Layers of Meaning
commentary on design, fiber art, & modern embroidery from Serena Fenton
It's the current dream machine: Flat Mode by Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design graduate, Itay Potash. Featherweight fanatics have proven that what any in the sewing world want is a good straight stitch and a machine that doesn't cost a fortune or weigh a ton.
Potash describes his inspiration, "People don't sew for hours at a time anymore. Most people use their machines for quick minor repairs--to hem a pair of pants or to refasten a button."... "Flat Mode has only four buttons: an up/down button, a second for selecting a program, another for setting stitch parameters, and the last for resetting the machine." After learning to sew on an ancient Singer that only went forward (no reverse), I hope that reverse is also an option on the proposed Flat Mode machine.
An intriguing question is how this sewing machine reflects Don Norman's theories of Emotional Design: "Our studies lead us to suspect that just as we might be able to classify products along three dimensions of attractiveness (visceral), functional and usable (behavioral) and high in prestige (reflective), we can also classify people along these dimensions. Visceral level people will be strongly biased toward appearance, behavioral people towards function, usability, and how much the feel in control during use. And Reflective level people (who would seldom admit to be one), are heavily biased by brand name, by prestige, and by the value a product brings to their self-image – hence the sale of high-priced whiskey, watches,, automobiles, and home furnishings."
In his essay, Emotion & Design: Attractive things work better, Norman labels the three categories of design: "aesthetics, usability and practicality". Potash appears to have covered at least two of these three categories in his design. The red minimal design is extremely attractive. The thin fold-away design is highly practical. Now, if they will only release the machine, we can figure out if it actually sews or not.
"Bridgestone Metalpha Corporation (a subsidiary of Bridgestone Tire Company) has come up with a revolutionary fiber that which is a by-product of manufacturing steel reinforcements for tires. This fiber has the softness of silk but is made of 100 per cent stainless steel. Iron-clad stainless steel filaments are stretched over many stages after which the iron is removed by acid. One of the most innovative features about this material, known as Alphatex™, is its ability to take on color by using a combination of chemical and heat processes instead of dye." (Museum of Modern Art: Contemporary Japanese Textiles).
A video of the making of Alphatex thread from steel.
Note: the word 'new' is relative; article is from 1998. The yarn still has not received mass adoption though. The thread/yarn appears to be intended for weaving, rather than sewing. Imagine what it might do to the tension disks on a household sewing machine.
A first hand description of Alphatex: "I met Junichi Arai, a master of textile design, who has been experimenting with the potential of the fiber. He was wearing a long scarf of varied earth colors.He took it off so I could feel its textures and heft its weight. I nearly dropped it! He told me it weighed about two kilos."
Another hands-on description of the steel yarn by weaver Peter Collingwood: "It is not often that a completely new yarn appears. But this is what has happened in Japan. A large company which draws wire, mainly to be used as reinforcement in radial car tyres, has a department which develops new products. This has, in the last year, produced a yarn from exceedingly fine micro-filaments of stainless steel. Their first yarn, about the size of a 2/ply carpet wool, has 6,800 such filaments!
It is as flexible as, and in fact looks like, silk. But the moment you touch it you feel its weight. It has about 350 yards to the pound, which at the moment costs around $110! It has a natural light grey colour but I was shown some wonderful dark browns and blues which had been obtained by some chemical treatment. This colouring, which is assumed to be completely permanent, is only in an experimental stage and more colours will be developed."
Fiberarts Magazine printed excerpts of Colingswood's journals on the weaving with steel yarn:
"The steel yarn's overriding obedience is to gravity. If it can possibly slip, slither, or slide down where an ordinary yarn would not, it certainly will. If there is some projection it will snake out to catch it. Luckily its strength means this just stops the mill with a jerk; nothing can break. When on the mill, it began to slip down the vertical uprights until I stuck strips of Velcro onto them. Despite this slipperiness it holds well once it is knotted; against this any slight tangle is immovable until each thread is pulled out separately."
