Penny Richards' photos with the keyword: sewing

Materials: Four felted sweaters (wool, cashmere, angora), an elastic band, a button, thread 

Construction method: hand sewn; pattern may be loosely based from the basic cloche in Eugenia Kim’s Saturday Night Hat (2006), a copy of which is in the island’s archives Description: This is another oversized piece, which is intended to protect the wearer’s eyes and ears from too much light or noise (“like a potato in the earth”, according to one hat maker). It is reversible, with one side somewhat softer than the other; this allows the wearer to choose which texture will be more suitable in a given mood. The brown ovals on the black panels may literally reference potatoes, a staple food of the Warfield cuisine.

Materials: Wool from Rowan, Chunky Print, and Fleischer’s Spice in “Salt and Pepper” (vintage, 1970s); cotton crochet thread; a strip of black jersey; a length of gold embroidered fabric ribbon; many found metal objects, including charms, earrings, beads, and machine parts

Construction method: crochet, applique Description: Warfielders prize small but worthless tokens such as beads, keys, and broken jewelry. Traditionally, women wear the tokens of their foremothers on woolen helmet-shaped caps; they believe these tokens invite ancestral protection and power. An old woman will often distribute her tokens to loved ones with stories and songs; it is considered a great compliment to say that someone “died with her cap bare”, because it indicates the person has dispensed all their wisdom, shared all their lore, and faced the unknown bravely.

Fig. 4. The Dyetest Coif Materials: Cotton, jersey scrap fabrics, thread, vintage button, lace, beads

Construction method: Sewn, appliqued, embroidered, red and purple dyes Description: A Warfield dyetest coif is a simple two-layer tied cloth cap; its interest comes from its finishing process. Island crafters use scraps of natural woven fabrics and fibers to make the caps, then dye them, and wear the results, both to record their dye experiments for future reference, and to display their adventurous spirits (because dyeing is always an adventure). The coif displayed here is purple and dark pink, but the original fabrics were yellow, blue, red, brown, gold, and white. In Warfield lore, a dyetest coif is a common metaphor for community strength, because the diverse components bear evidence of an intense shared history together.

Fig. 5: The List Bucket Materials: Scrap fabrics including denim and bridal crepe; lace; printable sheets; thread, vintage buttons, elastic, wood, pin back, modpodge, paint, paper collage

 Construction method: sewn, printed, appliqued; based on a pattern by @chikuchikutianqingre in ソーイングブック (Souingu Bukku, or Sewing Book), a Japanese magazine Description: This hat’s existence may be based on a mishearing or mistranslation of the phrase “bucket list”. A simple lined denim bucket hat is embellished with two lists, on the band and as a pinned embellishment. The band lists the names of women; the pinned list seems to be ordinary social activities. These lists may recall past or lost events and people. The quarantine culture of Warfield Island has turned many daily objects into sites of memory and mourning.

Fig. 5: The List Bucket Materials: Scrap fabrics including denim and bridal crepe; lace; printable sheets; thread, vintage buttons, elastic, wood, pin back, modpodge, paint, paper collage

 Construction method: sewn, printed, appliqued; based on a pattern by @chikuchikutianqingre in ソーイングブック (Souingu Bukku, or Sewing Book), a Japanese magazine Description: This hat’s existence may be based on a mishearing or mistranslation of the phrase “bucket list”. A simple lined denim bucket hat is embellished with two lists, on the band and as a pinned embellishment. The band lists the names of women; the pinned list seems to be ordinary social activities. These lists may recall past or lost events and people. The quarantine culture of Warfield Island has turned many daily objects into sites of memory and mourning.

Fig. 4. The Dyetest Coif Materials: Cotton, jersey scrap fabrics, thread, vintage button, lace, beads

Construction method: Sewn, appliqued, embroidered, red and purple dyes Description: A Warfield dyetest coif is a simple two-layer tied cloth cap; its interest comes from its finishing process. Island crafters use scraps of natural woven fabrics and fibers to make the caps, then dye them, and wear the results, both to record their dye experiments for future reference, and to display their adventurous spirits (because dyeing is always an adventure). The coif displayed here is purple and dark pink, but the original fabrics were yellow, blue, red, brown, gold, and white. In Warfield lore, a dyetest coif is a common metaphor for community strength, because the diverse components bear evidence of an intense shared history together.

