Lots of sewing, not much weaving

As the title says there’s been quite a lot of sewing but not a lot of weaving round here

I’ve made 3 shirts for my cousin’s son in the US.  He’s very tall for his age and while he wants the cute shirts the other kids are wearing, they are just not long enough for him.  So I’ve come to the rescue with some custom made shirts.  We had a trip to Joann’s while I was visiting to choose fabric –thought he needed to know that shirts don’t come complete but start as flat fabric – and that it would be nice for him to select what he wanted.  He was watching the 2006 movie ‘Cars’ while I was there and that was the only thing he wanted on his shirt.  The fabric gods must have known I was coming, as I found the right fabric and there was just enough to make one small shirt.  I even found little red car buttons to match. 

The other 2 were Dr Seuss fabric

and another fabric with assorted superheroes

– I hope he likes them and that they fit.  I posted them a week ago but Australia Post are not co-operating and their tracking service tells me the parcel has not left Australia yet.  I wonder how many flights there are to the US every day, if not every week.

I had a family wedding over weekend.  It was on a farm and the dress code was ‘black tie and sensible shoes’.  I guessed that meant black tie from the waist up, and choose the shoes on the day depending on how wet it’s been.  A friend brought me a piece of silk brocade from China a few years ago and I’ve been keeping it for a special occasion.  I decided that this was the occasion and that there was almost enough fabric to make another ‘Rosa’ jacket – the one I made for the recent Sheep Show.

There really wasn’t quite enough fabric,

those big pleats on the shoulders take a lot of fabric.  I tried several ideas – contrast fabric under the pleats, perhaps for the sleeves – but eventually reason set in.  There was enough fabric for the body of the jacket except for a small wedge under the arms and enough left over to add the extra width.  I managed to find a remnant of silver silk dupion which was a good match and used it for the facings and as I’d made it before, even the sewing wasn’t too much of a trial. Here's a little more detail of the fabric and the covered and beaded button

The jacket was finished in good time, I knew what to wear under it – the top that fell off its hanger the other morning as I was getting dressed, almost shouting ‘Pick Me. Pick Me!’ and its matching pants. 

The day of the wedding was cold – very cold – but vanity overrode commonsense, and of course I wore the silk jacket.  I realised after observing one of the few comfortable guests, the man who wore his overcoat over his dinner suit all night, that there was nothing wrong with my plan to make the silk jacket as it can be very hot at this time of the year.  My mistake was in the reasoning that I’d made the silk jacket and it fitted better with the dress code so I should wear it.  I could have worn the nice warm woollen one and still looked much the same if not quite as dressy.  Apart from that it was a lovely wedding, the bride looked beautiful and a good, if slightly chilly time was had by all.

There hasn’t been a lot of progress on the weaving front.  I had noticed that my right arm was sore when I was weaving and immediately jumped to the conclusion that ‘I’ve been weaving too much’.  When I thought about it for a while, I realised that while I was weaving the fabric for the jacket for the Sheep Show, I was definitely doing a lot of weaving but had no problems at all and  after I finished it, I went away and haven’t done a lot since I’ve been back.  Whatever the cause, I suspect lifting the top off the shredder at work as we had a major clean up, it’s unlikely to be too much weaving, although I haven’t woven a lot because it hurts a bit when I do and I’ve been careful to take lots of breaks.

The Bumberet tea towels are finally finished, in time for the Hawthorn Craft Market on Sunday.  I did 3 with black weft,

2 light grey

one red

and then started to wonder ‘what if?’.  The 6/2 cotton in the warp and weft was a bit thick but the hem area where I’d used 20/2 cotton doubled felt pretty good so the next one was plain weave in 20/2 doubled with a Bumberet border at each end

and the remainder, big enough for a breadcloth, was done on the Bumberet threading but with a point treadling which has produced rows of small flowers and a nice texture which might be very good for drying. Carefully folded and looking good here in its photo, unfortunately it won't be going anywhere near the market on Sunday because there are quite a few mistakes and I think it has be be one for me.

All this has given me another case of ‘What if?’ and I suspect there might be a batch of tea towels in the future with coloured stripes of little flowers on a black background.

I realised that the Bumberet warp has been a bit of a dog on the loom and I’m glad to have finished it.  I wove off the last of it last night and woke up early enough this morning to get a new warp wound on and ready to thread when I get home tonight.  

And finally to prove that it's Spring in Melbourne, here's my clematis flowering on the back deck

Helen

Glenferrie Road Festival 2

Wendy and I survived our outing to the Glenferrie Road Festival with the Hawthorn Craft Market, our first outdoor market.  We had our own tent, just like this one across the way from us.  The weather was kind to us, just one shower early to show us where the tent leaked but not badly, and then it cleared to sunshine and blue skies.

