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?

Washers / Branding

"Print" left after using washer with a branding technique.

"Print" crumbling off after material was crumpled.

A washer before branding (top left), a washer after branding (top right) & branding "print".

After a slight break from the project as I was settling into my new home, (big thank you to Sara for her work on the project the last couple of weeks), I was excited to get back to experimenting with the last batch of items I received from Sara.

I mentioned before that I was eager to use the brass washers as tools for branding the wool - and I am glad I pressed on with this idea as the results are fantastic. Rather than a circular burn, as I had predicted, I was confronted with a silver coloured "print". There was obviously a coating on the washer that reacted with the heat of my torch and stuck to the surface of the wool - especially obvious as when the washer was first applied to the wool it stuck on to it - something I think would look great on a large scale piece: showing the washer still attached to the wool combined with the print. I like the idea of the washers falling off as the piece is worn, revealing the graphic print underneath. I am really excited about these results - much better than I had anticipated. I will have to try the technique out on a few other materials to see if there is a similar result. Unfortunately, the smell of singed wool was also a surprise to me, albeit an unpleasant one!! I may have to continue these experiments outside from now on!

I also did some smaller experiments just using the washers as protective elements, singeing the wool around it. This didn't prove as successful though I do like how the middle of the circle is darker than the surrounding singed material. I have discovered that, with textiles, it is hard to predict how the piece will look on a small scale. I suspect that the above singeing and even the branding "print" will look far better on larger areas of fabric, however the smell of the wool has put me off testing this out for the moment! Repetitive patterns really appeal to me for Re-worked as a whole. 

Altogether I am still really pleased with branding & especially the "print" so will continue to push this idea further & try to apply it to larger areas.

Parcel & Contents

Letters / packages from Sara.

The accompanying letter with contents.

A vintage collar that really appeals to my personal taste.

Sheets of wool.

Brass washers.

I really enjoyed the contents of the latest parcel I received from Sara as I felt they were really in par with the direction of the experiments I have been doing for Re-worked. Sara & myself both agreed that the sheets of natural cream wool instantly lend themselves perfectly to branding techniques, something I particularly want to use the brass washers for. Included in the parcel was a piece of wool shaped almost like a shoulder pad that I found really interesting - hopefully Sara has more or similar? I think they would be amazing layered up - very dramatic. Also part of the parcel was a bag of butterfly clips - another perfectly suited - easily found item that will be easy to work into experiments and the overall look / feel of Re-worked. 

One item I instantly fell for was the vintage lace collar. This item is the sort of thing I first had in mind for the project and the sort of thing that falls into the "soft" category - in need of some destructive processes to bring it back to life. I think that it's a perfect base to create a piece from. It also reminds me a lot of the sort of vintage items I searched for use in my degree show project Vanity Series 2010. While in my personal project I played on the idea of "feminine" by creating intrinsically "pretty" items, I am looking forward to taking this element away from most items - making them beautiful in an alternative way.

I am also excited to say that Re-worked will be expanding to Aberdeen! In our initial proposal Sara & I specifically identified that this project would expand over two cities (Inverness & Dundee), highlighting that collaborations can take place by different means i.e our blog and posting items and ideas so to add a new city into this equation, as I will be moving there on Sunday, is just another exciting turn. 

Myself & Sara also have a few more steps planned for the course of Re-worked. We hope that once I am moved in and have set up my work area that we can have mini workshops in each other's discipline: Sara learning a few metalwork techniques & myself learning some basic textile approaches. We also hope to have a day or two rummaging around some local vintage shops and recycling centre and I would love to take Sara, at a later date, to Baird's in Glasgow to hand pick some silver wires / chains etc to use.