Green Shed Activity: New Singer Sewing Machine and 40 Meters Khadi Fabric

I got a new sewing machine for my birthday. 

It is a Heavy Duty Singer that can sew thick and fast.

My new Bernina 780 is not up to sewing thick layers of fabric, something I have had to accept after giving away my 40-year-old Bernina 830 Record which could handle everything I gave it.

The Bernina 830 Record is known as a workhorse. I did 4 years of City and Guilds courses on this simple, non-computerised machine. 

Ron has been getting a hard time from his buddies about giving me a machine so I can once again do canvas repairs on his boat, something I couldn't do after I got the Bernina 780. This Singer can sew 3 thicknesses of canvas but I haven't tested it to its needle breaking limits yet.

It comes with a needle threader, a thread cutter, 18 built-in stitches, 2 different buttonholes, can be threaded for a twin needle and the feed dogs can be dropped for free motion work.

All this for $149!

I won't tell you how much this baby cost. It was a graduation present after I completed a BA (Hons) Embroidered Textiles.

The Bernina 780 is an amazing machine but it does have some problems the company has not fixed and they have stopped making this model. It is so highly computerised it self-corrects the tension even when I want a loopy stitch. I can't work cable stitch using thick threads in the bobbin because it self-corrects. 

My new birthday Singer can make loopy stitches and it sews fast.

40 meters of lightweight fabric just washed.

I bought this Indian, handwoven cotton cloth from a favourite shop, Knotty by Nature Fibres,  here in Victoria. 

It is a jacquard woven, light-weight, narrow cloth that I think would qualify as Indian khadi cloth.

I ironed the 40 metres while still damp and while binge-watching Vikings. 

At this stage, I have no idea what I will do with 40 meters of fine white cloth. It is all washed, ironed, folded and put away in the Green Shed to wait out the 'Percolation' stage.

Things Textiley in Greece: Peloponnese Peninsula Traditional Costumes

Vocha, Corinthia, Greece, early 20th century

Layers of wool and cotton heavily embroidered. Silver ornament.

Belesi, Argolid, Greece, early 20th century

The heavily embroidered red vest is all the more eye-catching when worn with the white over-vest.

The many different types of embroidery reflect the many outside influences over Greece's long history.

Turkish influences in style, techniques and materials.

Both men's and women's garments were densely embroidered...

....while in some areas they were elegantly simple.

Women's costume from Hydra in the 20th century.

The wide -sleeved blouse with the fitted, woollen, embroidered jacket are elements seen in the current Evzone guard uniform I looked at in the previous post.

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Man's dress 'Kanavista' of the Argolid plain, Peloponnese, early 20th century.

I'm sorry about the quality of this image because I just love this garment.

It looks simple but close inspection shows the masterful use of a plaid material. 

The padded areas over the shoulders and across the chest and the ease of movement allowed by the pleated skirt suggest it is derived from a working garment or a garment worn in battle.

And I thought different coloured buttons on a garment was a contemporary thing.

The many layers of multi-directional pieces would add strength and warmth to the fabric

Bridal costume, Argos, Peloponnese, 19th century

This is an interesting bridal costume because it showcases so many different fabrics, embroidery techniques and threads all on one garment.

Apron: Appliqued ribbon, rick rack and lace.

Pin tucks, lace inserts and ribbon rosettes.

Machine made.

Cross stitch on cotton and woollen fabrics.

Blackwork in running stitches and whitework using satin stitches.

Densely worked wool on wool in a variety of stitches.

Hand embroidered.

Is the bride showcasing her embroidery and dressmaking skills?

Modern Greeks dressed to be outside for a cold winter's afternoon on a public holiday.

Things Textiley in Greece - 12 Parts of the Greek Evzone Guard Uniform

Here is one of those pesky tourists standing beside one of the famed Greek Evzone - guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the president's mansion, dressed in his Sunday uniform.

To join this elite division of guards one has to be over 6' 1.3"/1.87m tall.

The guard's uniform evolved from the Klephts' traditional clothing. 

The Klephts were Greeks who avoided Turkish rule by escaping to live in the rugged mountains. While surviving as thieves they formed the core of the resistance to the Ottoman occupation of Greece and with Greek independence became national heroes. 

Costumes in the Nafplion Museum.

Of the 12 parts of the uniform, the most striking and symbolic is the kilt-like skirt - the fustanella. Made of a 98'/30m length of cotton, each soldier irons in 400 pleats then his partner helps him to belt it to his waist. The 400 pleats symbolise the 400 years the Greeks endured Ottoman occupation.

The blue and white waist fringe, also held in place by the belt, are colours symbolising the modern Greek nation, the colours also in the national flag.

Over a white cotton long-sleeved shirt is worn another white shirt - the ypodetes - with its very wide long sleeves that billow out as the soldier marches.

The scarlet, wool fez - the farion - has a long black silk tassel. The soldier's aim is to hold his body upright while marching to avoid tangling the silk tassel.

The waistcoat - the fermeli - is densely hand embroidered wool. Traditional designs are worked in white and gilt thread. One of the coded messages in the embroidery is the military rank of the wearer.

