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A Galaxy of Polymorphous Organisms, BFA 2005
Oh, so this WAS a while ago now, yikes… unearthing a disc of old photos, my statement and writing for my final year of my BFA. I feel like re-writing it… good motivation to explore more crochet I suppose too!
A Galaxy of Polymorphous Organisms, BFA 2005.
Playfulness, humour and nonsense are key aspects of this installation. The quirky art and illustrations of Dr Seuss has been the impetus behind the production these objects, which I see as absurd and dysfunctional. The objects and their arrangement in the space is intended to create a sense of wonder for the viewer, to experience the fun and playfulness involved in making the objects and installing them.
As a process of iteration and repetition, crochet begins with a slip knot and involves creating a series of loops using a hooked needle, altering the topology of the original material from a simple length into a complex three dimensional form. Fascination with the ability to control and manipulate these materials has driven my practice, resulting in ‘mutations’ of traditional crochet stitches. Although techniques like crochet were almost abandoned due to the introduction of modern manufacturing, crochet has retained its thrifty nature and developed into a sophisticated craft.
My obsession with the various objects in this installation illustrates Freud’s theory of humans being “polymorphously perverse” . In the early stages of an individual’s development, Freud believed that a person would find pleasure in any number and variety of objects. Freud asserted that this changed over time, as obsessions developed and formed fixations on specific objects as a child grew. Each object is a free flowing exploration of ideas, a response to my obsession, as manifested in colour, form, structure and scale.
Angela Carter 2005
1 Seuss, Dr. (1971). The Lorax. New York: Random House.
2 Wikipedia. (2005). Sigmund Freud: Psychosexual Development. Available:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freud#Psychosexual_development
More and more images…
I sold a few of these little precious ones, but most of them are still with me. And YES it takes ages to make them. And ages to install them. They are all a little lost when you see them like this:
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Book review: Simplicity Fabric Guide, The ultimate Fiber Resource
Time for a bit of a sewing book review.. I’ve been reading through a solid stack of sewing history and technique books.
I’m working on my fabrics, most of the fabric I find or acquire doesn’t come with labels. So I feel as though I’m taking risks at times… So where to start? Well this book had come up on my radar as worth a read.
Simplicity Fabric Guide, The ultimate Fiber Resource:
While I enjoyed the book and found the alphabetised section with names, suggestions for use and sewing tips good, and the section on fabric identification (burn test results, wohoo!) I would have LOVED a more thorough exploration of the history and processes in fabric manufacture. The history of fabric was really just touched on in the introduction. So I’d put this one in the good to have a browse, say for an intro, but hold out for more indepth reading..
Also, it’s a bit fussy, probably, but I really don’t like spiral bound books, unless they are visual diaries, it might seem practical, but I don’t like the way the pages turn and kind of scrunch/squeak. I know it leans a certain ‘technical’ look and feel to the book, it’s also not that functional as the cover extends around the spiral binding.
Do you have a best ‘go to’ book for your fabric ? Or a best sewing book ever? I have a couple more gooduns to write about, and I’d love to hear other sewers recommendations.
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Simplicity 6845 – a swingin’ top!
This was one of those sewing projects I cut out a couple of months ago, and it’s finally complete! Wohoo, I used the last of this beautiful fabric, a cotton knit, that my mum gave me. I’m thinking it’s quite vintage, superb quality and I’ve not seen anything like it before.
I wanted to make version 1, however, not quite enough fabric for sleeves, so it’s sleeveless with the lovely rolled collar.
Nice fabric huh? Such an unusual print too. I have used it before, for one of my first ‘real’ sewing projects here, so I was familiar with it, quite thick, no fraying edges. I found under the arm seams were quite weighty, so wanted to rim any excesses around those areas where you get a build up of layers.
I did have some issues, and I wondered what other sewers do – actually I should confess – I did not use any iron-on facing, partly because I thought it may feel very bulky, and this is a knit fabric and I wasn’t sure about whether you need an iron facing to match – stretch wise, if you know what I mean?