Fig. 4. The Dyetest Coif Materials: Cotton, jersey scrap fabrics, thread, vintage button, lace, beads

Construction method: Sewn, appliqued, embroidered, red and purple dyes Description: A Warfield dyetest coif is a simple two-layer tied cloth cap; its interest comes from its finishing process. Island crafters use scraps of natural woven fabrics and fibers to make the caps, then dye them, and wear the results, both to record their dye experiments for future reference, and to display their adventurous spirits (because dyeing is always an adventure). The coif displayed here is purple and dark pink, but the original fabrics were yellow, blue, red, brown, gold, and white. In Warfield lore, a dyetest coif is a common metaphor for community strength, because the diverse components bear evidence of an intense shared history together.

Fig. 2: The Potato Cloche Materials: Four felted sweaters (wool, cashmere, angora), an elastic band, a button, thread 

Construction method: hand sewn; pattern may be loosely based from the basic cloche in Eugenia Kim’s Saturday Night Hat (2006), a copy of which is in the island’s archives Description: This is another oversized piece, which is intended to protect the wearer’s eyes and ears from too much light or noise (“like a potato in the earth”, according to one hat maker). It is reversible, with one side somewhat softer than the other; this allows the wearer to choose which texture will be more suitable in a given mood. The brown ovals on the black panels may literally reference potatoes, a staple food of the Warfield cuisine.

These are hats I made in January 2023, as part of Fun-a-Day Los Angeles, and also inspired by #FashionFictions on Instagram. Along with making the hats, I made a faux ethnographic report about them, as if they were artifacts of an island culture under quarantine. I'll add the text of that to individual photo descriptions, but here's the introduction: Ethnographic Reports on Warfield Island Appendix 3: Hat traditions on Warfield in the Quarantine Years Introduction: “Warfield Island” (not its real name) is a small island which has declared itself to be under quarantine, not because of any illness in the inhabitants, but to protect themselves from a pandemic in the outside world. The resulting isolation, including limited access to outside goods, has resulted in some specific adaptations in the island’s culture. In this appendix, several examples of this in the island’s material culture are discussed, specifically, the unusual hats worn by the inhabitants. Note: Warfield hats are prized by some collectors, and have become somewhat known beyond the island. However, our team proposes that some of the reported “ancient folklore” surrounding these objects, as collected in oral histories and reproduced here, is probably intentionally fictional, created to entertain the teller while mocking the interviewer. Readers of this report should proceed with caution, understanding that the Warfield hat makers enjoy a prank-based storytelling practice.

Fig. 1: The Weighty Fez Materials: Black jersey strips (“t-yarn”), green bulky wool (KnitPicks, “oregano” colorway); madras shirt samples, small beads, a barrette

Construction method: crochet, handsewn embellishment Description: This is a startlingly heavy object, which must be worn with some care as it is oversized and will crush the wearer’s ears if it is not placed and balanced correctly. It is worn to convey the solemn authority of the island’s leadership, and requires the wearer to move with an attitude of grave thoughtfulness; this visual impression is sometimes enhanced with a long black cloak, somewhat reminiscent of priestly or judicial garments. This fez may also be used as a container, though this function has not yet been studied in detail.

Made this tunic from some very old organza someone donated to the clothing swap last weekend in Marina del Rey. Wanted to use as much of it as possible, so I made a big lagenlook-style tunic. Used the scraps to make little yoyos for the trim, and added a lace doily I found thrifting this week. Just in time for a very hot weekend in LA! Worn over a Marc Ware jumper; headwrap from Dean Alan; Bobs shoes; earrings by Polkadot Creations.

Tunic and t-shirt, raw materials for one of our projects at Kids Swap-o-Rama-Rama today, at Re-Discover Center in Culver City.

Tunic embellished with yo-yos and buttons, at Kids Swap-o-Rama-Rama today, at Re-Discover Center in Culver City.

Our Girl Scout troop invaded Luella's Quilt Basket for a meeting this week, and each girl learned to sew her own badges onto her sash.

So I've been itching to cut up some old jersey and thermal shirts that just weren't right--too short, too boxy, too whatever. And I've been admiring the amazing work of Secret Lentil and other talented contributors to the Deconstructed/Reconstructed Clothing Flickr Group. So I finally gave it a try. This is made from two shirts and some jersey pajama pants that lost their elastic. The pieces are handsewn together with crochet thread, not worrying too much about color or shape, experimenting with the stitch, just trying to see how I want to do this. Definitely some things I'll do differently the next time, but there will be a next time, because this was fun, it wasn't difficult, and it puts some unworn clothing back into circulation.

For Lisa C.'s "A Month of Hands" project. It's a Frankenshirt because I'm sewing the bottom part of a onesie to a non-onesie shirt--with a big ole Frankenstein stitch. There are many reasons that a career in surgery would NOT have been a good choice for me; stitching like this is the least of them.

Simplicity New Look pattern 6809, thrifted bedsheet for the fabric.