Silk tassel garters, 2 types - the epiksclides and the anaspastos -  hold in place 2 pairs of white woollen stockings - the periskclides.

A rifle with a bayonet is part of the uniform.

The red, leather clogs - the tsarouchia - have a pointed toe adorned with a black pompom. One source says the pompom is to keep water out of the hand sewn join where the 3 pieces of leather meet at the toe. It is also known as a place to hide a small blade.

Each clog has 60 nails embedded in the sole and a horseshoe-like metal plate on the heel. Apart from making the clogs very heavy, up to 7 lbs, the nails help the soldier from slipping on the stone tiles. As a group of soldiers raise their right legs high then strike the ground forcefully with their clogs it is said to make a sound of war.

This year our family holiday was spent in Greece.

Carol Soderlund Workshop - 'TRUE COLORS: Developing a Personal Palette'

Carol's samples of dyed fabric using different sets of primary colours.

In the fall I attended a Carol Soderlund workshop at the Pacific Northwest Art School.

'TRUE COLORS: Developing a Personal Palette'

Building a reference for my chosen personal palette.

Early in the week, I met one-on-one with Carol for my Palette Chat where I showed her my chosen palette. While looking at Carol's sample binders with over 80 different colour families she helped me pick a selection of primary colours to work with over the rest of the week.

The 1st class exercise was a group one where we each dyed a set of samples using different primaries. These were cut up  and shared so everyone had small samples for their own binder.

The Big Squeeze Dye Technique

This was one of my favourite techniques Carol showed us. 

It is a very quick way to get a range of values while shifting the hue.

Lovely results from another student using another simple dyeing technique.

This other technique also produced a shift in value and hue while using only 3 primary colour dyes.

Here are my samples. I also incorporated folding the fabric to produce a pattern.

Using this technique one could produce a lot of more randomly dyed, multi-coloured fabric easily and with minimal washout.

My Dye Table

Not only did I learn so much more about colour over the week I also came away with an understanding of many more dyeing techniques. I now know how to dye fabric in a specific colour palette for any future bodies of work.

Thank you Carol for another exceptional workshop

Carol will be back at Pacific Northwest Art School next year, September 9 - 13, 2017 to teach 'In the Thick of It,' a workshop about ways to use thickened Procion MX dyes on fabric.

'Earth Repair' - 3 Years Later

2014

3 years 3 months after the emergency while living outside wrapped around the Indian plum I brought the 3 afternoon tea cloths inside. 

They were carefully washed, dried and ironed. I was hoping the laundering had stopped the decay processes.

There is much staining and decay and large holes had appeared.

How to preserve this cloth? The usual way to repair a cloth is to darn it but the whole cloth is in such a fragile state didn't think it would support darning. Another way to repair cloth is to add a patch. When I thought about it, adding patches is the way the soil is repaired each year. Leaves fall from plants and trees and cover the soil. Organic processes work on breaking down the leaves to return them to the soil.

I was thinking about this soil repair idea when while out on a walk I noticed the Tulip tree had a skirt of leaves reflecting the shape if its branches. It was using its leaves to replenish the soil it grows in.

I looked more closely at those fallen leaves and saw the majority had decayed in such a way that only the veins were left. They were leaf skeletons.

I collected them up and soaked them in water to remove the soil and pine needles.

I left them to dry.

They are quite lovely in their fragile state. I had this idea to repair the tea cloth with these fragile leaves. I hand stitched leaves directly onto the cloth over the holes. At the top of the cloth I stitched a row of eyelets, wove a jute string through them and inserted a stick I found near the Tulip Tree. 

The cloth hung on my design wall for the year, still too delicate to do anything with.

2015

When the Tulip tree was dropping its leaves again the next year made me look again at the still fragile afternoon tea cloth.

I wanted to add more leaves but I wanted to make the skeletons stronger while still appearing fragile. It was time to sample. I coated leaves with various mediums but they tended to fill the holes and look a bit shiny. I ironed on a fine fusible web. I liked the look.  

I added the bonded leaves but I couldn't iron them in place. I decided to machine sew them in place using the finest thread I had with the finest needle.  I liked what was happening and decided to add another layer of leaf skeletons next fall.

 

2016

I added another layer of bonded leaves using a combination of hand and machine stitching.

The cloth with its leaves was stronger looking but getting very dried out and brittle. I added a thin layer of liquid Min Wax. I thought this last effort had ruined the whole thing. It was shiny and stinky and ugly. I just left it hanging thinking I would throw it away when I got around to it.

But one day it caught my eye because it had taken on a transparent glow and the layers of leaves were more visible giving an interesting depth. And it wasn't stinky anymore. 

I was going to add yet another layer of leaves until it got accepted into the World of Threads Festival. Once our work is accepted we have to promise the work shipped will be exactly the same as the images we sent in with the application. 

I can add the next layer of leaves after it returns home.

PS This is what the Indian plum tree looks like fall 2016

Still alive...

...but the bark doesn't look very healthy where the deer ate it.

The fungus growth on the middle trunk indicates the tree is dying.

Maybe the deer knew the tree was old and on its way out.