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~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

jeanweaves

Monthly Archives: October 2017

Loose Ends, Part 2

27 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Finishing

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Columbia Weavers & Spinners Guild, Production, Weaving

This week has been all about loose ends again, but metaphorically this time.

Our guild’s annual Holiday Exhibition and Sale is coming up in a couple weeks and I have just one more week to finish up those last pieces I signed up to bring: finishing the last of those opphamta hanging cloths – one for each season;

Soaking "Summer"

Soaking “Summer”

fringing and washing said hanging cloths;

Twisting fringe on "Autumn"

Twisting fringe on “Autumn”

sewing on the tags specific for this sale.

Tagging pieces for our local guild's Holiday Exhibition

Tagging pieces for our local guild’s Holiday Exhibition

I move pieces around from one venue to another to keep things fresh and interesting. These have to be retagged and noted in the inventory.

Sometimes I put something in the sale that I’ve had around for a while and now its time may be right, its color trending now more than when I made it. You never know when someone will come in looking for just that color or just that piece.

All these loose ends will eventually get tied down. One by one, I check them off my list, pack the pieces in a box, and hope for the best.

One more loose end I tied up recently was my plan to set up a Facebook page. I know I am late to the game on that one, but two weeks ago I finally launched the JeanWeaves page. There I can post quickly what is coming off the loom, what is available in my Etsy shop, and share other fiber arts links as I find them, while continuing to blog here.

So check out JeanWilliams.JeanWeaves on Facebook. And if you like what you find, follow the page for future updates.

As I’m working on all these loose ends, I contemplate—what’s next on the loom? What direction to I want to head in now? Stay tuned!

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Loose Ends

20 Friday Oct 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Designing, Planning

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Finishings, Textiles, Weaving

Kitchen Towel Stripes and Denim

Fold-over hem

Every piece has loose ends. The fabric is woven, the threads cut, but all those warp threads have to be fastened off somehow.

The purpose often dictates how a piece is finished. Most of what I weave needs a durable finish. I don’t want my handwovens to fray away in the wash. Towels, placemats, napkins, anything that will be washed frequently calls for a folded hem.

Black and Burgundy Wool Scarf

Twisted Fringe

I can also twist the fringe. Picture handwoven scarves, shawls,and even blankets, and most often they are finished with fringe. Twisting the fringe controls it. Some yarns have so much life, they just want to tango (or is that “tangle”?) as soon as they are cut from the loom. One of my weaving friends adds beads to give her fringes a little glitz.

And then there is hemstitching. Hemstitching is a decorative finish done on the loom. It binds the warps so when you cut the piece off the loom, it is essentially finished with the exception of washing the piece. The ends can be left to form a fringe or worked with twists, loops, or knots.

When I choose to hemstitch a piece, I leave enough warp at the beginning and end for a fringe. Using weft from the shuttle, I stitch up and over, up and over, across the warp. The first part of the stitch catches the warp.

The second part is worked around the tail of the first stitch to tie the bundle.

Each stitch binds two, three, four or more warps in a bundle.

I use a very simple hemstitch, but there are some wonderfully creative techniques to dress up the hem. Virginia M. West details many hemstitching variations as well as fringes, knots, and added bands in her book Finishing Touches for the Handweaver (1988: Loveland, CO Interweave Press). I know it’s an older book, but so worth it if you can find a copy.

What is your favorite way to tie up loose ends?

Meditations and Quiet Time

05 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in creating

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

creative inspiration, family, Handweaving

We all have different ways to find our quiet spot: that quiet place in our minds and hearts where we regroup from day to day pressures and those bigger stressors that challenge the community as a whole.

My mother reached for her yo-yos. She quilted and created many lovely bed coverings for her children and grandchildren, but in her later years, she always had her basket of yo-yos. She hand-stitched these small scraps of fabric into circles with the plan to put them together into a larger hanging. Along the way, she made smaller pieces on special themes.

Halloween Yo Yos

Halloween Yo Yos

One of my sisters retreats into her counted cross stitch. Her high-stress career in business management left her drained and with little time to herself. To unwind, she stitched design after design, intricately blending colors in nostalgic and seasonal scenes. It was all in the process.

Cross Stitch Towel

Cross Stitch Towel

I find solace at the loom. The rhythmic swing of the beater and passing the shuttle back and forth, watching the fabric grow with each throw, easing any tensions cluttering my mind.

Depending on the time of the year, making time for weaving can be a challenge. Each season has its own activities, some always a priority, others done because they have to be.

Summer seems to be the best time to visit our children and grandchildren living in different parts of the country. We love to see and hug them all, working around their schedules and ours to make sure we get to see them. Summer is also a time for home maintenance and fix-ups not possible in the winter months. And the summer garden always needs more attention that I usually afford it. Still, in October, my tomatoes continue to bear!

I can tell when I’ve been away from the loom for too long though. The small sense of urgency and tension whispers in the back of my mind until it becomes a priority of its own—I’ve got to get something on the loom!

Autumn in process

Autumn in process

And so it was last month. I methodically measured the warp, quietly threaded the heddles, carefully wound the threads onto the loom. That’s where I found my happy spot. The quiet swing of the beater. Passing the shuttle back and forth, watching the fabric grown with each throw.

Where is your quiet spot?

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