Fashion Show Stories

It won't be long before editing is complete on the fashion show CD from Northern Wefts. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few stories from the fashion show that you won't get on the CD.

Judith Larsen won the Sievers gift certificate

The Well-Dressed Volunteer
You can count on Midwest Weavers Conference audiences to put on a darn good show themselves on fashion show night. Judith Larsen of Cedarburg, Wisconsin wasn't expecting paparazzi to focus on her that night, but she was dressed for the limelight. Judith won a special drawing just for conference volunteers, which was held at the end of the fashion show. Her prize was a gift certificate for a class at Sievers School of Fiber Arts. This photo of Judith shows that the best accessory for a beautiful handwoven garment is a brilliant smile.

Daryl Lancaster in Albuquerque Sunset

The Prodigal Coat
Daryl Lancaster, who judged the fashion show, got her delayed luggage just in time to wear Albuquerque Sunset to the fashion show. Daryl has written about the fashion show here. But I'd like to point you to the story of her coat, which is told in several chapters here, here, here, here and here. It's great fun to get to follow someone else's design process.

The Coveted Jacket
One of the perks of being a volunteer is getting to touch things that are out of reach otherwise. Debbie Skubal and I got to touch every single garment in the fashion show as we presented them to Daryl during the judging. Even better, we modeled many of them for her.

Virginia Parent's lac and logwood jacket

One of my personal favorites was the Lac and Logwood Jacket made by Virginia Parent of Andover, Minnesota. Virginia teaches intermediate spinning classes at the Weavers Guild of Minnesota and elsewhere, and coordinates a monthly spinners study group. She generously shared some details about this garment.

The yarn for the jacket was handspun from a Corriedale-cross fleece raised and sheared by a shepherd in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. Virginia spun the yarn Z twist, washed, and wound the singles yarn on her Macomber loom in a four-harness broken twill pattern. The weft was commercial 20/2 yarn.  After mending broken warp threads, she lightly fulled the fabric.

Then she dyed it with lac, then overdyed with logwood to give it a richer wine color. From a distance, the color is rich. Up close, it's even more complex and beautiful. Like Julie Hurd's Mushrooms for Color sweater, the natural dyes used in this garment made a subtle statement eloquently.

Virginia used a pattern recommended for fleece fabric (Simplicity 3563), because the hand of her fulled fabric is very similar fleece. The fit is achieved by sewn tucks. Loop buttonholes were created from fabric tubes, and the buttons are vintage.

Virginia says, "This jacket is very comfortable to wear, is crease resistant, hand washable, and just needs a little brushing now and then to remove pills. Looks great with jeans and a turtleneck or dressier pants."

More Stories To Share
On my personal blog, I wrote about the diamond mesh hair net Lisa McLane made and wore to the show. If you have links to other stories or stories of your own to share, please click on "Comments" below this post. There were many more stories behind the garments on and off the stage, and we'd love to hear them!