Live Thread Studio evolves with the Slow Cloth Movement from  weaving only to custom design sewing using hand woven cloth and hand sewing embellishment.

What Happens to Design and Sew Custom Art to Wear

The design process involves developing the initial concept, then proceeds to the design of the underlying sewing pattern that will be the support for the hand sewn raw edge applique. Once the sewing pattern is designed it is custom fitted with a “toile” or test piece. After the fitting is completed this toile is taken apart in order use as the final pattern. Since each person is her own shape this process is unique to her.

The Tunic Vest uses a handwoven fabric chosen from the collection of Live Thread Studio or a special fabric supplied by the client. The back fabric and binding fabric are determined after to co-ordinate with the front piece for color, weight and material compatibility. Fabric choices come from many sources, mostly from online to have the best choices but hunting down the right choice can be time consuming. After the pattern toile has been fitted, it is taken apart and then used to cut and sew the final fabrics. The vest might be finished with a lining depending on the choice of the client. Without a lining all seams are completed with a Hong Kong finish. The arm bindings are hand sewn.

The Raw Applique Vests start in the same way with pattern fitting and construction of the toile, then proceeds to the design process, which I nvolves working out the color palette and fabric choices, perhaps the client has a collection of fabrics to be included or she wants to use a handwoven fabric from the collection of the studio to use as the major theme with other fabrics supporting the design. Every piece is an original, distinct and separate design that takes many hours in determining and ordering the fabrics to use, placement and design of the fabric applique.

Before the applique sewing begins the vest base is sewn using the custom pattern and confirmed to properly fit the client.

The fabric applique pieces are hand sewn one piece at a time using decorative threads. The hand sewing takes place over many days in 2 hour sessions since the hand work thru layers and with the thicker decorative threads is hard on the hands.

                  

             

                                                         

On some pieces additional hand stitching embellishments is added to bring more design possibilities.

After the main hand sewing is finished, the lining is cut from the custom pattern and sewn in. The binding is then sewn on and finished by hand.

                                                                   

                     

A Busy Weaving Year

Many new things have come off the loom and many new pieces are in process for the up coming holiday season. Thought I would post some newer pictures and will add more as I get finished. Firstly let me show my new artist photo so you know what I look like! And the loom.  

 Below shows some fabric I dyed and wove for Puzzle Apparel, I hand painted the tencel threads before weaving, this is a picture of it in the weaving process:

This is a good example of the Kimono Jackets I've designed, I have woven several different fabrics that turned out great and have gone to new homes ( before having their pictures taken!)

Here's a hand painted chenille scarf, they have been so popular!  Painting the chenille is lots of fun but weaving it is less so, chenille is finicky but the finished pieces are worth all the trouble. The North Carolina landscape is a great source of inspiration for combining colors.

Right now I'm just finishing up some fabric to sew into a Ruanna,  and as soon as I have done some surface design I'll post pictures.

  

A Sampler of Current Scarves

Since I'm here posting about my spinning wheel for sale I thought I'd upload some pictures of scarves I've designed & woven lately:

Have a handpainted rayon chenille warp on the loom right now for a couple more scarves.  And then will be back to the Shibori after the first of the year, hopefully I'll get some metal pieces from the old grain mill that burnt down last year here in Salisbury to incorporate rust dyeing with the shibori.

Spinning Wheel for sale - Sold

Sold, thanks to all who inquired.  DT Lendrum Spinning wheel with 7 bobbins, the regular & fast flyers, lazy kate.  $500. plus shipping/insurance. I'm between Charlotte & Winston-Salem should you be interested in picking her up yourself. Shoot me an email at livethreadstudio@gmail.com

if I only knew how to rotate!

 Note the few chew marks on the bobbin courtesy of Ursus, doesn't affect bobbin use at all.

fast flyer, 6 more bobbins, woolie winder and it's bobbin (has been sold separately), lazy kate (older style)

Finally getting images up of the shibori panels after dye work.  2 of these panels are being entered in the Cauble Creek Invitational Art Exhibit along with a felted vessel.

This panel was dyed with a MX and then vat dyed in Indigo but the fiber reactive dye is not noticeable, perhaps there is a faint toning of the background.  The indigo though took very well.

This panel was first painted with 2 MX dyes and then vat dyed with indigo, creating a complex background that the photo can only hint at. Here's a close up:

And the third panel also painted with MX dyes and then in a brown vat dye:

The next warp will be exploring shibori with an overshot threading and exploring other MX/vat dye combinations.

This felted vessel is made from Jacob wools. Before I developed leukemia we had a refuge farm, our sheep were a big part of my life and the cord represents the tie that I still feel for them even after three years.  

Woven Shibori in process

Shibori is a very old process that usually involves clamping, tying, or stitching cloth.  In woven shibori the concept is to put in patterning threads while the cloth is being woven, rather than after.  I have woven several yards of cloth using  cotton to begin this process.  Before I started weaving the pattern(s) had to be designed, of course a design could be thought up while at the loom but I wanted to consider scale and density too.  Here are some photos of the woven cloth off the loom and through some of the dye process

The dark threads are supplementary pattern threads that will produce the pattern once the cloth is dyed. They are called supplementary because they are not necessary for the integrity of the cloth.  Once I'm done processing the cloth through the dye baths those threads are pulled out, as you'll see further on. I purposefully put in loops along the cloth edge to help me draw the threads up but it does make the weaving slower.

Here's the cloth with all those threads pulled up tight to create resist to the dye, so the dye will work in some places and not in others, this is how the pattern shows up. For this piece, the first dyes will be brushed on & set, then it will go into a  vat dye.

This cloth has been painted with dyes before being drawn up, you can see that I've started the draw up on the upper right. Once this piece is fully drawn up like it's sister it too will go into a vat dye but a different one.

More pictures to follow ....

Lots of weaving to see

 Since October, after my exhibit opened, it has been a busy time at the loom weaving scarves, several shrugs and a ruana.  Also spent 2 days at Fine Threads working with Leslie on making wet felted garments.  Here is what the studio looked like the other day:

The white fabric pieces floating between pieces of OP3 acrylic are flat origami designs. The photography on the wall are some prints my Dad, Marv Stasak, sent as part of the October exhibit.

Today on the loom I'm threading up a rainbow shawl which is a commission, which will be followed by  a jacket commission.