4-H Fashion Revue - Pierce County

Last night I was busy helping to judge the Pierce County 4-H's Fashion Revue competition for this year's county fair. If you've never heard of Fashion Revue, it is a traditional 4-H activity where the participants have sewn the outfit (or at least a part of their outfit) they model for the judges, and then are interviewed by the judges about their knowledge of construction skills (especially as it relates to the construction of their garment), the fit, construction and pressing of their garment (as seen when it is worn - the judges traditionally do not look at the inside of the garment, although some counties choose to do that), and their ability to present/model their garment to the judge (a very small part of their score).

They have a very strong program in Pierce County thanks to several extremely hard working and dedicated 4-H leaders. Some of these women have dedicated large areas of their houses (and in one case even built a special addition) just to have room to work with these kids and share their love of sewing. They are truly the unsung heroes of the sewing industry - keeping the art and science alive for future generations.

The turnout was amazing - I helped to judge the Junior category, of which there were something like 30 participants! It took several hours to get through everyone without rushing too much. We did our best to move them along but you want to give each child the attention and consideration they deserve. After all, they have put many, many hours into making this outfit and should have the chance to show their pride in accomplishment.

I usually don't have the opportunity to judge Fashion Revue, as I am the contest superintendent at the State 4-H Fair and am usually busy finding and hiring judges myself. So it was a special treat to be able to help out, and an opportunity to see some fellow Clothing and Textile Advisors that I haven't seen for a while.

If you love sewing and love to teach, I would strongly recommend volunteering with 4-H. It is very important that we encourage sewing with the younger generations if we are to ensure the survival of the sewing industry. Plus, it's a lot of fun!

Whew!

Spent this past weekend demonstrating needle felting and silk dyeing at the Bellevue Art Fair. If you've never been to the Bellevue Art Fair, it's a treat for anyone who appreciates beautiful things - of any kind. Besides various representations of textile arts (clothes, hats, rugs, wallhangings, etc.) there were furniture makers, metal artists, glass artists, painters, pottery makers - you name it - it is a huge event with very high quality work represented.

I had a really good time demonstrating. On Friday night I demonstrated needle felting by hand and machine and was surprised at the number of people who were interested. Lots of great questions and audience reaction makes for a great teaching experience. I was a little intimidated at first as the stage was quite large and here I was, a one woman show! But it didn't seem to matter - the stage crew was great and they had cameras trained on my work area. With all the crowd noise I was grateful for the microphone as well.

Saturday afternoon it was silk dyeing - and that really gathered a lot of attention. Nothing like lots of brightly colored silk waving in the breeze to capture attention. As demonstrators we are not allowed to sell, which is just as well. But I could have sold everything I dyed, I think! There was a lot of interest, and more importantly, a lot of interest in taking classes. So hopefully there will be some familiar faces in classes in the future. It really is easy to do and so rewarding.

Fiber Friday - Silk Noil

I'm prepping today for two sets of public demonstrations at the Bellevue Art Fair. I'm really looking forward to it; it's a lot of fun to demonstrate textile arts techniques to the public. Most people are so far removed from textiles and especially the textile arts that they are astonished that people 'still do that sort of thing.' The fact that someone, somewhere (in reality, a whole lot of people in various locations) produced the fiber, wove/knit the fabric, dyed it (somewhere along the line - it varies). created the design, made the pattern, checked the fit, and sewed it into a garment that they purchased doesn't seem to enter their head. It's as if "poof!" it just appeared in the store.

But I digress. I'm going to talk about silk noil today. Silk noil is often mistakenly referred to as 'raw silk'. Raw silk actually refers to silk filament that has been reeled but not yet otherwise processed. But somehow that label has come to be used to talk about the fabrics that are made from the waste silk produced from making spun filament silk.

