It was quite tricky to create forms from such a fragile material. I started fiddling with one of the samples, placing it on various body parts to see where it sits well.
At first my plan was to put the fabric into a frame like a small embroidery loop, but it seemed very plain. Since I am working with textures, I wanted to place it such that it can be in constant touch with the skin. So, I started to make something around the hands and wrist. Below are some of the sketches I made around the hand.
I will be using interfacing (the material used to add thickness to fabric for shirt collars) along with the 3d Shibori textures.
I am very inclined towards making a glove, so I made a sample. I very quickly realized the trouble points. The fabric needed to have stretch for the hand to fit in and I needed a lot of sewing practice to make the seams and edges perfectly neat. Below is my fifth attempt at the glove.
I want the glove to fit snugly on the hands and the arm as well but it is not quite simple because the wrist is smaller than the width of the hand. I am pretty sure the texture will give the fabric the ability to stretch. As seen below in the video, with the texture the fabric reduces to almost half in size than what it was.
I decided to incorporate the mindful element in the wearing procedure of the piece. Since I was already going to put the shibori texture all over the piece, I thought of just transforming the texture into buttons on the edge of the fabric. This way the piece will have more flexibility and buttoning the whole glove would give the user a few minutes in peace. To make the buttons, I sewed in the beads closed, that were originally removed to create the 3d texture.
I will be using fabrics like tulle or satin, these have a lot of stretch to begin with but since these are synthetic I won't be able to use the natural dyes. Additionally, cotton does not provide the poise that I am looking to create with the gloves. I would keep the dyes for the next part of the project.
The next step is to perfect the glove sizing and making. And also work on the design a little more. I am still not sure if I want to create two different gloves or one completely different piece. Two unidentical gloves does not seem like a bad idea to me!