Sew fabulous!

Check out the fabulous sewn creations of Blythe Church!

About Copyright Law

As an artist, it is important to protect your work from unlawful copying and this can be accomplished by getting a copyright on your unique design through the US Copyright Office.   Here is an excerpt from an interesting article about copyrights and a link to a longer article which explains copyrights in depth:

Copyright is a protection that covers published and unpublished literary, scientific and artistic works, whatever the form of expression, provided such works are fixed in a tangible or material form. This means that if you can see it, hear it and/or touch it – it may be protected. If it is an essay, if it is a play, if it is a song, if it is a funky original dance move, if it is a photograph, HTML coding or a computer graphic that can be set on paper, recorded on tape or saved to a hard drive, it may be protected. Copyright laws grant the creator the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly. Exclusive means only the creator of such work, not anybody who has access to it and decides to grab it.

More about copyright law

Sheep and Frisbees

For the “Funemployed”

Though I hear signs of the recession thawing, it still seems that there are some financial avalanches out in the snowy tundra that is today’s chilly economic landscape.

Be sure not to go out there without your woolies on!

And be sure to accessorize and share a chuckle with these funny buttons.  Irina Block makes them.

(I had to bloop one of them, but you can see the real deal by checking out HER SITE)

(She also makes very funny other things, jewelry related)

One Stop Felt Shop: The Funky Felter

Shalana, aka the funky felter, has a special enthusiasm for felting that is inspiring, even if you had nary a clue what felting was.  She creates the cutest wearables like rubber ducky hair clips and heart rings, and she is the “go-to girl” for felted beads.  In fact, she is very prolific, felting with an energy that is remarkable even in the felt-making world (and we know how to really stay busy)!  Her website and blog have oodles and news and tips for those wishing to delve further into the funky world of felt.

“Soap in a Sweater”-how brilliant is that?!?!  The soap must be very snugly.

You can see more of Shalana’s work HERE!

About Shalana, from her BLOG

I’m a fiber artist specializing in modern and traditional felt making. On my blog, you will see much about feltmaking as well as my other crafty endeavors. I also review fiber art supplies, books, etc., and feature spotlight articles on fellow fiber artists. And, you can find quite a bit of indie business insight here too from my personal research and practices.

A great place to begin learning more about felting!

Visit the funky felter’s main website here!

Felt Textiles in Ancient History

This is a rough draft, but some interesting information, none the less!

The felted socks of The Cherchen Man

 

FELT & COSTUME IN ANCIENT HISTORY

 © 2009 Jenne Giles

Felt is one of the oldest textiles.  It is found far back in the early chapters of human history, wedged mysteriously between fashioning clothing from animal skins and primitive weaving.  Not much of it has survived from these days long ago, but the glimpses we do see from the discovery of ancient peoples and their artifacts, offers a fascinating glimpse into the life of man as early civilization grew and cultures formed.

 

Here we will look at the early ages of man, as defined by the evolution of the technologies he discovered, which he harnessed to create the complex cultures whose traditions we inherit today.  We can glean a sense of the people who lived during these exciting times from the costumes they wore, which characterize the unique people and the place or time in which they lived.  In this, we will find a fascinating early history of felt costume.

 

FELT & COSTUME IN ANCIENT HISTORY

 

2.5 million-9500 BCE PALEOLITHIC ERA: Modern man, or Homo sapiens sapiens meaning “wise man” or “knowing man” (identical to humans today in both behavioral and physical characteristics), originated in Africa between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago.  These early humans evolved from early members of the Homo genus such as the Homo habilis (“handy man”)-an early form a man that used simple tools as late as 2.5 million years ago.  This evolution occurred during the Paleolithic Era (“Old Stone Age”), which is defined by early man’s use of primitive tools, made from chipped stone, wood or bone.

