Ikat Fascination

I really am fascinated by ikat. The designs I like most are the very bold, simple geometric patterns that use minimal colour. The most beautiful aspect of this textile is the way in which the uniquely dyed threads merge softly on the loom, creating a distinctive, subtle blur.

The thread is painstakingly dyed before it is woven. The dying process is intricate: the thread is first coated in a resist (wax), tied with pieces of fabric, then dipped into various coloured dyes. This process is performed repeatedly, resulting in an elaborate multicolour warp. On the loom, the coloured warp is woven with the undyed weft. The distribution of colour is carefully controlled to create the characteristic patterns, traditionally incorporating motifs such as tulips, pomegranates and trees. 

Ikat weaving is found in many countries, including Japan, Thailand, India, Afghanistan, Greece, Morocco and Uzbekistan. In fact, the word ‘ikat’ comes from the Malay-Indonesian verb mengikat, ‘to bind, tie or wind around’.

Here is a selection of some lovely ikat fabrics to scroll through, and you can also revisit my story on Russian textiles, for more examples on antique costume constructed from ikat, as well as printed cottons. 

(Left) www.smith.edu, (right) www.ethno-textil.com(Left) www.blogger-index.com, (right) laurakiran.com(Left) site.alifosterpatterns.com, (right) www.fschumacher.com(Left) www.classicallyb.com, (right) www.katyelliott.com

One for You, One for Me, One for You …

Who Stole My Cherry earrings aptly wrapped in bird tissue paperI adore jewellery. I hoard it in my nest like a magpie. Any time I glimpse a little shining string of beads, my eyes light up and I take it home with me. I’ve built up quite a collection, and sometimes I am even moved to actually turn all these bits and bobs into jewellery. Recently two birthdays motivated me to pick up my tools again. Here’s the story …

Cherry Picking

Who Stole My Cherry? earrings

Everyone loves cherries, don’t they? To eat, to wear, to adorn themselves with –who remembers dangling cherries from their ears as a child? Nostalgia, not nature, inspired me to create this pair of cherry earrings.

I chased down just the right string of dark red agate beads, and then a string of through-drilled green leaf beads. It wasn’t so easy to find the latter, for most of these Czech pressed glass leaves are top or side-drilled, and I definitely wanted opaque, not translucent leaves. After trawling Etsy for hours, the seller I ultimately found was right in my hometown, Melbourne. I ended up with so many beads I would be able to make a punnet of cherry earrings!

Nostalgia, not nature, inspired me to create this pair of cherry earrings.

After all my research however, I realised that cherry earrings were rather common. There were a multitude of varieties out there, how would mine be any different? At least they were made from real stone and sterling silver, but that wasn’t quite enough. Then I hit upon it. One of the cherries would be stolen! Instead of a cherry, the pip would be dangling from the stalk. I found some peach-coloured pearls and I was ready to go.

I call them the Who Stole My Cherry? earrings, and I gave the first pair to my friend Rapunzel. She loved them.

The Circus is in Town

Circus Is In town pendant

Recently I had purchased a selection of carnival-themed vintage cloisonné beads. I’d had an idea in my head to create a collection on this theme using the glass foiled beads I’d bought years ago – 1kg for $10. But then my friend Amerika’s birthday rolled-up, and I realised these would be perfect for her.

It would be dull to make earrings again (Amerika and Rapunzel know each other), so I made a pendant using a little clown and two stars. I much prefer to use sterling silver than base metal, and silver isn’t terribly expensive if you know where to shop (online, not retail). Amerika was delighted with her present too, exclaiming as she saw the circus theme.

And then in the time-honoured tradition of ‘one for you, one for me’, I contrived a pair of earrings for myself on the same carnival theme. Using another set of vintage cloisonné beads embossed with stars, I dangled them from a string of sterling silver baubles. They’re somewhat reminiscent of a set of juggling balls.

What can this magpie make next?

Stars In Her Earrings

Lessons in Potato Printing

I finally got round to trying my hand at potato printing. Before I started, I thought, how hard could it be? After all, tiny ten-thumbed primary school children do it every day of the year.

