Last week I had to choose a topic for my final project in Modern Textiles. There was one idea I was really excited about, but another student snapped it up before me (did you know that famed Seattle architect Paul Thiry also created designs for textiles?!). So I poked around at work and tried to find something in Special Collections that would be applicable. My boss recommended the J.B. Martin point papers- a huge collection donated by a famed French velvet maker. Point papers are basically graph paper on which you design a woven pattern –each square representing a crossing of the warp and weft.
Since there are thousands of point papers, I had to set a narrow focus. Most of the patterns are florals or geometrics, but there a couple of drawers of conversationals. “Conversational” is the industry term for novelty designs- the type of prints I was looking at for my menswear project. The thing is that usually when you think of whimsical conversationals you think of prints, probably on cotton. But woven into the fabric? In velvet? So part of my task will be trying to figure that out--for what possible purpose would you get these patterns woven in silk velvet?
Bassinet decoration for an infant emperor
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