Humorously, Collingswood describes the problem of cutting steel with steel: "Develop a better way of threading than above, so it goes more speedily. As usual scissors get blunt quickly and I have to sharpen them often on a rather feeble electric gadget. This makes them cut the steel yarn but strangely not the linen warp ends which I use for tying up the cross in each small warp."
Glow-in-the-dark yarn seems to have made a big impression on the fly fishing and the Emergency Rescue communities, and is slowly creeping into use by the arts community.
There appear to be at least two main varieties of light reactive yarn. Retroglo is a reflective yarn. "Retroglo® has 50,000 minute glass beads to the square inch, reflecting light back to a light source, such as a car's headlights. The driver sitting behind the headlights, immediately sees the reflected light and is alerted to the wearer ahead."
Uni-Glo is a phosphorescent yarn. Exposure to a bright light for 10 minutes causes the phosphorescent yarn to glow for hours. The yarn creates a work that changes with exposure to light, to the current lighting conditions and over time, as the light-emitting charge in the yarn slowly discharges. The possibilities for expression and exploration using this medium seem quite broad and not fully explored by fiber artists (needle-felters take note!). Antoinette Carrier and Christine Keller are two artists who created works using the light emitting yarn.
From a 1999 review by Jennifer Dudley of Antoinette Carrier's contemporary tapestry works: "Like ghosts, the works exhibited are semi-transparent, having a luminosity and glow achieved by the weaving materials used - shiny polypropylene twine, clear cling-wrap, silk, shredded silver-gelatine on paper, phosphorescent yarn, light - everything which encourages our perceptions of the insubstantial, of a shifting reflexivity, the ever elusive quality of memory, of things which are, and then are not. Where we stand determines what we see. Notations appear as text panels for a story-cloth, suspended slightly in front of the woven cloth surface, whose structure is also its dominant texture and contains in its weave the marks of its images."
For a presentation at Australia's 2004 Space Between conference, Christine Keller writes: "...these pieces respond to light in unexpected and unknown ways. The viewer will experience a space where images appear and disappear on the structures through illuminations of various kinds. Due to the properties of Retroglo yarns two layers of visual appearance are integrated in one fabric, alternately visible.
The phosphorescent pigment will store the projection in a ‘magic’ way and let go of it slowly. Layering of images is possible. This constructed textile surface has the potential to memorize the traces of light it is exposed to. A fabric is created which can carry various motifs. New high tech materials are being placed in the realm of contemporary art. The potential exists to expand these applications to performance, theatre and dance etc."
Image above by Christine Keller. Keller will be teaching a workshop at the 2005 Surface Design Conference, Uncovering the Surface.
More on the vibrating shuttle: I located an old Singer instruction book, Machine Sewing A Treatise On The Care And Use Of Family Sewing Machines (revised 1938). This book is a fascinating trove of arcane knowledge. I was most attracted by the explanations of how several of the antique attachments work. (The book has 10 pages on the Ruffler and its uses). The series of drawings (below) illustrate how the vibrating shuttle works. The bobbin actually shoots through a loop of thread, alongside the needle. When the bobbin is in the extreme position, the bobbin thread is pulled up to complete the stitch and then the bobbin returns to its starting location.
The books details another early technology, the single thread looper machine. This machine had no bobbin at all, just the main spool of thread. A piece below would pull the thread down and fashion an interlocking loop (not unlike crocheting) for each stitch.
If you are fascinated by old books or old machines, this book appears to be still available through many of the web-based used services. Price ranges from $20.00 to $150.00, depending on your source.
Thanks to all the wonderful folks at the Quiltart email list, I know what the heck this thing is! It is a 'vibrating shuttle' bobbin from an old treadle machine. An article, 'Singer's Missing Link, the Legendary Vibrating Shuttle #1' by D.A. Brumleve, has a solid explanation and good images of the shuttle and bobbin.
