Textiles and Tea today featured Jane Milburn, who is a total sister from another mother. From her series of interesting jobs, because one thing led to another, she not fitting into the structural workplace, to her up cycling and cheerful adventuring with ideas, I love her!
She explains she's always done the work that reflected her values, not $$, that she can't fathom keeping on doing something because it's what you do, in so many places I was so much in agreement. She's a happy woman, living on an island off Brisbane, Australia, which you see in the background picture, just fun to listen to!
She's very serious about using and reusing natural fibers, thrifting, altering, using used fabric to make new clothes, but not too many! And she's the recipient of some prestigious awards including the Australia Medal, and a Churchill Trust Fellowship. She believes in ecology and beauty, and fun with function.
Anyway, here she is
interestingly, this is what I'd been doing earlier
These are handspun and knitted socks I've often repaired invisibly with matching yarn, but I thought I'd like to have more fun with darning.
And, fancy darning left little time for lunch, so that was plain.
I did get out and prune a big lopsided branch off the butterfly bush and drag it out to the trees out back. And pick new flowers.
Happy day everyone, eke out the season if you're in the Northern hemisphere, stand by for burgeoning if you're with Jane, in the Southern hemisphere.
Here we a eke-ing in the northern climes.
ReplyDeleteEasy for you to say;)
DeleteWhat an interesting use of "burgeon"! I have a couple of "art" publications in my feed, and lately have seen several happy young women who upcycled a thrift store find into a lovely wedding gown.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's a great up cycle.
DeleteJane’s reuse of material is a good example for all of us,
ReplyDeleteIt's also fun!
DeleteI love how you did the fancy darning on both socks. Yes they look much better than if you had used the same coloured yarn. There’re more funky now.
ReplyDeleteI'm wearing them now. They're also more comfortable without holes right where my toes pop out.
DeleteThis post reminds me of a book I want to share. Probably not nearly as profound as Jane Milburn's book and work, but fun and inspiring to me. I'm looking forward to perhaps watching this episode when HGA (hopefully) posts this to Youtube. I've been subscribed to their Youtube channel since you introduced us to these talks. I just made sure I have the notification bell turned on. So glad to catch this post, Liz.
ReplyDeleteYou can also catch them on Facebook, if you Google HGA Textiles and Tea Facebook it should get you there. There's no waiting for the Facebook version. They're short staffed so it takes while to upload to YouTube.
DeleteI like Jane Milburn's red dress!
ReplyDeleteIt's an amalgam of various items, very inventive.
DeleteThis lady truly does seem to have fun with her art. I love it! Her denim dress is glorious.
ReplyDeleteI read an article yesterday that I thought you'd find very interesting. You may have already read it. It's about a seventeen hundred year old sock and is in the Smithsonian magazine. Here's a link if you want to copy and paste.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews-history-archaeology/1700-year-old-sock-spins-yarn-about-ancient-egyptian-fashion-180970501/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=editorial&utm_term=1082023&utm_content=recent&fbclid=IwAR0eSJle8W0EV7ik8M1mtDKavZt0oQxyxrXZHOBx3H3aIqx8SXCeActVn18
thank you. I don't have a copy and paste function that works on the tablet but I expect I can track it down some way.
DeleteFound it. I was interested in knowing about the construction. It's naakbinding, an early looping technique which I think uses one threaded needle. They used various ways of mixing color, in the dye process and in spinning, very much like modern textile artists do.
DeleteNaalbinding. Predictive text took me half a dozen tries before it gave way.
DeleteSo glad you found it! I thought the part about the colors and dying process were fascinating.
Deletewell, you know people used to use clothes over and over and turning the cloth into other usable things when no longer suitable for clothes until the world got so modern and wealthy and clothing got so cheap. so good for her. at SHARE, the ladies who sort the clothing will winnow out things that are too worn or torn and it all goes to Mexico for whatever it is gets done with old cloth.
ReplyDeleteYes, that's her point. It's a quiet response to the fashion industry creating wants rather than needs. I didn't know SHARE was more than a food bank.
DeleteShe is your sister from another mother. I really like what you did with those socks! I'm eking the best I can. :)
ReplyDeleteI think she and I could get along. The socks are now fun to wear instead of just warm. Eke on, Sandra!
ReplyDeleteWill have to see if our library system happens to have her book available.
ReplyDeleteAs for darning socks, it's something I flatly refuse to do. Luckily Resident Chef is quite happy to darn his own and often ends up with a 'colourful' result.
I like making them more interesting to wear with darning. It's more than fixing a problem.
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