#I am finding so many resources for machine embroidery though | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sewjourn · 5 years

Text

Goals and Expectations

I’ve wanted to pick up sewing for a while now. For many, many years, actually. It’s always been that hobby that I was too afraid to pick up because I didn’t have the time or resources or wasn’t proud enough of my interest in it to admit to my parents that I even wanted to get started.

That being said, I’ve resolved to really make something of this hobby. Not a career or anything, but really get into it and pick up skills and just be capable of making cool things.

This blog is created as a way for me, as a beginner, to both share my journey, step by little step, as well as maybe connect with others on their own journeys, or maybe to inspire someone only just starting their own adventures.

This post, as an entry point into this blog and thus my entry into the realm of sewing, fashion, and all the rest, is to lay out what exactly I want to achieve as I begin my foray into this wonderful new world, as well as lay out the background of where I am currently and how much I’m capable of starting. In another post, I will make clear all of my experience in the field prior to the creation of this blog (and all experience after will, of course, be put here as well, given the purpose of this blog).

So, here we go.

Intro

Basically, my interest in making clothes, generally, lies in two spheres. One is in historical reconstruction and the other is in cosplay. I do absolutely want to make clothes just to wear, but that’s one of those “if I have the idea for it” things, not something I’m actively working towards.

I’m not really a cosplayer, per se, but I’ve always been more interested in the costumes themselves than in dressing up even if I had gotten into it. So basically I just want to make cosplay for the purposes of like, putting it on instagram or something. Though, if I have it anyway, I might take the leap and wear it to a convention sometime. But for now, my interest is mostly just personal and for fun.

Historical reconstruction is in a similar vein, though I legitimately do want to actually wear some of what I make. I’m more likely to wear this stuff more often, and honestly there will surely be some things that I want to make simply for the sake of wearing them. But this interest in particular stems more from a passion for history and not only the clothes and how they’re worn but the methods by which they were made as well. So, when I start with this, there will be a lot of research and I’d be attempting to create it all in historical practice to the best of my ability.

Now, it’s not just sewing and costuming that I’m interested in. I really want to give all aspects of this a try. Knitting, crochet, leatherwork, embroidery, all of it. I’m aware they’re all very different skills, but the whole point is to go on an adventure and try new things and figure out what I enjoy the most.

Those are sort of vague long term expectations and motivations, but now lets move on to concrete goals. All, of course, subject to change as I do research and learn what exactly is required in the projects I have in mind.

I have three “tiers” of goals, which are designed in a sort of ladder. The immediate goals are things I can accomplish today - things I have the ability and materials to do right now if I chose to work on it, or even just things I can go and buy for big projects. Big goals are the next step up and are mostly single projects. A single article of clothing like a shirt or a scarf or even just a simple project. Something that I could do with some preparation, whether it’s going and buying the materials or just doing some research. The last tier is stretch goals, which is a major project, in this case an outfit, that I’m ultimately working towards. I won’t necessarily use everything my big goals teach me to accomplish my stretch goal, but the idea is that, especially since I have basically no experience sewing, those big goals are laying the foundation and will teach me how to approach the stretch goal, which, without the lower goals, is a daunting and seemingly impossible task.

Basically:

Stretch - Big picture ultimate goal. Usually a multi-part project. (Once I start mine, each individual piece will be a big goal of their own.) Big - Single projects that are achievable with preparation. Immediate - Anything achievable currently with just some time and attention investment.

Stretch Goals:

That is, goals which I am ultimately working towards accomplishing, and probably won’t even be started until I get some practice and have a general understanding of that they would even entail.

For cosplay/sewing, my biggest goal at the moment is to make Ranulf’s outfit.

Fire Emblem is literally one of my favorite games ever, and Ranulf is one of my favorite characters. It seems like a fun outfit just to have, anyway, even if I wouldn’t necessarily wear it out. (I’d 100% wear the loincloth/skirt thing around the house lol. And the top is basically half of my entire aesthetic so there’s a good chance I’ll legit wear it out if I can style it.)

