'Superior Seasons' Fashion Show wrap up and DVD

‘Superior Seasons’ was the theme of Northern Wefts 2011 fashion show presented Friday night June 24th at Finlandia College in Hancock Michigan. You have been viewing the winning garments from the fashion show on this blog posted by Donna Kallner our Awards chair person and the creator of this blog.

The Master of Ceremonies for ‘Superior Seasons’ was Mary Sue Fenner; she organized and planned the fashion show as well as designed and typed the program for the event. She was assisted back stage by Mauree Childress and a number of volunteers, some who have been taking classes from Mary Sue at Kele Alpaca in Kewaunee Wisconsin or at Sievers Fiber Arts School on Washington Island Wisconsin. Debbie Skubal, Kim Ristow, Candee Brey , Jean Haroldson and Mariah Peterson.

Mary Sue was dressed in a Tunic made of Pompeii, a yarn from Silk City Fibers. It is a blend of nylon, cotton and acrylic. It is a two layered tunic, with Sand Dune and Lava Rock colors it is lined with hand dyed silk from Vogue pattern #1240. She looked stunning as she announced the 74 entries as they were professionally presented by our talented group of models.

Superior Seasons 2011

Here are a few fashion samples of the DVD photos for you to enjoy. I have my favorites and I will share them with you, I am hoping I get the correct titles for these garments as I am taking them from the Fashion Show Program and I am hoping the artist name is correct as some are being modeled by our volunteer models and not the designers.

Alie Thompson created and modeled this beautiful Jacket
"Senecio in Wool" This reminds me of a Mondrian Painting. Look at the detail of this fabric.

This cute summer robe "Sunflower Morning' was woven by Diane May of Beloit, Wisconsin. the garment is plain weave on a 4 harness loom using hand dyed unmercerized cotton and flake cotton. It was modeled by Mariah Peterson.

This Wool felted coat was created by Pat Filzen from Reedsville Wisconsin. Pat hand dyed the wool then hand felted the fabric for her garment. 'A walk in the forest' was modeled by Leslie one of our volunteers.



















I loved the collar on this garment by Sydney Hans from Chicago Il. 'Lake Sunset Jacket' was woven on a 4 harness loom in tabby with 5/2 Perle cotton using a random stripe warp technique. A sari silk panel is the insert in the back of the garment. Modeled by Nadine Sanders.



If you would like to order a DVD of the still photos taken by Larry Retzlaff of Minnesota you can send a check for $6 made out to MWC 2011 and your address to Jean Lind for her address please check the MWA conference web page. Larry, an amateur photographer graciously offered to shoot photos during ‘Superior Seasons’ we gladly accepted and I am sure you will be delighted by the results. Thank you so much Larry for this great remembrance of Superior Seasons. If you have already ordered the DVD it should arrive in early September.

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!

Award Winners from Northern Wefts

Many wonderful things happened last week when weavers and fiber artists from throughout the region (and beyond) met in Hancock, Michigan for the 2011 Midwest Weavers Conference. Stay tuned for stories from the conference hosts. And if you have stories and images to share, please email them to Donna Kallner or Mary Brownell.

But for now, here's a complete list of the award winners from Northern Wefts. Congratulations to all. And  thank you to everyone who shared their work in the exhibits, to all the judges, and to everyone who took the time to view the exhibits. Special thanks go to Eve Lindsey who wove the beautiful ribbons presented to award winners, and to Nadine Sanders, the Singing Weaver, who brought the awards ceremony and the conference to a harmonious close!

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Member Exhibits -- Natural Elements (judged by Robyn Spady)
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Woods (fabrics, rugs, linens)

• 1st place Wynne Mattila for Aurora
• 2nd place Peggy Baldwin for Overshot Towel

Water (felt, knitting)

• 1st place Sue Bell for Hold It Bag
• 2nd plat Mary Boulet for Solstice Moondance

Winds (clothing, hats, scarves)

• 1st place Karen York for Dancing on Water Jacket
• 2nd place Mary Brownell for Wild Rose Scarf

Weft (tapestry, painted weft/warp, handspun weft, 3D)

• 1st place Bonnie Hay for Earth Spirals coiled basket
• 2nd place Vicki Tardy for Sunset At Seat handspun silk overshot

Wondrous (jewelry, wire, beads)

• 1st place Carol Henry for Firebird woven copper
• 2nd place Candace Gerbers Brey for Viking Chain with Felt Pendant

Elsie Bell Award for Hand Spinning
sponsored by Weavers Guild of St. Louis

• Vicki Tardy for Sunset At Seat handspun silk overshot

Libbie Crawford Memorial for Loom Controlled Weaving
sponsored by Weavers Guild of St. Louis

• Wynne Mattila for Aurora

Ila Roberts Memorial Award for Handwoven Table Linens
sponsored by Illinois Prairie Weavers

• Peggy Baldwin for Overshot Towel

HGA Award of Merit
sponsored by Handweavers Guild of America

• Bonnie Hay for Earth Spirals coiled basket

Handwoven Weaving For The Home Award
sponsored by Interweave Press

• Wynne Mattila for Aurora

Complex Weavers Award

• Marcia Kosmerchock for Pillow

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Guild Exhibits (judged by Anita Mayer)
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• 1st place Margaret O’Shaughnessy Award to Weavers Guild of Minnesota Rag Rug Study Group
• 2nd place Weaving Indiana
• 3rd place Weavers Guild of St. Louis
• Viewers Choice to Weavers Guild of Minnesota Rag Rug Study Group

