Sewing Room Assemblage Art
Sewing Room Assemblage may just be another name for a mess of sewing room items.I inherited those sewing items that I now wanted to use in my assemblage pieces. Think of assemblage as a three dimensional collage. My mother and mother-in-law were part of the generation that grew up in the Great Depression. They married before World War II. Their families started after the war in the 1950s.
A Generation Expected to Sew
Like many of their generation, sewing skills were expected. Neither my mother or mother -in-law were expert sewists. It has been over twenty years since I acquired all of their sewing supplies. This included special pieces of furniture to store the sewing items as well as numerous threads,needles pins, measuring tapes, thimbles and gadgets. Some of the items are recognizable to the 21st century sewists and some aren’t.
A New Use for the Thread Tray
A piece of furniture especially made to store sewing items had seen better days. Yet, I kept the wooden tray for thread storage. That piece became the frame for my whimsical piece with thread and small animals that I had been saving. I lined the larger left side with a piece of fiber and added a necklace. The details of buttons lay on a coral felted piece a friend gave me. The most unusual item is the wooden needle case in the middle of the third row. The wooden spools add charm but I couldn’t resist adding some color with some that still had thread.
Spool Wreath
I do a lot of sewing. Needless to say I had many empty wooden spools. I generally don’t throw anything away. For several months,I kept my eye out for a way to use these spools. I finally saw a wreath on a door. It inspired me to consider making a wreath with my spools. After much thought, I decided to string the spools on a dowel. I added red wooden beads in between. I had to experiment with the width of the dowel. The 1/4″ .5cm wide dowel was wide enough to fit the hole of the spool and strong enough to stay straight.
Other Parts of the Wreath
Other parts of the wreath used found objects like the clipon metal hanger and the fiber paper plate holder for the base. The burlap bow was reused from a gift I had received. I prefer a minimalist assemblage style for my sewing room pieces.
Mistakes can be Good.
The shorter length rays were a mistake. I used a 1/8″dowel that proved too weak to hold the spools straight. The dowel broke. Instead of throwing the weak dowel out, I choose to shorten the length of the arm. I think it worked. Mistakes can add interest although unplanned. https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2018/11/mistakes-that-i-have-not-regretted/
Sew Fun
This sewing room minimalist assemblage piece,Sew Fun includes some of the more unique sewing items. I started with a wooden grid for design interest.The heart shaped item’s original use was to store pins and large needles. The three dimensional shape has a 1/4″ space between the two hearts for that purpose. The long wooden spool on the bottom originally was covered with thread. An orange packet of needles and an orange pair of scissors adds a needed bit of color.
A Metal Bobbin
I learned to sew on my mom’s Singer sewing machine with metal bobbins. The bobbin is an essential piece holds the bottom thread. That machine is long gone. Yet, I found a metal bobbin with orange thread on it. An orange color scheme was devloping. Some may recognize the small metal threader in the middle. I believe that these are still available for sale. They presumably help people thread small needles although I never mastered that skill. An orange batik ribbon for hanging completes the piece.
Red,White and Black Treasures
The red,white and black treasures of thread were originally part of a small sewing kit my daughter bought in Germany. I lined the box with a thin piece of cork. Another long empty spool from the American Thread Company was added. I included the paper instructions for Muriel’s Yarn Threader price 75 cents. Who doesn’t have a lot of buttons? I created details with two levels of buttons in alternating colors. Black ceramic tiles finished the corners.
Brown European Threads
For the Brown European Threads Minimalist Assemblage, I used the bottom part of a lidded box. See the little bit of the hinge on the left. I couldn’t remove it so I just left it. I lined the box with a piece of redirected wall paper. There were several more European threads in the brown muted color range. A packet of Boye Needle Company from Chicago takes center stage. This is the type of packet that I saw many times in my youth. This time I placed the double decker buttons on small cream colored tiles.
Blue European Threads
Another variation of the sewing room minimalist assemblage is Blue European Threads. I used wallpaper for lining. I made double decker buttons with blue, green and yellow that match the European spools of thread. Some matching shiny round objects to offset the spools. Blue and green buttons are placed on blue tiles to accent the corners.
Conclusion
Sewing Room Minimalist Assemblage can take many forms. So take a new look at the items that you have around your home. You don’t have any? Search for unique items at garage sales or second hand stores. You can give a new artful life to the common sewing items from the 20th century.
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/03/beginning-steps-to-creating/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/02/recent-attempts-at-assemblage/
https://annbaldwinmayartquilts.com/2021/09/art-in-a-box-assemblage/