Silk noil is very user-friendly. It is easy to care for, in fact it improves with washing. I throw mine in the washer and dryer prior to cutting, as it will shrink. It is tolerant of pressing temperatures and lends itself well to garments with some drape and ease. It does not have a great deal of body and can be prone to fraying, so use appropriate interfacings and seam finishes. Overall, it is as easy to sew with as most cotton fabrics and a good 'starter' fabric to work with if you are uneasy about working with silk.

Silk noil can be dyed. It generally accepts dye readily but due to the nature of the waste silk, the evenness of the color and even the degree of color accepted may vary from yardage to yardage. I have a silk noil vest that has been dyed and overdyed several times. It did not exhibit good dye uptake, hence all the overdyeing. However, this had its own advantages as the dye layers have given the fabric extra dimension. It has been stenciled with Lumiere prior to the last couple of dips in dye, and is often (at a small distance) mistaken for suede rather than cloth.

Probably the biggest complaint about undyed noil is the potential smell. It can carry a slight scent to it that is difficult to remove. I wash mine in hot water with Synthrapol (an excellent idea if you're planning on dyeing it, especially - Dharma Trading carries it), which helps. Synthrapol helps to remove the sericin (silk gum) remaining in the fabric, which I suspect has something to do with the scent. I've read that rinsing it with baking soda in water when washing it will also help. Dyed silk noil rarely retains the scent; I notice it much more in undyed fabric.

Fiber Friday - Fleece to Fabric

Happy Fiber Friday!

I spent much of today playing with silk dyes with the staff of the Puyallup Quality Sewing store. We had a good time dyeing scarves and generally creating beautiful stuff. I'm offering the classes there next in early October. Should be fun!

I was thinking about fleece today because yesterday I turned in my niece's 4-H educational posters for her and helped judge the other 4-H posters for several hours. One of her posters showed a life cycle (with photos) of fleece, from being sheared from the sheep, to washing/carding, spinning, knitting and finished garment. It was a very simple illustration of the process but nonetheless effective.

In this age where high-tech 'eco fibers' are such a hot topic, I can't help to feel rebellious and constantly point out the obviously 'eco friendly' fibers that have been with humanity for thousands of years (and don't require a degree in chemistry to make them possible). I find it a little discouraging that when I am helping to demonstrate spinning at local fairs, the attitude of much of the public is something to the order of 'oh, how quaint and old fashioned'. I always make sure to explain to the kids (kids are fascinated by spinning wheels - I know I was) that every thread in the clothing that they are wearing was spun in a similar fashion, except by automated machinery. That usually gets them thinking.

I really do love technology (I'm a geek, remember?) but I also think that it is important to remember 'how things are done'. When something happens such as a loss of electricity for an extended period of time, it's just amazing how incredibly helpless and vulnerable most people become. We forget how to do things for ourselves - it may be old fashioned but it doesn't mean it isn't a valuable skill that should be retained.

There's just something very comforting in being able to raise the sheep, shear the sheep (something the sheep are always happy to have done - they're so cute when they're freshly sheared!), wash and card the fibers, spin them into yarn and then either weave it into fabric (which of course I am able to sew into garments) or knit it into a garment.

So I am grateful for the opportunities I've had to learn about fleece and how to use it. And of course I am grateful to my niece's sheep - Harriett and Esmeralda (don't blame her; I suggested the names) for their incredible natural colored Romney fleeces. They are truly a joy to handle.

It's Not a Stash...

...It's a Personal Resource Center! Or so our Sew Fun manager tells me. I have to admit that I'm not certain I ever liked the term 'stash'. To me, it suggests something secretive and hidden, something that I should somehow feel a little ashamed about.

Au contraire! I am very proud of my fabric collection. It possesses many fine examples of high quality fabrics from around the world. Of course my wool and silk collections are the most outstanding, as they are my primary focus. I store most of my fabric in semi-transparent plastic storage bins, so I sometimes have to do a lot of shuffling to find what I'm looking for. I can't seem to ever do this without looking through the contents a bit while I'm doing so. It's hard to describe the sense of well being and, let's face it, love for fabric that I feel while I am gently turning over my textile treasures in their storage bins. I feel so fortunate to have found something so simple that gives me such pleasure in life.

