A Tip from Jan at Delectable Mountain Cloth

Good Monday!

I'm still out of commission with my back but I'm a bit better than I was a few days ago so thanks for all the well wishes.  I'm going to have to figure out an ergonomic chair that can pull up to my embroidery frame so if anyone has any advice...I'm all ears!!

Here's a picture full of happiness...

This is my loot from my trip to Delectable Mountain Cloth.   I just love that crocheted and beaded berry trim.  *Sorry but there was only this one piece.* (I know, I know.  Don't be mad.)

It reminded me of this book with beaded edgings that I bought a while back.  Time to try out some of those patterns.

I also was really into the color nude this time around for some reason.

These silks have great structure and a stiffness which I'm looking forward to playing with. That's another thing about Jan's shop...there are tons of different types of fabric...the common denominator being that they are all natural materials...silks, cottons, linens, wool.

I also can't resist the incredible quilt packs that Jan puts together.  There are approximately 30-40 fabric pieces per roll, perfectly sized for piecing crazy quilt blocks.



The fabrics are unbelievable...running anywhere from $25-over $100/yd and priced incredibly reasonably.  There's no way you could afford to purchase such a wide range of exquisite fabric.  I can't get enough of them.

Lastly, I picked up some of this icy blue panne velvet.



Panne velvet is a type of crushed velvet where all the nap is hard pressed to one side.  The overall effect on the velvet is very glossy and looks like sealskin.

What if you don't want this glossy look?

No problem.  According to Jan, all you have to do is wet the velvet and put it into the dryer.

So I tried it.  I wetted it...

And dried it. Now I have two different types of velvet.  One very icy and slinky and the other very soft and malleable.



I noticed that the wetted version also doesn't hold creases like the panne velvet does.

And there you have it.  A tip for panne velvet on this beautiful Monday.

*sigh***

P.S. Unbeknownst to me, Delectable Mountain is a quilt block pattern! Maybe that was unbeknownst to you too...

Delectable Jan

After we dropped Jack off in Boston, Jim and I drove the 2 hours West to Brattleboro, Vermont where we spent the weekend.

My trip to Delectable Mountain Cloth to visit Jan Norris inspired this video:

[Note:  I highly recommend clicking on the HD which will take you to vimeo where you can watch the video in high definition.  Otherwise it's a bit fuzzy at full screen.]

Delectable Jan from Susan Elliott on Vimeo.


You can find the Delectable Mountain website here.  You can reach Jan and the staff at Delectable Mountain by phone at (802) 257-4456 or by email at staff@delectablemountain.com  You can follow the shop news on Facebook here.

I've uploaded all the pictures that I used in the video to my Flickr account here.

After my visit, I felt such overwhelming gratitude to Jan that this was the only way I knew how to express it.

She does so much more than buy and sell cloth.

She puts all of herself into what she creates.

She really is everything.  I just love her.

An Clo Mór

The Big Cloth.

Harris Tweed.  The only cloth in the world protected by an Act of Parliament.

The Harris Tweed Act of 1993 ensured that only cloth that fully conforms to the following is entitled to bear the Orb trademark:

Harris Tweed means a tweed which has been hand woven by the islanders at their own homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the islands of Harris, Lewis, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra and their several purtenances (The Outer Hebrides) and made from pure virgin wool, dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.

That means that Mary Ann was the winner of yesterday's post having recognized the trademark from the tweed fabric her parents sold in their business.  I had so much fun reading all of your responses.

Though many of you were correct that the symbol was a globus cruciger, this particular rendering was from the Harris Tweed trademark.



As for the funniest guess...I let Jack decide.  And we both loved Rebecca's response of a papal bowling ball.  I'll be emailing you both to send you a bit of tweed from the Hebrides.

Just a decade ago, the Harris Tweed industry was in decline.  Considered kind of a doddy, old-fashioned fabric worn by stodgy professors and the likes of Miss Marple, Harris Tweed's popularity was suffering and was failing to attract weavers from the younger generation.

A concerted effort was made six years ago, to re-position the tweed brand and revitalize the industry by marketing new, bold colors to the fashion trade and allowing young weavers/designers to design their own patterns.

