A note from Kathleen: There's something about a vintage piece of needlework, knitting, weaving, or crochet that touches me. I love to think about how the piece was used, who made it, what fibers were used, and how I can pay homage to the craftsperson and the craft by actually using the piece.
My mom has saved a crocheted baby dress one of her friends made for me. I love knitting for babies and I like to think that pieces I've knitted for my friends' babies will be saved and perhaps worn again.
My friend Anita Osterhaug from Weaving Today and Handwoven magazine has the same feelings as I do, so I thought I'd share her musings about vintage being trendy. I love it! Here she is.
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| Bands
woven with traditional backstrap looms in contemporary colors. |
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| What could be more classic than
these Bronson lace placemats by Margaret
Gaynes? |
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I am a very trendy person. And the longer the trend, the better I like it.
For example, weaving has been the rage among our species for at least 10,000 years. Whether for warmth, ceremony, or to adorn our homes, humanity and textiles are inextricably linked. Millions down the ages have jumped on the weaving bandwagon and learned the dance of warp and weft. Good times.
Weave structures and designs, too, are perennial. This weekend members of my guild took a backstrap weaving workshop with Laverne Waddington (featured in the January/February 2011 issue of Handwoven), Laverne has traveled from the hills of Vietnam to the Navajo Nation and to weaving communities in the Andes to learn and document ancient techniques that produce sophisticated and very contemporary-looking fabrics.
The samples we wove in her class would look right at home today on a fashionable purse or as braid on a stylish ethnic-inspired vest. And while they might not appreciate our color sensibilities, the ancient Incas might recognize some of the patterns that we wove.
The twentieth century did not invent tie-dye or surface embellishment. At the Amano Museum in Lima, Peru, I have seen drawer after climate-controlled drawer of 3,000-year-old woven shibori that would make a hippie proud, and before devoré and the wonders of modern chemistry, there was cut velvet with patterns no less ornate or beautiful than those of today.
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Overshot evolves in this purse by Margaret Sheppard and Janice Jones. |
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I make time for weaving in my busy life because it is a chance to create something timeless. So many things are fleeting. My computer will be obsolete within months after I buy it. Today's bestseller and chart-topper may be tomorrow's recycling, and I can't begin to keep up with all those text-messaging abbreviations that my kids use. (I know, LOL.) But my furniture is still covered with textiles that my grandmother brought from the Old Country half a century ago, and they are as bold and beautiful as the day they were woven.
Weaving is for the ages. I can pull an old issue of Handwoven from the shelf or open an e-Book of projects from years past, and weave something stylish, yet classic, that my own descendants may treasure in years to come.
A great way to start your weaving traditions is with a subscription to Handwoven magazine. Just seeing the images in this newsletter are so inspiring.
So, although I may choose contemporary colors for my rep weave placemats or use bamboo yarn instead of silk for a lace scarf, but lace and rep, overshot and twill, summer-and-winter are here to stay. The music changes, but the dance of warp and weft goes on. So give me a classic draft, and let's boogie down.