Lois, of nightstitcher.com, gave this explanation of the bobbin: "'Eldredge' machines were made by the Eldredge company in Illinois, and later by National, after Eldredge merged with another company, with "National" as the new name for the combination. Your shuttle is known as a "vibrating" shuttle, named after the front-to-back arcing motion of the shuttle. Most of the references I've found for vibrating shuttle Eldredge machines suggest a date of 1890 to 1920 (or so). In that time period, the VS configuration was very common: it was used, for example by the Singer model 27, White VS, and many others. Shuttles for different machines were, however, usually not interchangeable, even though similar in basic configuration. The bobbins (usually called "long bobbins") are a bit more interchangeable: one brand's bobbins might fit into another brand's shuttle and sew ok, however they might not work properly in another brand's bobbin winder."
I am always amazed by the amount of knowledge that the internet has put at our fingertips and the kindess of those who are happy to share their wisdom. Thanks all!
->->A quick update: I just discovered that Alex has his own site (Sussex Sewing Machines). He restores old machine (my hero). On his site, he has a more recent illustrated guide to tension adjustment! <-<-
Alex Sussex, a kind sewing machine technician, who specializes in Singer Featherweights, has written a useful and humorous article on adjusting bobbin tension on the older machine. I know that most folks don't touch the tension, but all my sewing machines are 20-40 years old and they need the care and attention of adjusting the tension. Prior to finding this article, I just fooled around myself in the hopes of making an improvement. My next attempt will be far more scientific!
Alex begins with the a test to see if the upper thread tension is correct. "To test this simply raise your sewing foot and see if the thread pulls out easier than if it were lowered ready for sewing. To test if the thread is being held by the tension discs properly when ready for sewing, you need to pull the thread from where it comes out of the eye of the needle-with the foot lowered. The thread ON ALL MACHINES should be tight enough to bend the needle when pulled. If it does not then you need to investigate why it is not tight. The most common reason is a restriction between the tension discs themselves, caused by fluff, corrosion or trapped threads. a loose top thread leads to a bunching of thread UNDERNEATH the work (or looping on minor tension failure). Once you have done this put your numbered tension dial half way, for instance if you have a dial that goes from one to four put it on two, one to nine put in between the four and five, get the idea. on older machines with no tension dial numbers turn the dial clockwise until the thread bends the needle when pulled through as I have mentioned earlier. Then leave the top thread tension alone. Well, by now only the mad will still be with me the brave and the foolish have gone out for pizza, and we have not even got to the lower thread tension that we are going to discuss."
If you are not going to read the entire article, you can a least glean his closing wisdom on the correct thread to use to keep your machine happy: "if you mix your threads it is a lottery whether the tensions will work effectively. The worst culprits are the old wooden reels of cotton that can become hard, springy, weak and sticky they can really mess up your sewing machine, big time. Try and stick to the same threads, if in doubt about a thread, bin it, really all the grey hairs and profanities it can cause is just not worth it."
Superior Threads has revealed the mysteries of thread measurement. Their online article begins (and I quote the first few paragraphs, though perhaps I should be memorizing them): "Thread size measurement - The weight or size of thread is an important consideration for any sewing project. The three most common methods of measurement of threads are weight, denier, and tex (sadly tex has no country and western songs).
1. Weight. A smaller weight number indicates a heavier thread. The weight of a thread is actually a length measurement. Dividing the length of thread by a set weight derives the exact measurement of a thread weight. A thread is labeled 40 wt. when 40 kilometers of that thread weighs 1 kilogram. A 30 wt. thread and is heavier because a it takes only 30 kilometers of thread to weigh one kilogram.
2. Denier. Weight in grams of 9000 meters of thread. If 9,000 meters weighs 120 grams, it is a 120-denier thread. Many polyester and rayon embroidery threads are 120/2, which equals 2 strands of 120-denier thread for a 240 denier total. Larger denier numbers are heavier threads.
3. Tex. Weight in grams of 1000 meters of thread. If 1,000 meters weighs 25 grams, it is a tex 25. Larger tex numbers are heavier threads"
And if you are still wondering why we should care: ". Needle size. A general rule is to use a needle whose eye is 40% larger than the diameter of the thread." The article goes on to explain how to match up a needle to the thread to lessen the fraying and breakage. They also discuss tension, number standard and composition standard.