Secondary is actually Keaton’s outfit because it’s legitimately wearable and I’d be able to take those pieces and actually wear them in everyday life. Also, I could probably find patterns to start with that would help me make it.

I don’t have any concrete historical stretch goals, though I’m hoping to get an idea of what time periods I’m especially interested in working with through some more research on the topic. Not concrete enough to be a “goal” but still something in a similar time frame that I want to achieve. Besides, I don’t like the idea of having more than one or two stretch goals. I feel like I’d be trying to go in too many different directions.

I do have the vague idea of recreating one of my favorite clothing items from The Sims 4, but as I said I like to have a single stretch goal to work towards, which right now is Ranulf’s outfit. At some point along the line, the Sims idea might make a good “big goal”, though.

For life, which isn’t necessarily sewing/etc., but is sort of immediately important in accomplishing any of my stretch/big goals, my stretch goal is to move out and get my own place. Sadly, until I do this, progress on anything past immediate goals will be slow at best, and realistically probably straight up stalled. I won’t go into detail, but I just have a hard time creating while I’m here. Not to mention money is always a concern and after I move out I’ll have that all budgeted and will know how best to approach these goals financially.

Those are what I’m currently working towards being able to do.

Big Goals:

There’s a lot more here, naturally. These big goals are major projects that I’m thinking of starting on. They’re sort of my first big projects, in theory. Attainable things that will teach me the skills that will bring me closer to accomplishing the stretch goals.

My first thought on how to get into not only sewing, but historical sewing, was to make something simple. And simple, to me, means underwear. It isn’t necessarily the easiest thing to do, but minor mistakes aren’t seen and it provides the foundation for everything you wear on top of it, so it’s pretty important. That said, I’d love to start a historical journey with some braies, some medieval men’s underwear.

That being said, that might be the second or third thing I actually try making simply because I think it would be more practical for my first big project like that, where I’d be making something from just bolts of fabric, to not have to make the pattern myself. If I can’t find a pattern, even if it’s not strictly a historical one (authenticity is important, but I’m just learning and the point of this in particular is simply to learn how patterns work in the first place), then I’m better off with something else as I feel I need that experience with how the pattern affects the actual clothes before I can attempt drafting my own.

So, yeah. Braies, by which I hope I will gain a basic understanding of patterns and a feel for what research will be like for future historical projects.

Knitting/Crochet: I admit I’m not fully aware of the difference. That being said, I think that both can be used to make scarves. I’m not sure which I’d try first, but the big goal here is to make a Ravenclaw scarf. I have an official Universal Studios one, but it really irks me that it’s blue and silver (like the movies) instead of blue and bronze (like the books). I want a blue and bronze one, and without knowing anything about knitting/crochet, it seems like a decent goal to start working on/towards as a beginner. Just a two-color, long rectangle.

Leatherwork: I don’t plan to begin leatherworking anytime soon, but very generally my first idea is some kind of leather case, like in this video by Morgan Donner, just as an accessory that can be worn with costume/cosplay stuff later on. I probably won’t worry too much/at all about decorating it over just leaving it plain and functional. Secondary big goal project would be just an art piece on a piece of leather, not made into anything in particular, just leather as the canvas. Oh, also a leather thimble. That might come sooner.

Embroidery: I don’t have any big goals laid out for embroidery yet, but I do definitely want to try it. The only idea I have right now is one of those store-bought embroidery kits that give you the thread and a design and you basically just do the hand work. That’ll probably be first just to give me an idea of how embroidery works and what it can do.

Sewing Machine: How do? I’m probably going to steal my mom’s old one, so hopefully I’ll learn more about how it works as I clean it. Otherwise, I’ll be asking her and looking it up online. Concrete goal: make something with the sewing machine. Just like, a square or something. Just to figure out how it works.

