Buttons&Beads&Quilts!

When I first became a professional art quilter, back in the early 1980s, my work had a very geometric look to it. I was doing hand applique, so all of the rough edges were carefully turned under and sewn in place by hand. Somewhere along the way, I decided that I wanted to make wearable art, and came up with a series of ahort, vaguely kimono-looking jackets, with a decorated lapel down each side of the front, and a panel in the back, such as this one. It became apparent very quickly that if I were going to make any money at this, I would need to hire some people to sew for me. I made up small samples, all the same, and completed one so I can then see how much it would take me to complete it. Then somebody else could sew it up and see if the time put in was worth it to them. I wanted to offer $8/hour, which was decent money back then, as I didn’t want to be a sweat-shop employer. Having put an ad in the local newspaper, I sat back and waited for applicants. There were only two who could do the work well enough for my standards, a man who had been a tailor in Hondurous, and a seamstress from Haiti. I gave them a few projects, but then, I began to find out about the rules governing clothing production in the USA.

This country has a long history of exploiting garment workers. Having grown up in the South, I remember the cotton mills, with their windows painted black, so that the workers wouldn’t look ouside and be distracted. Horrible conditions, with the workers living in factory owned hovels, led to many important laws and regulations to protect garment workers. However, when it came to a small cottage industry, namely me, with two part-time workers, the same rules applied, even though the sewers would be working out of their own homes. It became quickly apparent that i couldn’t keep up with the paperwork and other documentation needed to have employees, so I went back to making the jackets myself.

I began to show my jackets at various exhibits, and while I always got great comments, people weren’t willing to pay $650 for a piece of wearable art, while they would the same price for a piece of art work for the wall. Later. I learned that the whole haute couture industry is only supported by 1% of the women in the world, and my tiny litle production line wasn’t going to fit in with the runway shows in New York and abroad. So, having produced only a few jackets, some of which now hang on display rods in my home, my attempt to compete with the major clothing houses came to a quick halt. My focus turned to art quilts, and except for some costumes and fancy dress outfits for myself, I don’t produce clothing anymore.

To see more of my art work, please visit my web site at www.fiberfantasies.com .