nomadsally: Jim's Seminole Vest

Jim's Seminole Vest

Examples of Seminole Patchwork

A promised Christmas present for 2011. And imagine it's only June 2012 and already completed!

Great Seminole Pattern Variety

The inspiration for the vest came from a Seminole class with Ann Bowker during summer 2011. I learned the basic techniques of the seminole patterns created by the Mikusaki-speaking Seminole women of southern Florida around the end of the 1800's.

These women developed a structural patchwork by joining strips of cloth lengthwise into long, multicolored bands, cutting these bands into segments, and assembling the segments in a preplanned order into long bands of geometric pattern. These, were then cut and joinged with each other and with plain strips of fabric to make material for garments. This colorful apparel has become the hallmark and the most visible art form of the Seminole culture. ( Seminole Patchwork by Beverly Rush with Lassie Wittman is a great source of instruction.)

The delight of seminole work is the unpredictable patterns that often emerge from the cutting and joining of these strips.

With my collection of seminole pieces, I was ready to begin the creation of Jim's vest. The following steps illustrate my process of development.

1. Select basic fabrics for entire vest. I chose 3 black cottons to enhance the bright seminole patterns and several rust/brown fabrics to fill in where necessary.

Getting Started

2. Look for other embellishments to complement the piece. I found a cotton wood block print of a mighty elephant of similar hues that I had made in Jaipur, India. I also found many thread colors and textures.
3. Choose the pattern to best illustrate the seminole patterns and the wood block. The Algerian Suit pattern (which had a basic vest) from the Folkwear Collection seemed to fit all my needs.

Vest Back
As illustrated in the photo, the back piece was my first challenge. I wanted to know how the elephant block would befriend the seminole pieces. It turned out to be fun creating a window for my elephant which I embroidered to add a slight dimensionality.

Have you ever seen an elephant with a gold tail?

The gold metalic stitching on the back added interest to the plain boring black fabric. Combining a subtle patterned printed cotton with soft flowing edges seemed to gently the elephant.

My Embroidered Elephant

The next step was to create a design for the two front pieces. This was difficult. My desire was to integrate the seminole pieces subtly creating a harmonious lively scene. Playing with the pieces always produced a paste-the-piece look, lacking the beauty of a flowing harmonious work of art.

Another Back View

A wonderful embellishment idea for bias binding. Desiring a very simple black colorwith subtle tones, I decided to paint lines on some of my black fabrics. Using the bias line, they would result in a soft diagonal which is evident in this photo.

Vest Fronts
Leafing through my Lois Ericson design book (Options by Lois Ericson) inspired me tremendously. The first brain storm was to divide the fronts with facings of a brown and black print.

Note the slight variation side front

Then I remembered the concept of creating small windows of design. Using chalk as a marker, I drew the curvy window opening, liked it, and completed the window as illustrated below.

Additional fabrics brighten the black.

Now, the design elements seemed to flow much easier....I could add small seminole pieces more or less randomly thus making each front slightly different in design but related in spirit.

Then, I used twin needle machine stitching as a way to integrate the diverse elements and add a more textured look to the entire piece. In the photo notice how the black comes to life.

The difficult designing work was done. Finishing the vest included: stippling the brown fabric areas, joining the fronts to the back, cutting and sewing the lining, adorning the lining with a pocket, label, and yoyos, assemble the vest with lining, binding all the borders of the garment, and add a few complementary beads.