A great reference piece for when I are tearing out my hair over thread that keeps breaking - maybe what I really need is a different sized needle!
Jenny Balfour-Paul has written two books on indigo blue, dying and the dyer's history. Unlike, mauve, indigo is an ancient and natural dye. A book review by The British-Yemeni Society describes the traditional method of getting blue-jean blue:
"The natural indigo dye vat was, in fact, somewhat obnoxious, containing as it did a fermentation of indigo plants tempered by alkaline additions such as urine, camel dung, dogs’ turds and dates, coated with scum and set as often as not in a dark, airless room where the dyer sat and stirred for days on end." (ick!)
In spite of this, Balfour-Paul fell in love with indigo and it's possibilities. Bluenote website presents a photo documentary of her explorations in indigo. There are also some fascinating photos of the dying process: "When the fabric strips are lifted from the vat of greeny-brown liquid, they change colour to blue as they come in contact with the air." In the photo, you can see the chemical reaction creeping up the strips of fabric. "Indigo is insoluble, it's the oxygen that causes the chemical reaction that turns the items blue as you pull them out of the liquid."
She also discusses woad, the older English blue dye, which was supplanted by indigo. "Woad was grown widely in Europe in the Middle Ages until the arrival of tropical indigo in the 17th century - woad merchants were wealthy men as woad was needed not only for the familiar blue, but also for green, purple and black in combination with other natural dyes."
Uses for indigo? In an interview Balfour-Paul answers the most unusual use that she's come across for indigo: "Probably for dyeing the hair, eyebrows and beard in China and the Middle East - hence the legend of Bluebeard". As far as fiber art, Isabella Whitworth's web site features indigo dyeing and shibori inspired by a lecture on indigo given by Jenny Balfour-Paul at the Crafts Council in London.
The future for indigo blue looks good with new research supporting the natural indigo process: "SPINDIGO aims to enable growers to supply natural indigo with a purity greater than 90% to a significant proportion of the European market. Three species of indigo producing crops are currently being grown in Finland, UK, Germany, Italy and Spain to demonstrate their potential as commercial crops throughout Europe. Each crop is being assessed for its suitability to the different climatic conditions met across Europe."
I didn't read the book - just the cliff-notes version of it, a beautifully illustrated article by ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company). The book discusses how the first synthetic dye was invented, using quotes from the inventor: "I was endeavouring to convert an artificial base into the natural alkaloid quinine but my experiment, instead of yielding the colourless quinine, gave a reddish powder. With a desire to understand this particular result, a different base of more simple construction was selected, viz. aniline, and in this case obtained a perfectly black product. This was purified and dried and when digested with spirits of wine gave the mauve dye."
But possibly more interesting is the discussion of the state of the textile dyers' art back then: "The most common animal dye was cochineal, a crimson colour which came from cactus eating insects. 17,000 were needed to produce one single ounce of dye."
Then there was the difficulty in changing the habits of dyers: "Initially dyers didn't want to know at all. They felt they'd been dyeing the clothes in a particular way for hundreds and hundreds of years and they didn't want to get involved in any form of new or technical process. But he had a great time and he, in fact, almost went bankrupt." The invention of synthetic dye was saved when Queen Victoria wore mauve to her daughter’s wedding.
Early dyes often caused the wearer to break out in horrible rashes because of the impurities. The environment suffered - the standard joke being rivers that changed colors daily depending on the dye being manufactured. The article argues that we are not so far gone from that time and place: "And the way things are going, with the sort of problems associated (with the industry), there is a danger that dye will stop being made eventually and that will mean that the population will be running round in unbleached fabrics because you won’t be able to colour anything. The dye manufacturers have transferred their businesses out of Germany and Switzerland to Asia to Third World countries."
American Scientist has a shorter Mauve article online (with few illustrations) that relates invention of alizarin crimson. ABC mentions the synthetic creation of magenta, fuchisa, olive, primrose, violet. It's difficult to imagine how fiber art will respond if the predictions come true and we were to lose out synthetic color.
