From January to June 1967, creating my wedding gown kept me in stitches. Before my August wedding date, I was thrilled to first find a pattern, purchase fabric, and then fashion a white peau de soie dress on a budget.
My roommates in the little bungalow on Middleton Drive in Charlotte, NC observed the process, but were dreaming of their own marriages. However, my future mother-in-law Viola raved approvingly over the finished dress days before the wedding. I sensed my own mother admired my efforts but didn’t express glee. After all, she was a Mennonite lady, accustomed to making her own simple dresses with capes—plain rather than fancy.
LYNDA HEINES
I met Lynda Heines a few months ago online. Both of us enjoy illustrating family history, I with words and she with fabric art. Lynda reached out to me while she read and reviewed Mennonite Daughter: The Story of a Plain Girl.
When I give book talks, I often urge viewers to record a family legacy: It needn’t be a book . . .
It could be
an annotated photo album,
your journal
A quilt . . . or something else, even a video!
Meet Lynda Heines, Telling Stories with Fabric
Excerpt from her blog’s “About” page
I started this fabric surface design journey in 2009 when I was writing my newspaper column, Telling Your Story, about local artists. I learned about dyes, and I was hooked.
I’ve always loved crafts, and I learned so much from those I interviewed. What sent me over the edge into dyeing was my interview with Karen Hampton, a local fabric artist. For her article I wrote about her beautiful snow dyed pieces. After leaving her house I couldn’t wait until we had snow. When it finally snowed, I snow dyed and wanted more. Because snow is made of ice particles, I decided I’d just try ice cubes. And ice dyeing was born! I was so happy with my results that with the encouragement of fellow artist Kathy Sands, I contacted Quilting Arts. My first ice dyeing article was published in 2011.
One of my very first ice dyeing pieces hangs on my studio wall to remind me of this journey. I call it Mayo’s Garden, named after my grandma.
I’ve dabbled in a variety of crafts over the years. One of my major loves has been photography which started when Mom and Dad gave me one of those boxy Brownies. I graduated to Kodak Instamatic, moved on to a Canon SLR, and now I’m on my sixth digital camera, but really use my iPhone most of the time since getting it in December 2017.
I also was a quilter years ago, but I just couldn’t get that perfect 1/4 inch. I’ve found my fabric surface design doesn’t require perfection, or maybe I’ve become less rigid.
You’ll see on my blog that in addition to fabric art, I draw a bit on rocks, garden, make soap, and bake a little.
***
Mother Proudly Displays Her Crazy Quilt, now Bequeathed to Son Joel
Crazy Quilt design, 1999
SHEILA HICKS
Sheila Hicks, age 90 . . .
. . . is an “American artist known for her innovative and experimental weavings and sculptural textile art that incorporate distinctive colors, natural materials, and personal narratives. Since 1964, she has lived and worked in Paris, France.”
A graduate of Syracuse University and Yale School of Art, she refers to her work “wrapping memories through fabric” and “a playful dialogue between softness and strength,” illustrated her photos here and in the short YouTube videos that follow. My husband calls her the Chihuly of fabric.
Comments on the artists featured here?
Do enjoy working with fabric—sewing? Embroidery, crocheting, or something else?
How do you preserve family history?
Good morning, Marian! I’m so impressed that you produced your own wedding gown! It’s gorgeous.
I know we’ve discussed this before. I don’t sew at all or work with fabric. My mother’s mother was an excellent seamstress, but did not pass her skills to my mom. Do you follow Resa who often comments on my posts? She designs the most incredible gowns from recycled fabric.
I’m trying to preserve some family history through my words.
Thanks for the compliment, Merril.
You come from a line of artists: your grandmother with fabric, your mother with visual art, and you, of course, with words.
“I’m trying to preserve some family history through my words” is quite an understatement! 🙂
You’re welcome, Marian, and thank you! 😊
Good Morning Marian. Loved this article and forwarded to a friend who, in her former life, was a hot-air balloon pilot. She is now a prolific weaver with her own loom. Her art is occasionally on display in our art gallery at Fleet Landing. Hope you will be able to meet her one day.
