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~ Jean Williams, Handweaver

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Tag Archives: Textiles

“Plays Well With Others”

26 Monday Nov 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Color, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Color, Design, Textiles, Weaving

dsc_1061a111At a recent guild meeting we watched a portion of Laura Bryant’s DVD “A Fiber Artist’s Guide to Color.” She discusses how to arrange colors so that they don’t “fight” against each other. That reminded me of elementary school report card behavior comments:

  • Follows directions
  • Completes assignments
  • Expresses ideas clearly
  • Does neat thorough work
  • Plays well with others

Do the colors I pick for any given project follow my mental directions in the warp and weft? Do they express my ideas of what that fabric should look like? Do they “play well with others”?

dsc_1055a111

Laura took the audience through several exercises demonstrating how our perception of colors is affected by all the other colors around them. Putting a purple patch over a white background or a blue background affects how that purple looks. Our eyes will “see” it as different when it is actually the same.

Watching her exercises, I recalled a “problem child” cone of yarn I have that doesn’t play well with others. It’s called “Bluebird” and by itself, is a delightful purple which leans toward blue. But just try to blend it with other purples or even with reds and it becomes either a bully by standing out like a neon light or is itself bullied into a non-descript gray.

I can blame some of this on my camera or my lighting, but this cone of yarn is often the culprit when I can’t get a towel to photograph well. It’s a case of the background color either highlighting the accent or pulling all the color out of it. What I need to figure out is the happy medium.

I do a lot of color-blending in my warp and it’s fun to see which cones work together and which ones I have to save for another project. That’s what makes each project unique, each towel “expressing ideas clearly” and “playing well with others.”

……..

Don’t forget the holiday specials going on in my Etsy shop. I am offering 10% off on any orders over $75. Just enter the code HOLIDAY18 at check-out. And if you order on today, November 26, your treasure will ship for free.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

20 Tuesday Nov 2018

Posted by jeanweaves in Nostalgia

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

family, handwork, Holidays, Nostalgia, Textiles, Weaving

DSCF1027Here we are at our annual day of giving thanks. As soon as November hits, the stores put up the red and green, but I appreciate a day to reflect on all that I am thankful for.

I’m thankful for colors—blues, greens, corals, rubies, golds, browns—oh the richness and variety of browns in the world!

I’m thankful for textures—smooth, silky, fuzzy, bumpy, ridged, sharp, soft.

I’m thankful for handwork—weaving, spinning, knitting, tatting, crocheting, sewing.

But more than all of these, I’m thankful for faith, for family, for friends.

And I’m thankful for all of you who read through my occasional musings on fiber art and who have supported my creative jaunts.

To share my appreciation, I am offering 10% off on any orders over $75 from my Etsy shop. Just enter the code HOLIDAY18 at check-out. And if you order on Cyber Monday, November 26, your treasures will ship for free. Perhaps you’ll find just the right gift for you or your special someone.

Thank you – and Happy Thanksgiving!

Holiday Notes

11 Monday Dec 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Color, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

Color, creative inspiration, family, Textiles, Weaving

In the past, when I worked in an office and wove on the side, all weaving stopped about the middle of November. After our local guild’s holiday show, I had to turn my attention towards preparing for the holidays.

Empty loom

Empty loom

We never knew how many would come to our Thanksgiving table, but I always enjoyed fixing the various dishes my Mom made and adding a few of my own. Gathering, shopping, baking, simmering all kept me out of the studio.

Christmas carries many of the accumulated traditions from my childhood with special holiday cookies, breads, and candies. All that in addition to school programs, gift-making, cleaning, and decorating. There just wasn’t time to do much at the loom.

Times have changed. Kids have grown. The office job is history. Now my studio is my “office” and I get to weave late into the season!

Harvest and Sea colorways

Harvest and Sea colorways

Last week I wound warp for an idea presented to me last month—aprons with pockets. I’ve woven them before, but my latest designs didn’t have the pockets. I also noticed while inventorying yarn that I have a lot of gorgeous 10/2 mercerized cotton. Put the two together and the ideas began to sprout. I have enough yarn for two warps, one that looks like grape harvest to me, and another that is more of a Caribbean feel. These colors will warm the January winds!

