Barbara Schutzgruber – Storyteller & Weaver

Couture (adjective): of, relating to, or being high-end custom-made fashion
Cartography (noun): the science or art of making maps
Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.

I find maps fascinating! We used National Geographic maps to decorate the nursery. They’re colorful and informational works of art.

In 2015 the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild held a Recycled and Repurposed Runway challenge. I created a hat and purse out of maps using basket weaving techniques.  [see March 2015 blog Cartography Chic]

In November 2023 AAFG offered a virtual workshop with UK paper artist Jennifer Collier to ‘create a fashionable, small paper dress from ordinary office supplies and recycled materials easily source at home.’  I’ve been sewing garments since high school and the sewing concepts are the same… BUT working with paper is NOT the same as working with fabric! Jennifer guided us through several exercises  and then we moved on to design and create our own paper dress using her 6 in x 8.5 in/15.25 cm x 21.5 cm template as the starting dress pattern.

The workshop was fun and got me thinking…..could I make a full size, wearable dress???? I would use National Geographic maps that I’ve been collecting for years to go with my hat and purse. Over the next 2 months I thought about possible dress patterns I have that might work and searched online for different videos posted showing what techniques others have used to create full size garments.

I found a great article from the Victoria and Albert Museum about paper dresses being a fashion item from 1966-1968. “The perfect expression of fashion’s own fickleness, these two-dimensional shift dresses were cheap and ‘disposable’ – designed to be worn only once or twice – and proved ideal vehicles for the bold, graphic prints that had become so popular during the decade.”

By February I was ready to start! I pulled out my box of maps and began to sort them into National Geographic and AAA road maps as well as size and color groupings. These maps would take over much of the floor space in the house for the next month!

I chose a halter sundress made for a 1950’s themed gathering for my pattern and began my prototype for the skirt. I quickly learned paper does not drape like fabric! The skirt is too stiff. I tried crumpling the paper which helped and I liked the texture but this ‘look’ would not work well with the detailed printing of the maps and I need to rethink how will I get into and out of the dress. Back to the drawing board.

More searches for inspiration photos brought me to a 1950’s cocktail dress. Box pleats would be a better choice for the skirt and a wrap dress design would be easier to put on/take off. On to the next prototype! I need 6 yards worth of maps to make the skirt and fitting a bodice was a challenge as darts do not work that well with paper.

Once the bodice pattern was sorted the next step was to make the bodice using the road maps as a test. Now I was ready to make the real thing using the National Geographic maps! I had to be careful as some of the maps are from the 1980’s so the paper is fragile along the original fold lines that have been there for 45 years and can tear easily. Bodice done….next step…. the skirt.

I made a tissue pattern for the skirt panel so I could see how best to lay out the maps. 3 full panels and 1 half panel are needed for the skirt. I cut and glued the maps to make a ‘fabric’ large enough for each panel and then sewed the panels together to make the skirt.

I devised a way to extend the sewing table to support the 6 yards that make up skirt panels and tested sewing the prototype full skirt to the bodice.

With the map skirt and bodice sewn together I gingerly tried it on. The dress CAN be worn…very carefully while standing. No sitting down!

The last piece to be made was the shawl collar which took multiple hours figuring out the best way to lay the maps and make it double sided. Sewing it to the bodice without tearing sections of the dress was extremely tricky. I used magnets for the closures and made ‘buttons’ by cutting the ring section from plastic compass party favors to be glued onto the dress.

Couture Cartography was completed as the clock struck midnight.

 

The dress along with the hat and purse was on display at the Village Theater in Canton Michigan the month of April 2024 as part of the Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild exhibit. 

This project was challenging and pushed my creativity and problem solving abilities. Though I have no plans to make another dress out of maps in the near future I made  vest from maps to wear at the artist reception.