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An American flag, handspun from Merino top then dyed and woven, is a signature piece of Los Angeles fiber artist Anna Zinsmeister. Culminating from her long-standing interest in flags, she was moved to create one for herself after September 11th. Anna learned to weave during her 1972 tenure at Immaculate Heart College (now defunct) from Momo Nagano. Later, she earned a Masters degree in textiles at California State University, Northridge. Although exposed to spinning much earlier in life, Anna didn't take it up herself until 1978. She teaches both subjects at many major fiber arts locations in the Los Angeles area and also accepts private students. Her interest in flags, especially old flags and their construction, prompted Anna to research the subject well before. Current flags are made out of printed cloth that is cut and hemmed to size, but it was difficult to find documentation on the formation of older ones. A major issue, she found, is that the standard for making them - dimensions, sizes, colors, and placement of the stars on the Union - was only established somewhat recently. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, there were precious few requirements. She found many books that listed suggested materials - wool for the body and stars of either cotton or linen, but she took in far more information by studying photographs. Most flags, Anna discovered, were woven in plain weave, and she presumes that they were pieced together from strips of cloth made on tape looms. (Tape Looms are narrow band type looms meant to produce ribbon or tape such as that used for supports in chairs.) Red and blue dyes were commonly available in the 1700s and Anna believes that may have prompted the choice in color way. The symbolism attributed to the colors was developed long after the original flag was created. Anna started by spinning singles out of white Supertop Merino on her Schacht Matchless wheel. But she also relied heavily on a hand spindle, carrying her work with her wherever she went. She created a worsted type single, as smooth and even as possible. A high twist level was important to maintain the strength and integrity needed for weaving and, since her plan was to weave the flag at 20 EPI, a thin yarn to ensure that the fabric draped well was essential. She met her goal, not scientifically, but simply by eyeing her output. Dying the red yarn before beginning her weaving process, Anna made her stripes on a two-harness table loom that she used primarily for teaching children. She chose Cushing's Dyes when coloring some of her yarn red; it came out variegated rather than a single tone. She's not sure if that was a result of her choice of dyes, errors in the dyeing process, or because she spun two different batches of Merino wool. Anna evened out the red somewhat by warping her loom with varying degrees of red saturation, ensuring that the color tones were interspersed within the final stripes. She wove the Union (the blue field) in white on her large Glimakra Countermarch loom and then dyed the resulting fabric blue. As with her red product, the blue ended up being an output of varying tones. Of course, because she wove using singles with a high twist ratio, there was a definite energy to the fabric. However, Anna says that once each piece was hand-washed - red, white, and blue separately to ensure that the colors didn't run onto each other, the pieces relaxed enough to give her flag a finished look. She worries that it's still possible for the colors to run and, as a result; she's never washed her finished flag as a whole. Upon completing the fabric, Anna pieced her project together. She quickly abandoned the idea of turning the edges of the stripes under for fear that the flag would be too bulky. Instead, she slightly overlapped each of the successive stripes. Once the stripes were arranged and sewn (using a running stitch with her singles yarn), the Union was inset into the piece. The finished dimensions of Anna's flag are approximately 4' x 5' which is not proportional to modern standards. Anna, however, was not concerned. Old flags not only did not have a set size, but even the stars didn't have to be placed in a particular pattern! Deciding how to handle the stars was actually a major part of her process. Anna knew that in old flags, they were created several different ways. Sometimes they were painted on, sometimes embroidered. Other flags had appliquéd stars but even that technique varied. She saw samples of flags with double sets of stars appliquéd on either side of the Union. But she also saw examples where stars were on only one side and then the Union fabric was cut behind them in such a manner that they showed through to the other! Anna's flag was started only for her own pleasure, but the Designing Weavers Guild asked her to display it in their booth at a conference given by the Association of Southern California Handweavers. Running short of time, she created stars by stenciling them onto the Union in fabric paint. On that version of her flag, a single star in the center graced two concentric circles of an additional 30. But she wasn't satisfied with the end result and, after the conference was over, wove another Union with the intent of appliquéing the constellation. Anna made the fabric for the stars by spinning cotton that was grown in a friend's garden. Cutting the resulting material was very traumatic because she loved the cloth that she had created. Persevering, she made 26 stars. That way, she could appliqué thirteen in the traditional "Betsy Ross Circle" on either side of the flag. They were quite large with plenty of extra selvage turned under to minimize fraying. She used running stitch to secure the selvage and then blanket or buttonhole stitch to affix the stars to the flag. Anna notes that her Standard probably would not hold up under hard use. She displays it outside her home only two days a year... on Flag Day and Independence Day. She regularly uses it as an educational tool, though, when teaching in schools or at the Girl Scouts. She plans to make another American flag and would also like to research and create the Mexican one as homage to Mexico's contribution to the California culture. Anna's very interested in learning how the picture on the Mexican flag used to be applied because it is very complicated. She expects to find that it was painted on. She is sure that Mexico's standard will ultimately prove to be a much more complicated project than the American Flag. Anyone considering making a flag should plan it carefully before proceeding. Anna recommends weaving many sample swatches and testing them for shrinkage. Getting the correct proportions of component parts, then assembling them is difficult. This is especially true if the end result is to be a flag representing today's United States with its proportional requirements. However, if the flag is planned to be a reproduction of older ones, the finished size is not so critical for it to remain authentic.
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