Lowell's Cloth Traditions

I had very good intentions of doing a blog post first thing today, but (again) the day has gotten away from me.  It has been too long though...and several important events have happened or are coming up.  I'll start with what's coming up.

This Sunday afternoon, August 24, I will be participating in a "global cloth party" at the National Historical Park here in Lowell, Mass.  This is the second of what is billed as an annual event.  Last year's event, which I missed, focused on sharing Lowell's ethnic heritage.  Representatives of the various cultures in the city brought in samples of traditional cloth and shared stories related to the cloth and cloth-making.  This year artists in the are who work with fabric have been invited to participate.  I'll have a table there with some of my jackets to let people see what I do with fabric.  I thought it would be fun to bring some of my "fusion" jackets--like my Japanese style jackets made with African fabric.  This one is made with an African tie-dyed damask.

I love to work with a wide variety of fabrics and to use them in unexpected ways.  There are two African markets in downtown Lowell that sell Dutch fabrics that are made for the African market.  I drive or walk by these stores regularly and my eye is always drawn to the fabric displays.  The colors and patterns are bold and intense.  Although they are well outside my comfort zone, they have been calling my name for a long time.  When I won the prize for Creative Sewing at Sunapee this month, I decided that this fabric would be a good use for my prize money.  The fabrics come in 6-yard lengths so I couldn't just dip my toes in the water here, I had to dive off the high board.  I did just that this week and bought two pieces.

I had the best time studying all the different patterns and making my choices.  I decided on two very different pieces.  One is deep blue and olive with large stylized birds.  The other has a white background with the typical crackled batik background and large pink/red hyacinth flowers.  Now my mind is swimming with possibilities for what I will create with them.  They are batiks so the "wrong" sides look almost as nice as the 'right" sides--the perfect thing for a jacket or vest with peek-a-boo holes...but perhaps I will get new inspiration on Sunday.  I know the store owner is planning to be at the cloth party on Sunday, maybe I'll have a chance to chat with her some more.  Who knows what the day will bring.

I am really hoping to use one of these fabrics in a creation for our Wearable Art Extravaganza on Saturday night October 4.  More about that in my next post.

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