Cat Bacon Creative

It's been a little while since I've posted here, but I have been up to good things. I'm finally trying to monetize my art hobby. I started this blog in 2013 to explore the area of surface pattern design, and since then, I've created over 220 unique designs, spent a year learning the art of fabric dyeing, and given a talk at Nerd Nite Austin. The next big step is to launch my own Etsy store CatBacon Creative featuring my creations. Here's some ramblings about my store and the values I want to incorporate

CIRCUS, POLE, BURLESQUE, & DERBY

I picked circus and pole apparel because it is a way to combine my athletic and artistic hobbies. I'd already created my own custom costumes for performances, and I wanted to share my designs with the people in my community. My circus and pole classmates are really a second family to me. I've gained a new appreciation for my body since starting pole dance two years ago. Thanks to Sky Candy, BonBonBarre, Inner Diva, and Austin Academy of Burlesque. Also I am a huge fan of roller derby and admire the glitter, leggings, and physicality of this alternative sport.

HUSTLE

I've been very inspired by the creative and talented people around me. First of all, my brother Steven Kilzer created his own sunglasses line with lots of hard work over the last six years. I always played things a little more cautious, but I am tremendously proud of my brother's ambition and work ethic. Everyone in my family has this intense desire to create. My grandmother sanded carousel horses in her 70s and 80s. My father worked 14 hour days, then spent his weekends hunting deer and elk, ice fishing for Kokanee, or gardening a 70 foot plot. My Mom does everything from cooking, baking, knitting, cross stitching, to canning, sewing, gardening, volunteering, and quickbooks.

FEMINISM

I'm a huge feminist, and in great awe of the women I know who have started their own businesses. My friend Julia created her own massage studio Rising Spiral and it's seriously the best in town. My friend Shay is and continually wins awards as the best audio engineer in Austin (as well as the only female in this role), and owns her own studio Chez Boom. There's my teacher Serena from BonBonBarre, Mika and Inez from Hard Candy, the brilliant ladies behind Boss Babes ATX, and so many more. It's not easy being a woman in this world, but that doesn't stop these gals from taking risks and climbing to the top.

BODY POSITIVITY

I'm also really motivated by body positivity and health at any size. I love to read the fitness journey of activist Ragan Chastain. I love the radical self acceptance of burlesque dancers who just get on stage and don't apologize for being themselves.  I love how athletes come in all shapes and sizes, and want my clothing line to reflect that. Sadly, a lot of the fashion industry just taps out after size 12. I've been there, struggling to find a leotard to fit for ballet class, feeling like I don't belong in dance. Naww, dance is for everyone. Inspired by brands like Pin Up Couture, Artista Activewear, and the curvy-friendly clothing I found in New Zealand, I aim to provide clothing in a wide range of sizes. Sourcing is a little tricky as I'm doing low volume orders, but please be patient as I am working on getting items up to 3XL.

RESPONSIBILITY

I spend a lot of time thinking about where clothing is made, and where it goes when we're done using it. Again, I am limited in my power as a low volume buyer, but when possible, I choose clothing that is ethically made. I believe in quality over quantity. I hope to make items that you will love, take care of, and keep for a long time.

Tie Dye with Friends

Last weekend a friend and I did some tie dyeing. I made a couple sarongs, and she made a lovely dress. I am also really happy that I've finally found the perfect blue-green: Kingfisher green from Dharma Trading Company!

Candyland Tie Dye

I am literally dyeing over here... tie dyeing. 

I made this tablecloth for my roommate's birthday party. The theme is Candyland. It's 3.5 yards and I managed to not make too much of a mess, considering it's 40 degrees outside and I had to do the whole thing inside (Good dye fixation requires warmer temps). Anyhow, I'm pretty excited about the effects of tie dye, as there's a lot more than rainbow spirals. I will definitely be experimenting with more sarongs and bandanas once the weather gets nicer.

My cat wants to be the center of attention

Triple Spiral

Soaking in the dye

Year of the Sheep: Dragon Parade

My day job is software engineering at Indeed. This past Thursday and Friday, we had a hackathon, where employees spent the time working on a coding or creative project. I took the opportunity to make a dragon for Chinese New Year. It might be the first time I have been actually paid to use my art degree. I am really thankful to work at a company that values its employees and lets us do fun, creative things. I am also really grateful to all the people who helped me build this dragon, including Yuanyuan, Hideki, Renee, Pooja, Gregory... there were lots of helpful people at the end, so sorry if I didn't acknowledge you here.

The dragon is a little over 20 feet long, and takes 6-8 people to operate. It's definitely the largest project I've done, but it's really fun to work large. Total budget was $170. Aside from the fabric dyeing, the construction took 14 hours.

Sketching out the head

Making the armature

We used embroidery hoops for the body frame

Hacking out a pattern

Starting to take shape

The finished dragon and pearl

The parade at 11 pm.

I had a lot of help with the parade!

Outside we had fireworks

Dragon, Pt. 1

So my company Indeed gave me $150 to make a giant dragon for our Hackathon, which falls on Chinese New Year. Here I am prepping the fabric with some tie dyeing. I got 8 yards of fabric, 6 for the body and 2 for the head. Apparently 124 feet is a standard size for dragons, but what do I know, I'm a white person that took a couple Kung Fu classes. Mine's going to be 20 feet long because I did this in my own (rented) washing machine. 

6 yards

Indeed colors

Tie Dye, Part 2

Here's the results from my first tie-dye experiment. Looks like some parts came out a bit muted, so I'll be sure to add urea to the dye next time to make the stain darker. I might also try overdyeing or printing to finish these pieces.

A sarong

Workout clothes

Tie Dye Pt. 1

Today I experimented with tie dyeing, following the instructions from Dharma Trading Company.

I tied the cloth and soak it in a solution of Soda ash and water

I wring out the cloth and lay it in this nice tray I got at Ace Restaurant Supply

Oops, this is why you should wear gloves

Adding the dye

I wrapped it in plastic and let it soak 24 hours

Finished Wax Resists on Linen

Paisley patterns

Fun folding

My mom made this one :)

Fabric Dyeing at Home

After some inspiration from last weekend's Fabric Dyeing Workshop, I decided to set up my home studio for textile arts. I got a few yards of cotton and linen in white, and washed out the sizing with dish soap. For color, I'm using Jacquards Procion MX dyes. I took a couple of swatches of cotton, folded them up, and bundled them with rubber bands. Then into the dye for about two hours:

And here they are unfolded, but not yet dry:

This is so easy and fun. I'm looking forward to really exploring this space.