 

The Paleolithic was a time when the climate was going through fluctuations of cooling (glacial) and warming (interglacial) periods.  Vast expanses of land were covered with thick ice such as we see today in Greenland and Antarctica. The climate was largely inhospitable in many parts of the world and humans grouped together in small bands, subsisting on the plants they gathered and wild animals they hunted.  They were a nomadic people and where the herds went, early man followed.   Figurines of humans and animals carved from stone, bone or antler, and vivid and colorful paintings of animals found on cave walls demonstrate how important animals were to human survival and how prominently they figured in their culture.  Paleolithic man was very spiritual as evidenced by this art and indicated by his practice of burial and ritual.

 

Paleolithic man began to fashion clothing 42,000 to 72,000 years ago. It is difficult to know for sure exactly what he wore since there is no fossilized evidence that survived from so long ago, but we surmise that early humans wore the skins from the animals they hunted.  This perhaps led to wearing fur, for its improved warmth.  Skins might have been used for both clothing and shelter but required early man to discover tanning techniques to change the raw animal hides, subject to decomposition, into durable and wearable leather.  Early man turned out to be a very inventive fellow.  It is difficult to tell when he made the leap from draped clothing, which hung on the body, to clothing constructed with bone needle and sinew, but it is believed to have happened between 25 and 40 thousand years ago.  

 

The ability to fashion clothing was a great technological development for early man, as it allowed him to migrate from the warmer environments of Africa into the colder climates of Europe and Asia in search of food sources.   Making clothing was secondary only to food production.  It also meant the development of a culture of clothing (or fashion), where tribal identity, social status and fertility could be conveyed through dress.

 

11,500-9500 BCE MESOLITHIC ERA:  The Mesolithic Era (Middle Stone Age) was a transitional time for early man.  The ice that covered much of the northern continents began to recede sometime around 10,000 BCE, clearing the lands of Great Britain, Scandinavia and Russia, allowing vegetation.  (Since Africa was not covered with ice to the same degree, conditions there were not as dramatically affected by the glacial retreat.  The term “Epipaleolithic” is used as an alternative to “Mesolithic” to describe areas that were not affected to same degree, such as Africa).   

 

The Mesolithic was a time of transition for early man where agricultural practices replaced hunting and gathering.  People at the time were still largely nomadic, but some started staying for longer periods of time in certain locations where food resources would be more plentiful such as fishing camps near rivers.  Dogs, goats and sheep are domesticated in this age.  Much of the evidence that survived from this era is handful of  small statues and paintings in shallow shelter caves that depict humans in groups or perhaps in rituals.

 

At this time, early man had no textiles or the technology to make cloth, so their garments would have been made from animal hides, perhaps punched with awls and  sewn together with sinew and bone needles.  They knew how to cure and tan hides and could use primitive dyes made from vegetables, plants and soil.  The perforated stones, antler and bone to fashion ornaments that could be strung together or sewn to their clothing.

 

9500-5000 BCE NEOLITHIC ERA:  The Neolithic Era (New Stone Age) was a time when ancient people continued to use stone tools but also began to develop systems of agriculture, or farming, which included the use of wild and domestic crops and the use of domesticated animals.  This transition from hunting and gathering communities to agriculture and settlement is called “the Neolithic Revolution.”

 

Neolithic culture began in Jericho, located in the modern-day West Bank, in 9500 BCE.  By 9000 BCE, farming communities settled throughout Asia Minor, North Africa, Northern Mesopotamia and the Eastern Mediterranean.  By about 8000 BCE, permanent settlements were established and the cattle and pig were domesticated. At the end of the Neolithic Age, is the invention of the wheel, in the form of the potter’s wheel, at Ur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq).

 

Clothing during the Neolithic period was made form weaving twisted animal and plant fibers, such as grass and bark, for protective outer layers and insulating inner layers.  Plant fiber ropes and twine were used and were probably interlaced to form early weavings.  The earliest evidence of weaving is found in textile and basketry impressions in clay from excavations of ancient settlements in Jarmo (Iraq), known as the oldest agricultural community in the world, from 7000 BCE.

