happy friday!

For today:

wet/needle felted lace-up jacket. applied needle felted pattern in acid green roving.

Worn over a 100% wool (red) sweater featuring a quilted stitch and bobbles lining the

CF of sleeves. This sweater, being cinched at the waist with a folk-embroidered

leather corset belt. wet/needle felted plaid fabric in a seamless pencil skirt

(with the exception of a single CB seam with CB zip), where original fabric is

wet felted, then plaid design is laid down and re-wet felted together, then,

a process of needle felting for further solidification. ribbed tights too.

work in progress..

Here are a few photos documenting a bit of my process, as I work towards making

this little wet-felted top. I only have the front completed so far. Today I will work on

the shape/felting of the back panel, and attach both front and back at the shoulder

with needle felting. I wished to make something real native, again, thinkin'

about my photoshoot with Ali. So, I think I will leave this piece open at the

sideseam, with maybe a lace-up detail on each side... we will see!

Close up texture photo. You are able to see bits of matter left behind

in my wool roving. I left most of it in, and just needle felted clean roving

over top to decrease the visibility.

Clean cut edges, and needle felted touch ups. Also, I believe the beading is

about 3/4 of the way finished (after four days of work..). I'd like to add a bit

more of the turquoise/copper color combination.

one by one

Pyrite encrusted hemline. Other materials include wooden,

stone, and plastic beads.

Wooden carved skulls found at Beads World.

Water current-inspired swirls in these clear plastic beads/pyrite.

I'll put up photos of the completed piece once I get there!

artist in focus: Will McLeod

Artist Will McLeod is a great friend of mine.

When we get together, we consider strategic ways to move forward with our plans.

After, our conversation always finds it's way back to the meaning in what it is to be people.

What's it all about? How do we feel and who are we meant to provide for? After all,

we choose to dedicate significant time towards learning a craft that clothes humans. To protect them,

or make them feel something today, tomorrow, and to predict what will happen next. To consider the

place where people live, where we live, and how to prepare for a future on a planet that's a-changin' steadily.

.

We consider ways to be self-sustaining and how to acquire space. From there forward,

it's conversation of animal hair and hand-crafted technique. Machinery already in our possession,

and what we must still attain, what we can build. Business plans and future vacations in the sun.

Materials, colors, textures, sounds, something, and absolutely nothing at all.

Both Will and I share an interest in felt as a medium. This, for me, began when we were

working on a project in the library at FIT, maybe for english. Will showed me a book by German

artist Joseph Beuys, a highly influential creator of the 20th century. He favored two materials for his

work in traditional and performance art, felt and fat. Now, we speak of the uses and importance

in fabric making. How to create seamless garments. Pieces perfectly custom fit to a specific

individual's shape, or rather, aimed to drastically change or emphasis that shape. The possibility in

achieving all of these different textures and color. We speak of ways to create fabric on a

larger scale. An operation that would allow us to make yards of this imagined fabric.

His sketch shown above has inspired me to create the swatch seen below.

collaborative wool felt swatch #1 | 100% wool roving

Will's ideas for collaborative pieces, such as machine sewn blouses and simple shifts

with wet/needle felted collars, yokes, and sleeve cuffs, have also been put into action.

Releasing us from the dificulties of fusible interfacing and time spent on tricky

construction. Also, endless hand-dying possibilities... hand-beading, too.

Hand-dyed hem appears to be of natural progression, like rain water stain after spring months.

This sketch depicts an idea for a dress in this webby, drop stitch sort of fabric.

I think some of these more structured panels could be a contrast of lightweight, felted

fabrics with the same loopy pattern needle-felted into it. Like this one maybe,

collaborative wool felt swatch #2 | 100% wool roving as a base, needle felted

detail using a poly/mohair blended yarn.

Hand-painted tights peaking from this futuristic one...

Also a brilliant way for us to collaborate on looks, rather than single pieces.

I've done a bit of work in hand-painted tights too, using procion dyes and painting free-form.

The layering of pleated fabrics is a technique quite familiar to Will.

Please take a look at what I mean, on the artist's website.

His S/S collection demonstrates a masterful understanding of seam work,

naturally occuring movement, and color relation.

To be continued...

thoughts empyrean

What a great weekend!

Very interesting things are now on the horizon.. and I'm beginning to feel a bit better

about my work ethic too. Though I'll admit I have been somewhat absent up until this point

creatively, I have been able to bounce around a bit socially. Now, after seeing my very

beautiful earth-people Emily Theobald and Ali Scarpulla Saturday night, I feel I'm back

in touch with my insides, and getting down with productivity.

The three of us finally solidified plans to work together at some time

in Mid-March. I've thought of this for a long time, now, the moment seems right.

So, over the next few weeks I'm going to create a few pieces that hold a deep meaning to me,

based upon this idea of wet felted neck-wear accessories, maybe even a top, we'll see

how far it goes...

I began by creating a shape with wool roving, then completing one process of

wet felting. After the fabric dried, I needle felted in the blue and gray shades,

other shades of white as well, and then did the hand beading around the hem.

I machine stitched in darts, to give the collar some curve to the neck, then

trimmed the inside and needle felted the seams towards the CF closure (snap).

Afterwards, I laid down another layer of felt, to give a clouded effect, and

completed the second process of wet felting.

Pieces like this will also be sold on my Esty site once I get that up and going.

Hopefully towards the end of March.. so keep a sharp eye out if your into it!

first sketches in many a moon

look one | Woven cape coat with waist tie, surface design consists of

irregular squares of wet-felted wool machine stitched/needle-felted to woven coat fabric.

Woven alpaca, machine embroidered pea coat & box skirt set worn underneath.

Chest piece made from shell/bone beads and linen yarn.

Hair piece, cotton crocheted flowers hand-tacked in place with hand-beading.

look two | Woven wool skirt-suit with the same process of surface design as above.

(smaller squares irregularly shaped arranged on woven base and tacked on with machine)

Jacket has hidden pockets. Tailored seam lines in both jacket & skirt.

Fair Isle cropped sweater worn beneath, black and white shetland wool.

Hand painted tights.

Macrame hair piece with hand-beading.

look three | Multi-color box patterned knit scarf with fringe at start and finish.

Cropped jersey sweater in shetland wool, with long, long sleeves.

Tube/tank dress with high slit off-centered,

irregular ribs, drop stitches and pin tucks, then wet felted, & woven nylon slip worn beneath.

Woven embroidered work belt with hidden zipper pockets. Hand-beaded hair/ear-ring clip.

look four | Oversized intarsia sweater with yoke detail, in black and white shetland wool.

Woven skirt has an inverted pleat at CF, & needle-felted pattern in black wool,

hand-embroidery design inside of pleat.

Hand-painted tights.

new year, first post!

New Year,

...here are some thought's from the last

worth further exploration...

new york state

needle felted panel with a layer of fine tulle

coffee/clay dye process

needle felted panel, wool woven base

journal scan: unfinished thought for utility chest piece,

needle felting and machine quilting