Sew Cool

"Either I will find the path, or I will make it."
~Hannibal

Part of last semester's training was learning how to make appropriate storage for objects, so while researching the pair of Chinese children's shoes I also began thinking about how to better store them. Technically, the children's shoes I have been researching are boots (or baby booties??), and boots need a little more care than other shoes since tall boots flop over when they're not being worn. That's why boot stuffers/fillers/shapers were invented. Whether the stuffer is made of hard plastic or just fabric and stuffing, its goal is to keep a boot's shape when it is not on your foot. After wearing my own pair of wonderful boots this week, I decided that the little boots in the May Weber Collection could use something similar to preserve their shape for the future.

So, where's the best place to go if you have a question about DIY projects? Pinterest. In addition to researching the cultural context of these shoes this week, I scoured Pinterest, looking for an easy boot shaper pattern. Unfortunately Pinterest crafts can be a little too creative at times. Since I didn't feel that pompoms were necessary and lavender scented filling probably wouldn't be good for my artifact, I improvised. There was also the slight problem of my sewing repertoire. My skills are about as extensive as sewing a button back on a cardigan or a pair of pants. As you can imagine, I was a little apprehensive about beginning an important sewing project such as this. Nevertheless, necessity is a powerful motivator for learning new things.

Sew Easy Boot Stuffers for the Unskilled Seamstress

Materials:
Unbleached muslin
Polyester batting (fluffy stuffing material)
String
Thread
Needle
Scissors


1. Measure and cut a piece of unbleached muslin as long as the boot and about twice as wide as the boot. Admittedly, I just eyeballed the measurements on my first piece. Once I figured out what size worked, I took measurements and the second boot stuffer was much more precise. However, they both turned out just fine in the end.

A roll of unbleached muslin   

2. Fold the piece of unbleached muslin in half lengthwise. It should now be about as wide as the boot.

Don't worry if the edges aren't straight! That can be fixed later.

3. Sew two of the three open sides (one side is folded) together. I used a running stitch because it was relatively quick and easy, but someone with more sewing experience than me could probably think of a stitch better suited for the task.

A close-up shot of the stitches

The left and bottom sides are sewn together, the right side is folded, and the top is still open.

4. At this point the boot stuffer should look kind of like a tube sock, but with the stitching visible. To fix that, turn the fabric inside out. (Now it really looks like a tube sock.) I'm not really sure if there is a practical reason for doing this, but it looks much cleaner this way.

See? It really does resemble a tube sock.

5. Fill your boot stuffer with batting (fluff) until it's mostly full. Once it has been stuffed with fluff, either tie the top with string or sew it shut (if you're feeling fancy). I chose to tie the top closed simply because it's faster.

 6. Repeat the steps to make a boot stuffer for the other shoe! Wasn't that sew cool??

Ta-da!! Now these boots will be properly supported for years to come!!

Despite all  my concerns about sewing, it all went incredibly well. The boot stuffers work perfectly, and I'm pretty darn proud of myself! It seems that I'm not as bad at sewing as I thought!

On another note, the May Weber Collection has been officially announced to the public!! It's awesome to see the collection getting some good publicity. I'm also pictured with a fellow intern from last semester and one of the Indonesian shadow puppets, so that's pretty awesome too. The article has been posted on both the College of Arts and Sciences homepage and the Anthropology Department homepage and you can check it out here:
http://luc.edu/anthropology/homenews/maywebercollection-1.shtml

In the upcoming week I plan on accessioning the boots and continuing my research. So far, research has been coming along quite nicely, and I'm excited to share the information with you in a future post. Until then, stay tuned!!

As always, thanks for reading!!!!!!!!!

Wondering

"Wisdom begins in wonder."
~Socrates

This past week I've been wondering about an object in the May Weber Collection because over the next few weeks I'll be researching again. This time it's for an assignment in a class that I am taking this semester called Anthropology of Art and Expressive Culture. The collection reflects Dr. May Weber's interest in aesthetics and so those artifacts are perfect for an anthropology of art class to study. Just like last semester's object research, we still don't know very much about the objects we're going to study, and the catalog is often wrong. Now that I am more familiar with the collection, I've noticed that Dr. May Weber seemed to buy the most unique, one-of-a-kind artifacts in the world. It gives the collection excellent variety, but also puts us students at risk for dead-end research. Nevertheless, I'm ready to begin this frustrating and rewarding mission.

     

Gloves on and ready to research!! 

Unlike last semester's object research, my classmates and I didn't get to pick from the entire collection. Dr. Nichols (with help from another alumni intern and myself) kindly unearthed a bunch of artifacts for us to choose from, based on what geographical regions and styles my class is interested in. Being anthropology students, we're interested in pretty much every group of people in every part of the world. For a collection as diverse as ours, most people quickly found something that caught their attention. I had less trouble finding something and more trouble picking only one object. Even with probably 40 objects around me, I still didn't recognize any of them. Everything looked interesting, and I wanted to research all of it.

Pick an artifact, any artifact. There were much more throughout the room, too.

 A carved storyboard from Papua New Guinea

 A drum with demon heads, eyeballs, and entrails painted around it. Fun stuff.

 Anyone know how to play this instrument??

 Beware the sawfish headdress. It's still sharp.

The shield on the right was last semester's class example of a mystery object!

 A helmet mask from somewhere far, far away.

 My, what intense eyes you have.

Over the next few weeks I will be researching this pair of children's shoes from China, so expect to see a lot more of them in the future. They're so adorable, and I can't wait to learn more about them!!

One of the goals for the May Weber Collection is to make it a research and teaching collection, a place where students and scholars can learn about other cultures through objects. We all knew from the beginning that the collection would not reach that goal while we were still students, but my class assignment has altered that perception a bit. The collection is still very much a work in progress (the accessioning never ends), but thanks to all our work last semester other classes are able to use some of the collection for research. Even better, about half of my original intern class from last semester is also in the Anthropology of Art and Expressive Culture class, so we're unexpectedly benefiting from our own work. At the same time, my classmates and I will also be contributing to the collection itself. Like my research on the Indian jacket, any information I find (that means the paper I will turn in for a grade in my class) will be placed in the permanent records for that object, so even those who did not formally intern in the May Weber Collection will be part of its foundation. It's become clear that it takes a team of people to build a collection, but it also takes the cooperation of so many more than that to finish the job.

Hopefully by my next post I'll have some information on these shoes to share with you all. Until then, stay tuned for more adventures!! Thanks for reading!!!!