Embellished Bloom by Zoe Kaputa
My e-textile is a thermochromic crochet flower. Inspired by my grandmother’s blankets made of delicate crochet flower designs, my swatch design aims to explore the meaningfulness of embellishments in textiles in terms of our own personal narratives and how they adapt with the addition of technology. As a child, I remember watching my grandmother painstakingly crochet many flowers then arrange and combine them to create colorful blankets. The flowers and colors made these quilts come alive, their garnishes made them intimate.
Works of embellishment such as this are often viewed as dated, distracting, and negative in technological design. This notion rejects centuries of technologies produced by women and minority individuals that, although unneeded and often costly, included materials and detailed designs just for their beauty (Lin). By introducing a more intricate patterning using heat and thermochromic pigment, my design expands upon an already beautiful crochet design. My design does not mean to dismiss current design patterns, but instead provide a more encompassing alternate example. I am attempting to bring current-day technology past the realm of practicality.
I have many beautiful blankets gifted to me by my grandmother, and although I could never match her expertise, I want to provide my own twist on this traditional technique. The final crochet design was improvised and mainly based on my memory of my grandmother’s pattern. The surface of the crochet textile is painted with thermochromic pigment, which is blue, but becomes clear when heated. In addition, throughout the swatch, conductive thread is wrapped around specific stitches of the crochet: a circle in the center of the flower, and the outline of the petals. Thus, when a battery is connected to both ends, the thread heats up from the power of the circuit and the areas in which the thread is sewn become clear, showing the original color of the yarn. This produces a more intricate pattern of color on the crochet flower.
Materials List
- Yarn
- Crochet needle
- Conductive Thread
- Conductive fabric
- Thermochromic Pigment
- Silkscreen Medium
- 9V battery
- Crocodile clips
References:
Ebb ("I don't want to wear a screen": Probing perceptions of and possibilities for dynamic displays on clothing) by Devendorf, L; Lo, J; Howell, N; Lee, JL; Gong, NW; Karagozler, ME; Fukuhara, S; Poupyrev, I; Paulos, E; Ryokai, K (https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2858036.2858192)
Textiles: The Art of Women’s Work by Brenda Lin (https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/textiles-the-art-of-womens-work)