Life: Big goal for life is to get a job. I’m currently in that liminal state between finishing college and getting a job. There’s really no telling how long this will take, but setting out goals like this are really important for me in getting literally anything done, and as I said getting my own place is very important in getting bigger projects rolling, which is why I’m putting this here.

Sewing and the braies project is the top thing, save for life goals, obviously, with the others being secondary. There’s so much here that it could easily go in too many directions at once, but my “stretch goals” for everything but sewing (which aren’t measurable goals and so don’t count here but still) is to get fundamentals in the skills for use in making accessories or just helping on the road to achieving the stretch goal. They’re all very different skills, but they do all fall under the same sphere, and so I think they’d be useful skills to have. Besides the fact that I’m just interested in them.

Immediate Goals:

Sewing: Sew on a button. Make a buttonhole. Research what stitches are most common and practice them. “Practice them” is not a measurable goal, but I’m going to focus on the life goal until I get into a place where it’s routine, and then I’ll figure out exactly how often to practice. I only have so much scrap fabric and thread, anyway.

Historical: Prepare study material for braies project. Look for patterns and records of how they may have been assembled. Compile folder for reference when starting that project.

Knitting/crochet: Research each approach and decide which to start with for the Ravenclaw scarf project. Compile any information (pattern?, instructions, historical techniques?, material, material cost, etc.) that’s relevant for the reference folder.

Leatherwork: The thimble is something I want relatively quickly, since it’ll help with other projects. Immediate goal for this is, like the others, simply to compile information on how to cut/sew it so that it fits and doesn’t immediately fall apart.

Life: Get the resume in check and apply to at least one job every other day subsequently. Others, but they’re irrelevant to this journey and blog specifically.

Clearly there’s a lot there, but if you break it down there’s not actually all that much. I might condense it into shorthand and make a separate page on this blog to document my goals and reference as I work on them. Still considering that idea, though. Maybe I’ll make a separate post ruminating on how that might work.

Anyway, point is, there’s not really all that much. It’s the braies, really, and then the Ranulf project, though I might divert into making more of a 15th century outfit stemming from the braies as a base before starting the Ranulf project. That’s a lot more research, though. It’ll depend on how I feel after the braies and where I am at that point in. The other big goals are all side things dipping my toes into other areas.

But, as I said, I’m not planning to start the braies until after I move out and settle into my own place, which could take any length of time. At the moment, there won’t be too much to update on other than small “look I did this stitch!” things.

So, it’ll be slow going here at the start. Things are still subject to change and I have a lot of thinking to do before I really get started. That said, I want to lay the groundwork and start getting all of this organized. Thus, here we are. My goals and ideas laid out as they stand currently, an indeterminate amount of time before things get rolling in earnest.

The possibility it just doesn’t get rolling is there, of course, but this is actually something I’ve wanted to do for most of my life, so I’m really passionate about it, and I love learning, so I hope things will all work out when the time comes. In the meantime, I’ll think about trying to make a more accessible and easily modified list of goals (with less detail, obviously) that can be updated as I work on them. Again, I’ll likely ruminate on that in another post.

