Melinda Baur
Meet the Designer-Artist
Where do you live?
I live in Bloomington, Illinois.
What inspires you as a designer-artist?
Much of my inspiration comes from scientific phenomenon. I am a biochemist and professor by training and my creative work is influenced by what I observe in the both the lab and the natural world. For example, the beading pattern on the bottom of the Knitted Swing Party Dress is reminiscent of spectroscopy peaks I see in chemical analyses.
What medium do you work with mostly?
I am a fiber artist, specifically a knitter. I began designing and selling knitwear in 2015, when I started working with Stanley and Janetta Bauer of der Bauernhof Farms, a Central Illinois alpaca farm (www.alpacasillinois). I learned how to embellish knitwear with beads shortly thereafter when I made a lace shawl with beads and subsequently made a beaded knitted lace dress for my daughter. When knitting, I like to work with natural fibers, especially alpaca and silk. Many of the pieces I make (shawls, cowls, wraps) include beadwork that complement the luxurious alpaca and silk fiber.
Why did you become enchanted with this style of jewelry-making?
I first began using crystals with 100% silk yarn when I designed and knitted a wedding dress for my daughter-in-law. The sparkle and movement of the dress was simply amazing, although it was difficult to capture in photographs. I also use silk yarn for lightweight evening wraps and shawls. The silk yarn is perfect for a lightweight wrap and the beads add the perfect amount of sparkle.
Where and how do you sell your jewelry?
I sell my finished knitted pieces through der Bauernhof Farm and knitting patterns through Ravelry: https://www.ravelry.com/designers/melinda-baur. Some of my knitted pieces have also been featured and sold at regional wearable art galleries in the Midwest. In addition to my biochemistry classes, I also teach intermediate knitting classes at my community college -- Heartland Community College -- including a class featuring beaded lace knitting.
What is the name of the piece you submitted with your success story?
What inspired this design?
Since I had already made dresses for both my daughter and daughter-in-law, I designed the Knitted Swing Party Dress for myself. Since 2016, I have become enchanted with knitting evening wear. I think many people have an idea of what knitwear looks like and it doesn’t look like something you would want to wear for a night out. I want to change that perception! I wanted to use the beads in this dress to highlight the color transition between the black and fuchsia yarns, as well as the neck and hemlines. I used black beads on the fuchsia yarn and fuchsia beads on the black yarn to create the ombré effect at the waistline. Since the silk yarn is quite lightweight, the beads add weight to the dress and allow the fabric to have some momentum when moving, especially at the hemline. Not only is this a wearable piece, it is best shown with movement, as the beads light up with the smallest movement and in the lowest light.