Native Nebraska Bog Shirt by Eveleyn Chingren

The "Native Nebraska" Bog Jacket is the vision of the submitting Artist and even though I have learned to do all of the techniques used in this shirt it was timelier to use the expertise of individuals with more skill in certain areas. The name of this jacket is two fold as it features a panoramic view of the sandhills at dusk with bison and cranes, very much a native Nebraska scene; but it alos uses textiles native to Nebraska, including bison hair yarn, soy and corn silk, and wool, as well as natural products that may have been used by American Indians and the early settlers such as cotton muslin, wooden beads, and natural stone.

The hand woven bison hair fabric was embroidered with hand dyed, hand spun soy silk and wool using a modified Kogen stitch as a base for the basic hand embroidery which included cotton embroidery floss, wool and hand spun corn silk. The animals were computer digitized, machine embroidered and hand appliquéd to the jacket. The collar is hand knitted and the sleeve/yoke portion of the jacket is hand crocheted using the bison hair yarn and then enhanced with the pine wood beads. The lining of the jacket was machine couched with the bison hair yarn. All of the sewing and construction of the jacket was completed by the submitting artist, and as a finishing touch, jasper (stone) buttons were added.

The vision, design, dying, embroidery (all kinds), crocheting, bead work, knitting, construction, sewing and finish work are the. Talents of the submitting artist. The panoramic scene was drawn from the submitting artist’s vision by Dorothy Evans, her talented mother and artist. The weaving was done by Iris Nunly, talented artist and teacher, and the spinning by Nancy Holder, talented artist and teacher. The "Native Nebraska" Bog Jacket was specifically designed and executed as part of a bog shirt style show fund raiser featuring local artisans by invitation for the Hastings Museum.