[Canvas Preparation]

Name: Sophie Pitman
Date and Time: Monday 15th

2016.February.15, 12:00pm

Location: Making and Knowing Lab / My apartment (58thSt)
Subject: Sewing the linen, lacing around the canvas

I started by tacking down a hem of c.2cm around the circumference of the linen, and then placed a strip of cotton twine inside the hem to reinforce the edges. I then fell stitched the hems down, ensuring that the cotton twine was at the edge of the square of linen, using a sewing needle and linen thread taken from the edge of a scrap of the linen.

I assembled the wooden canvas frame.

Then I used a yarn needle to lace cotton twine around the wooden canvas, and into the linen, just below the line of hem stitches. I then tightened the twine so that the tension was like that of a slightly loose drum.

Thoughts and responses: it was hard to get the tension right, to anticipate the effect that rabbit skin glue would have on the tightness of the linen, and so I made sure that the twine was adjustable.

Name: Sophie Pitman
Date and Time: Wednesday 17th February

2016.February.17, 11:00am

Location: Making and Knowing Lab
Subject: Painting on the Rabbit Skin Glue
Temperature: 4*c outdoors, temperature in the lab c.24*c indoors (fluctuating as the window was open)

The rabbit skin glue was heated to a temperature of 55*c and mixed at a 1:10 ratio of glue to water.
Making sure the glue had dissolved into the water, I applied the glue with a soft brush in a vertical direction, onto the linen (below the hem line).
I then set it to dry for c.1 hour in the fume hood, where there would be increased airflow.

After c.1 hour I applied a second layer of rabbit skin glue and set it to dry again in the fume hood.

Thoughts and responses:It strikes me that this preparation is very similar to the experiments I have been doing with making early modern clothing. When I made a small doublet, I painted linen canvas with rabbit skin glue to stiffen it as a lining for the laps (skirt around the bottom of the doublet), belly piece and shoulder wings. I did not realise that there was such a cross over of techniques and materials as a prepatory stage in both tailoring and painting until now, and I also did not realise that the wooden frame was sometimes called the loom. I am fascinated by the shared materials, techniques, and language of artisans in this period, and this connection was striking.

For a slide show of images:

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ASPECTS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN MAKING FIELD NOTES

• note time
• note (changing) conditions in the room
• note temperature of ingredients to be processed (e.g. cold from fridge, room temperature etc.)
• document materials, equipment, and processes in writing and with photographs
• notes on ingredients and equipment (where did you get them? issues of authenticity)
• note precisely the scales and temperatures you used (please indicate how you interpreted imprecise recipe instruction)
• see also our informal template for recipe reconstructions

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