Clothes from the past

This year textiles really seem to be making a comeback in my life - not that they ever really left. I grew up making my own clothes and often wish I had kept some of them or at least some of the fabric scraps. There was the deep turquoise A-line dress that I wore with white fishnets and yellow tie shows. The dark navy A-line with bright flowers all over it. I think that one had the matching orange or yellow hose. And for the 7th and 8th grade dance the really fun top and shorts set (yellow kettlecloth) with the band of daisies around each leg and the yoke. And no photos to show even.

In high school, my mom made for me my junior-senior prom dress-white with lace overlay and a red velvet ribbon at the empire waist. There was also the striped Turkish coat (Folkwear pattern) with a small flower-patterned lining. The outside of the coat was actually mattress ticking fabric - still love those navy stripes today.

But even as I left high school and into college and then working,  the sewing did not stop. Fast forward to the 80’s and my purple small wale corduroy Ralph Lauren full skirt and top suit! I still have this pattern somewhere.

I haven’t sewn much the last 15 years so signing up to take a class from Jude Hill has been really fun - pulling out the few fabrics that I still have, raiding my mom’s or sister’s pile.

This weekend I did find out that my mom still has one of the Easter dresses she made for my sister and me - published on the front of the Stillwater newspaper when we were quite small and the sailor dress (which my sister was photographed in). We grew up during the time of mothers sewing their children’s clothes. Imagine having more than a few kids! The girls often ended up in the same dress- maybe because it was easier and cheaper to buy all the fabric that way. 

Deconstructing blue silk sheath

Over the last few years I have been collecting aka buying vintage clothing at estate sales and flea markets. You can only collect so many before you need to consider what you are going to do with all of the pieces. But not all vintage clothing has value - the owner may not have kept the pieces from moisture (musty smelling), heat, cold and the ever omnipresent bugs or moths! Also surprising how many smaller size pieces are available - have we really grown that much bigger since the 60’s??!!

Some of the less desirable pieces may end up in strips in my weavings or taken apart to be remade into something else. I decided to photograph some of the dresses while taking them apart as their construction was often very labor intensive.

This is the dart of a blue silk sheath dress with a beautiful border at the bottom of the dress. Since it had a large brown spot on it, I decided it would be better to use in pieces. The dress was lined and all of the seams had their edges whipped stitched. When I sewed, I never did that!! The dart even had seam binding over the opened dart to make it lay flat or smooth. 

The ironic part is I decided to hand wash the silk and the big brown spot literally shredded in the water. As my sister said, that wouldn’t have been a good sale.

Cleaning a fleece, part two

After some conversation with Linda, I tried a new tact to clean the fleece. I filled a plastic tub with cool water, put it in the bathtub, and then added the fleece making sure it could float freely. This lead to very dirty water after soaking overnight. This morning I emptied it out on the grass and filled the tub back up with cool water to soak again today.

Tonight I'll add some hot water and soap before rinsing and drying. Another friend had an absolutely beautiful Wensleydale fleece that came out pure white when she cleaned it so that is what I was expecting. Mine is a mixture of Perendale/Romney/Coopworth with a very nice small crimp. After the first cleaning, it is actually quite pretty.

Cleaning a fleece, part one

Now I need to learn how to properly clean the fleece I bought at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. The fleece is about 6 pounds and a mix of Perendale/Romney/Coopworth. I put some of the raw fleece in a lingerie bag and made sure the water was very hot before immersing the bag.  Wow, the first wash water was really very brown so I washed it again and then again. After rinsing, it went on a sweater dryer to really dry. 

Ohh, now I need to meet with Linda again to see why the fleece is still a little yellow. Guess I need a lesson on washing fleece. I remember years ago, I washed a fleece on my own but I think I read too much on the web as to how to wash fleeces. Sometimes, too much knowledge will overwhelm you.

Spinning lesson

Yesterday Linda and I met for dinner and then a lesson on spinning with a spindle. I brought my Navajo spindle from a Navajo weaving class years ago. Linda was a very patient teacher and really explained why we were doing the steps. We played with a roving from the spin-in at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  Then Linda brought out a very simple spindle that she had bought several years and I played with a beautiful green and red roving on this spindle. Linda spun on her Turkish spindle of zebrawood she bought several years ago. A very beautiful spindle and now I see why you end up buying a bunch of them!

Then off to home where I spent the night spinning more - had one major boo-boo when I realized I wasn’t paying attention and started spinning the opposite way. Yarn tends to fall apart when you do that! 

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival highlights

What can I say about the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival other than way too much fun. If you are a fiber/sheep/yarn fanatic, the MSWF is a great way to spend a weekend.  Several of us drove up Friday so that we wouldn’t have to get up way early in order to beat the crowd. Found a Chick-Fil-A near the hotel so with an Arnold Palmer and spicy chicken sandwich, it was a great start to the weekend.

Saturday was the best Festival weather-sunny and cool. Helped a friend of mine drop off items for the spinning and weaving equipment auction. Saw a box of early Handweaver and Craftsman magazines as well as some McCall’s Needlework magazines from the 70’s.  

Once we unloaded the car, it was time to go visit my favorite vendors-- Knots and Treadles (great selection of the old yarns), Maggie’s Farm (soap, hand creme, and roving), Davidson Yarns, as well as the fleece sale. 

I spent the afternoon sitting through the equipment auction which was interesting to see what was for sale and how much it went for. I really wanted the magazines and they were the last item to go. A great Danish loom went for $150! Where was it hiding and of course, after it sold, I really wanted it. Now I know to wait until the Festival and watch for a loom. The magazines I wanted were the very last 2 items to go and they are mine!!

Saturday night we went to the Ravelry and Storey Publishing party. The authors of The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook, Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson, spoke on their trials and tribulations in writing the book. If you haven’t bought this book, you need to as it is the source on animals and the fibers from them. 

Sunday was a repeat of Saturday with lots of sheep watching, browsing, and just people watching along with purchasing a fleece.

I did pick up some plants at the Festival including Japanese indigo. 

After the fun weekend it was hard to go back to work when I wanted to stay home and play with my purchases.

Maryland Sheep and Wool

This weekend is the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival - a great way to meet sheep up close! You can also learn to spin, weave, knit or crochet. Or perhaps you've thought about owning your own sheep - the Festival also includes classes on shepherding or how to read forage reports.

The festival also includes lots of vendors selling everything wool related  from fleece to yarn. You can even buy a fleece there and send it home with a wool processor. The wool processor will take your fleece: scour, dry, comb and card it into roving.

One of the fun things to watch is the blade shearing of sheep where you can see how sheep used to be sheared. This is the only blade shearing competition held in the U.S. A very back-breaking job leaning over and using blades and keeping those legs out of your face. Or perhaps you would rather watch the working sheepdogs demonstration.