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Aesthetically Pleasing Garments For Clay Workers.


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I just read  from an ancient Ceramics monthly on how to rejig a pair of jeans into a split apron for potters, main feature... you retain the four pockets!

Any other gems of clothing adaptations for hte poor potter to share with other?

Also in the mag was an article about th abscence of any breakthrough ceramics for th last 30 years! This mag was from the mid 1970's!

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I remember students making those when I was in college in the 70's and also the article, I didn't know what they were talking about.  Richard Zakin had written his book on the development of electric fire C6 glazes and I'm sure there was other new research at the time.    Denice

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TJR, you aren't supposed to split up the jeans you are currently wearing.  You are supposed to take old, worn jeans...

Oh! O.k. Remember those horrid big ass long skirts made out of old jeans?You sewed a triangle of material up the middle? I didn't like those either. Or sewing those dingle berries along the vertical seams of your jeans? No !. I actually saw two guys wearing suspenders with jeans in the same room, this week. Jeans have belt loops, people.

I know I am going to pay for this one. Bring it on.

Only two more days of school, then I am FREE,FREE, ha! Ha!.

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Did you wear those skirts TJR??? 

I don' know, "bottomless" jeans seem to be quite popular in some sets!

My converted jeans were not big assed :rolleyes:

Many a good hour was wasted patching jeans, or patching patches in jeans then a few years on you could BUY jeans woth frayed knees and patches..Why didn't I think of that???

yes the apron conversion seemed a little time consuming, I just step into a garbage bag! 

Ok be kind people..

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Did you wear those skirts TJR??? 

I don' know, "bottomless" jeans seem to be quite popular in some sets!

My converted jeans were not big assed :rolleyes:

Many a good hour was wasted patching jeans, or patching patches in jeans then a few years on you could BUY jeans woth frayed knees and patches..Why didn't I think of that???

yes the apron conversion seemed a little time consuming, I just step into a garbage bag! 

Ok be kind people..

It takes me back, and it's scary.

Tom.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm thinking of a design so that we can wear them back to front when the fronts wear out. .Used to replace the whole front legs with teh backs of other worn outs, from the pockets down, bit like swirling rocks though.

Want pics of the hazmat Neil.

Just can't picture what you'd do with the frayed and the worn bits, certainly potential. 

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Plus I've never found an apron that keeps me clean enough to warrant wearing it all day. Got plans for converting old jeans into a hazmat suit?

I kind of ran into this... I found myself wondering why I had a messy apron that I occasionally cleaned, instead of just wearing old jeans.

 

I keep a pile of old towels and I throw one over each leg at the wheel... more absorbent than an apron and more likely to keep my legs dry.

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I remember meeting some potters that had a pairs of jeans standing in the corner of the studio.  When they start throwing they just change into the crusty jeans and change back into the clean jeans at the end of the day.  Denice

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So what you are all saying is, that those spit legged aprons, they sell at the various ceramic suppliers, don't really keep you any cleaner than a normal apron?

 

Benzine, I think the split-leg aprons are better than standard aprons... they don't bunch up in the middle when you try to get close to the wheel and well-designed ones do cover your legs a lot better at the wheel.  The thing I ran into was that I still have to wash *something*.  With aprons, I either keep wearing the same apron that gets more and more dirty until I clean it... which means either paying for one or more spares, or having to remember to clean and dry it between sessions.  Of course, I always remember it needs cleaned when I pick it up to put it on.  So my problem isn't standard versus split-leg apron... it's apron versus no apron.

 

Cotton aprons don't repel water, which bothers me more than the clay... I don't mind clay on my jeans, but I mind having wet jeans.  A wet apron with wet jeans underneath isn't an improvement.  With towels, it takes a lot more to get my jeans wet, and if a towel does get too wet, I just toss it aside and take another from the pile... not so easy to do with an apron.

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I'm with you, it's not the dirt so much as the wet jeans under the apron.  I do have a really heavy denim or tough canvas apron that was for some sort of other work, and I split it up the middle.  It is heavy enough that it keeps my legs dry.  I have the dirty little habit of wiping my hands on my legs.

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I generally don't use anything at home, unless I am not use a splash pan. In that case, I'll use a towel in my lap.

I do need to get some more aprons for my classroom though. The students dress up, especially the athletes on game days, and they like to stay, understandably, clean.

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Now there is another adaptation ued by many a teacher of going to the opportunity shops, buying a stash of old men's shirts, not old men..., anyway you wear them back to front even can put elastic on the cuffs, may have to get triple xxx jobbies for your athletes!

Or Babs slyle slit the a garbage bag along the bottom,then up a side to just under the tie section pull it on , split to back and tie around the waist or neck, need two extra slits here!! and depending on the student as to how tight you tie it around the neck!!

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Am surprised (then again, maybe not) that no one has suggested the Paul Soldner approach . . . pot nekkid/naked. Don't have to worry about clay on clothes, don't have to sacrifice blue jeans; just hose off in the garden after your throwing session and before entering the house.

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Am surprised (then again, maybe not) that no one has suggested the Paul Soldner approach . . . pot nekkid/naked. Don't have to worry about clay on clothes, don't have to sacrifice blue jeans; just hose off in the garden after your throwing session and before entering the house.

Some of us have a mirror placed opposite to where we sit at the wheel, no further explantion needed!

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Thrift stores frequently have sweats for sale cheap.  I've bought a couple pairs and altered them slightly.  Waist band intact, cut off back side (butt & legs EXCEPT a two inch strip for behind the knee, and the cuff or elastic at the ankle).  These fit well over jeans, shorts (indoor or outdoor) or anything else you wear (or not).  Let them dry and next time you throw take them outside and scrunch up the thick clay areas and start throwing.

 

Shirley

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