This textile book was inspired by Shakespeare's Sonnet 136. Using radical textile manipulation techniques, printmaking, appliqué, and embroidery, this book allows Shakespeare's complex poem to unfold with the turning of each page.
Floral fabric techniques: began experimentation in 2020, perfected in 2023.
In things of great receipt with ease we prove
Among a number one is reckoned none.
Among a number one is reckoned none.
The book opens with very graphic designs that combine traditional quilting techniques with modern. Pages are created with repurposed 1960s brocade and damask evening dresses. They are combined with modern embroideries and hand manipulation techniques normally utilized by couture dressmakers. By combining book making techniques with couture dressmaking techniques, the final pages have a precise, layered, purposeful appearance.
And will, thy soul knows, is admitted there.
Thus far for love my love-suit, sweet, fulfill.
Thus far for love my love-suit, sweet, fulfill.
Vintage 1960s damask textiles are combined with muted floral silkscreened textiles in a patchwork design inspired by the lesser known "Sharecropper-style" quilting techniques used by African American sewers from North Carolina. The larger damask textile, on the lower right hand page, was handed down to me in 2018 by a nonagenarian African American dressmaker.
For Nothing Hold Me
1960s gold lame fabric handed down to me from a nonagenarian African American seamstress was hand embroidered. Other techniques used were broderie perse, a popular late 18th century and early 19th century style of appliqué, and fine hand stitching.
