Experimenting with different materials, large sampler.

I've been writing, recently, in one of my research/inspiration books, about the strange appeal of metallic elements in clothing. It's certainly something that appeals to me, anyway - and for this exercise about using unusual materials I thought I'd go all out. It was important to use a very rigid structure as a warp, and - for fear of it sliding out - decided to make a frame for it that wouldn't have to be removed, in much the same way as I did for the lace sampler project a few posts back. This time I used some quite thick wooden dowels. I began by weaving with thick wire used for gardening, then built up with some jewellery chains from eBay, some metallic yarn, and strings of beads or buttons.

My idea for this was partially with the final project in mind - I wondered whether it would be possible to make a 'suit of armour' that, with the right wire/chain/metal to thread ratio could be semi-viable as an actual suit! I had a vision in my head of being able to weave panels of the right shape, then remove the wooden frame, and 'sew' the panels together with wire. I imagined I could lay them out as a finished shape, embellish, and lift. This thought was inspired by a piece of cloth from the Metropolitan museum of Art, NY. Here's a picture:

Source

I've seen a few historical documents that show this was the way such jackets were constructed, and I must say that from the little experience of embroidery I've had, having a well-stretched surface to stitch has been a vital element. It makes sense to keep it a regular shape for as long as possible.
It's been an interesting project, if one that's very hard on the hands. I've not been entirely won over to the idea of working intuitively yet, but it's true that until you do something, you are never sure what you will learn. Being given more ideas for the final project is always a good thing, too.