So I encourage all of you - celebrate your 'Personal Resource Centers'. Pet your fabric and make it feel loved. Dream and scheme about all the wonderful things you will do with it all (even if the actual time involved exceeds your life expectancy). The size of our PRC's may seem excessive to some but it's like a cache of unlimited possibilities. And that, in my opinion, is priceless.

The Needle Felted Jacket

Here's one of the projects I've been working on lately - a jacket made entirely by needle felting. Not that I felted all the fiber into fabric, but the jacket construction and embellishment was done using a needle felting machine rather than by sewing.

The pattern for both the jacket and the embellishment are by Marci Tilton - Vogue #V8430. I'd made up this jacket once before as an embroidery blank. The jacket is intended to have all raw edges (it's meant to be constructed from fabrics that are felted or otherwise fray resistant) so needless to say it goes together quickly! For my embroidery sample, I sewed it using a medium weight polarfleece. For this needle felted example, I used a wool blend which wasn't technically felted but I did throw it in the washer and dryer first to 'full' it a bit. I'm not sure it even shrank but this technique seems to work with any reasonably substantial fabric. You could always add hems if you were concerned about raw edges.

I did use strips of fabric as 'reinforcement' - felted them into the shoulder seams and to reinforce the sleeve dart. Those were areas I felt would need some extra strength. Otherwise, it went together beautifully and seems to be plenty strong. Of course if you pulled on it hard enough it would possibly come apart. But so do traditional seams. I am confident that it will stand up to normal wearing stress.

I'm teaching this jacket as a class at Quality Sewing next month in Silverdale and Puyallup. I'm really looking forward to it - should be a lot of fun and give needle felting machine owners another option for using their machines.

Fiber Friday - Silk Dyeing

Holy cow - is it Friday already? I was in Silverdale all day yesterday teaching silk dyeing at the Quality Sewing store there. It was a lot of fun and reminded me why I have pursued this career - because it's very rewarding to help others to discover and enjoy ways to be creative with textiles and fiber arts.

It never ceases to amaze me how talented and creative my students are. I always demonstrate various ways they can crease, crumple, and otherwise creatively color their silk dyeing projects. But they always come up with something completely different that I hadn't thought of before. I just love seeing what they come up with.

The silk dyes I use are fairly unique - they are Colorhue 'instant set' silk dyes. They are an acid dye that is especially suitable for silk, although it can be used on other fibers as well. What I've found (and been taught) is that they will color other fibers but it may require a much longer immersion in solution in order to achieve the desired color saturation. I can't imagine teaching with anything else, as no other dye or paint I've found offers the ease of use of the Colorhue dye. Not only will it work with cold water, but I don't have to add any chemicals or heat to set the dyes. It's like dyeing Easter eggs - just dip and you're done! So it's perfect for my students. They can concentrate on playing with the color and thinking about design rather than worry about 'what step comes next'. To top it off, they're even non-toxic.

There are various brands and types of dyes used for dyeing silks. I prefer acid dyes for their relative ease of use and low toxicity. Procion fiber-reactive dyes will also work on silk, but they will 'strike' differently on silk than they will on cotton or rayon (cellulosic fibers). This can be used to great advantage, however, when dyeing blended fiber fabrics, such as burnout velvets and satins. It's difficult to say that any one dye is better than another - they all have their advantages and disadvantages.

You can even dye silk using food coloring. The wash and light-fastness will not be as great, but it's easy enough to do. Just add a generous amount of vinegar - acid - just as if you were dyeing Easter eggs. Kool-Aid and similar drink mixes (the unsweetened kind!) can also be used. In this case, citric acid is the acid used to create a simple acid dye.

