Native Funk And Flash

Native Funk and Flas, An Emerging Folk Art, by Alexandra Jacopetti, photographs by Jerry Wainwright, Scrimshaw Press 1974, probably my most treasured book.  Need I say more?  Apparently I'm not alone.  Just read the reviews.  See what others have said and others have scanned, knitters, even.  Not sure when or where I ever came across this book, 18-20 years ago in a used bookstore Seattle, I'd guess. 

It tickled me to no end, one day at the Boulder Public Library in Colorado when we were living there, to come across not one, but TWO copies side by side on the shelf.  Check your local used book store or library catalog, or check WorldCat.org (what an amazing resource that is!).  Oh, and see here: the Missoula Art Museum, housed in the former Missoula Free Public Library building, opened it's doors in 1975 with the exhibit associated with this book.  You gotta love the internet for some things.

As always, click for a closer look:

Hmmmm,  haven't I seen french knots again somewhere lately?

That's not the Laurel Burch, the one who's dangly enameled cat earrings I wore in high school in the 80's, is it?  Why, yes, apparently it is.  Read more about her.

So much eye candy

and inspiration, it's difficult to decide what not to share.

This a good part of what's in there, at least my favorite parts.

"sunflower-patch-ecology", it doesn't really explain quite what they meant by that, but it sure sounds like something I'd like to subscribe to.  There was a time long ago when I hoped to someday have girls so I could one day make a shirt like this out of scraps from their old dresses.

Somewhere in the back of my brain, it must have been images and stories like these, burned in my mind's eye, that inspired this tank, sewed, embroidered, and never blogged, last summer:

Ultimately, though, it was Amber's sleeved linen version here, and all her sweet and creative embroidery, that is directly responsible for my copy-cat version of the same Simplicity 4589 pattern.  I like it best worn over a t-shirt. 

The linen for this tank was some I bought at the Seattle IKEA for $6.00 a yard way back when they carried fabric. (Is it true they have fabric there again now?)  I hoarded it for quite some time as it wasn't easy to find 100% natural linen back then, especially not at a price that low.  Some of it was made into a jumper dress in the mid-to-late 1990's.  Later, I cut the bodice off when it no longer fit and could no longer wear it while nursing, putting elastic into the lower part making it into a skirt.   Even later, the skirt was turned into a pillow case, which is now nearly worn out.

 

Comments

[melody]

wow- dig that embroidery! I could look at that book for hours. BTW Ikea does carry fabric again...

[Mary Lou]

Holy Patchouli Batman! Now where did my Laurel Burch earrings go.......

[Yarrow]

Oh I LOVE it! I am going to look for a copy of this book. If not local then on Amazon. It is right up my alley. http://yarrowofwitchwood.blogspot.com/2008/03/i-recently-got-this-book-illustrated.html

Thanks for sharing so many photos!

[Magdalena]

This is amazing, that we certainly don't have in the Czech Republic, nor the style, nor the book. Reminds me little of the Whole Earth Catalog if I say it right.

[Berlinswhimsy]

Wow, thanks for all the useful and enjoyable links here! I have never seen that book before but it's perfectly "crasome" (a term my brother uses while thrifting---crappy awesome---heavy on the awesome)! ;-) The photos remind me of my childhood...

[Anna]

Yep, this is what Americans look like, knew it all the time... The embrodery is truly amazing, also the thought that it's worthwhile spending time and effort on your clothes, because you don't follow trends or throw it away because you buy new stuff. I like it!

[Jennifer]

Wow - what a great trip down memory lane. I had a lovely hand embroidered denim shirt way back in the early 70s that I wore every day. When I outgrew it - I tried to wear it until my arms simply wouldn't fit anymore. These pictures bring back such happy memories. Thanks a million.

[Celina]

That is an AMAZING book, thanks so much for sharing your inspirations. I love seeing what makes you happy. I too, made an embroidered shirt in high school. It was one of my father's old ones from Burma, I loved it to pieces and saved the embroidered scraps. I love it when they pop up in my scrap box.
Celina

[Celina]

Annnd it is at my library! I put a hold on it, I love libraries.
Celina

[Lizz]

There are another couple of newer books out like this that I have seen...forget the names. I've seen one of those pictures in another book as well, a commune book perhaps.

What funky fun!

[Margaret Oomen]

I have never heard or seen this book but it is so amazing and would definitely be one of my favorite if it were on my bookshelf. Some of the things I have embroidered in the past look like they could have been images in this book, like the jean jacket I embroidered for a rock band member when i was a young girl.http://flickr.com/photos/12967142@N05/2308051691/in/set-72157603059628486/

[Linda]

I really appreciate you posting all these pictures. I was a kid in the 1970's which I think must be why this style holds so much fascination for me.

(And yes, I did wear Laurel Burch earrings in high school in the '80's, lol! Wish I still had them.)

[Lynn in Tucson]

My childhood just came rushing back to me in a not-entirely-comfortable kind of way! I'm sure my mother still has her copy somewhere....