Another Collar, in a Similar Vein

In considering with what next to 'affect' the other collars Nicola had sent me, I trawled through other bits and pieces that Nicola has sent over the course of the past few months and found these gold jump links below. I think that working with gold coloured fastenings/fasteners recently (as in the pink basque), has taken with me and I began stitching them onto the collar below. I think that it will make a lovely partner to the pearly collar once rusted up. I would like to source more of these rings for future experiments as (dependant on their ability to rust well), I believe there could be great scope to create large lace-like pattern repeats that could be printed onto soft silks. These could be beautiful organic echos of much of the found lace items we have used throughout Re-worked project.

Final Parcel for Nicola

I have tried to in some ways respond to the materials Nicola had sent to me in my final parcel for experimentation and to also, act on my own instincts when happening upon materials for Reworked. Below are images of the items I have collated, beginning with a trio of vintage gloves. I have been intrigued by the idea of our deconstructed, reworked pieces interacting with the wearer and thought a most immediate way of exploring this could be through the use of preworn gloves. The notion of covering/encasing hands in another skin of sorts (in this case, leather and suede) and then breaking down or affecting this protective layer is interesting.

Leather Lace Gloves

These are rather structured, a heavier leather, whilst still remaining soft and pliable. I love the lace detailing at the wrist. I also like the fact that this pair are joined with a little gold pin.

Soft Leather Long Gloves

These move almost fluidly - especially at the wrist, where obvious wear has occurred and the leather has puckered. The contrast between this soft area and the strong stitching on the back of the hand is lovely.

Brown Punctured Suede Gloves

I was drawn to the punctured surface of these gloves and to the colour - soft and feminine but also, a nod towards our 'broader' colour scheming! 

Recycling Centre Silk

This is a beautiful, piece of abandoned silk - the ends have been pulled and in areas, it is snagged but perfectly suited to our needs! I imagine this working well in printing.

Cotton Ladies Collar

This was a pre-Nicola's parcel purchase. I found it funny that both of us should choose collars as part of our experimentations. I am intrigued to see the contrast between Nicola and my's ideas for use. Though, of course working with and most likely being led by the materials (the men's collars I am working with are starched and Nicola's is soft cotton), I look forward to seeing our different interpretations side by side.

Gold and Silver Studs

Laser Cut Wool Circles

(A repeat item)

Itty Bitty Laser Cut Wool Circles

Though I have previously sent Nicola some of these wool circles, I wanted to send more (and made some tiny versions to allow more room to be playful with scale), when I was considering possibilities for embellishment of the gloves. I wonder if Nicola will see an entirely different outcome for either?

Deconstructed Vintage Bodice

This was part of a 1950s wedding dress. I guess that with this inclusion, I am largely responding to Nicola's pink corset top. I wanted too, to include a defined item as opposed to just fabric, but also wanted   to not be too rigid in suggesting it's use - hence my liking its deconstructed, pulled apart state. 

Charity Shop Buttons

I received these at the same time as some other fastenings for Reworked a long time ago and had other plans for them. They have, however sat rather lonely. I wonder if Nicola can, through the Reworked ethos, put them to better use? Perhaps they could have potential in branding and/or embellishment.

Natural Twine

(Another repeat item - given the earlier earthy browns/beiges, this inclusion is led purely by colour)

Staples (Lots of)

Found Rusties

I found each of these on the same day in November and loved their textures and shapes. I wonder if they could be included in some experiments? We have, to date, 'catalogued' some rusty finds but haven't actively used many in our explorations into form and texture.

I have also included in this parcel, sample sheets of light weight waxed cotton as I thought Nicola might like to try some branding similar to those she tried in an earlier post - the wax might produce some interesting resist-like results? I'm sure Nicola will have other ideas too!

Unplanned Post

This is not the post I had hoped to make tonight - I am having irksome technical difficulties uploading photographs of my latest experiments. So instead, I decided to show some more goodies I've found laying around. On my jaunt around the factory I work in, I found some utter beauts but they were sadly too large to pocket, so for now, meet these:

Another mobile phone special, this photograph lacks in quality but I am glad that it still portrays well the warped shapes of these 'specimens'. I still enjoy the idea of cataloguing these found pieces and examining them for inspiration. I feel that shape manipulation and moulding are aspects that I would like to play around with more. Being a printer by trade I am too quick to 'make prints' and dye as opposed to physically kneading my materials and affecting their structure.

Powder Puffs - Post Rusting

As expected, these have been well dyed whilst rusitng despite my vigillance with exposure to oxygen being unpredictable in the continuation of the process. Again, I find these interesting as objects but am unsure as to how these would fit in with our final collection - perhaps not sophisticated enough an outcome. The sample in the bottom image rather reminds me of a mushroom! In the flesh, it's texture is pleasing - the embossing effect having been successful. I had planned to remove the staples but seeing the samples as they are now, I fear that removing them would leave them a bit lack luster - the embedded metal adds interest to the softness of the puffs.  

Studs / Rust

I decided to make use of the butterfly clips Sara had given me by combining them with the felt circles from a previous parcel. I thought that the butterfly clips on their own through fabric would look too similar to everyday studs already used in clothing so thought the felt circles would give them something extra. I really like this outcome as I think it looks like some sort of natural growth or honey fungus. I'm interested in using the idea as small clusters on clothing combined with a completely covered section - playing on the idea of deterioration. Although I liked the look, I experimented further with vinegar and salt to induce rusting (see below) to see if it improved the look. I also like that the "wings" of the butterfly clips underneath have criss-crossed to create a sort of mesh - something I again think would make for an interesting piece - if an item of clothing was completely covered it may become malleable, like the mesh/silver wire samples I played with in an earlier post, and would be interesting in terms of weight.

I do like the effects of the rust on the butterfly clips - they succumbed to deterioration very easily - but equally feel they look great untouched so maybe a mix of the two on a single piece would be great. I have a few designs for garments sketched and one idea I had was to have a heavily embellished top section (say the bodice of a dress) which would be rusted then gradually spacing the embellishment out to create small, untouched clusters. I think that highlighting the degrees of deterioration throughout the one piece would look great and sum up Re-worked. I was also pleased to see what looks like the start of salt crystals - maybe a new direction for the project? - a welcome embellishment!

I also did a smaller, less successful (in my opinion) experiment just scrunching up the fabric & securing it with clips to see if the rust would transfer throughout the  fabric. I think I was too heavy handed on the vinegar and the fabric is now almost completely orange! I like the colour but I wasn't overly impressed. However, it did give me an idea to use the butterfly clips to create structure within fabric - maybe create bunched up sections on large areas of fabric?