Silk also over-dyes easily. Many dyes are relatively 'transparent', lending themselves to beautiful color combinations when layered. Here is a vest made from 'recycled' silk. It started out as a really awful shade of brown. It was such a nasty color that I wouldn't even use it for a lining. So I dunked it in green dye and it resulted in the lovely shade of olive green you see here. I then used stamps to stamp it in rough squared spirals with Lumiere metallic paint, and when I was done stamping, I diluted the Lumiere with water and flicked the remaining paint onto the fabric with a paintbrush. I was really lucky to find the 'Poppy Vest' by The Sewing Workshop. I had to cheat a bit here and there but did manage to scrape this asymmetrical vest out of that oddly shaped scrap of silk fabric. Now isn't that better than leaving it lying around unloved because of its icky color?

I heartily recommend you try silk dyeing sometime if you haven't already. If you can't find any classes, Things Japanese offers multimedia CD-ROM's that will take you step-by-step through the whole process. Have fun!

Hey, Scotty - where's my replicator??

Okay, so if you didn't know it before - I'm a geek. I'm probably a bit more style-oriented than your average geek but it's just a good facade.

So of course I love Star Trek. This is a good thing, as my husband is a big Star Trek fan. There are so many awesome gadgets that are 'used' on the series and it's pretty darn obvious when you look at cellular phones and similar devices where the inspiration came from. We actually owe an awful lot to science fiction and the really creative geeks who came up with all those ideas.

This would explain, of course, why I'm so enamored of all the various sewing and fiber arts tools that are available. I do believe that they make my job (and therefore my life) much easier and more efficient. Of course, you can make most projects with a very simple straight-stitch sewing machine and a few basic tools, like our ancestors and ancestresses did. But I'd like to argue that they would do the same if they were working on deadline if they could!

So, back to Star Trek. I'm sure you were wondering just where I was going with this. One of my favorite devices on Star Trek is the replicator. Sometimes when I ask my husband what kind of tea he would like (we both drink copious amounts of tea), he will jokingly reply 'Earl Grey, hot" - in reference to Captain Picard.

I really, really want a replicator. Sometimes I think my brain is threatening to burst with all the ideas that are constantly clamoring for attention. How awesome would it be to be able to go over to an interface and simply describe what to produce?

Of course then it comes to me: how do I explain to the replicator just what I'm trying to do? Input a drawing? Some fabric swatches? A button or two? Hmm...

Chances are it would result in endless frustration and I would go back to 'doing it myself'. Some might argue that it wasn't truly creative if you could use a machine in such a way. I think it could be and heaven knows I'd likely be much more productive!

Until then I'll be using my own gadgets and such to produce my work. But a girl can dream!

As You Sew, So Shall You Reap

You'll have to forgive me for borrowing and putting a twist on that familiar homily, but I've been doing a lot of landscaping work this spring and summer. Our property has a lot of newly cleared areas that require attention and so whenever I can scrape together some time away from work and 'life', I'm planning, digging, planting, watering - all those many chores that it takes to develop a beautifully designed yard.

Naturally, I have lots of time to think while I'm up to my elbows in dirt. My Dad has always said that he enjoyed all the years of tractor driving (he is a wheat farmer) because it gives you 'lots of time to think'. I can understand that. And of course I think about design, sewing, and fiber arts quite a bit.

It led me to contemplate how gardening has so many parallels to sewing. Many people's sewing skills are mainly kept to sewing on buttons, mending tears, hemming various items, etc. Which is kind of like having a basic yard which is kept mowed and trimmed and maintained without much variance from year to year. Then you have the yards with tons of hanging baskets, lots of annuals, yard art of various types - I see that as a parallel to embellishment and wearable art. There are so many comparisons I could make!