Harvest Apron Warp

Harvest Apron Warp

I don’t know if I’ll have time to finish these before Christmas but there’s no deadline. In between batches of cookies and writing cards, I sit at the loom and throw the shuttle. It is such a welcome, peaceful way to ponder the season.

Follow the aprons’ progress on my Facebook page, www.facebook.com/JeanWilliams.JeanWeaves

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?

What To Do With Loom Waste?

17 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by jeanweaves in Blankets, Thrums, Weaving Inspiration

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

creative inspiration, Textiles, Thrums, Weaving

Loom waste from the wool blanket warp

Loom waste from the wool blanket warp

After I took my blanket off the loom, I was left with a familiar dilemma—what do I do about all that loom waste—thrums in weaving parlance.

Loom waste is the warp yarn left when you can’t get weave any further. Most of the time, it’s about 36” that is either cut off and thrown away or tied on to the next warp. On my Glimakras, it can be as much as 42” depending on the draft. For a wide warp, that’s a lot of yarn.

I left the warp knotted on the loom after I cut off the blanket. I just couldn’t bear to throw it away, knowing how precious good wool is. Yet what could I do with it?

Back in 2014, I used thrums for mug rugs in an overshot weave but I don’t need any wool mug rugs right now.

A couple years ago at a Midwest Weavers Conference, I took a class by Robyn Spaedy on making jewelry with thrums. She creatively wound precious yarns around pipe cleaners and twisted them into curious shapes to make whimsical pendants, earrings, and bracelets — an inspired used for sparkly, fun yarns, but these muted colors of wool wouldn’t make much of a statement.

So the thrums stayed on the loom.

At the same time, I’ve been pondering what I can weave for our annual guild challenge. The past few years, the challenge has revolved around the color of the year. This past October, we met at the University of Missouri Museum of Art and Archeology. We were challenged to use something in the exhibits to inspire a finished product. “Lallah Rookh” by Francis John Wyburd is filled with elements that can be translated to the loom, from the bed covering to the drapery, and even the women’s clothing!

As I walked past the loom with the wool this week, it occurred to me that this wool could make great cushion fabric for my loom bench. And the bed covering in “Lallah Rookh” looks like rosepath boundweave! At last, inspiration!

Boundweave sample from a recent workshop

Boundweave sample from a recent workshop

In boundweave, the weft covers the warp entirely. It makes good sturdy rugs with striking figures if more than a couple colors are used. My thrum wool colors may be subtle, but they do contrast with each other and will bloom nicely after fulling to cover the warp. Because the lengths are only about 36”, I will weave the cushion sideways, 18” wide by 30” long, folding it around the seat and hiding the cut ends on the underside. Extra thrums can be used as ties to keep the cushion in place. A path forward feels so good!

How do you use up your project leftovers?

Another One for the Books

14 Monday Nov 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Weaving Inspiration

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Columbia Weavers & Spinners Guild, Scarves, Table Runners, Textiles, Towels, Weaving

2016 Holiday Exhibition and Sale Postcard

2016 Holiday Exhibition and Sale Postcard

The annual Holiday Exhibition and Sale for our local Columbia Weavers and Spinners Guild has just finished. Those participants selling, and many fellow guild members besides, put in hours preparing our wares for the big weekend and so enjoy each other’s company for the three day event.

The wall of scarves

The wall of scarves

I only do this one local event each year and I have great respect for those who sell at multiple events throughout the season. Just the set-up and take-down require a lot of energy, muscle, and forethought—how best to display and how best to store for another event. But before the weekend ever arrives, there is also all the loving labor that goes into each piece.

The ever popular towel display

The ever popular towel display

Those of us who produce to exhibit and sell soak up the inspiration of seeing how others use their talents. And we usually support each other generously and treasure each item we bring home!

And of course we take notes for 2017. Always planning ahead. Always room for improvement. Isn’t inspiration great!

Have you been to any local art fairs lately?

More on Opphämta

26 Friday Aug 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Opphämta, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Color, creative inspiration, Projects, Textiles, Tradition, Weaving

Opphämta on the Loom

Opphämta on the Loom

Earlier this summer, I set out to explore opphämta and chose to put together some aprons using the patterning as borders along the sides and bodice. This has been a season-long project, but one in which I’ve learned a lot.

