If you've ever bought fabric, you're familiar with the little circles of color on the edges (on the selvage). These markings show how the different layers of color printing line up on the fabric. I used that idea of alignment in this next piece:
Alterations 64" h x 43"w I don't remember what that brown background is, but I'm pretty sure it came from my mom. The blue sections are all from my mom's clothing:
I took apart the blouse on the left, using only the neck edging, the sleeve ends and the seam sections - basically, the bones of the garment. The other two - a housedress and a nightgown - were just used as color sections. Mom had many yellow tape measures. Most - if not all - of the ones in this piece were hers. These tapes form a strong border all around, ascertaining exactly how everything measures up
Here are 2 detail images. The one on the left shows the measuring tapes, along with a ribbon saying "FIBER CONTENT: 90% CLOTHING, FABRIC AND PATTERNS belonging to my mother. 10% OTHER". In the picture on the right, there are several enlarged alignment markings. Some of these have been filled with photos (from the top) of my Dad, my older sister Joan, me, my brother Lou and my younger sister Claire. As you can see, Claire and I were not correctly aligned with the rest of the family. At the top of this picture, you see two women. They are both my mom, one as a young wife, the other in her 70s.
There are places in this piece where I've tweeked the language found in pattern instructions to tell the story. Here's another composite photo, along with typed text of the less decipherable ones:
Oh! And the big old sewing machine at the top. Since the blouse opening represents my mom's head, this is positioned to be a yoke, a heavy burden, that she carried. She didn't have an easy life.