It also made me think about the way we approach our various sewing projects, as alluded to in the topic. I approach many of my projects as if they are annuals or perennials, in a sense. An annual plant grows up, blooms, sets seed and dies in one season - kind of like a quick sewing project. For me, this is like a quick t-shirt I might whip together on the serger or similar. Then there are the perennials - they have differing life spans, but generally take longer to become established and put on a show. My perennial projects are tailored jackets and similar items requiring a greater degree of preparation, cutting, pressing and sewing skills, and overall care and attention to detail to see it through to completion. Not to mention a more significant investment in time.

I'm mostly a perennial gardener. I generally choose my plants with a lot of forethought, and then carefully plan and research the best possible location to plant them. I don't enjoy 'fussing' over my plants - I do my best to research and find the best quality plants which will grow strong and healthy, requiring a minimum of maintenance at maturity. I'm also a collector. I collect different varieties of plants and am especially fond of those that are unusual or relatively rare. I have nothing against annuals; in fact I use them quite a bit to fill in the spaces between perennial plants that are still slowly growing toward their maturity. In time, the number of annuals will decrease as the perennials reach full size but I am sure there will still be a place for them in the overall scheme.

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense about my design work as well. Generally speaking I prefer to work on more complex, detailed projects rather than quick, 'instant gratification' projects. I'd rather put more time and care into the creation and have a finished product that will have lasting beauty and wearability for years to come. I also collect my fabric much like I collect plants - I prefer high quality silks and wools that will perform well and look beautiful from season to season. But that doesn't mean I don't also enjoy fun projects and it certainly doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good fabric sale and occasionally making something quick with lesser quality fabric. Everything has its place; it's a matter of balance and proportion, just like planning a well-designed landscape. Heaven knows there are times in the middle of a 'perennial' project that I truly wished I was making a bunch of 'annual' projects instead!

It really doesn't matter what kind of 'gardener' you are in the greater scheme of things. I'm constantly amazed at the huge variety of items and interests people use their sewing machines to create and explore. Just as I am often moved to admire a garden which is very different from my own. What really matters is that we are all creating our own idea of happiness or beauty.

Clip Art for Textile Inspiration

Just invested in a few Dover Clip Art CD-ROM/books that were part of their current sale. Free shipping and tote bag, too!

I love Dover Clip Art - they have a large collection to choose from and the designs are royalty-free. In this case it means that you can use the designs - even for your own creations for sale - up to a limited number per collection. If you need/want to use more, they charge a small fee for licensing. Since many of their art collections are now available on CD-ROM, you don't even need to own a scanner in order to use the artwork. They have done the work for you and saved them as high-resolution graphics.

There's a lot of ways you can use these graphics. I sometimes turn them into t-shirts and assorted items for my Katzenmusik store. You can print them onto transfer paper and make your own custom fabric designs. Or digitize them into your own embroidery designs.

I love having these wonderful designs available to work with to supplement my own ideas. It's so much easier to be creative when you have a starting point to get you going! There's definitely no such thing as too much inspiration.

Fiber Friday - Happy 4th of July!

Since Fiber Friday falls on the 4th of July I can't help but think about the fight for American Independence. As a historian (my bachelor's degree is in History), I never cease to be in awe of our Founding Fathers (and Mothers) who risked everything - life, liberty, property - in order to establish our country.

I especially enjoy some of the early colonial history. My maternal Grandmother's family is from early colonial stock and it's interesting (and humbling) to read about their struggles and triumphs as early Americans. Being also fascinated with textiles I can't help but be interested in the early history of our flag.

Of course when you think about our Stars and Stripes, many of us immediately think of Betsy Ross. I did some reading about Betsy on the Betsy Ross Homepage (what a wonderful age we live in) and found that there is some controversy about whether or not Betsy truly did design or make the first American flag as we know it. The evidence that exists is apparently circumstantial at best but it does seem reasonable to assert that it is highly likely that she did, given the few facts that are known.

