I’ve been thinking a lot about unexpected fabric. You know, like random bits of fabric that come into our lives that we may not even think of as fabric. Flour sacks are an obvious favorite, but what else. What about the tags in clothes, the ones with the size and the brand and the washing instructions? Okay, let’s see what can be done with those.
After rifling through my dresser and cutting about 50 tags out of all kinds of clothes and bras (now everyone will know I’m a 36B!) I made these three pieces of fabric. They were first fused to a piece of cotton muslin with double-sided fusible web and then "quilted" on the machine using the walking foot.
Now that I have no instructions on how to properly wash any of my garments (good thing I didn’t ever follow those instructions anyway) and it has been reaffirmed that I do shop at the Gap too much, I decided to cut it all up and make some bird feathers.
Boy, I think I’m a freak sometimes.
There is a little interview with me at Underspray if you’re interested in knowing more about how I work and what inspires me and the way I feel when people talk to me while brushing their teeth.
I’m taking a bit of a bird break now. We’ll see what else emerges.
That’s very clever, and really quite beautiful.
What a fabulous idea! It looks great!
How cool is that! What a great idea! Love it! And the bird looks fantastic.
That’s a great idea! It gives another layer of interest to the feathers and wings! I’ve recently read about a quilt made out of clothing tags, but I can’t find it by googling, too bad.
wonderful work abby. so imaginative.
I recently stumbled on your work at Etsy, and I love it. This is amazing. I love how you reuse old materials. It makes your work so much more intriguing than if it were made of storebought fabric.
Your work boggles my mind. What an amazingly creative approach, but even better – what a meticulous execution. Bravo!
Wowsers! Feathers cut from fabric made of labels? That is so wonderful that I had to de-lurk to complement you – it’s just a brilliant idea. (Then again, so many of your ideas are quite brill.)
Freakin’ GENIUS is what you are.
Honey, you are so NOW.
You are a little bit of a freak. This is why we like you. 🙂
Fantastic ! I can’t think of anything else to say. It just works !!!
love those wings!
I have often wanted to do “something” with tags also….sometimes the tags are very pretty and I want to cut them out and make something –
Wonderful!
I save all of my selvages and make things with them (even going so far as dying the plain white ones), so I don’t think it’s odd at all!
Ok, thats just too darn cool. What an idea! And it looks good too(reading it and scrolling down I was a little nervous but it looks so killer)
Fabulously quirky!
Love it!
I really like this blue one 🙂
xx
I think you’re making some of the most interesting, original and inventive soft sculpture out there. Love your attention to details, and the reuse of fabrics. Wonderful work. Very inspiring! I really enjoy reading your blog posts.
what amazing plumage you’ve created!
i SO love watching the evolution of your birds.
i can’t help but think galapagos and darwin of a crafty variety right about now…
Abby, that may be kind of a freaky thing to do, but it’s completely brilliant. Those feathers are beautiful!
Oh my! That is so over-the-top brilliant I can’t even say!
absolutely unbelievably amazing! What a gorgeous piece. I really love everything you’re doing these days, it feels like very inspired work.
If by “freak” you mean “freakin’ awesome,” then yes.
really great idea and looks very interesting. the back shot is amazing. super original and creative
I really love the tag fabric as feathers.
Wow!! How cool is this bird? Great execution… it actually looks alive! It’s a very hip bird!
I love the way your mind works – TAGS – randon rubbish made into something beautiful – inspiring:)
I just went to an exhibit of Ramona Otto at the Craft and Folk Art museum here in LA. She made a mosaic style “painting” out of cut up gift cards and plastic hotel key cards. I was so inspired by her found resources and now I see your lable wings. So many sources conspiring to get me to take a second look at the stuff around me!
How inspiring and clever! Thanks for sharing.
I too love text on fabric and this is another fun dimension.
In high school (and, er, actually probably in junior high school too), I had this odd shirt (I think from the Limited) that had a large tag in the middle. The shirt was very comfortable, but my favorite thing about it was that tag. The sleeve edges began to fray and I got a paint stain on it, but I always meant to keep the tag and reuse it for some project.
I also recently bought a Japanese embroidery book, and one cute but unexpected border shown was those washing symbols on clothing tags, a variety of them, alternating.
Hooray for 36B!
Brilliant! 🙂
Genius. That looks fab 🙂