Artist:
Dianne Totten
Bio:
I have always enjoyed working with fiber. I started sewing when I was 12. It was my hobby until weaving took over my life 40+ years ago. I enjoyed learning every weave structure/technique that came along during my workshop “junkie” days. Thanks to a comment made by Catherine Ellis in her Handwoven Shibori workshop many years ago, I started experimenting with thermoplastic yarns and pull threads in the warp. Eventually, Crimp Cloth was born and I soon realized the possibilities were endless! I see each garment as a new adventure challenging my thoughts, as well as my students’ thoughts, to creatively transform a traditional threading into something magic.
Artist Statement:
Crimping a piece of handwoven cloth transforms the texture and the final look of the flat cloth. In “Night Sky” the transformation of flat plain weave cloth to columns of pleats and diamonds takes advantage of the unlimited possibilities of crimping the flat surface. Thank you to Kathrin Weber, Blazing Shuttles, for dyeing the weft to my specifications, a new direction for me. The contrast of the flat plain weave black handwoven cloth for the front panel and collar treatment is meant to emphasis both visual and tactile transformations. Each one-of-a-kind garment I make adds its own level of design and construction problems to solve, often forcing changes to past methods.
Techniques Used: Crimp cloth - warp crimp. Warp - 8/2 black polyester, sett at 20epi; Weft - 10/2 cotton hand-dyed to my specification by Kathrin Weber. Threading - 2S dedicated for plain weave ground cloth, 8S threaded in point twill for the pattern threads; Collar: Warp and weft - 8/2 black polyester, sett at 20epi; plain weave.
Materials: 10/2 hand-dyed cotton, 8/2 black polyester, interfacing, handmade button
Measurements: 24" x 18" x 10"
