more weather resistant. Before the days of machines this was done by hand with friends and family in a community event – each bringing fabric that needed to be fulled. If there was not a table long enough for the fabric, doors were often taken off hinges and set on the ground or saw horses for the work surface. Songs were sung to set the pace, rhythm and coordinate movement. By measuring the woolen fabric after every 2 or 3 songs controlled shrinkage can be achieved. The songs are call-and-response with the leader singing the verses and everyone else singing the refrain. Many of the songs were about how wonderful, intelligent or handsome a husband/lover is OR how that husband/lover is a no good rogue and lowlife. (Some things haven’t changed over the centuries!)

Right on the heels of Celtic Festival came the Ann Arbor Art Fairs.
For 4 days more than 1,000 artists sprawl over 27 blocks of Ann Arbor as 4 separate nationally recognised art fairs are going on simultaneously. The weather was fantastic and nearly 500,000 people came over the 4 days. My work, along with 15 other guild members, was part of the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild booth in the State Street Area Art Fair. It certainly ‘took a village’ or in this case a guild (16 sellers and 20 volunteers) – to build, man, and take down our booth.

And finally…. the month closes out with the National Storytelling Network Conference in Mesa, Arizona filled with master classes, keynotes, workshops, storytelling concerts and swaps. Here I’ll connect with storytellers from across the country and help with the 8th season of the Fringe Performances.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland

June 1, 2014/0 Comments/in embroidery, Interesting stuff, tapestry /by bschutzgruber

While visiting Aberdeen, Scotland this spring I was able to see an amazing tapestry exhibit – The Great Tapestry of Scotland. This tapestry is composed of 163 hand embroidered panels, each 1 metre square, depicting the history of Scotland… from the Ice Age to the beginning of the 21st Century.

The project was initiated by author Alexander McCall Smith, historian Alistair Moffat and artist Andrew Crummy. Dorie Wilkie coordinated over 1,000 volunteer stitchers, of all ages and abilities, from every part of Scotland, who put in over 65,000 hours to hand stitch 300 miles of wool thread onto Scottish linen to create the world’s longest tapestry – 143 metres/156 yards.

Andrew Crummy’s design work is amazing – as you can see from the details found in the different sections on the opening panel. (Color distortions are due to my camera and no flash allowed in the exhibit.)

As he designed the main images for the panels – he also left sections open so that each group of stitchers could add their own individual touches to truly make this one of the biggest community arts projects ever to take place in Scotland. Many of the stitch groups signed the bottom right corner of their panel.

In the middle of the exhibit – I watched local stitchers work on a panel, inspired by this project, depicting the city of Aberdeen

and was able to actually touch samples of the linen and the stitch work used.

The Great Tapestry of Scotland website has detailed information, background and history of the project, samples of the embroidery stitches used, a fabulous slide show of all the panels, plus an audio file telling the story of the making of the tapestry…. which I’ve been able to listen to while watching the slide show by having both windows open!

The exhibit it currently in Paisley (that panel was stitched at the town’s Thread Mill Museum by former mill girls) until June 8th. It will continue to tour Scotland through the end of November with hopes to bringing it internationally.

Samurai: Beyond the Armor Fashion Design Competition

May 18, 2014/1 Comment/in Interesting stuff /by bschutzgruber

Arriving early at the Detroit Institute of Arts for a talk ‘The Medieval Art of Swordplay’ by Jeffrey Forgeng who is the curator at the Higgins Armory Museum – Worcester Art Museum, I stumbled upon the creations by 10 local designers which had just dazzled the runway in an unusual fashion show at the DIA. The fashion show was the culmination of a competition hosted by the DIA and Detroit Garment Group Guild (DG3), in which the designers were challenged to create outfits inspired by the DIA exhibition, Samurai: Beyond the Sword. These garments were amazing!!!

I may have missed the formal runway show but being able to stand next to these exquisite garments afterward as the models moved about the sunlit Rivera Court….

To see them ‘up close’…. oh this was my lucky day! Check out DG3’s site for photos of the all the entries.