#speak #goals #long post #ruminations

0 notes

rightafters · 7 years

Text

Open Problems

One of the earlier promises of site-specificity is that the artwork would be irrevocably destroyed if relocated. The march out of the white cube rejected the conceit of the pure idealist space of dominant modernisms for the clamor of real space. I am one visitor with many others in a bungalow in Chip Bee Gardens for the OH! Open House Tours. Sculptural objects, hand-woven pieces of carpet with explosion of yarn, hang on the walls of a child’s bedroom. A pensive photograph of an exile re-visiting Singapore at the backyard. The intrusion into site are not quite performed by the artworks themselves, being reasonable in scale and abstract in content, but rather the hundreds of stranger bodies and foreign eyes cast on someone else’s home. I cannot help but feel that the buzz around site-specific practices, the divorce from the white cube, is the hyperextension of the (post-)modern space into a total installation of everyday life. Falling into the shadow of the logic in gallery-curation, the apartments feel like the handiwork of a fastidious housekeeper preparing for guests, where no part of the visit is left outside of consideration, no stray sightlines, no laundry unwashed. This presentation of the inhabitant’s “everyday life” itself is an abstraction, an idealism burdened by expectations of unpredictability and authenticity. What is at stake is not the authenticity of the inhabitants’ domestic lives, for the guest is still a guest, art audience or not. Rather, it is the domestication of spaces with the codified expectations and habits of art-viewing practices. That the looking at art is still familiar is a problem. Despite the sales pitch of the tours, these site-specific practices are less about the fantastic intrusions into the unknown (i.e. any site that is outside the gallery) and more of modernism’s new clothes, where all the world’s an art installation.

***

Living near Holland Village, I have seen a changing neighbourhood from the windows of a bus. In the face of a new suburban mall I sometimes try to recall what stood there previously, mostly to no avail. It is a site of perpetual reconstruction, always in the real estate meat-grinder of erasure and renewal. Memory-loss means that my mental map of Holland Village is now plotted with nodes of food establishments and public transportation. The slow erosion place memory sees the loss of duration, where the new is anticipated, a constant that slips quietly into banality. Thus the urgent task of OH! Open House has been an endeavor in remapping, to reveal the elaborate embroidery of pasts that continue to thread into the present. The feeling of the longue durée in Holland Village is a matter of orientation: walking away from the cafes and bars of Lorong Mambong, and detouring into the leftover colonial bungalows in Chip Bee Gardens, the outdated Holland Village Shopping Center, into HDB estates that used to be a sprawling Hakka cemetery, exhumed in the 1960s and cramped into a regular grid of tombstones. This remapping of Holland Village into a bricolage of timespaces implicates the re-subjectivisation of its visitors, demanding an emergent ethics of encountering the neighbourhood. For one, the artworks in the Hakka Cemetery tour and the companion guide of “how to make this artwork” could be seen as object lessons in negotiating with the difficult past. In Grace Tan’s n.330 - twenty constructs on plane [contaminate/debris/fluid/irregular] and n. 331- exercise in cubic constructions, slices of crumbly mineral are stacks of paper treated with various calcium carbonates. Through a strict process of differential repetition, the stacks are expressions of geological time that appear ossified from the outset, but bear the latency of terrestrial motion. Unpredictable materiality is also expressed in the sculptures of Ivan David Ng, where scattered across an empty plot in Shuang Long Shan Cemetery, are incomplete forms that fall between armature and volume. Letting go of material mastery provides the ambient tone in these two works. Discursively, the preference for the disintegrating, aggregating, collapsing and cracking over the solid whole recalls the diasporic history of the Hakka people, and closer to home, the dislocation of the Singaporean Chinese ethnic identity through the loss of dialect groups. The most compelling interpretation of memory-mapping—or rather, unmapping—is found in Cartographer Mapping Scarscapes #1 by Toh Hun Ping. A vindication of memory loss, shots of a holiday not registered due to a camera fault, is achieved through cuts into the skin of film, looped into a moving image projection. Beyond its violent imagery, much of the affective intensity of the work is in the process of finding the work in the cemetery compound. In the cemetery, you find your tour-going body, your curious gaze and explorative saunter at risk of flirting with the boundaries of respectability. The voracious space let you in, only under its conditions. There is something atavistic in the cutting and scratching of the work, in denying the false clarity, the reliance of images as convenient memory-devices. There is an undercurrent urgency to the tour, where the awareness of pasts imbricates the present and its futures—in a familiar narrative, one is visiting an artifact slated for further development. What then, are the exigencies of engaging with this past, a past with dimmed futures? Whereas the pining for an irretrievable past is amplified in the Chip Bee Gardens tour, the Hakka Cemetery tour opens up to the possibilities of exercises, maps and games in memory that thrives on frictions in forgetting, approaching the past that is neither property that can be claimed nor creature that can be willed into submission. A thing that is utterly inchoate, foreign and granular. ***