My other concern was around ensuring the arm facing does not wriggle out when I wear it, previously I’ve just sewn a couple of stitches into the side and shoulder seams to hold it – but that has not always fixed the problem. I didn’t want to topstitch this one as a solution either.
So I decided to sew it all the way around, as I would a hem and it has worked well, my mannequin was invaluable for this task, as I have managed to get it to sit naturally. Here’s the finished top…
I LOVE to see outfits on people rather than dress forms, but I’ve not managed to get me, my finished outfits and another person to weld the camera together at the same time, so these will have to do!
I like to think it looks better on me! One thing I found was that it is much more roomy than I would usually wear, and my mum dissuaded me from adding darts (!) to make it more fitting, I do like to try to be true to the style. I’ve also found my best fit from the vintage patterns I’ve been using is 14, so this is probably another reason why it feels a little big.
The pattern called for a zipper, but I went with a hook and loop instead, another thing I found was that the collar piece was much longer than needed, so I had to improvise the finish a touch, and it is slightly wonky.
All in all, I loved this top, and found it pretty quick and easy to put together, even between the busy kids… I will wear it again, when summer comes! And I’m already planning a long sleeve version…
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sew retro project ideas Simplicity 6220 or Simplicity 4693
I’ve been sitting with this fabric since last year, I love it, and there is just enough to make a slim skirted dress I just cannot decide which one!
For Simplicity 4693, above, I’d like to make version one, if I have the fabric, or with short sleeves if there’s not quite enough…
Or there’s this pattern, Simplicity 6220, I love the illustration, and now I think I’m ready to make it! It has those soft pleats on the skirt front that I find so flattering. Again, version one, with sleeves, but perhaps no belt.
A close up of the fabric, it has a kind of leafy design in the material, though it’s indistinct. I think it’s actually a lining fabric, and I thinking it will drive me, when it comes to cutting, it’s light and slippery.
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Fashion a Visual History – good reading
I get a bit carried away with books I Must Have, but this gets somewhat expensive, so in an effort to control my habit, I’ve been requesting and borrowing many more books from our library… great thing is, I have these wishlists all over the place, and slowly I borrow and read the books, so see if they belong here in our home..
With all my sewing fun times, I’ve been so tempted to get more and more books about fashion and sewing…
So, this book, Fashion; A Visual History from Reghency and Romance to Retro and Revolution by N J Stevenson. And, no surprise, I Love It.
Here are some teasers, see what’s inside… 1920s.
Some of my most favourite outfits and designers. 1930s…
1940s…
And from my favourite era, 1950s..
and more.
and, yes, more still.
Into the 1960s now, I actually have a gingham stash, and well, seeing this, I’m hoping there’s enough for a shift dress!
Love the red dress too!
1960s sci fi, see? Pretty much my all time best fashion era.
Chic.
Dior and Chanel would probably be my all time favourite designers, though really so different. Can you have too many red dresses? I think not.
And finally, the 1980s…
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making darts. the fabric kind. with Simplicity 7031.
I left a dress out while pinning and ironing darts recently, Luna and Blake came across it grabbed a pin cushion and started ‘pinning’… I was happy as I could quickly get a bit of seams sewn while they were happily working in their thing behind me…
I was impressed to see Luna (Blake was assisting by passing pins – that’s the thing he loves, the pins…) was creating her own darts in the dress, and adding more to the ones I had made.
And if you’re wondering about the dress, it’s my next sheet dress, just to get the feel for the pattern, and because I love the look and feel or vintage sheets…
Were was my iron!! The fabric is lovely, though slightly worn, its a shame, it makes it just a little light on, so am going to decide soon if it needs a bit of lining, which would be good practice.
I’ve paneled it so the center panel is a nice crisp section, near the edge of the sheet, and the side panels are the slightly faded ones, hopefully it will look good! I’m making the right hand version, with the longer sleeves. I’ve also cut the belt, so I can have a play around with that too.
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Butterick 8977 oh what to do what to do…
A lovely woman posted me this pattern to try out, and it’s SO pretty and unused, it’s a style I’ve not tried before, Butterick 8977.
