Art and Design Commons^™

Choosing Penumbra, Christina Melchiorre

Graduate Theses

Amaranthine | adjective

am·a·ran·thine | \ ˌa-mə-ˈran(t)-thən , -ˈran-ˌthīn \

1a : of or relating to an amaranth

b : Eternally beautiful and unfading; everlasting, undying

2 : of the color amaranth; a shade of reddish-rose

My work explores the narrative I have with family in relation to who I am and how I have developed as a result of both positive and negative influences. Despite the dysfunctional dynamics that I experience with my family, I choose to remain connected to them and continue to endure and persevere through the obstacles that they create. I particularly experience these moments through …

Through The Eye Of The Needle: Embroidery As A Tool For Intimacy, Feminism, And Activism, Kristin D. Howell

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the work of contemporary women artists who utilize embroidery as their primary medium. The careful execution of each artwork, whether created by career artists or amateur participants in artist-led projects, simultaneously engages with the legacy of the embroidery arts and explores new strategies of expression.

Sewing And Dressmaking In Martha Mcmillan's Day (1891), Elizabeth G. Allen

Martha McMillan Research Papers

This paper describes the process of sewing and dressmaking in America from the mid 1800s to the early 1900s and provides historical context for Martha McMillan's discussion of sewing and dressmaking in her 1891 journal.

Clothing Construction Curriculum: Exploring Gender Inclusivity, Shaelin M. Nilsen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Female students have traditionally dominated enrollment in Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) courses (formerly Home Economics). However, gender diversity has recently increased in many FCS areas due to changes in gender stereotypes and career opportunities. This trend is evident at Utah State University, where gender diversity in clothing construction (i.e., sewing) courses has increased drastically since the creation of the Outdoor Product Design and Development degree program. This study evaluated students’ experiences in traditionally female-dominant clothing construction courses.

Gender-inclusive courses are crucial for a productive and safe learning environment for all students. Avoiding personal biases and cultivating a relevant curriculum …

And All The Things That Grew On The Ground, Sarah E. Phillips

Masters Theses, 2020-current

This is a document archiving and describing my work for the years 2019-2021 as part of the completion requirements for the Master of Fine Arts degree. As a whole, this work investigates the paradox and negotiations of access to the self, the history, and to the landscape you occupy. It asks questions about authorship, valuing, sacred and sacrament, but retains the gravitation, umbilical tie to memoir and narrative. Ritual, habit, and transformational cleansing are recurring themes in the work. Body, breath-- access to the invisible. Preservation of the uncertain. Fragility carries weight, and importance, destruction and negotiation as vessels of …

I Poked You Where We Were Connected, Sophia Ruppert

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Life leaves behind physical and mental residue. Some of these remnants are precious while others are tragic. Regardless of its origin, this residue can be made beautiful. Remnants of the objects that surround us chronicle our history as complex individuals. My sculptures investigate my own physical and mental residue to dissect and examine my personal history.
I unravel experiences that are residually prominent in my memories. Of particular importance are events and objects that have shaped my perception of self.
stories told by my grandmothers
a dysfunctional family dynamic
objects that provide visual touchstones to my childhood
These fragments are …

Sewing Lives: Mary Shelley’S Frankenstein And The Global Garment Industry, Sarah Garland

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This paper takes Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and uses it as an extended metaphor to investigate the points of destructive alienation and disassociation within the globalized consumption of clothing. The promise of new clothing is a set of garments that function like Victor’s dream of creation; materials are stitched together to give objects that match our closest-held ideals. And yet, because of our quick Victor-Frankenstein-like alienation from these ‘fast fashion’ objects when they no longer please us, clothing becomes, like the monster, an abjected figure for waste and shame, moving around the globe destructively, created from the bodies of the poor …

Heritage, Tradition, And Craft In Quiltmaking (Fa 1131), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1131. Collection contains Interviews, photographs, and informant data sheets relating to Sandy Staebell's project with quiltmakers in Allen County and Monroe County, Kentucky and Macon County, Tennessee for the 2017-2018 Osby Lee Hire and Lillian K. Garrison Hire Memorial Lecture Series.

