speedsuit
i’ve been in “heads down” mode for a little bit. listening to a lot of music — stuff that’s for listening to and not just having on in the background. it’s not easy to have on while writing without getting distracted so i’ve been working on embroidery while listening. it’s allowed me to focus on the repetition of stitches and get into a meditative zone. good for where my head is at right now.
the music is a whole other digest…. i’ll keep it simple for now and stick to embroidery.
so i have this “flight suit”. it isn’t really a flight suit, just looks like one. sort of. the actual factual name is a “speedsuit”, which i’ve come to possess since it’s what me and my fellow architecture graduate cohort wore for our graduation ceremony instead of traditional cap and gown and hood and yada, yada, yada. following a sartorial tradition started who knows when for who knows what reason, one of my classmates got everyone’s orders together and i went with it. it was one less thing to think about while being tossed around in the whitewater of the final semester of architecture school.
i’ve kept mine after all these years because it’s well made and functional. what’s kept me from wearing it is my school and degree program embroidered above the left breast pocket. i’m proud of my degree, but i don’t want to advertise it. it’s not as though the school is paying me to be a billboard. quite the opposite…
coveralls are a suitable outfit for work these days, so many useful pockets. i’m moving away from carrying bags with lots of sh-t in them, not a fan of how they cut into my shoulders. i always feel like i’m stinkier in the pitty area when i wear a backpack or a purse too. probably because the straps get mushed up in there. i’ve lost some good shirts that way... anyway, wanted to revive my pair since i held onto them and they are otherwise occupying very limited closet space.
covering up the old embroidery had an easy solution: make a patch. so i got to embroidering one of the warning signs as a cover-up. i could have ripped the unwanted stitches out, but i think it would have torn up the fabric in the process. easier to sew a patch over top, and this way i could try out other methods of representation.
graduation “flight suit” from 2014. mocked up a few sizes of patch to cover the graduate program embroidered over the left breast pocket. (the footies all balled up at the bottom look creepy…)
started out with a few different sizes of patch templates and taped them over the stitching to be covered. the one i ended up going with was a ‘tweener size between a smaller and bigger version. it’s about 5 1/2” without the border.
the base is a linen blend fabric that i have several yards of. i really like the color — it’s a warm mustard yellow. looking back at the process photos i realize i could have done more than one patch in this hoop instead of one, but i did save the scraps to use for sashiko practice. i’ve started another hoop since this one (more on that later, i presume) and have made an effort to maximize hoop economy and efficiency to prevent wasting fabric and materials.
used a light table to trace the pattern directly onto the fabric this time, foregoing stabilizer/interfacing for the design transfer. this linen has a pretty open weave and i could easily see the stitches through the fabric onto the backside. not ideal and could have been prevented with interfacing, but since it was going against a dark material i didn’t stress it too much. i also used a different kind of pen for marking the design: a Pilot FriXon pen, which is heat erasable. tested the pen on a corner of the fabric and used hot water to erase the markings away and voilà! worked like a charm.
stitched all the outlines, borders, and satin stitch fill with two strands of DMC stranded cotton and clover embroidery needle. not sure which size. not the biggest and not the smallest needle in the pack.
just measured the needle with the set of calipers Sam got me, i think it’s a #5 needle (here’s a chart to reference next time). i’m assuming that needles are measured at their shaft length without the eye/shank, making this a #5?
2/4/2021 - just getting started. used backstitch for the linework. i’d started out trying stem stitch and didn’t like the raised effect. should have taken a photo but didn’t before picking the stitches out and doing it over again.
2/4/2021 - started the satin stitches moving from right to left starting at the arrowhead.
2/4/2021 - the satin stitches at the bottom of the loops were tricky to keep consistently tensioned and also not pierce the fabric too many times leaving holes.
2/5/2021 - catching rays to help it dry faster. don’t know if this actually worked, but i liked how it looked from outside. so there.
2/5/2021 - done drying and ready to seal the edges in Mod Podge. i stitched another row of linework outside of the first border as a guide for the interior edge of the satin stitch border. i don’t think it was absolutely necessary, but i like to have it. i’ve found that guidelines help keep my stitches neater.