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Going from handling a hot air balloon to weaving is quite a leap–except such a balloon is made from fire-resistant nylon and polyester, so there is some connection.
Yes, I would love to meet her some day. (The link didn’t work.) Having her own loom earmarks her as a serious artisan. Thanks, Carolyn! 😀
Great post, Marian! 😄😊 How wonderful that you were able to make your own wedding dress. You did a fabulous job! I come from a family of non-sewers. I haven’t learned to use a sewing machine, though I could still learn to use one as my niece did. I learned to sew a hem or a button—that’s about it. I love to crochet. That’s my contribution to fabric art.
How cool about Lynda Heines’s project!
The Sheila Hicks videos were incredible! Wow! First of all, I love seeing someone older who has an exhibition. I’m reminded of Alma Thomas who became known for a style of art when she was over 70. Second, I love that she inspires kids to participate.
Yes, you do crochet beautiful work. This morning I was looking at your recent gift to me: a cheery yellow woven piece with a fringe.
L. Marie, you are leaving your mark as an artist with words, that’s for sure. 😀
Aww! Thank you, Marian!
Hi Marian, you created a beautiful wedding dress. I sewed a lot as a tween, designing clothes for our Barbie dolls. Funnily enough, sister #2 found the box of dolls and clothes over Christmas. She has taken everything for her daughter. I also embroidered and did appliqué. I haven’t done any since my 20s though.
It sounds as though your sister has sticky fingers You say, “Sister #2 found the box of dolls and clothes over Christmas. She has taken everything for her daughter.” (A sure sign of love and admiration!)
I love that you create parfait “dolls” for your stories. 😀
What a special wedding dress! It’s absolutely beautiful–although it does pale in comparison with the smiles on the bride’s and groom’s faces.
After watching the two videos, I am very taken with Sheila Hicks. “Today I want to be art!” I agree that she is the Chihuly of fabric.
I used to sew my daughter’s clothes, my clothes, curtains, slipcovers, etc. However, I haven’t done any sewing since I started writing full-time. I am very grateful that my mother taught me how to sew.
Yes Liz writing does take over, while I’m still madly knitting I have actually forgotten how to thread my sewing machine so it sits in the cupboard sad and neglected!
My husband is keep our sewing machine in good order.
Good for him, Liz!
He learned how to sew when he was in the Navy.
JANET, I understand that writing is your outlet now; there’s no shame in that. Thanks for adding to the conversation! 😀
LIZ, I like that you contrasted the two photos. Cliff felt bad about not appreciating my gown until now, so he commented below. “I was so busy making money for the honeymoon,” he justifies!
Cliff is the one who dubbed Sheila Hicks as the Chihuly of fabric. I just updated the post to acknowledge his contribution.
Like you, I put aside sewing to embrace the call of writing. 😀
Making money for the honeymoon is as good a justification as another!
😀
Loved the video on Ms Hicks. Very interesting. I made my wedding dress, too, and the pattern looked similar to yours. My brain cannot visualize how to take fabric and do the things that Ms Hicks does.
About my wedding dress fabric. I believe we both married in the 1960s, which may explain the similar patterns. Yes, Ms. Hicks is very creative on a large scale. It occurs to me that all that fabric and yarn would take a lot of money. Thanks, Bonnie! 😀
Even though I’m somewhat biased…I think my wife Marian stitches together well thought-out blogs. When she gets an idea for a post the excitement warms up her writing studio. She can hardly wait until she can start threading the ideas together and share them with you.
That’s true–and you observe me up close and personal. Thanks again for always reading and helping to edit my posts! <3
Wow, Marian, that’s amazing and mind blowing. My mom was a passionate seamstress and loved sewing my wedding dress and that of my two bridesmaids (my sisters). I have a sister who is a quilter since she retired from her medical practise. She is making memory quilts for each of her nieces and nephews, featuring special events in their lives. She’s working on quilt #4 and has 11 more to go!
Your sister and you are very talented, whether with fabric or with words.
If I were making memory quilts, I’d be done by quilt #4. I can’t image making 15 quilts, mind blowing.