The result has been phenomenal.  Harris Tweed is winning fashion awards, appearing in luxury boutiques and has been picked up by retailers such as J. Crew, Dr. Marten, Vans and Converse.

And the bright collections are being picked up by young techno-philes for everything from kindle covers to iphone cases.

There have even been Harris Tweed rides.  Not just in Edinburgh and Glasgow (we missed it by one week) but in New York City, London and Tokyo...

Credit: AFPRELAXNEWS

How do I know all this?  Well...when I asked Jack what he most wanted to accomplish when we visited Scotland, he said he wanted to see a circle of standing stones.

I came to discover that there are many standing stones in Scotland but one of the coolest was located on the Isle of Lewis.  And so, I began researching and planning how we might add this island to our trip and began reading all about the history, tradition and production of Harris Tweed.  I began reading the blogs of people who live and croft on the islands.  And I fell in love.

I fell in love with people who were so connected to the land, the animals in their care, and the work that they do.

Without giving too much away, our one day trip to the Isles of Harris and Lewis was, by far, our biggest highlight out of an entire trip of highlights.   It will take me a few posts to get through it all so I'll start here today with Harris Tweed.

We drove for almost two hours to reach the coastal town of Ullapool in Northwest Scotland...



From there we took a 2.5 hour ferry ride to Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis.



We arrived at 12:15pm and rented a car to take us to all the places we wanted to see in the seven hours before we had to get back on the ferry to go home.  I only wish we had had more time there.

I had planned about 20 minutes to zip into Harris Tweed Hebrides, the one place where I knew I could purchase some Harris Tweed.  After all, there was too much see and do to spend much time shopping.

Jim manned the camera while I hunted for cloth...

I've never seen anything quite like it.  

I had pre-shopped the selections online so I had a good idea what I wanted to purchase, a combination of traditional patterns...

As well as brights...

To explain a little why and how I fell in love, I encourage you to watch this video on the land, the weavers, and their cloth...

HARRIS TWEED HEBRIDES from caspar zafer on Vimeo.

What distinguishes Harris Tweed is the number of colors that are spun into each bobbin of yarn.  Wool is dyed before it is spun and then mixed in hundreds of combinations, using anywhere from two to eight colors.

What looks like a "brown" from far away...

Is a complex, rich composition of fibers that reflects the colors of the land from which it comes.

There's a great quote from a weaver at about 5:29 in the video.  He says:

Personally, I like the old school.  I like the darker more earthy colors that reflect...basically, reflect the land, the sea, the heather and just the rough Hebridean colors.  I think they're quite a good match for the Hebridean psyche.  From the beginning to end, the amount of time, effort...and loyalty as well...that's put into this...It's something you won't find in any manufactured cloth.

Amen.   In this culture of mass-produced, de-valued products, isn't it great to know that Harris Tweed endures?  It gives us hope for the world.

But before I go, just quickly click on this video and listen to the song sung by these women on the Isle of Lewis while they are waulking.

Waulking is the process of soaking and rhythmically thumping newly-woven tweed to shrink and soften it.  Recorded in 1970, it's worth watching a minute to two...

Waulking Song from The Wire Magazine on Vimeo.

For more information on the history of Harris Tweed, visit the Harris Tweed Authority's blog here.  To purchase Harris Tweed online, click here.  And to follow Harris Tweed on Facebook, click here.

Next time I'll share more about this land, this cloth and the most beautiful book I've ever seen.

Fishman's Rainbow

Our last morning in Chicago was brief but we did have a few hours before we had to head to the airport. Both Jim and Jack had work to do so I did what any passionate needleartist would do...

I looked online for any needlework or fabric shops near our hotel, found one, bought a big cup of tea and set out to walk the 1.5 miles to Fishman's Fabrics...

Fishman's Fabrics was established in 1903 and prides itself on building relationships with quality mills around the world in order to offer a full range of textiles:  cashmeres from Scotland, wool suitings from Italy, linens from Belgium...even American-made wool felt.

And the silks!  I couldn't believe the RANGE of colors offered...every color of the rainbow...in every TYPE of silk.

Dupioni galore...

Silk linings, silk charmeuse, silk shantung, silk chiffon, silk crepe, silk velvets...