Quiltart has expanded and improved their calendar of arts events for art quilters. Arranged in chronological order, the list gives details on a wide variety of arts opportunities available worldwide. The opportunities on today's list run the gamut from "Artist Residency In India" to "Small Art Quilt Exhibition"
These notices are provided by Quiltart subscribers or are selected from the more extensive listings available at The Art Deadlines List. The art deadlines list is more extensive because it covers all media, not just art quilt and related areas.
It's fun to look at the list and dream. I found one notice this morning for an art and archeology fellowship on the Skagit River in Washington state. I went to college just north of there and it is a magical area. I spent a good twenty minutes daydreaming about waking up to the snowcapped mountains and the sweet smell of the hemlock trees; whitewater rivers with salmon jumping in them. What an opportunity!
(reprinted from Art Deadlines List) ART & ARCHAEOLOGY FELLOWSHIP Artist Fellowship for Washington State Archaeological Project. As a part of its new Community Fellow Program, the nonprofit volunteer organization, Earthwatch Institute is looking for artists from a wide variety of media (including paint, photography, poetry, sculpture, audio, performance art, etc.) to award participation costs to join Dr. Astrida Onat's archaeological project, "Traditions of Cedar, Salmon and Gold," located in the Skagit River basin in Washington State from May 17 - 28, 2004. The concept is that winning artists would be able to incorporate what they learn on their Earthwatch expedition into their art work as a way to communicate their experiences and insights to a diverse audience. Any artist in North America is eligible to apply. Contact: Rachael Dobson, Earthwatch, 978-450-1251 OR http://www.earthwatch.org/expeditions/onat.html OR rdobson@earthwatch.org
image: Skagit River valley by Dr. Astrida Blukis Onat
Come! Read! Mandy Southan has cleared the mud on how to do successful color mixing. (and why if you buy your paints premixed, the finished pieces seem lacking.)
Just a taste: "Most people find working with colour difficult either because they have never been taught colour theory and mixing or if they have, they were taught the old 'primary' mixing system using three primary colours - red, yellow and blue to mix three 'secondary' colours - violet, green and orange. Despite the pioneering work of people such as Michael Wilcox, founder of 'The School of Colour' and author of 'Blue and Yellow Don't Make Green', the old primary system persists, causing frustration and confusion for painters in every field.
(Thanks to Jeannie Call and the Quiltart list for the tip.) image: the right colours by Mandy Southan
Searching for the elusive manual for the aging (inherited) sewing machine. I am a fanatic about old sewing machines. Maybe its because for 15 years I sewed on my grandmother's 1920s Singer. It only went forward; no reverse; no zigzag. So now when I have a machine that does more than that, I feel like a princess. Today my latest acquisition arrived: A Viking/Husqvarna Classica 100. It looks like it spent the last decade in the corner of someone's attic - dusty, but hardly used. The oil is probably thick, disgusting gunk. I cleaned it up and went on a manual hunt.
Disclaimer: Ordinarily I hate about.com. They have good information, but everything else about the site gives me the creeps: popup ads, framed content, everything! Today I hit the jackpot though. About.com has the master list for where to get a copy of the manual for your old sewing machine. Since about.com's content has a tendency to wander, I am quoting the list below:
Company Website |
Telephone Contact # |
Please Note: |
| 800-422-2952 | This number will take you to an automated system. Use the dealer locator feature to contact someone near your location. | |
| 800-405-2739 | You will be directed to a local dealer, but will talk to a real person. | |
| 800-284-4357 | This phone number is for sewing machine manuals. | |
| 800-848-3562 | Order retired manuals on line or use the phone number for current models. | |
| 800-446-2333 | This 800# is customer service for manuals. | |
| 800-631-0183 | This phone number will gain you dealership information to contact someone near you. | |
| 800-366-7278 | This number is for Kenmore Parts. Have your machine model number and information ready. | |
| 800-997-3233 | I called this number and contacted a dealer. I am still confused, as to exactly who this was and they did not return the phone call. Do not hang up if the do not answer the phone as "Pfaff". This is the number that Pfaff lists for contact. | |
| 800-995-9110 | Their site has a dealer locator and email form to make contact. | |
| 800-474-6437 | Use this number if you could not obtain your model on line. | |
| 800-446-2333 | This 800# is customer service for manuals for Husquavarna/Viking and for White machines. |
sharon b's Stitches for Embroidery and Needlework is a lengthy and well illustrated resources of hand embroidery stitches assembled by an Australian textile artist and colege professor, Sharon Boggon The best thing about this dictionary is that it provides photos of the stitches as they are being created as well as several illustrations of the stitches in-use in several unusual pieces.