 

Felting is estimated to be at least 8000 years old and the making of felt is accepted to predate woven cloth, which would place its discovery in the Neolithic period. Techniques similar to felting were used to soak and beat plant materials to form matted cloth and there is some archeological evidence that felt was a known textile at this time.

 

Çatalhöyük was a very large settlement in southern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) and was first excavated by archeologists in 1961.  It is estimated that the average population numbered between 5000 to 8000 people.  The settlement dates from approximately 7500 to 5700 BCE and is the largest and best preserved Neolithic site ever found.  Wall paintings at this site date from 6500 to 3000 BCE and depict whirling, curvilinear motifs reminiscent of felt appliqué (Burkett, 112). Actual felt samples were found at Çatalhöyük though it is difficult to determine if these were intentionally felted or if the felting resulted from the passing of time.

 

5000-3500 BCE COPPER AGE:  The Copper Age (Chalcolithic period) is a relatively brief phase in the development of human culture where early metal tools, and evidence of metallurgy, are first used in addition to stone tools.  This age lasts for about a thousand years, before copper is alloyed with tin, forming bronze, which defines the later “Bronze Age.” The climate during this time changed suddenly, becoming cooler and drier than it had been during the Neolithic era, making it more difficult to grow vegetables. Because of this, ancient people rely to a greater degree on animals for subsistence.  Gold, found naturally near copper deposits, is also used for making jewelry and medals for the first time during the Copper Age.  The loom is used in ancient Egypt and China by 4000 BCE.

 

THE ICEMAN (nicknamed “Otzi”) is a well-preserved natural mummy of a man from about 3300 BC. Discovered in 1991 in a glacier near the Ötztal Alps on the border between Austria and Italy,  he is the oldest natural human mummy discovered in Europe and carried a copper axe, indicative of life in the Copper Age. Ötzi wore a sophisticated set of clothing fashioned from leather of many different animals and woven grasses formed to make a primitive raincoat, snowshoes whose netting was made of tree bark and padded “socks” made of soft grass. Though he does not offer any evidence of felt, he does provide an intriguing glimpse into clothing techniques during the Copper Age.

 

3500-1200 BCE BRONZE AGE:  The Bronze Age is defined by the technological advancement of smelting copper and tin into bronze alloy to fashion tools and weapons.  During this time, the were great strides made in the development of society such as the establishment of city centers leading to the development of the first empires in 24^th Century BCE.  These regions developed their own unique styles of architecture and language and elaborate systems of religious beliefs, military and warfare. .  There was much trade among societies and immigration.  Technologically, The Bronze Age  saw the development of irrigation and writing systems, the domestication of the horse.  The potter’s wheel was adapted to make vehicles and mills and by 3500 BCE man has learned to spin wool.

 

The first physical evidence of felt found at Beycesultan (Anatolia), where archeologists began excavation in 1954 and discovered what appeared to be a felt rug among other floor coverings of an early Bronze Age sanctuary, dated approximately 3000 BCE. 

 

TARIM MUMMIES: In the 1970s, archaeologists discovered mummies on the southern rim of the arid Tarim Basin in western China.  These were natural mummies, not embalmed, and were so well preserved that the fragile remains of their costume were kept intact, allowing a rare glimpse into their dress some 2400-4000 years ago.  The graves were stacked with clothes and textiles ranging from fur, plaid twills, cashmere

On their heads were felt caps with feathers, and through their ears were looped strands of red wool.  The Tarim mummies were tall, round-eyed, blond and Caucasian, leading archeologists to believe that they were perhaps shepherds from the Caucasus Mountains in Southern Russia.  Among the mummies discovered were the following colorful characters: The Cherchen Man, from 11^th Century BCE, wore a pair of brightly colored, striped felt socks in red, yellow and blue that would look quite comfortable in an illustrated book by Dr. Seuss.  From the 4^th or 3^rd Century BCE, a small 1 year old baby wore a red and blue felt cap and the mummies named the “Witches of Subeshi” no doubt in reference to the two foot long black felt conical hats with wide brims that they wore.

