Monday, November 30, 2009

Side tracked with weaving

My intention of dyeing the Shetland wool and starting to weave with that has been delayed as I had a very interesting Guild weaving day last Friday with corduroy weaving.
I now have a warp on my Leclerc loom to sample with this technique. We will continue with this at the next Guild meeting end of January when the same tutor will come back for another day.
She now showed us different ways to either weave rugs, cushions or dressmaking material, bringing lots of samples and showing slides. I found it all very inspiring, specially the dressmaking possibilities. Some had brought their loom and woven a bit. I did bring a small loom (not my own, that is still waiting to be converted), I managed to dress it with a warp but no time left to do some weaving. At the Guild meeting we did not weave. The tutor just showed on the woven looms, what to do after weaving (how to cut the threads) and what to look out for when weaving.
When I got home I took the warp of the small loom (only able to weave 15+cm wide on it) and put it on my Leclerc as that will be easier to weave on. I'm glad I did, as I find that it is not a fast weaving process.Here my first bit of weaving and starting to cut the yarns.The tutor showed us to use a knitting needle to lift the yarns that need cutting but a friend gave me this part of an old umbrella. It is perfect for the job!As you can see, the scissors fit in the groove.Here I have woven some more. The top part has half the loops giving a different appearance, also making the cloth lighter. It just depends what materials you use. Endless possibilities! My warp is cotton 8/2 and I'm just using odds for the weft.
Here all the loops are cut.And here a photo of the back of the cloth, (oops, looks like a weaving fault somewhere) but I wanted to show how the weft yarn looks at the back with both double and single loops.

4 comments:

  1. Interesting!! Love the umbrella spoke idea for cutting.

    Good for you for getting home and trying out what you learned in class right away!

    Sue

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  2. So that's what handwoven corduroy looks like, I like it! What a fun thing to do with your Guild, and very useful to have the talk about uses for your fabric.

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  3. So very interresting, I've never done that. It gives exciting effects.

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  4. Great effects - intriguing possibilities.
    Clever tip about the umbrella rib.

    Judy

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