Silk satin and silk habotai...



Silk organza and silk taffeta...

I have never, in my life, seen such ample offerings in every TYPE and COLOR of silk.  I was floored.

One large warehouse floor to be precise...

And to think that in the past they used to have THREE floors PACKED with fabric.

It's incredible the degree to which our fabric stores have limited their stocks in the last three decades.  Even on my trips to New York, I often leave without having found the right color or the right cloth.

Fishman's range is a breath of fresh air; a real find for someone looking for breadth within categories.

And I didn't take a picture, but the range of upholstery and designer fabrics is just as impressive.  And leather!  I haven't seen so much leather in one place.  Of course, I haven't really bought leather...but Fishman's could get me started.  And did I mention, the quality linings for vests and ties...?  And the clearance wall?  Most clearance bolts were $5-$10/yard...!

And more good news...they love online orders and the minimum cut is 1/8 yard.  A great resource when you are searching for a particular palette.

In the entryway, I enjoyed reading a bulletin board full of vintage ephemera about the store:  news clippings, letters from famous customers, magazine covers, etc...

I love a shop with a history and a shop that loves its customers.

The rainbow shines bright in Chicago, my friends...

And it's at Fishman's Fabrics.

Though your pot of gold might take a hit.  Just warning you.

Handmade Textile Treasures

This past Wednesday I drove up to Lancaster, PA to attend the AQS Quilt Show. I didn't have much time...it's almost a 2-hour drive and I had to go in the window between dropping Jack off at school and picking him up...soo...it was a quick trip.

I don't think I've been to a quilt show in almost 10 years. And, to be honest, I didn't have enough time to look at all the quilts...though I did see the winners...

Instead, I had a targeted mission of trying to find imported Japanese dobby cloth. It's that wonderful 100% cotton fabric with the nubby texture that I used for the cover of the Hari-kuyo needlebook. Well, I've been asked to teach it again and my sources for dobby cloth was quite slim...and searches on the internet didn't turn up much luck.

Yet, I knew there were Japanese importers who go to the quilt shows...so...I went in search...and hit the jackpot! Dobby cloth!

It turns out that Pat Maeda of Maeda Importing has quite an extensive selection. Not only that, she's very knowledgeable about the various designers of dobby and was able to explain her difficulty in importing the fabric.

Luckily for us all, she has a shop online but you may want to call her with your requests...I noticed her website doesn't show nearly as much as she physically has in stock. And she hasn't created a separate "dobby cloth" section on her website which might explain why she didn't come up in my search.

It seems like my day was going to center around imported, handmade and handwoven fabrics because I hit the jackpot again when I visited the booth of Susan Ball Faeder next door, owner of Quilter's Express to Japan.

She had this collection of handwoven, indigo-dyed (aizome)...I haven't seen this quality since I lived in Japan...all dyed in a vat with live bacteria using no chemical additives or fixatives...she even has that super-deep blue indigo-dyed fabric that's almost black...

But here, the story was similar...the dyer and weaver is in his eighties and not likely to continue to manufacture these hand-made fabrics for much longer.

A story that continued when I met another Susan, Susan McCauley from Mekong River Textiles...It was there that I found these wonderful, hand-woven silk ikat fabrics from Thailand...

And yes, she's telling the same story. There are fewer and fewer weavers.

I only had 15 mins left before I had to make my drive back to get Jack, but I hadn't yet gotten up to the third floor. So I sprinted up the stairs, and the one booth that caught my eye was yet another import booth...Batik Tambal.

Turns out Batik Tambal was just bought by Judy Gula, owner of Artistic Artifacts in Alexandria, VA. (My BNF [blogging needle friend] Elizabeth Woodford has been telling me I need to make a trip to this shop for the longest time and I have yet to make it there...)

Without a doubt, it seems like the theme for the day was unique, imported hand-dyed and hand-woven fabrics. Isn't it funny how some trips are like that...you tend to focus on just one thing...

And perhaps if you, like me, have trouble finding sources online...I've helped you locate a few gems...which also helps the importers and, ultimately, the weavers and dyers themselves.

Though the stories amongst all the Susans sellers were the same...not as easy to find, skills are being lost, the artists are aging...