Ohio River Survey (Fa 656), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 656. Kentucky Folklife Program project titled: “Ohio River Survey,” which includes interviews, tape logs, photographs and other documentation of folklife along the Ohio River in Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. Interviews may include a description of belief, traditional occupation, practice, craft, or tool, informant’s name, age, birth date, and address.

Powell, Steve (Fa 1195), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1195. Student paper titled “Quilting for Frugality” in which Steve Powell interviews close family members and friends about their experiences with quilt making. Powell offers a brief biographical background on each informant along with individual motivations and inspirations for crafting quilts. The paper includes color photographs of various types of quilting patterns and one sample of a quilting square.

Constructing Identity Through The Lens Of Fashion: An Honors Thesis, Cara P. Doiron

Honors College

Fashion is an artistic decision that every person makes every day. Even those who say they don’t care about clothing are still portraying something about themselves to the outside world with the stylistic choices they make. This creative Honors Thesis explores the impact of fashion on self-representation, accomplished through the design and construction of a capsule wardrobe line of clothing. Due to the project’s personal and introspective nature, the intended wearer is the artist, and therefore the pieces are specifically tailored to her, rather than the straight sized garments that are typically produced in the fashion industry. This line consists …

Pick Up A Habit, Emily Frazier

Honors Projects

Pick Up a Habit is a physically interactive experience that demonstrates the relationship between the strength of habits, their perceived priority levels, and the availability of mental space through a series of tote bags differing in weight, available space, and appearance. Through examining the bags and comparing them to others, a better understanding is gained of the effects that habitual actions have on their thought processes, and a person can more effectively evaluate and adjust their own habits.

Habits are behaviors or actions that have become automated due to repetition. People often desire to form habits to make parts of …

Aram Han-Sifuentes Interview, Yanessa Rodriguez

Asian American Art Oral History Project

Artist Bio:
Aram Han Sifuentes learned how to sew when she was 6 years old from her seamstress mother. Han Sifuentes was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Modesto, California as a child. She mines from her family’s immigration experience to address issues of labor and explores identity as a first generation immigrant.

Han Sifuentes’s work has been shown in national and international exhibitions. Her work has been included in exhibitions at the Chung Young Yang Embroidery Museum in Seoul, South Korea; Wing Luke Museum of Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle, WA; Center for Craft, Creativity and …

A Language In Becoming, Camille C. Hawbaker

School of Art, Art History, and Design: Theses and Student Creative Work

Words as I have known them are evolving concepts in the landscape of human language, where the meanings of words are interwoven with layers of history and culture. The boundaries of language are defined by words, and around the edges are instinctive sounds that precede and exceed meaning. These sounds are an interrupting force that unsettles the linguistic structure. We often use them for expression in the form of sobs, grunts, moans, murmurs, chants, obscenities and exclamations. They appear in times of spontaneous emotion that words cannot convey. They can also be used purposely, poetically, “…to shatter [one’s] judging consciousness …

Faytullayeva, Shamira A. (Fa 584), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding Aid only for Folklife Archives Project 584. Illustrated paper by Shamira A. Faytullayeva titled “A Great Tailor in My Family.” This illustrated project describes the economic benefits of the tailoring skills of a Russian emigrant, Samisiya Faytullayeva. Samisiya’s mother taught her to sew when she was a child, and the skill has provided an income for her family in the years since her husband’s death and their subsequent immigration to the United States. This project was submitted for the 2011 Folklife Archives Award competition at Western Kentucky University.