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Fashion Show (judged by Daryl Lancaster)
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Conference Theme Superior Seasons award

• Georgie Hurst for Superior Breeze

Traditional Heritage award

• Julie Hurd for Mushrooms For Color

Margaret Grant Memorial for weaving on no more than 4 shafts

• Jean Hutchison for Stretch of the Imagination

Judge’s Choice award

• Alie Thompson for Cloudy Day In the Northwoods

Originality award

• Peggy Bowman for Spike’s Cuddle Coat

Honorable Mention

• LeAnna Franklin for Woven Webs

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Re-use Re-new Re-cycle (judged by Pamela Kotila)
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Wearables

• 1st place Julie Hurd for Country Casual Encore
• 2nd place Jean Hutchison for Holiday Vest
• 3rd place Mary Sue Fenner for Wool Afghan Jacket

Non-Wearables

• 1st place Ann Masemore for Iguana Sculpture
• 2nd place Jessica Speer for Superior Shore
• 3rd place Poppy Hatinger for Copper Pennies Bag

Links To The Past -- Margaret Grant

It's just a couple of weeks until we host the 2011 Midwest Weavers Conference, with a full schedule of workshops, programs, vendors, visiting, and the fashion show and member exhibits, which are always highlights of a conference. At the awards ceremony that Saturday night, you may even hear your own name or that of a friend called. You'll also hear some names connected with the memorial awards. You may not have known the people honored by those awards, so we thought we'd share a bit of their stories.

We'll start with Margaret Grant, whose memorial award is presented by the Weaver's Guild of St. Louis for weaving from no more than 4 shafts.

Margaret Grant

Born and raised in Australia, Margaret received her psychiatric social work degree in London and worked at Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. From the late 1960's until her death in 1993, she held offices, served on committees and juries, and reported on events for the Weaver's Guild of St. Louis. Margaret was instrumental in establishing a scholarship fund and getting new weavers involved in the organization.

Her obituary in the guild newsletter included this story.

In sharing a crowded cab in Chicago at Convergence she had to sit in the front seat with the driver and recognizing his accent from Zimbabwe they were shortly chattering away about his native country. She loved to share discoveries about world arts, events and people. But in our study groups we shared giggles like school girls.

Margaret's specialty was weaving clothing with fine threads. We honor her memory with an award the recognizes an elegant fashion fabric developed from a simple structure that complements a garment's design.

Thank you to Karen Kelly Schultz and members of the St. Louis guild who provided this information. 

The Fashion Show experience

I first entered a Fashion Show at Midwest because my friend and mentor, not to mention weaving instructor: Mary Sue Fenner was teaching at WOW and she got a request from the 2005 planners to enter some of her clothes in the Fashion show. I am not sure, but I think they encouraged her to have some of her students enter too. So being a good student of 'Weave, Cut and Sew' taught by Mary Sue at Kele Alpaca near Kewaunee, Wisconsin of course I entered 3 items.

I have to say it was exciting seeing my garments worn by models on the stage. They even made us sit in the front rows of the auditorium, just in case we won something and had to go up on stage. It was exciting! of course I did not win anything - but got many compliments on my garments. I was only a beginner at weaving and more of a beginner at sewing handwoven fabric into a garment.

In 2007 I went to Roots in Nebraska and decided since my garments got in the Fashion show at WOW 2005 I should enter again. Only 2 of my 3 garments were accepted so I sent them off and I went to Midwest Weavers Conference for the whole 5 or 6 days. Entering all the exhibits and taking a pre conference workshop as well as the other 2 or 3 sessions that came with Registration. Again I enjoyed seeing my garments on the models, although they did not fit the young girls modeling very well, since I am a size 18. I relaxed in the audience and watched. To my surprise I won the Prairie Award. I had to go down to the front with my flip flops on. Flip flops I brought for the shower were the only shoes I had along that went with the outfit I wore to the style show. I now have a framed certificate with a beautiful handwoven ribbon and a picture of my Jacket hanging in my weaving room as a reminder, and a new bench for my weaving loom that I bought with the cash.

Then comes Heartland 2009 - no one could go with me, so I drove off to Pre conference alone - my co chair Jean Lind came for the conference with others from the UP so at least I did not have to drive home alone.

For the Fashion Show in Iowa it was not juried so whatever you wanted to enter was accepted.

I had to model my own stuff, which was different, a little scary, but the behind the scenes experience was also an exciting time. Here are some of the behind the scenes photos for the Heartland Fashion Show 2009. Seeing Anita Mayer's and Daryl Lancaster's beautiful Garment close up was well worth walking across that stage.

Some of the beautiful garments that walked the Runway in Iowa in 2009.

and the winner was Christy Berry from Missouri who wove and modeled this 'Victorian Walking Skirt' out of 20/2 perle cotton with a gray warp and yellow weft. She wove 8 yards of fabric and used every bit of her fabric to make this skirt. Christy was also the recipient of one of the MWA scholarship awards for Heartland 2009. Congratulations Christy! hope you can make it to Northern Wefts 2011 in Hancock Michigan.