image: Whipped spider's wheel stitch by Sharon Boggon
Making Sense of Stabilizers from Threads magazine, lots of answers on the types of stabliziers for machine embroidery.
"Designed to support, or even replace, fabric under the stress of dense and multi-directional machine stitching, stabilizers can be applied in many ways, but are usually used in conjunction with an embroidery hoop to hold fabric as flat and inflexibly as possible. But while the number and variety of new or improved stabilizers continues to grow, there are still only four basic types of stabilizers to choose from. I'll describe each type and its basic uses, provide brand names and sources for current examples, and offer tips on getting the best results with each type. "
Also see Threads' table Stabilizers at a Glance. This table contains information on: Used for; Best used on; Comes in; Removal.
Thread Color Chart: Sulky Rayon This is a necessity if you are doing much free motion embroidery. Sulky is my favorite thread. It seems to break less than the other brands, and is just less temperamental in general. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom, there are the luscious variegated and multicolored threads.
Feltmaker's List FAQ
a list of just about everything anyone would want to know on the subject of felting. From how-tos to accomplished artists' work. "This is an ongoing compilation of posts from the Feltmakers List."
Vermeers Camera, Uncovering the Truth Behind the Masterpieces. A Book by Philip Steadman The answer to how the Old Masters were so good - well, part of the answer.
"For more than a hundred years it has been suggested that the Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (1632—1675) used the camera obscura. The camera obscura was the predecessor of the photographic camera. It is a simple optical device incorporating a pinhole or lens, with which an image of a scene can be projected onto a screen. The image can then be traced and copied. Art historians have come to accept the idea that Vermeer might have been inspired by such images, or might have used the camera occasionally. Vermeer’s Camera proposes, controversially, that the painter’s use of optical aids was much more extensive than this. "
Simone Martini, Vitale da Bologna and Jacopo Bellini
I admit it, I am a fool for the early Renaissance painters. All that gold, the stiff, symbolic gestures, the embellishment on every surface - all of it used to tell a wordless story. Vivian Vakili has written an accessible history of these painters. But better yet, it is posted on the web with magnificant illustrations of the works.
The Simone Martini portrait of a duke, riding on horseback from these prefect Italian Hilltown city-states while tiny armies camp in the corners, is such a wonderful summary of the era in which he lived. Some folks were rich. They got the horses and nice clothes. Everyone lived in beautiful walled cities. War was constant. Another favorite that she has displayed is the Annunciation. This version is not namby-pamby. The angel and Mary are livid and throwing visual daggers at each other. This is not a quiet woman who was jumping on the opportunity.
Don't stop scrolling before you get to Pieta by Jacopo Bellini. The anguish is palpable. The hilltowns in the background of this image are rich with fertile fields and quiet, safe roads. But the tree is chopped down in midlife as Mary weeps over her son. Pretty heady stuff.
image: Jacopo Bellini's Pieta
Thread Reference Guide - Superior Threads
What this page references is a description of the thread made by Superior, a description of the thread and recommended needle size and settings.
Typically the chart will give you information like "Use a #90/14 metallic needle. Reduce upper tension to 1. " (for their metallic thread). The best advice may come in the bottom row, where they list "water soluble thread" and advise "not recommended for swimsuits."
Tassel Making & Fiber Art Supplies - MeinkeToy! Meinketoy provides unusual and high quality fiber art supplies, including books (Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn), magazines, fibers and threads.
Marathon Thread Color Chart for rayon threads. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see links to more pages of colors, including varigated and metallics.
