Morocco - More Things Textiley

Morocco has a number of different official uniforms but this was my favourite - red serge wool. 

The horse is decked out in various embellishments similar to the ones I showed here

Those trousers warrant a closer look.

They are finely gathered, as prep for smocking, the full length of the inside panels, allowing for great ease of movement when riding a horse or running after bad guys. It is a different solution to the other famous red serge uniform belonging to the Canadian Mountie, who opted for flared hip pants, originating from the Indian jodhpurs, for ease when riding.

The bunched up fabric makes many layers that trap air making them very much warmer than just a single layer of fabric. It is such an interesting variation on thermal insulation for a garment, compared with quilted layers of fabric.

When traveling I notice how women carry their children, particularly the traditional methods as opposed to encasing a child in a plastic carrier - don't get me started...

This woman is carrying a child on her back, leaving her hands free to do tasks and to carry things.

She has folded a large, square cloth diagonally and tied it across her shoulders. The child is safely off the ground and protected by the womans' body. The child has close contact with the woman while enjoying a stimulating view of her passing world.

We noticed Tahar's face light up whenever he saw a child and he often reached out to touch them affectionately. We decided he liked children and was maybe missing his own who were back at home.

While cruising a medina's labyrinth of streets, we met up with one of Tahar's cousins. Tahar and his cousin are Tuareg Berbers. His cousin was wearing their traditional dress and looked magnificent.

The white over-garment and shoulder scarf was a dramatic foil for the deep purple head gear and fringed scarf. His goat-hair, slipper-styled shoes are designed to be ideal for walking in the Saharan sand of the Tuareg's tribal lands.

The simple embellishment of the white garments contrasted with the elaborately patterned leather bag and silver jewellery.

Tahar has transitioned into a modern-day nomad, travelling repeatedly around his country with groups of tourists. His clothes reflect his new urban life and are in contrast with his cousin's traditional garments.

Morocco - Things Textiley I Saw

Our annual family holiday was spent in Morocco this year. As you can imagine I have many pics of this fascinating country. I want to show you a few of the textiley things we saw.

Above is a display in a pastmentarie shop of handmade braided belts ready for the discerning bride to select from. Many of these pastmentarie shops could be found together in every medina. They are filled to the ceilings with braids, tassels, cords, cloth covered with sequins.... Every one an Aladdin's Cave.

Here is our wonderful guide, Tahar, explaining how the door into a house/riad works and what all of the symbolic embellishments mean.

But look at what he is wearing over his clothes. It is the traditional Berber unisex onesie, called a djellaba. Everyone was wearing one because it was cold.

Tahar's djellaba had beautiful braiding along the front opening and all of the seams were embellished.

A braider at work in his shop making and attaching braid to a djellaba. I don't know if you can see all of those threads he is manipulating while he sews. It is one of the many, many traditional, specialised skilled jobs still being practiced in Morocco. This is a man's job. 

Our driver, Mohammed, had my favourite djellaba. He comes from the High Atlas mountains where his mother spun and wove (women's work) sheep's wool, maybe goat as well, cloth for his djellaba and his uncle made the braids. It is a rich brown colour, letting people know that Mohammed is an eligible bachelor. I was so engrossed listening to Mohammed talk about his beautiful djellaba I didn't think to take a picture.

While walking the dim, narrow streets of a medina one has to take care not to trip or be garrotted by the braid maker's tool at work. When he needs to make cord he puts his twisting machine out on the street because there is not enough room in his shop to stretch out the thread to make the meters of cord needed to make a braid.

This is the only woman I ever saw making cord. I thought she was very clever to use the holes left by the construction of the ancient city wall to hold the sticks she wrapped the thread around. She walked back and forth along the wall warping up the sticks before taking one out of the hole and twisting it to make the cord.

More posts on Morocco to come.

Etsy Ravenmade Works: Hill Tribe Embroidered Pillows

SE Asian Hill Tribe embroidered pillows are the latest addition to my Etsy Shop Ravenmade Works 

I bought a worn western-styled jacket from a thrift store - that I forgot to take a picture of before I started unpicking it.

 It was made from a collection of worn Hill Tribe embroideries pieced together to make the jacket for the tourist market.

I serged all of the raw edges to stabilise them.

Then gave them all a good soak in Oxyclean. No dye came out, I was relieved to see. 

Next they were washed.

Then 'polished' to a damp-dry stage with a heavy, super-steam generating iron.

Then the pieces were put in the boiler room to dry quickly.

A short drying time prevents any would-be fugitive dyes from causing any trouble.

The ground fabric, with it's appliqued strips, originally had a stitched resist before being dipped repeatedly into an indigo vat to achieve the deep blue colour.

Before I ironed the pieces it was easy to see how the fabric had been folded and stitched.

The top part of the image shows how a solidly cross-stitched band has been attached to the appliqued indigo fabric.

These pieces of fabric were from different traditional garments made and worn by possibly the Akha Hill Tribe. 

Akha Hill Tribe

I have reworked this beautiful hand embroidery yet again.

The one jacket is now 7 pillows of various sizes.