2/6/2021 - glued the edges to prevent fraying and started making my way around…
left & middle: J&P Coats Silk Finish Crochet Cotton, right: linen thread
top: Nun’s Boilproof, middle: DMC pearl cotton, bottom: Royal Society Embroidery Floss
sidenote: started out using the scanner to document these pieces and was fighting it at every turn. trying to get the white balance to work or arranging things on the scanner bed, it was becoming a project in and of itself. was starting to set up a long and unnecessarily arduous process just to digitally capture threads. no thanks. yesterday was a nice, sunny day and the oxalis (Bermuda buttercups to be exact) in the yard were blooming and looked pretty, so i took a loose piece of bristol i’ve been using as a background for these kinds of little vignette photos and went outside. used a rock to keep the paper from scooting away in the breeze, and found it a handsome accompaniment. this one is a rock Sam brought home from a recent walkabout — a practice both he and i have carried on from our mothers. we are rock collectors.
the photos above are from yesterday, but these are some threads i picked up midway through the patch making process from a local vintage seller who had a pop-up shop in her garage. Sam and i came across her set-up by chance on a walk the weekend before last. there were so many interesting things for sale, but i was drawn to a little basket of threads and sewing notions. got a couple wooden spools of a bright yellow cotton thread, looks like somewhere between a #5 and #8 pearl cotton? could use it for quilting. also got a little skein of linen thread and several skeins of embroidery floss: Nun’s Boilproof thread size #3, DMC pearl cotton #5, and Royal Society Embroidery Floss without a size indication but the words “ROPE” instead. i probably won’t use the skeins of embroidery floss because it would require taking the packaging apart, and a big draw for me was the old school packaging and labels. the spools and linen don’t feel as precious since there’s no packaging to get through in order to use them. i’ll be giving those a whirl on future projects when i can.
2/8/2021 - made it around with smoothly laid stitches. a miracle.
2/8/2021 - stitching the patch in place while on the phone with mom.
came back to it on the 8th and completed the edge stitching, which i just today learned is called a “merrow border”, and sewed the patch onto my coveralls over the old embroidery. it looked good, but i hadn’t considered the direction of the arrow and proximity to my armpit until finishing up the patch and putting the coveralls on. not that i’m suggesting there’s a hidden interpretation when arrows and armpits meet, it’s just hard to see the arrowhead in the fabric folds since the suit is a bit baggy on me.
i was a little bit bummed to realize the arrow position after the fact — i just hadn’t seen it when i mocked it up in paper earlier. not to worry, it just provided another reason to try out more patches. i have a few more iterations in the works now, each different in one way or another. i’m using it as an opportunity to experiment with technique and materials. there’s one design that i’ll swap out for the one on the coveralls now and the rest will be put out into the world somehow. not too worried about it.
all stitched on. the color combo and patch geometry reminds me of Napa Auto Parts. i dig it.
ok, made it through that one. i started writing yesterday and paused for a bit to step away and take care of some other things: embroider a little, hang out with Sam and Simon, practice guitar. i didn’t see any need to barrel through and finish last night — there are no deadlines here. come this morning, i had some jumbled feelings of doom and gloom around recent medical goings on. it’s been a month-long endeavor to figure out what’s what, and i’ve reliably come to the most catastrophic conclusion with every new piece of information. handling medical situations with calm is not my strong suit, but i’m working on it. adding “battling hypochondria and catastrophizing” to my growing list of things to work on…
whatever it is, i have to just roll with it. i can’t wish a good outcome into existence or continue living in fear of the worst. it was important for me to confront my feelings of anxiety and fear, externalize them, and try to turn my attention to the present. i’m glad that i’m getting things taken care of — or that i have health insurance at all — and i’ll work on responding to new information as it comes rather than succumbing to the knee jerk reaction to spiral out into doom and gloom.