 

1200 BCE -(600 BC to 400 CE) IRON AGE: The Iron Age describes a time of almost constant warfare. People discovered the forging techniques (heating and hammering) necessary to convert iron, a fairly common material, into tools and weapons. Large and complex social orders developed and states of all sizes came into existence, to be quickly overthrown by still larger empires.  It was a time of great trade and many of the artifacts from the time reflect the influence and exchange of culture among the people. 

 

PAZYRYK TOMB: The Pazyryk were a Scythian tribe of pastoral nomads and horsemen who inhabited the steppes of Western Asia until the 2^nd Century BC.  The tombs (“kurgan”) are located Ukok Plateau of Siberia, between modern-day Russia and China, and are dated to between the 6^th and 3^rd Centuries BCE.  Archeologists in the 1920s discovered meticulously embalmed bodies frozen in water and a rare treasure trove of fabric remains. Among them were at least 30 different types of felt artifacts including horse-blankets, carpets (shabrak), appliqué, a woman’s hair roller and a charming felt swan figure.  One of the most captivating finds was the discovery in 1993 of the Ice Maiden whose coffin was built to accommodate her three-foot black felt hat adorned with griffins and gilded wooden birds.  A gold buckle depicting a similar headdress, this time intertwined with the branches of the tree of life.  The Ice Maiden also wore white felt stockings. This find represents the oldest costumes ever found from nomadic society.

 

A group of decorative and utilitarian textiles from the late 8^th Century BCE was discovered in the Midas Tomb at Gordium (in Western Anatolia, now modern-day Turkey), the capitol of ancient Phrygian civilization.  These included simple coverlets made of wool felted over base cloths and a cloth made from yarn laid in one direction and then the other then felted together.

 

Cleaning Out Costumes!

I made these handworked  bras a million years ago as a series for burlesque performers and bellydancers.  I found them when cleaning out some backstock and it is time to find them a good home!  They are deifintely over-the-top and not just because they are push-up bras ;o)  You can see more of them at HARLEQUIN ATELIER.

You might say: “how risqué!”  In San Francisco, Burlesque and Bellydancing have been quite the rage for many years now and have a dedicated following around the country, if not around the world.  I like it because I think it empowers women and helps boost self-esteem.  Many of the performances will be very personal narratives: funny or surreal, disturbing or romantic, they are often sincere statements by women who wish to discover or celebrate their sexyness.  There are quite a few burlesque and bellydancing schools starting to spring up and international conventions or grande premier shows.  The celebrity of Dita Von Teese is a good indication of the growing popularity of erotic show and dance.  It’s definitely a world where you get to work with LOTS of feathers, rhinestones, sequins, and other sparkley and shimmering things!

Brüno is almost here!

I can’t wait to go see the brüno movie!  It’s been so long waiting and now all the international openings are making me crazy when it’s still weeks away from opening in the US-no!!!!

Brief History of Sheep and Wool

Here is a chapter that I had to take out of the book I was working on, because there wasn’t enough room for it!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed doing the research on it

BRIEF HISTORY OF SHEEP AND WOOL  

©2009 Jenne Giles

Before there can be felt, there must first be sheep.  Where the sheep go, the wool and felt will surely follow.  Sheep have been an essential element of the growth of civilizations, the development of industry, and the colonization of new territories that have shaped the world we know today.  

 

Sheep belong to the Ovis Aries species, part of the Caprinae family.  Caprinae animals first appeared 15 to 18 million years ago.  They have a tolerance of extreme temperatures and are ideally suited to living in mountainous environments of Europe and Asia.  A wild breed of sheep called the “mouflon” is thought to be the primary ancestor of the modern, domesticated sheep that we are familiar with today.  It is surprising to think that these early sheep did not have the fleecy wool we so readily associated with present-day breeds.  Instead they were likely a variety of hair sheep with a short coat of bristly fibers, unsuitable for spinning or felting. It would take many millennia and careful breeding practices to produce these wooly coats.