Not sure when I’ll attempt it, I will be doing my first trace and sew with this pattern as that will hopefully preserve it or at least save it from being overly handled.
I found this huge roll of lightweight upholstery fabric at my mums place, and was imediately inspired.. though I’m uncertain how it will feel on, the back (should have taken a photo of the reverse damn!) you see the weave of the fabric, and it actually feels soft… so may be quite good ! I also thought as the fabric is fairly thick it might hold the shape and hang well.. so it’s here for me to look at and think about for a time…
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Simplicity 7031 cut and ready to sew!
Just cut this dress out while up at mum for a couple of days with the kids… marked the dots, all ready to go! In theory I could whip it up this evening but the little ones have been wakeful.
I’ve also just spent way too long trying to find the best place to put the ironing board (never thought I’d be excited about bring home an ironing board in my life..) and drinking tea from a new tea cup…
This is another experimental dress, I’m using a vintage sheet as I’m unsure about the design, and am a little sacred of cutting up some really lovely fabrics I have in my stash… not just yet.
I’m doing the right hand version, with longer sleeves – and I decided to cut the belt just in case.
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Style 4283 project ideas…
Playing around with some ideas for my latest sew retro project… Style 4283 from 1973.
I found a couple of meters of sweatshirt material at my mums, and decided it would be a could test run, I have some other lovely vintage printed knit fabrics in my stash, but I want to be sure I get the fit right before cutting into something one off…
I have some perfectly co-ordinated vintage trims that I’d love to get on something wearable, so playing around with some ideas… either a collar detail, or a belt, this is all I have of the more detailed trim, it could be a feature for the belt? I tend to go for less when it comes to dresses, and it just might be OTT for me, what to do what to do!
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Simplicity 5954
Finally, finally this little number is complete. Straight out of 1965, Simplicity 5954.
I had a few issues with this dress, but it is wearable, though I’m not sold on the full skirt, which is not really even THAT full!
I chose version five, sans bow, eek. I wanted a dress with a low back to show off my tattoo…
And I chose a vintage sheet I had picked up a while back, it was just one single and I have extra to spare! I had planned to make up this dress for a wedding later in the year, so this was a bit of a test run, the pattern size is a tad small, so I made some adjustments. I added a wider belt, and allowed a little extra at the top of the shoulder straps, just incase the pattern was made to fit a woman with thinner arms.. in the end it was fine, I didn’t need the extra fabric. What was interesting, was when I came to fit the shoulders, so a higher or lower neckline, I could see just how the higher neckline made it a 60s dress. I have a little trouble with pulling at the back, and the zipper was a tiny bit shorter than I needed, but I made it work.
A close up of the back, the print on the sheet is so pretty. Below is the detail of the former hem, I have been quite inspired by finishing touches, those little details that only you know about that make your dress more unique… I had this length of vintage trim, in pale pink, which I thought would be great. It was, and following the instructions, obediently I sewed the hem before fitting, checking length etc… only to find that I could do with 10cms off! Heaps, huh. Mum spotted that for me, and while I was sad I lost my first foray into detailing, it is much better and a more fun length (I just couldn’t face doing it all again and so have stashed the off cut for another time..).
The illustration on the pattern is noticeably shorter than that which you get if you follow the pattern. (Note to self for next time).
Oh and I also had a trouble with gathering the skirt (though now I have identified my gathering presser foot thanks to some friendly sewing nerds, next time it WILL be perfect) I had it all stitched and I was carefully evening out the gathers I snapped the thread – cue minor tanty and storming out for a cup of tea – but I came back and sorted it all out a couple of days later, having decided all future skirts will be pencil rather than full…
And my work space.. I enjoy seeing other people’s work spaces, so here’s mine, instructions and pattern picture to inspire me as I sew!
I’ve started on my next dress, but after this project, I plan to make a dress with the bodice from this one, and the skirt from this dress…
artist, writer, curator, mentor
Angela Rowe 