Is that the same story you're hearing?

Happy weekend to you all...

P.S. Touching my heart today, Ode to Adolescence by Janell Burley Hoffman. I am there too. Thanks Maura.

P.P.S. And Wow. And this post too...from Tricia. Wow.

Bobbinet

Bobbinet is a machine-made net made of cotton or silk with a hexagonal mesh.

It's the very same net ground used to make the Chantilly bobbin lace that I'm using in my Breakfast at Tiffany's block.

I happen to have some cotton bobbinet in my stash, so when I went looking for appropriate fabrics to make my stumpwork petals from...I thought I would use the bobbinet, hoping to complement the background netting of the Chantilly lace.

Bobbinet has a much softer drape than tulle and has a tendency to dampen light...that's why photographers and movie stylists use panels of it to soften lighting in their images.

It has been used in many applications as grounds for various types of lace, embroidery, and ribbonwork. Here's a gorgeous example of skirt made from bobbinet on this gorgeous vintage Lanvin gown...

It was also used in the corset underpinnings in the Balmain bodice I photographed in this post.

The picture below shows the bobbinet (top left), compared to my original piece of Chantilly lace (bottom center), and to the silk tulle (top right).

Originally, I was a bit bummed that the holes of my bobbinet were so much larger than the bobbinet ground in my Chantilly piece.

Now, I've gotten over that and I think that perhaps a mixture of silk tulle and the cotton bobbinet, both fused over silk organza...might give me some variability and might even be better. I'm not sure I'll know that until I make a few petals using varying combinations of tulle and/or bobbinet and organza.

Now I'm off to find some Mistyfuse. Due to the delicacy of the lace, I think Mistyfuse is a better option versus Heat n Bond lite...I think it will "disappear" better amongst the lace net, will not be as stiff, and may be easier to sew through when I embroider the wire.

I did find size 33 wire to use for my petal outlines -- the smallest I could find. (I use Japanese paper-coated floral wire like the kind you can find here.) Size 33 is just a tad bit bigger than the original lace cordonet so it should be delicate enough.

And I've decided to use real gemstones in the flowers...because it is a Tiffany's piece...

And lastly, I need to hunt down some matte cream-colored tiny beads in the same color as this piece of coral...and some teeny tiny stamens with silver and/or pearl tips. The tricky part for both items is the teeny-tiny requirement.

See you next time!

The Flowers of Dior

It should have been called The Garden of Earthly Delight...

For delight me it did!

By far, the Christian Dior show created by John Galliano was my absolute favorite from the 2010 Fall Haute Couture Fashion Show that took place in Paris last week.

As I poured over the images and the reports from the show, I was beginning to be disappointed. I didn't see as much of the embroidery, beading and fabric manipulation which usually trademarks the haute couture shows.

That was...until I saw the Christian Dior show.

There were walking flowers everywhere! Forget that my own garden has been eaten by deer,

There were brilliant colors....

Magnificent ruching, ruffles, layering and painting...

All designed to mimic the fragile, delicate and beautiful petals seen in the full Summer garden.

But, what struck me most about this show was the use of hand-dyed and hand-painted fabrics. They were used to exquisite effect.

An Orchid...

Pansies...

A Bird of Paradise...

And Tulips.

Hair piled high like the bulbs and roots of plants...cellophane-covered heads to mimic the bouquet wrappings one receives at the florist.

Upside-down daffodils and so many more...

Go here to see the entire show and drink in the visual abundance.

The hand-dyed fabrics remind me of the work of Glennis Dolce aka Shibori Girl .

Her hand-dyed silks are absolutely gorgeous.

And her shibori-dyed and pleated ribbons are beyond compare. When they are in stock, you can find them in her shop.

There was also a beautiful article written (definitely worth the read) about Glennis recently in HandEye magazine appropriately titled Maker of Wonders.

Speaking of Wonders, The Right Alice was posted on the DMC blog yesterday afternoon *Jump-up-and-down-Yay! You can read the post here.

The piece, made completely with DMC threads, will be shown at the next CHA and TNNA shows in the DMC booth. Thank you all for inquiring about her whereabouts. Now you know where she is...*smile.

Feeling inspired yet?

Phew! Welcome home is right!