Barbara Schutzgruber – Storyteller & Weaver

UFO… Un-Finished Object.

Yup… we all have them.
Sitting on the desk…
Hanging in the closet or on the door…
Buried under a pile of other projects….
All those things that got moved to the back of the line!

For the past few years UFOs (Un-Finished Objects) have been the January program topic for the AGWSD OnLine Guild plus they were part of the discussions for the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild‘s January 2019 meeting. With this ‘double whammy’ of online and in person reminders plus a new opportunity to continue a project I pulled out ‘stuff I’ve been meaning to get to’ and started whittling down the pile!

Project 1 – Unravel a knitted coat/duster
About 20 years ago I bought a lovely knit coat/duster made from hand spun and hand dyed merino wool yarn. It’s been over 10 years since I wore it last and the style is not something I’m likely to wear at this point. It’s been needling me every time I look in that drawer = Don’t leave me here…..DO SOMETHING WITH ME!!!  This month I pulled it out, separated the seams and began unraveling it!

The crimp in the yarn as I unraveled it was really cool so I’ve kept the smaller lengths to use as embellishment for future felting projects. I wound the bulk of the yarn into a skein, got it wet and weighted it to relax the fiber. I now have over 700 yards that I can use for a future weaving project.

Project 2 – Greek Myth Procne and Philomela
A couple of years ago I had been asked to be part of a mythology slam event. The stories had to come from mythology and fit a ‘Halloween’ (gruesome/horror/monster/etc) theme. The event was cancelled due to scheduling conflicts so I never finished developing the story for performance. Because Philomela weaves a tapestry to tell the story of her imprisonment thus bringing about her rescue, this story though gruesome, has continued to simmer on a back burner until this month. The time had come to get it off the UFO list and get it ready for performance as I will be telling it as part of a Fringe show at the Northlands Storytelling Network Confabulation! 2019 in April. 

Project 3 – Re-felt a jacket
Back in 2000 I made felt yardage using Bluefaced Leicester wool to sew into jacket.

I’ve liked the over all look but as I was new to felting when I made it, the fabric was not as well felted as it should have been. Because it is loose-fitting I’ve been meaning felt it further and interested to see how the stitched jacket will shrink. I removed the lining, cuffs and collar, soaked it then started rolling. 

Boy did it shrink down!!I I now have an unlined fitted bolero jacket that looks great with jeans and a turtle neck and certainly came in handy to wear this week as temperatures here in Michigan plummeted to -34F due to the polar vortex.

Project 4 – Deconstruct a pair of wrap trousers
Another item in the closet that’s been nagging at me is a pair of silk wrap trousers.

The fabric is a lovely Thai silk in a gorgeous ombré however the pant length is too short for me unless I am barefoot. The good news is that there is a lot of fabric with only 1 seam to remove. I now have enough to make a tunic! 

Project 5 – Felt Vessel
Back in December I gave a wet felting demonstration for the AAFG’s annual Holiday Sale. I used a 16″ diameter resist and 3 layers of wool. This worked well as the repeated steps allowed for regular explanations as people came and went but there was not enough time to actually finish the project. The nice thing about felting is that you can pause in the middle of the process, let the piece dry and at a later date rewet and continue. I got the final diameter down to 10″ and then played with shaping. Using 3 layers (vs 2 layers in previous demos)certainly makes this vessel stiffer and less likely to collapse.

There are still more UFOs circling but at least I can check these five off the list!