Because I wanted to make unique aprons, I wound only enough warp to make two aprons of each color. I also wanted to include some contrasting threads spaced randomly across the warp and weft. Since the borders and ties are woven on the same warp, this presented a bit of a challenge. Those contrasting threads interrupted the opphämpta pattern.

Royal Apron with White Opphämta Pattern

Royal Apron with White Opphämta Pattern

My first solution was to weave the body of the apron first with the contrasting threads. Then for the tie bands and patterns, I replaced those threads in the warp with the main color and weighted them off the back of the loom. This worked okay but caused a few tension issues.

White Apron with Star and Rose Pattern

White Apron with Star and Rose Pattern

I actually preferred the second solution—changing the contrasting threads on the warping board as I was measuring the warp. This did take some calculating, but the warp tension was more consistent.

My color choices were mainly pretty traditional—blue on white, white on blue. Then for the third warp, I used some seafoam green mercerized cotton that blends well with lavender. Those color studies from earlier this month came in handy.

White Apron with Star and Leaf Pattern

White Apron with Star and Leaf Pattern

Each apron uses a different opphämta design. There are so many different sources and motifs that I can spend hours playing with stars, roses, diamonds, and crosses. The scale of the pattern had to fit on the apron, so I kept my units to two threads each. With a sett of 24 epi, a five-unit float is almost ½”, so any float over five units had to be tied down.

Seafoam and Lavender Apron

Seafoam and Lavender Apron

As enjoyable as the aprons have been, I’m ready to move on. The nice thing about these opphämta patterns is that they can be used for other weave structures. Next up—damask. But what if these same units could be woven in overshot or lace or ….hmmm…

Progress Report

11 Friday Mar 2016

Posted by jeanweaves in Looms

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Damask, Loom, Textiles, Weaving

Lovely imprint of the maker

Lovely imprint of the maker

Junior is coming together. After almost 30 years of moving around, disassembled from coast to coast, Junior landed in my home, purchased this winter from a retired weaver.

Junior is a 10-shaft Glimakra countermarche loom, 47” wide with a drawloom frame on the top. I say “on the top” because that is its proper position, but it lay for many years in so many pieces along with a multitude of wooden sticks and metal bars that comprise the loom.

And I have to guess a little on that proper position, because this draw attachment is an earlier version of the one I have been using since 1993 which is a more robust design.

One of the replacement wheel ratchets

One of the replacement wheel ratchets

The first thing I did when getting it to my basement was to give it a thorough cleaning with wood conditioner. The wood was so very dry and dusty. Cleaning meant taking off yards of tangled Texsolv cords and washing those too. And I did a quick inventory of parts to be sure I could put it together. Ah, two vital missing components: the wheel ratchets to turn the cloth beam and the warp beam, and the wooden wedges that hold the frame together. Ordered those and waited patiently.

Yesterday, my kind husband helped assemble the frame and square it up. Then it got a second go-over with wood conditioner. The loom fairly glows now, although the wheel ratchets are a decidedly lighter color than the rest.

Junior Coming Together

Junior Coming Together

Now I’m sorting and matching which cords go where. They all were cut to specific lengths for specific purposes; it’s just a matter of finding which ones fit on which component.

All along, I’ve been pondering what the first warp will be. I know there will be a fair amount of adjustment as I get it threaded and balanced, so the first warp should be simple. And since it has the drawloom frame, I might as well set it up for a drawn design. Perhaps just some cotton yardage that I can use for towels or aprons will be the inaugural project.

I will keep you posted.

Another Sale for the Books

17 Tuesday Nov 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Weaving Inspiration

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Columbia Weavers & Spinners Guild, creative inspiration, Fiber Arts, Textiles, Weaving

Felted Bird House Ornaments

Felted Bird House Ornaments

What a weekend! Lots of work, but oh so worth it!

The 26th Annual Holiday Exhibition and Sale for the Columbia Weavers and Spinners Guild is over. We had a great turn-out and lots of laughter and camaraderie throughout the three day event.

