Chapter Eleven

Chapter 11

Make a Special Book, Portfolio

or any other simple structure related to Media,

Correspondance,or Stationery

My Proposal is to make a Fan.

Once fans where used as a communication devise between lovers.

A language of fans was created so messages could be sent without chaparones, Fathers and even Husbands finding out!

Front View of the Completed Fan

The attached book is to symbolise a dance card, but instead holds the messages trapped inside the grids of each monture and the instructions of how to hold the fan to convey the message.

Rear View of the Completed Fan

The montures are held together with a clear acrylic thread.

This allows the fan to be opened to just the correct distance and to hold the shape.

How the Fan was Made...

Initial Sketch and ideas for messages

I intend to create grids and use the papermaking techniques to "trap" the messages in the fan.

I have chosen six messages

1 . We Will be Friends

2. When Can I see You?

3. I Promise to Marry you

4. You May Kiss Me!

5. I am Sorry

6. I Wish to Speak to You!

A technical drawing to actual size of proposed fan

How I will "trap" the messages:

Example of a mixture of typefaces

Grids are created by drawing lines that follow the contour of the letter

The Grid once the text has been removed

A simple frame

Frame laid over the grid and guide line threads are sewn catching the inside edge of the frame each time, once the guidelines have been sewn blanket stitch over them to strengthen.

Overview of what I did

The completed thread grid follows closely the pencil lines

The style of fan I intended to use was a Brise fan - made entirely of sticks which broaden towards the top and are held together with ribbon, but after seeing the Jenny Lind Fan - a brise fan made with fabric cut like feathers or petals mounted on sticks, I decided to go with this style


Here is a example of a Jenny Lind Brise fan made with paper moons

I looked into how my design would look as a Jenny Lind brise fan

and how many Montures - or arms of the fan that give it structure would be required.

I settled on eight, a front and back and six message montures

Once I had discovered that there was a Fan Museum in Greenwich I just had to go!

It was full of delightful examples covering the full history of it's developement

and how there are made.

Trapping the Message

I will show you how one of the messages was captured,

I used the same technique with each message

Message Four... You May Kiss Me!

The message's text is brought closer together

so that the details within the grid will be inside the framework

Tracing Paper is laid over the text and the prominent lies are drawn in

Using a light book I traced the lined grid on to dissolveable paper

I machined over the lines with a straight stitch.

Message 4 with first machine stitching

Some of the other messages

Then returned over the straight stitch with a zig zag

The message captured!

To make sure the grid kept it's shape it was sewn onto a piece of brown envelope

and the soluable paper was washed away

Once the paper had washed away and the threads had dried

hand stitched embellishments were added

Message 1

Message 2

Message 3

Message 4

Message 5

Message 6

The Frames were then made

and the front and rear montures were given their grids

The grids were attached to the frames

Message 4 on it's frame

The completed messages on their frames

Adding the Pulp

Drying the pulp

The Messages with Stitch and Paper embellishment

I was advised that the edges were not really thought through.

I initially thought that the organic nature of the paper pulp was captured in them

But they were unstable and wouldn't have lasted long.

So I removed the rough edges and spent some time thinking about

the machanics of joining them together.

With a neater edge

The wire was bent to a circular shape and glued to a washer

The sticks were whipped with a yellow wire.

Although the edges were neater they needed something more...

Beading prehaps?

I had collected together a fine selection of threads for this project so I gathered them together and made them into a whipped thread.

Then I joined two lengths of the new thread together to produce a flat broad ribbon

This was then attached to the frame.

Going around twice!

I threaded a selection of blue, brown and yellow beads of varying sizes onto a strong thread

and crouched this beaded thread onto the new edging

Close up

What to do with the washers?

And how will it be joined together?

The Front and back montures will need to have something creative covering the washers and I used the old school hand writing charts and the following handwriting it produced to design this simple roundal.

The felt discs will be sewn together and a repeat of the beads from the above edging will complete it.

The other washers will be hidden from view so they have been painted brown and a felt filler "washer" has been glued to them to aid movement once attached.

Message 4 with it's new edging and felt washer

I have since decided that the felt washer and painted metal were some what crude and changed them to having a complete cover similar to the front and rear montures

A clear acrylic thread has been sewn through each monture, the same length each time, so that as it openes it keeps the same shape and distance between each monture.