Thanks for adding to the conversation, Elfrieda! 😀
Oh…I had better compliment my wife on her lovely wedding dress. She was exotically beautiful as we leaped down the church steps to weave a life together!
Clever comment, my dear! 😀
There are so many ways to express ourselves, through word, deed, and textiles. As someone who failed home economics classes in junior high school, I now make quilts, and crochet. At the moment I am finishing a queen sized top in patriotic colors to be raffled off for our town’s 4th of July celebration. On the hook is [yet another] lapghan for the cancer clinic, plus a scarf on another hook. There is just something about the feel of the pen in hand, or fabric or yarn that speaks to an inner piece of my soul.
Ginger, your comment gave me goosebumps:
A large red, white, and blue bed cover! Kudos to you also for your gifts to cancer patients. Blessings on all of your creative efforts. 😀
What a GORGEOUS dress and a beautifully happy couple. Those ‘simple’ days when a bride sewed her own dress seem so long-gone and yet so much more meaningful than the expensive dresses bought and worn these days. Truly beautiful, Marian. I never found a stitch that liked me. I tried, I really did (well, I did in high school and they made us model the dresses we made in junior year sewing class in front of the entire school). I hated it so much I’ve never touched thread and needle since. But like Merril says, I like to stitch stories of my family. I also make photo albums. Through the years I now have – um – MANY! 🙂
I smiled when you said, “I never found a stitch that like me.”
You HAVE stitched together stories of your family and made photo albums for them too. Your oeuvre is quite extensive. I love that you collaborate with Neville, passing on skills (and a legacy) to the next generation. Thank you, Pam! 😀
Oh well, blush, that’s true. 🙂 And my 16-year-old grandson (across the country) is taking creative writing lessons from me, so that’s a stitch I’ll keep putting together. xo
Bravo to him and another Brava to you, Pam!
I promise him full confidentiality with his stories!! :-0 🙂
Good idea!
How wonderful that you still have the Simplicity pattern for your wedding dress, which is so very lovely. My mom made my first wedding dress but I helped and I still have the pattern as well. It is very similar actually. I started sewing as a tween because I wanted the latest fashions and we didn’t have the money to buy store bought. Then as a young mother I sewed mine and my children’s clothes and later my business suits. (not to mention cabbage patch doll clothes!) I stopped sewing when I started to write books. There is only so much time in the day. I still love fabric art though.
Yes Darlene I cottoned on to the fact my mother would give me money for cheap remnants, but not for clothes. I had two friends, sisters, who actually drew up their own patterns and taught me. One day Dad brought home a piece of fluorescent orange plastic fabric from his plastics factory, just enough to make a mini skirt!
Mom had a chest full of fabrics she picked up on sale or from things she had taken apart. So I could just go in a pick a piece and make something. Mini skirts didn’t take much fabric anyway. Great memories. Your orange plastic mini skirt sounds fab!
What a feast of colour. I love yarns and fabric. I used to do sewing for a lady who took her creations to craft fairs. Her house was a delight, full of the scent of new fabric and potpourri. My daughter got her wedding dress from a charity shop – a wedding dress branch of a well known charity. I crocheted her shawl and wedding bouquet. That was ten years ago, now I have just finished knitting a throw/blanket for their recently decorated living room.
Janet, you have a fruitful mind and busy hands. I am amazed at all your creations–with words and with textiles. Wonderful! 😀
I work to preserve family history mainly by writing and also producing photo books for the grandchildren (and for us) to help us remember the things we’ve done.
P.S. I made my own wedding dress (actually a blouse and a skirt) and then a white vest for Stuart–so we didn’t have to rent any tuxes. My wedding outfit cost less than $50 but it felt like a lot of money, also. We still have both items for my hubby and for me. But don’t ask me if we fit into them still.
We both were thrifty with our weddings. I have scanned the sales slip from Belk for my bridal gown. It shows an eight-three dollar total but that may have included pink peau de soie fabric for my three bridesmaids.
