Sewing the Paper Dress

 My latest project, The Tea Party Dress, made up almost entirely of spent tea bags, will be on display at the Burlington Art Center in Iowa for the month of April during the 2025 Group Fiber Show. 

See the post at my RECOMPOZED blog HERE.

Paper Runway

In 2006 I collaborated with papermaker Julie McLaughlin to produce two paper wearables to enter into the Robert C Williams Paper Museum exhibition titled Paper Runway.

The corsets were designed by Julie. They are welded rod armatures covered with pigmented paper pulp and tussah silk. The corset is designed exactly like a fabric garment. Pattern pieces are drafted and the wet sheets of paper are "cut" and fused together. They are then attached to the armature while wet and as the paper dries it shrinks to fit the armature snugly. When dry the surface is finished with a wax coating to protect and bring out the luster of the fibers.

My part in the project was designing and sewing the paper skirts.  These very thin sheets of paper were hand tinted with several light applications of pigment sprayed onto the surface. 

5 layers of these large sheets (about 60" x 80") were sandwiched together and plaited with copper metallic thread.

 I hand spun tussah silk and strips of this paper and plied it to make the cord that laced the sides of the corsets. 

This is the second dress we produced. The paper is the natural color of the fiber and is pin-tucked with gold metallic thread.

It was fun to revisit this project because I have been thinking about a bit of a delve into the manipulated surface once again but this time in fabric.

Make Lace Not War

Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, NSW, Australia

I have a great fondness for embellished garments. I had the fantastic opportunity to visit the Powerhouse Museum In Sydney last week and view this absolutely stunning lace exhibition. The objects in this competitive show were curated and included many non-objective works as well as pictorial and wearable artworks. The garments interested me the most. I'd like to share a few that absolutely captivated me. Please visit the website to view the entire exhibition. It is well worth your time. And while you are there, click on the videos to learn more about lace making techniques and the artists involved.

Priera Russell Holier Than Thou

Lace offers the mystery of concealment and the subtle interplay of space, light and shadows. Its layering can enhance the human body and create alluring effects in interior design and architecture. Though lace is usually associated with textiles, curator Lindie Ward broadened the definition of lace to include any ‘openwork structure whose pattern of spaces is as important as the solid areas’.

Tessa Blazey and Alexi Freeman

Neo Lace Gown

Playful and inventive, the works on display present a provocative challenge to traditional concepts of lace. The artists push lace techniques in surprising new directions — knitting human hair into sculptures of human organs, crocheting steel wire into a ghostly motor engine, carving lace patterns from the body of a rusty old truck. See lace in fashion, jewellery, sculpture, lighting and digital multimedia installations.

Toni Maticevski

134 artists from 20 countries unleash their passion for lace in this spectacular exhibition of winning entries and finalists in the Powerhouse Museum International Lace Award.

Toni Maticevski

The exhibition ranges from bold large-scale installations and sculptures to intricate textiles and jewellery. Materials include gold and silver wire, linen and silk as well as mulberry paper, tapa cloth, horse hair, titanium and optical fibre.

The award’s overall winner and five category winners (traditional techniques, fashion, built environment, digital multimedia and student work) will be revealed when the Love Lace exhibition is officially opened at the launch of Sydney Design 2011.