All are listed in my Etsy Shop Ravenmade Works . Click here to drop by and see them.

Etsy Shop - Ravenmade Works

I have an Etsy shop, Ravenmade Works

Here is how I describe my shop.

Refreshed Artworks for the Home

The items in my shop are for people who want their home to be a living expression of themselves and a place where they are surrounded by things they love. 

Used domestic linens, discarded embroideries, worn garments and vintage fabric hold a past history. I recycle, rework and refresh these textiles adding another story or layer of meaning, while honouring the original makers whose handwork is often still evident. 

Customers who listen to their hearts when choosing home decor items create uniquely personal living spaces. As an artist producing small home decor items, I feel it is a privilege to play such an important role in my customers' lives.

I make collections of pillow covers, often using vintage ethnic and traditional textiles.

I collect wool embroideries, cut them apart then applique a variety of them together.

I take 2 different embroideries and weave them together.

These small works are framed and intended for the wall.

I add to my shop some of my smaller works that have been in exhibitions and have returned home.

This is the Micmac one from the 'Postcards From Fundy' series.

Please visit my Etsy Shop to see more works and to find out their background stories.

Etsy Shop Ravenmade Works

Synesthesia #23 Orange-yellow #2

I had to make another #23 because a friend bought the 1st one I made.

This time I used the cut-back applique technique.

I like using worn clothing in my work.

My old brown linen pants are just the right colour.

I am waiting for the day when I cut out a piece of fabric from the garment I am wearing because it is just what I am looking for.

Here are the fabrics I selected.

Ooooooow - Goggle's 'auto correct' makes them look off.

This is the 2nd go, I must confess. The first one had to be rejected because I stacked the fabrics in the reverse order. Am I making these mistakes because I didn't stitch much while I was studying and I have to get my brain up and firing in a different way again?

Viola - Synesthesia # 23 Orange-yellow, again.

It is hanging in the Tulista Gallery in Sidney, in the Small Expressions exhibitions, on until the end of March.

Saints' Relics in Quebec City

Articulation visited many cathedrals, churches and chapels while in Quebec City.
Two were the most memorable for me. One was originally the Petit Seminaire of Quebec's chapel but now a deconsecrated building and incorporated into the Musee De L'Amerique Francophone.
My 1st reaction to the chapel was surprise when we discovered all the wood, marble and granite walls and ceilings are in fact sheet metal painted in the trompe-l'oeil style - a response to the earleir chapel being burnt down.
My 2nd response was to feel a bit creepy and fascinated at the same time.
It was my 1st experience of collected and displayed human body parts - reliqueries.

In amongst the rich gold work on velvet are the skeletal remains of saints.
The chapel has hundreds and hundreds of them.
In spite of feeling a bit repulsed I was drawn in to see how these bits of bone, hair and ashes are attached to the ground with stitch.

This reliquery I liked. I felt someone, or a group, really respected Saint Charles Borromee when they displayed his vestments so carefully then added a large gilt frame.

The work is full of items representing different things as well as pieces of his religious clothing. 

I hope there is a written record of what everything means and which parts of his life different items are referring to.

Ursuline Museum, Quebec City

The museum shows different types of embroidery the nuns taught their students.
Hair embroidery was popular in the 19th century to memorialise loved ones.

Samples of different ways of working with hair.

The British tradition of girls making samplers was adopted in France and Quebec.
'At the boarding school, learning this type of embroidery, as with other needlework, aimed to inculcate young girls with qualities specific to their gender: patience, industry, concern for detail, and a taste for the aesthetic.'

These small samples demonstrating dress making skills were made by Eugenie Pouliot, who entered the Ursuline convent on 2 September 1867, at the age of 14. She was a border for 2 years.

Her fine samples demonstrate her ability to make clothes for herself and her future children. 

The nuns appear to have focused on teaching their students skills they could use to earn an income and would be invaluable when running a household.

Joshua Creek Heritage Art Centre

The Joshua Creek Gallery housed the World of Threads Festival exhibition De rerum natura ( On The Nature of Things). The festival curator, Gareth Bate, looked at all of the work submitted then decided on groupings and themes. He "observed that environmental work is the most dominant theme in contemporary fibre art."
These are some of the works I particularly liked in this exhibition.

Leanne Shea Rhem, Armour, 2011

Hand-made kozo paper and lambskin leather were stitched together to make a dressed, life-size human form.

Kozo was a popular medium in the festival but no 2 artists used it in the same way.

Emily Jan, Durer's Rhinoceros, 2011
Emily's title refers to the woodcut Albrecht Durer made in 1515, of a rhinoceros, an animal he had never seen. He worked from a description written by an explorer who had returned to Europe. Durer modeled it after what he was familiar with - metal and leather amour.

Wiki - "probably no animal picture has exerted such a profound influence on the arts".

Emily, likewise has made a rhinoceros from the familiar materials we cover ourselves with - our clothing. 

Recycled garments & textiles and resin.
Knitting, crochet, eyelet embroidery, button fastenings, lace edgings.

This suspended rhino made everyone smile.