Creating Original Garments Using Couture Sewing Methods, Nicole S. Eckerson

Masters Theses

As part of my research, I examined the techniques and methods used in couture sewing from the past to the present, drawing inspiration from historical couture garments by designers Charles Worth (19th century designer) and Charles James (20th century designer). The four pieces I drew inspiration from include Charles Worth and Bobergh’s evening gown (1861), Charles Frederick Worth’s evening gown (1883), and Charles James’s “Butterfly” ball gown (1954) and “Swan” ball gown (1954). These designers were chosen based on their use of structure and form throughout their pieces. After researching couture sewing methods and using the gowns mentioned above for …

I Felt…, Yoorim Kim, Fleet Library, Special Collections, Jan Baker

Stories

This book was completed for Jan Baker's artists' book class.

Sowing Fields, Kathleen Mallow, Fleet Library, Special Collections, Jan Baker

Nature

This book was completed for Jan Baker's artists' book class, Printed Books.

Simply Sewing, Cynthia M Pater, Fleet Library, Special Collections, Jan Baker

Senses

This book was completed for Jan Baker's artists' book class.

Summary Of Five Garments Created For An Honors Project, Elisabeth Shaw

Honors Theses

The following garments were made for my family as Christmas gifts. They were created to be my honors project for Fall, 1974. Besides containing hard work, imagination, and love, I have created something that can be used and appreciated for years to come.

Personality and taste of the person were taken into consideration as I made the gift. The materials and patterns were selected in relation to how much wear these garments would receive.

The gifts include: 1. An eyelet apron trimmed in pink; 2. An eyelet apron trimmed in blue; 3. A blue velour robe; 4. A cranberry velour …

Honors Project [A Tailored Garment], Pauletta Flowers

Honors Theses

When I began thinking about starting my honors project, I came up with several ideas but the one that interested me most was the making of a tailored garment. My major is home economics so I thought this would be a good experience for me and a good time to learn something new. I liked the idea that I could work on my own and at my own speed, and could make appointments with Mrs. Elledge when convenient for both of us.

I have made garments before but I've never taken on such a large project or as detailed as …

Create Through Sewing, Sharon Kluck

Honors Theses

Gaining a practical knowledge of the basic sewing skills and relating this knowledge in a laboratory was my objective as I assisted Mrs. O. L. Elledge in a beginner's sewing lab. Each Thursday afternoon from three to five o'clock Mrs. Elledge referred me to girls with a particular problem or who needed help in some way such as measuring a hem. Together "my student" and I attempted to solve the problem. From these problems I greatly increased by knowledge since there was such a variety of situations.

Sugar Bags - Just Sugar Bags : Brunch Buns, H M. Gloster

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

DID you all buy bags of sugar and make jam, and bottle fruit, while the soft fruits were in season?

I do hope you saved those sugar bags—also the bits and pieces of gay drip-dry cottons left over from home dressmaking.

You will find there are plenty of useful and attractive articles that you can make with these things.

A Top For A Teenager : An Embroidery Motif, O. Evans Scott

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

WHEN a girl shows an interest in sewing, encourage her by allowing her to make something for herself.

Choose something simple that can be finished quickly without Mother's help—a difficult, time-consuming article may cause a flagging of interest.

Meals For Cooler Seasons : A Plain Cushion, H M. Gloster

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

ALTHOUGH March, April and May go to make up the "official" autumn season, the Clerk of the Weather does not always send us typical autumn weather.

Easter has passed however, we can usually expect cooler days and can look forward to the preparation and enjoyment of foods that are richer and more substantial than our hot weather fare.

Here are some suggestions for two universal favourites— roast duck and baked ham.

Farm And Home - A Happy Christmas To Housewives, H M. Gloster

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

THE Christmas season is at hand once more and the housewife will be confronted with the problem of providing appetising meals for various occasions.

Breakfast on Christmas morning may become a difficult meal in some households as the normal daily routine is naturally disturbed by a general mixture of church going, the excitement of young folk opening presents, the exploring of Christmas stockings, the door bell ringing with callers, and preparations for Christmas dinner.

Snacks With A Difference : A Novel Shopping Bag : To Line An Evening Stole, H M. Gloster

Journal of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, Series 4

FOR those who like to try something a little different, these recipes will strike a new note and I think that they will prove popular with most members of most families.