 

Sheep were one of the earliest animals to be domesticated for agricultural purposes, which occurred sometime between 11,500 to 9500 BCE in the Mesolithic Era.  The earliest domestication of sheep is though to have occurred in Central Asia.   The steppes in Central Asia are an arid prairie land, too dry to support a forest but not dry enough to form a desert, that made traditional agriculture difficult.  The people who lived there were pastoral nomads always in motion to find new grazing pasture for their stock of horses, goats, camels and sheep. 

 

Historical records tell us that sheep were raised in Mesopotamia for their meat, milk and skins.  It was not until 6000 BCE, during the Neolithic Era, that sheep were selectively bred to produce finer quality wool.  Raising sheep for wool production was one of the earliest industries in the ancient world.  By 3500 to 3000 BCE, sheep rearing was a major industry that spanned a vast territory ranging from the Caspian Sea across Anatolia into the northwest as far as modern-day Germany and Switzerland and southeast into Sumeria (Schoeser, 25).   As ancient people transitioned from nomadic lifestyles to permanent settlements, looms were used to transform wool fibers into woven textiles, which could be traded.  In fact, the sheep and textile industry that blossomed during these times may have played an important role in the development of writing to keep better records of  this trade. 

 

Sheep first entered the African continent via Sinai and were present in Ancient Egypt between 6000 to 5000 BCE, said to have migrated down Africa from Egypt.  Sheep were present in ancient Egyptian society between 6000 and 5000 BCE.  The ancient Egyptians revered the male sheep, the Ram, for its virility and war-like attributes.  Priests were forbidden from wearing wool garments or eating mutton.  Similarly, the dead were not buried with wool, nor were sheep’s milk and meat offered to the dead in ceremony.  It is unsure whether this is because the sheep were considered impure or whether the sheep were manifestations of important gods that prohibited the use of sheep products in Ancient Egypt.

 

On the European continent, the sheep industry continued to grow through the Bronze and Iron Age.  In ancient Greece, 80% of the economy was based on agriculture and animal husbandry was a sign of wealth and power.  Goats and sheep were the most common livestock animals, providing meat, wool and milk.  In Ancient Rome, oxen and sheep were the essential elements of wealth and their value is evident in the fact that fines were paid in units of these animals, even after the introduction of coins as currency.  In Rome, sheep were used for sacrifice to the gods and for divination of the future, a practice called haruspicy adopted from the Etruscan civilization.  Soap made from sheep’s tallow emerges at this time, a technology credited to the Celts of Gaul.  Romans kept sheep on a large scale and it is likely that they helped sheep to spread through the continent of Europe and other territories of the Roman Empire. Romans introduced a hornless, whiteface short-wool sheep in the British Isles by 55 BCE where they were cross bread with indigenous Soay breed.  By 50 CE, the Romans established a wool mill in England, where the wool production flourished to such an extent that it would later dominate the industry during the Middle Ages. The Phoenicians are attributed with introducing sheep from Asia Minor to North Africa, from whence the foundation flocks for the wool industry in Spain would derive.  An alternate legend for the origin of sheep in Britain says that the Phoenicians brought wool to the British Isles sometime between 800 and 500 BCE. 

 

In the cold climates of Northern Europe, wool was important to keeping warm.  An indigenous breed of sheep are thought to have been in Norway since before the 9^th Century CE.  It is around this time that the Vikings, who lived in Norway, Denmark and Sweden, brought sheep for wool and meat to the lands where they traveled and settled such as Iceland, Greenland and Føroyar (which originally meant “sheep island”) where the animals thrived in the harsh climates.  This practice of settling islands by introducing sheep flocks would continue to be used by other colonizing forces in later history.

 

Wool played a major role in the development of nations and the discovery of new worlds.  By 1000 CE, England and Spain emerge as the main centers of wool production.  In England, during the reign of Elizabeth I (1533-1603), sheep and wool were the primary source of tax revenue for the Crown of England.  Spain developed the Merino breed of sheep, known for its particularly soft and fine fleece, in the 12^th Century and maintained a stringent monopoly on the breed.  The export of a single ewe was punishable by death until Napoleon’s invasion of Spain in 1786 opened the doors to other nations interested in obtaining this fine breed.

