sweater chop shop

Greeting from snowy Vermont!

I am here to report on the build-your-own-sweater workshop I took at Crispina's with my friend, Noelle Horsfield, this past Saturday.

At this time of year when production demands have loosened up a bit and skirt and apron making are not keeping me creatively satisfied, I get to explore other mediums during my R&R time. I still seem to be drawn to textiles projects, but I am branching out.

Crispina ffrench walked us through the process of deconstructing several felted wool sweaters and constructing the pieces into a brand new one-of-a-kind unique one. Here's mine, made from parts of five sweaters that were no longer terribly stylish or useful:

I didn't actually finish it until Monday morning. The person in our day-long class of 10 who finished hers first, and before class time was over at that, had never sewn a stitch before in her life. Here she is wearing her finished warm cozy with Crispina in one of hers.

Other than the recycling element which I really dig, one of the aspects of this project that I enjoyed was hand-sewing the entire thing. I love to use line as a design element and I had fun choosing a yarn color that really popped against the subdued wool fabric of the sweater.

During much of the time I was stitching, especially when I was back home, I kept thinking about Wylie Sofia Garcia's work. She's a couture installation and performance artist in Burlington. I love her work and the hand stitching is a big part of what I love about it. She has the most amazing project going on right now involving dresses that evolve daily. Check it out here.

Some other in-progress creations by workshop participants:

This blue one is Noelle's. Visit her website for some wonderful visual treats. She's a cut paper artist with a wonderful way with color and inspiring subject matter.

Next up: Weaving class. I'm going to attempt to make a rag rug stair runner like the one that my grandmother made that ran up the stairs from her kitchen to "the long chamber" upstairs.