With the chirpy marketing pitch of “your guide to Singapore’s oldest bohemian enclave” or “grab a piece of the village”, it is not difficult to see OH! Open House as coextensive with the theatre of Holland Village, a gentrified neighbourhood in the branding project of corporate and government agencies, a site where the commodification of “heritage” and “place-making” is already congruous with the taste for novelty among expatriates and yuppies. At this juncture, I hesitate to launch hastily into a project of demystification. To unravel the supposed fetishism of cultural commodities cuts short of Deleuze and Guattari’s observation of, “something that flows and flees, that escapes… the overcoding machine”, whereby even though “capitalists may be the master of surplus values and its distribution,… they do not dominate the flows from which surplus value derives.” In short, critical resistance does not necessitate the absolute rejection of capital and the state. Instead, operating so closely between the unholy draughts of art and commodity, culture and the state, has forced the curators of OH! Open House to critically consider their positionality as map-makers of Holland Village, at least perfunctorily. In this regard, the tour of the Holland Drive HDB Flats is a balance sheet that accounts for the conflict between the “cosmopolitans” and “heartlanders”, which are social labels underpinned by class-based faultlines. Two competing imaginaries of Holland Village sets the soundtrack for the tour: first, a particular Samantha who complained on national radio of the “uncultured” heartlanders who come into the cosmopolitan hangout; and second, the Mediacorp Channel 8 drama series Holland Village, actually shot in Punggol, that presents an unpretentious, homely version of neighbourhood without the upper-middle class exclusivity. For all the acutely framed social backdrop of the tour, the artworks lack political bite. Rather than examining the frictions of class contact head-on, the artworks tend towards portrayals of the separate, bubbled-up lives of heartlanders and cosmopolitans. What could have been an opportunity for OH! Open House for self-reflexivity of its own gaze, or even a performance of autocritique, has been temporarily relinquished.

***

As I write I am reconstructing a fragmentary, discontinuous experience, especially so for a project of such a scale and complexity. Summed up, the arguments contradictory. They barely scratch the surface before trailing off, distractedly, into their specific rhetorical pathways. I could be accused of a lack of focus—or what I prefer, a willfulness on my part to preserve the mess, to dive into thick description. Considering the trajectory of modern art history, the defiant march out of the white cube is no longer a radical gesture per se. And yet, the ahistorical swamp that is contemporary art stills brims with complacent galleries and art fairs, choked with the same calcified superstitions surrounding the artist, the audience and the artwork. In this regard, if OH! Open House continues to claim its alterity against the formulaic, then its curators must sharpen the project’s self-interrogation. For all its recent success, would the art tours, in its promotion of the perambulatory and the site-specific, be domesticated into another species of exhibition-making, a dressed-up Sunday stroll?

***

Late Sunday afternoon in on Jalan Kelabu Asap and the visitor center was still frenzied with activity. Visitors streamed in and out, lead by enthusiastic superguides, as they were called, some visitors waited and left on mini-buses for the HDB tour, and other volunteers were armed with a clipboard, ready to settle new visitors. The logistical orchestration needed for the three separate tours in this year’s OH! Open House could be felt in a glance at the whiteboard— an immense augury of timings, names and indecisions. Those familiar to OH! Open House could feel the momentum of it evolution from its incipient Niven Road days. I am thinking of the community that OH! Open House has gathered, a public that has invested their interest, spaces, resources and time into the makings of this project, which is not explicitly a cause, less of a socio-political movement. It is a moot generalisation to say for certain what the contours of this community is, where they came from, what meanings they hold onto. What remains curious is what the community could do.

0 notes