*deep breath*
P.S. i’ve had something on my mind that i want to add to the previous entry:
a big part of why i was uneasy and upset with folks for not observing the “rules of the trail” is because of the global pandemic we are still experiencing. i have complicated feelings about going out in public as COVID-19 and its numerous variants continue to put devastating numbers on the boards. there’s an inherent risk involved, and i do not take lightly. i’m relatively young and relatively healthy — *knock on wood* — yet it remains a consideration wherever i go. the grocery store or gas station are one thing, but it isn’t essential to go on a trail hike and eat oysters. however, i do want to continue to enjoy the outdoors and support local businesses. everything took place outside, with masks on, and we did our best to keep a safe distance from other folks as i usually do. just wanted to add that little bit of context.
keeping it together
looked at a few hair color and border schemes once the chibi-inspired head design was finished. came across some cool references at characterdesignreferences.com when i was researching Steven Universe character design.
watched Steven Universe with Sam during lunch today, as usual. the episode, “Keeping it Together,” was Garnet heavy, no complaints here. Garnet is a pretty boss gem and definitely my favorite. i identify with Garnet a whole lot. the show is great, and each character is relatable in one way or another, except for Onion, maybe? no, no way. Onion is a big deal. i love Steven Universe…
Garnet focused episodes get me so hyped. “Keeping it Togehter” was pretty dark though, not as much fun, uplifting stuff going on. it kicks off with laundry folding (yuck!), then Ruby and Sapphire nearly split after experiencing internal conflict (yikes!).
got me to thinking about my Garnet patch — the one i made last year — and that i hadn’t done anything with the pictures i’d taken. so here that is, because why not? better out than in!
i started with a full body Garnet reference (which would have been so cool!), but decided it would have taken more time and resources to make than i necessarily wanted to spend on a patch at that time. so i re-illustrated Garnet to a chibi-inspired head. Garnet’s whole form is rad, she has gauntlet hands for Peedee’s sake! but probably my favorite part of Garnet’s physical form is her hair. for lots of reasons, one being that it’s awesome! i was on the fence about making her hair frame her entire head. happy i did. more merrier hair.
6/20/20 - filler stitches for Garnet’s face and shades
6/21/20 - outlining face and features
6/21/20 - starting Garnet’s hair. stitched french knots using a lightweight wool yarn.
6/22/20 - just before this point i realized i should have dissolved the stabilizer before stitching the hair…
6/25/20 - the color in this pic is goofy, and there’s cat fur everywhere… but look at that hair!
6/25/20 - choosing between satin and cotton stranded embroidery floss. had also just trimmed the fabric leaving a 1/8” or so border for stitching in yellow. used tacky glue at the edges to prevent fraying.
6/26/20 - decided to use the regular cotton six-stranded DMC floss in color 973 - bright canary.
alrighty, a few hot tips — no… super tips! — i’ve taken away from this process:
stabilizers are great for transferring designs onto dark fabric. i’ll try using tear-away stabilizer instead of water-soluble next time. and/or don’t embroider outside and then water the garden… had issues with water-soluble stabilizer on another embroidery project after this one, so it’s not just situational.
soak the fabric to dissolve the stabilizer before starting dense stitches (especially if they’re wool). i didn’t do it here until after starting on the hair. it became apparent that soaking it and trying to remove the stabilizer after finishing the french knots would be frustrating. it wasn’t too bad getting it out of the stitches i’d already done, but there wasn’t any reason to keep it, it was just a large fill area with no design information.
don’t need to use mod podge or heat n bond on the back of the patch. i used a heavyweight cotton for the base and the stitches were pretty stable. i would consider starting out with fusible stabilizer on the back (wrong) side of the patch fabric if i felt it needed more structure.
mod podge is pretty runny, and even though i used it carefully it came through the front stitches a little. some of the glue got into the satin floss fibers of Garnet’s shades. bummer…
i used the heat n bond on the back of the patch thinking it would make it more rigid. it did not… it’s intended for making iron-on patches and fusing appliqué. skip it.
uh, do this more. yeah… more things like this.
when i was working on my Garnet patch identity was the topic on everyone’s lips. June 2020 was a time. yeesh… i was still at my last office job and felt isolated and invisible. i saw myself in Garnet, and wanted to make Garnet visible on me. making the patch was an escape from the world, basically; and the process of making, now as ever, has kept me together. last June, through all the bullsh-t, i was able to make space to protect my mental health and exercise creativity authentically. one of my earlier revelations! was realizing i had the agency to do so. it’s a process, baby…
my Garnet patch lives on the back of my jean jacket, which — oh! — reminds me of another time from last year! Sam and i were eating at a seafood spot we really enjoy, celebrating our anniversary and my departure from “work-work”. i was feeling good, feeling confident, feeling myself. i can’t remember who shot first, but eye contact was made with one of the servers and she said, “great patch, i love Steven Universe!” ugh, cherry!