It’s an exhibition because we enjoy showing the community at large what we do and how we do it. There are demonstrations for two of the three days and we invite people to try their hand at the loom and the drop spindle. And it’s a sale because we want to share the work of our hands. It is so important to pass along the fiber passion to others.

Towel Display at the 2014 HES

Handwoven towels sorted by color

Over the years, the popularity of various crafts has waxed and waned. When I began weaving in earnest, in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, weaving was very popular and we were blessed to have a weaving store in town for classes and supplies and a dedicated weaving school not too far away. There were numerous weaving publications and books available, and weaving yarn was relatively easy to find.

Rugs Felted and Twined

Rugs Felted and Twined

The store has since closed and the school moved to the west coast. Conferences are still enthusiastic but smaller in scope. Knitting and crocheting are now the crafts du jour, and while I miss some of the availability of weaving events, I appreciate other fiber arts too! And it makes me value those exciting opportunities when I do get to talk about weave structures, fiber twist, yarn sourcing, and finishing tricks.

We are heading into the busiest time of the year for many. I hope you get an opportunity to enjoy a fiber event in your neighborhood before the end of the year, and a chance to share your fiber passion with a new learner.

A Satin by Any Other Name…

25 Friday Sep 2015

Posted by jeanweaves in Damask, Satin, Terminology

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Damask, Satin, Textiles, Weaving

My apologies to William Shakespeare:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would still smell as sweet.”

Act II Scene II, Romeo and Juliet

What do you picture when you think of satin? Something smooth, with a sheen that reflects the candlelight? A fabric somewhat heavy but with a lovely drape? What is satin?

Red Damask on the loom

Red Damask on the loom

What do you think of when you hear “damask”? Do you see figured tablecloths on your grandmother’s holiday table? Do you see a dense fabric in a single color or an elaborate upholstery for the sofa?

In popular usage, satin is that shiny, slippery fabric commonly used in wedding gowns – and sometimes sheets, although I’m told that satin sheets don’t live up to their hype. Damask can be heavy suiting, upholstery, or table linens.

In weaving terminology, satin is “a weave with warp floats on one surface of the cloth and weft floats on the other.”  (van der Hoogt,  Madelyn, The Complete Book of Drafting for Handweavers. Coupeville, Washington: Shuttlecraft Books, Inc., 1993).

Snowflake Damask Runner

Snowflake Damask Runner

“Satins have one binding point only on each warp thread within the repeat.” (Cyrus, Ulla, Manual of Swedish Handweaving. Boston, Massachusetts: Charles T. Branford Company, 1956). Having only that single binding point produces long floats which reflect the light, thus giving satin its sheen. Using fine threads with more luster accentuates that characteristic of satin. Satin is closely related to twill but because those tie-down threads are scattered, there is no characteristic diagonal line.

Handwoven satin is not as fine as machine-produced satin, mainly because factory-produced cloth uses much finer threads than are available to handweavers. Nonetheless, handwoven satin produces a lovely fabric!

“Damask is a self-patterned weave which…is based on interchanging areas of warp and weft emphasis.” (Johansson, Lillemor, Damask and Opphämta. Stockholm, Sweden: LTs Förlag 1982). Satin is often used in weaving damask, but other weave structures can be used in one of the faces, satin with twill for example.

I’ve dabbled in weaving satin damask for many years and each time I thread the loom, I learn something else. This summer, I’ve learned a new way to weight my ground shafts so they come back to a neutral position (simple elastic straps). I’ve also played around with some floral motifs gleaned from early weaving manuscripts.

Red and White Dräll (as opposed to "damask"), front and back

Red and White Dräll (as opposed to “damask”), front and back

I feel like I have so much to learn about these structures. Case in point, in researching for this blog, I realized that I have been using the term “damask” exclusively when some of what I weave is more correctly classified as dräll weave which uses repeating blocks for patterning whereas “the patterning in damask is…freer and richer than the geometrical figures in dräll.” (Johansson).

I’d like to see how 8-shaft satin differs in look from 5-shaft satin. That experiment is yet to come. A friend also noted that a lot of early manuscripts show drafts that combine satin on one face with a different weave on the other face. Intriguing.  That too begs to be studied.

What do you think of when you hear “satin” and “damask”? Let me know.

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