 

This monopoly on the trade in Merino wool created the great wealth that Spain used to launch its explorations of the New World.  The Spanish brought the first domesticated sheep to the Americas on Christopher Columbus’s second voyage in 1493 when Spain established colonies in the Caribbean and in Mexico.  As Merino sheep were much too valuable to export from Spain, the Spanish introduced in the Americas a sheep breed called the Churra, meaning “common” or “scrub.”  The Churra was especially sturdy and flourished in the harsh conditions of the American Southwest. 

 

As Spanish colonization spread through what is now the Southwest United States, large ranches flourished in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, feeding the mining towns and growing populations of the region.  The Spanish enslaved the native Pueblo Indians, who wove with cotton for centuries, to herd sheep and to weave wool.  The Navajo and Apache tribes acquired sheep through trade and raiding, and the sheep would become a key part of their livelihood and culture.  Among the Navajo is a strong belief that “sheep is life” and sheep became associated with the Good Life in their culture, living in harmony and balance with the land. 

 

Previous to the arrival of the Spanish in South America, the native peoples enjoyed an abundance of natural materials from which to fashion cloth.  Llama, alpaca and vicuña wool predominated and alpaca remained more popular among the Andean people than the use of sheep’s wool.  

 

During the period of intense colonization that ensued after Columbus’s first journey, the Spanish, British, and Dutch planted the early seeds of wool industry at their colonies in America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, which would quickly grow into major centers of wool production.

 

The British established the first flock in the American Colonies in 1609.  By 1662, the first woolen mill was built in Watertown, MA to produce wool textiles for domestic clothing.   When the American Colonies began to compete with British wool production, strict laws, taxes and embargos were levied on the Colonies to protect the English sheep industry’s “golden fleece.”  One such law threatened to amputate the hand of any colonist attempting to improve the bloodline of American sheep.  These restrictive measures added to the growing unrest that sparked the American Revolution.

 

The first sheep arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in Australia in 1788 with the British colonists of the First Fleet.  These were mostly destined for dinner plates and the Australian wool industry did not begin until later in 1797 with the import of Spanish Merino.  This would lead to an explosion of the sheep and wool industry that play such a vital role in the culture and economy of Australia today.  Captain Cook brought the first sheep to New Zealand in 1773.  The sheep population today outnumbers the human population of New Zealand by 12 to 1.  

 

Sheep have long played an important role in subsistence farming in Africa, but South Africa is the only country that keeps an influential number of commercial sheep today.  The Dutch colonialists brought sheep from Holland in 1657 to South Africa where they crossbreed them to a local hair sheep kept by the indigenous Hottntot people.  This produced a new variety with good mutton and coarse wool.  It was not until Merino sheep were imported from Holland in 1789 that fine wool breeding began.

 

Today there are more than 200 breeds of sheep.  Each breed is particularly suited for fleece, meat, hide or milk, or a combination. Sheep’s wool is still the most widely used of any animal. Though sheep continue to play an important part of the global agricultural economy, their role has diminished with the greater use of synthetic fibers in the textile industry and a dietary preference for chicken, pig and cow among people.  These factors have led to a decline in demand for sheep and their products.  On the plus side, sheep do continue be vitally important to the niche markets of organic and sustainable agriculture and in developing nations that rely on subsistence farming.

 

Currently, the largest flocks of sheep are kept in China, Australia, India and Iran, for both wool and meat, and the major centers of wool production are Australia, New Zealand, Nations in South and Central America and the British Isles.

Felt Chairs: Tanya Aguiniga

I saw these felt chairs at the ACC Baltimore show 2 years ago and have been looking for them ever since-they are the bomb!!  Here is a link to the artist, Tanya Aguiniga, where you can learn more about her and her fascinating feltables.