Cliff rented a tux, and I still have the bow snapped to my waistline and possibly the lace jacket. . . somewhere. As to the dress, I shortened the length and maybe wore it as a summer dress a few times. I am CERTAIN I could not fit into any of it now. 😀
I wouldn’t know the first thing about creating a wedding dress. Even an amateur like me understands how impressive that was. How great that there are so many different and creative ways to tell a story. One of my former coworkers used to create a class quilt each year. Every child in the class contributed one of the squares, and she used to display the collection which grew year after year. It was a source of classroom pride.
Pete, you have had a very rich teaching experience with a co-worker willing to invest time and energy for a class quilt. Those children will never forget the pride they felt in such a cooperative effort.
What a great post. You are a skillful seamstress. I believe that the interest and the skill in working with fabric skipped a generation over me and landed with my daughter. She is the one who crochets and quilts. It’s a beautiful thing.
Your daughter makes quilts and you, Arlene, weave with words–all beautiful things! 😀
I had never heard of ice dyeing before and I am fascinated. I plan to visit Lynda’s site to learn more. I also enjoyed the “playful dialogue between softness and strength” description of Sheila Hicks’s work. Artists must follow their creativity wherever it leads them. You may or may not remember from my own stories that I had a step-grandmother who also worked in the fabric medium. She was a weaver and I sat at her loom once without her permission, haha. Her name was Dorothy Turobinski. And, of course, anyone who can sew their own wedding dress deserves much applause! That’s quite impressive, Marian. Thanks for such an interesting post. 🙂
I am latching on to this line: Artists must follow their creativity wherever it leads them. I heartily agree.
Thanks for the compliment about making my own wedding gown. Mennonite girls routinely learned to sew their own outfits. For me as a 26-year-old bride, it was an economic necessity. My parents helped only with the rehearsal dinner, and I had little disposable income, a teacher in a private school.
I did google Dorothy Turobinski and found list in musefully.org with no images displayed. 😀
Well, that’s weird. I appreciate you looking! I sent a couple of links on FB to check out at your convenience. 🙂
Will do! 😀
I wanted to be a quilter but I do not have the patience for it. The ones you show here are gorgeous. As for your wedding dress pattern I was flower girl in a wedding at about the same time as yours and #3 looks a lot like the little pink dress that was made for me. 😊
I believe we are of the same era, but not the same decade. Cool that you performed as a flower girl to an older bride.
Okay that you don’t want to quilt. Stay with being a wordsmith. You’re great at that! 😀
I believe it’s very important to record family history one way or another. My dad had numerous photo albums with dates, places and who appeared in photographs. I kept this photo tradition, although I do not write who is in them. I too love seeing, especially quilting and embroidery, and I’ve been crocheting since I was 10, over 50 years now!
I simply love your wedding dress, Marianne. So clever of you to make it!
Fatima, I enjoy seeing various pieces of your artwork on Facebook–showcasing your talent beautifully. Your father was wise to identify photos. We often look at old pictures and wish we had names and dates. Thank you! 😀
I admire people with this crafting talent with fabric. I do my best work with the pen, lol. And what a feat you took on making your own wedding dress! Beautiful. xx
Yes, you are a wordsmith–and a darn good one too, Debby.
About the dress: I’d been sewing ever since I was a teen, making my own outfits. This was the next bold step for me. Besides it was an economic necessity.
I think you are about to fly to a warmer clime. Enjoy! 😀
Marian, Your wedding dress is beautiful. I’m in awe at your sewing ability. Thanks for featuring me with Sheila who is amazing. I definitely need to update my bio since I’ve been heavily involved in genealogy for the last 10 years!! Again, thanks for showing a couple of my memory quilt pieces. Lynda
Lynda, thanks for checking in!
Most Mennonite girls at least in my era learned how to sew; it wasn’t unusual for other brides to make their wedding dresses. Thank you for the compliment though.
Your family history textiles are awesome. Kudos to you for your fabric art, including memory quilt pieces. 😀
My Mom and Dad taught me how to sew years and I have a little sewing business online. I’m still waiting for success! lol I love the quilts made by the women in my family and the rich heritage I have in many crafty ventures. I’m very impressed that you made your wedding dress. I wouldn’t even consider it! 🙂
I know you love fabrics. Sometimes I see your creations on Etsy. You definitely have inherited some crafty genes from your family. Thanks for commenting, Jenn!