I have to admit, however, that my favorite colonial era flag is the Gadsen flag, known by its distinctive rattlesnake design and "Don't Tread On Me" motto. The design evolved from a cartoon printed by Benjamin Franklin exhorting the colonies to stick together and defend themselves during the French and Indian wars. Benjamin Franklin felt that the rattlesnake, being an indigenous American snake, represented many desirable qualities. A rattlesnake will generally (don't count on it if you surprise one) give warning when threatened but will not back down once provoked. Having grown up in rattlesnake country I can tell you that all living things, no matter their size, respect this snake and generally give it a wide berth.

Interestingly enough, this flag is not entirely lost to history in the present day. It lives on in the First Navy Jack, created in 1775, and is now traditionally flown on the U.S. Navy ship that has been in service longest. At the present time that honor belongs to the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk. But according to the First Navy Jack website, it is currently being flown by all U.S. Navy vessels during the War on Terrorism. As you can see, in the First Navy Jack, the snake isn't coiled - it is striking.

Don't Tread on Me! Happy Independence Day!

The Best Sewing Machine

I am asked this question a lot: Which is the best sewing machine? I also hear this claim being hotly debated amongst groups of sewing enthusiasts. In my mind, it's a lot like asking a group of American car enthusiasts, 'Which is better, Ford or Chevy?' (Or Dodge, etc.)

The answer is the same: Whichever one you like best. I happen to sew on Pfaff machines. I bought my first top-of-the-line (TOTL) Pfaff about 10 years ago and loved it. My favorite feature is the IDT which is exclusive to Pfaff. It's a feed foot that pulls fabric from above in addition to the traditional feed dogs pulling the fabric from below. Because I sew with a lot of specialty fabrics (and have a fondness for plaids) I find this feature to be invaluable.

Now, I've also sewn on Bernina, Husqvarna Viking, Janome and Babylock machines. And I started my sewing adventures on a very vintage Singer straight stitch machine. I even own a (working condition) 120 year old White treadle machine. I've enjoyed sewing on every one of them.

So what should you look for in a machine? I'll likely go into greater detail in a future article. But in a nutshell I strongly recommend taking the following three things into greatest consideration:

~Dealership. A good dealer is a prize worth holding onto. They stand behind their products and will work with you (not against you) to help you love your machine. My first Pfaff machine was actually a serger purchased 13 years ago from Quality Sewing and Vacuum. I'm still a customer thanks to their outstanding customer service, and a year and a half ago I became a sewing consultant for them. I am proud to represent them because I have experienced firsthand as a customer their commitment to excellence and amazing customer service.

~Type of Use. How and where will you use this machine? Everyone I know has slightly different expectations for their machine. Are you sewing on light or heavy fabrics? How many hours a day/week/month/year? Do you want to do machine embroidery? Mending? Light industrial? Will you be traveling with this machine? Be open minded about the possibilities but also honest about what your needs are. For example: I need my machines to be reliable workhorses that will sew on a huge variety of fabrics from chiffon to Melton without complaint. But now that machine embroidery software has evolved into a much more dynamic, user-friendly tool, I am more easily able to create the designs I want to stitch. Combine that with hoops big enough to do a jacket back in one hooping, well, I find I am doing a LOT more machine embroidery than I ever did in the past. So I am glad that I have machines that are dual-purpose. But if you find that you 'just want to sew' or conversely, have much more fun 'decorating' than sewing, you should consider buying a machine that is more specialized and likely less expensive, too!

~Ease of Use. You need to 'test sew' on machines prior to purchase. Take a variety of fabrics with you in case the dealership doesn't have samples on hand. You might want to take a fresh pack of Universal 70 or 80 needles with you as well. A dull needle can make a good machine look bad. Test sewing on machines not only gives you a chance to get a feel for the machine (and gives you a better basis for comparison) but it also helps you to gauge the level of willingness of the staff to help you learn.

Only you can know what you think you want from a machine. If you're not sure, consider buying a high quality (previous top model) used machine - you'll get lots of features for less money, and if the dealership is reputable they should give at least a limited warranty on used machines.