Although it was not in fact difficult at all, there were a few things I learned in the process:

1. Cut through your potato straight as possible using a very sharp knife (not recommended for said tiny ten-thumbed primary school children)
2. Make sure your paint is not 15 years old and either dried up in the tube, or separated into oil and pigment, with the oil all in the top of the tube
3. An even not-too-thick, not-too-thin consistency of paint is best (I call this the Goldilocks principle); a palette knife is helpful in spreading the paint
4. A lot more pressure than expected is required when stamping

Potatoes get the chop!My first few heart stamps bled all over the place. This was disheartening (later when they had dried, I decided I rather liked these bleeding hearts). The next series of hearts were all stumpy and broken. On my third go I managed to stamp a few acceptable hearts with judicious manipulation of my wonkily-cut potato, (although in my heart I felt this was cheating).

I plan to create some fun surface patterns from these impressions. Until then, check out the fun Hipstamatic pics on my Facebook page.

*Apologies for all the puns. 

Love Lace

Tree, Waltraud Janzen; hand and machine embroidery on net, using thin nylon net and polyester threadI certainly do Love Lace, and was very excited to visit this exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney in early March. 134 artists from 20 countries create intricate artworks that go far beyond the traditional textile techniques that were primarily used to trim our grandmothers’ petticoats.

Lace reveals and conceals, suggesting sensuality when utilised in garments. Yet when lace is worked into architecture, interior design and sculptures – sometimes on an enormous scale – it is the interplay of light and shadow that becomes riveting.

Curator Lindie Ward broadened the definition of lace to include any ‘openwork structure whose pattern of spaces is as important as the solid areas’. Materials used in these works include gold and silver wire, linen and silk as well as mulberry paper, tapa cloth, human and horse hair, titanium and optical fibre.

Overall, the exhibition was awe-inspiring and beautiful – I easily whiled away a few hours. It is easy to see why lace has fascinated artists and craftspeople, as well as the fashionable, for centuries. The possibilities and applications are endless, and the digital age can only enhance them.

(NB, this selection of images was largely dictated by the fact that the photos were taken under very low-light conditions with a hand-held camera; go to the website for a comprehensive catalogue and artists’ statements.)

(Left) Whitework, Anne Farren; machine-embroidered lace, laser-cit Geraldton Wax motif, drawn thread work, hand embroidery and appliqué on Fuji silk, silk organza, silk habutae. (Right) The Lost Princess, Yogesh Purohit; appliquéd felt flora and fauna motifs hand-stitched on tulleCollar of Petrified Lace, Wendy Ramshaw; two collars to be worn together: cut stainless steel, powder coated [in pillar-box red]A Brief History of Time, Jenny Pollak; installation: hand-cut archival paper, office paper (850 x 1801 x 1740mm)Chantilly Necklace (detail), Lenka Suchanek; neckpiece: bobbin lace using black enamelled copper wire with Swarowski crystals; centrepiece made in gold-plated wireVenezia, Brigitte Adolph; cast sterling silverCyanea (detail), Luiza Milewicz; light: weaving and laser cutting using optical fibres, laser-cut acrylic, LED light source, powder-coated aluminium and glass beads [jellyfish shape]Nightshades, Dina Baumane; coloured, glued and machine-embroidered using polyester thread, synthetic fabric and leaf skeletonsSpring Summer Finale 2011, Tony Maticevski; dress: silk chiffon, silk crepe-de-chine, silk-satin backed crepe; handmade flowers and rouleaux web laceThe Moving Pattern (two of five pieces), Tomy Ka Chun Leung; Adobe Illustrator, laser-cut pasteboard; highly commended student workItalian Bobbin, Marian Smit; paper sculpture: cut paper

Pierrot’s Pompoms

1920s boudoir slippers, found on Etsy at vintageflowers

Yesterday, whilst researching on Etsy for a future SNAP post (how lucky my research is transposable with window-shopping!), I came across these sweet little antique 1920s boudoir slippers. Unfortunately, their petite size makes me feel like Cinderella’s sister. I love the colour combination – strawberry and vanilla ice cream – and the pink rosette. It reminds me of a chrysanthemum, or the pompoms a pierrot would have on his costume.

So I had a look on Etsy for shoe clips, but no-one makes roses quite like this. I’m not much of a seamstress, and I forget the official designation of this hollow piping is, but I know where I can lay my hands on some. My recent success with the feather headdress encourages me to try my hand at making these. 

Edwardian child with mandolinel image from lovedaylemon, Flickr