We had plenty of space, the new items were finished and we were glad that we'd taken an extra small table for display

There was a lot happening - there were Chinese dragons with a very loud drum on wheels bringing up the rear

There were camels and camel rides.  I went to school just across the road but I'd never seen the school spire, on the left, with camels in the foreground before

There were lots of people, especially young families. The street was closed to all traffic including the trams, for about a  kilometer (half a mile) and was full of attractions and people

There were plenty of food outlets, the coffee was directly across the street from us, ice cream was nearby, we even managed to find a healthy lunch.

We didn't have any sales in the early part of the day but after lunch we made enough to make the day worthwhile and it was great publicity for the craft market.  All in all it was a good day and if it happens again next year, we would probably take part.  Given that there were lots of children, a weaving demonstration on a small table loom or inkle loom would be a great addition

A good day was had by all!

Helen

New Warps, New Year

It’s the beginning of a new year, so it’s a good time for reflection on the past year, a look at what is in progress and plans for the new year.

In 2016 I managed to weave 12 scarves, here's one of the Geelong ones

18 tea towels,

6 meters of yardage for a jacket,

a warp for felted hats/pots,

a band for glasses cases,

just finished, 

and worked out how to use the double harness attachment on my loom.

I also worked on my sock knitting skills and completed 3½ pairs socks, and sent 4 scarves to the Geelong Scarf Festival and sold all of them.

Oh, did I mention that in my ‘spare time’, I worked full time?

What’s on the looms at the moment?

One of the new warps in the title has just gone on to the 4 shaft floor loom.  I need to replenish my tea towel stock for a market coming up at the beginning of March, more about that later.  I thought some tea towels in turned taqueté with a white background and a rainbow of stripes in what I like to call gelato colours would work.  It’s been very hot the last couple of days and it was hard work getting it threaded and sleyed with the help of a fan. 

Fortunately it has now cooled down and it’s amazing how much more quickly things get done when the weather is kinder.  The first tea towel is half done already.

I’m thinking of calling them the paintbox tea towels.

There are still 2 scarves to finish on the second double harness warp, and as soon as the weather is cool enough, I want to get back into the garage and finish the 2 red scarves on the loom. 

What’s coming up in 2017?

I’ve been going to the Hawthorn Craft Market for a while now, initially in the suburb of the same name, then a move to a new venue in Hawthorn and then to the adjacent suburb but still with the same name.  It’s fair to say the some of the customers are confused and some probably think it’s closed.  Every March there is a street festival in Hawthorn and in 2017 the Craft Market is returning to the suburb of its name.  We’re hoping some of our past customers will reconnect with us and new ones will find us.  We’re already praying for a dry, warm but not too hot day with a cool breeze if that’s what’s needed for a successful outdoor market and working on extra stock, hence the need for tea towels.

I’m enjoying using the double harness attachment on my Toika loom and I have some other ideas to try with the attachment.  The other job I really need to do is to fix a problem with a couple of the treadles.  My loom has a homemade system for tying up the treadles, a bit like the 20+ system.  One of the cords on treadle 1 has pulled out and the cords on treadle 4 have jammed, I suspect a fallen pin from a broken warp is the culprit.  I’m sure it can be fixed if I crawl under the loom for long enough.  At the moment I am restricted to 8 treadle drafts, with a straight treadling on 2,3,5,6,7,8,9,10.  It seems a bit odd but the mind does adapt.  Sooner or later I will see a draft that needs the whole 10 treadles and is so good that I will be forced to fix the problem.

The Geelong Scarf Festival is coming up in a few months with entries due at the end of April and after selling all the scarves I entered last year, I’m keen to enter again this year.  It would be great if I could start a bit earlier and not leave everything to the last minute.  Having said that I’d like to avoid the last minute rush, I guess it applies just as much to the Bendigo Sheep Show although that’s a couple of months later.

I have started planning for both events and will need to have a dyeing day in the near future and while I had the warping mill out for the tea towel warp, I wound the warps I need for some of the projects which need to be dyed first.

I think that should be enough to keep me entertained for the next few months, I’d better get back to the loom 

Helen

Comfort Weaving

After completing a major project, like my jacket for Bendigo, I often feel that it’s time for a little comfort weaving.

What's comfort weaving?  I think it's a bit like comfort food - the familiar foods of childhood, craved and/or eaten when life isn't going smoothly - only in weaving it's the simple plain weaves and straight twills from Weaving 101, often done when while watching TV, and when you want a break from more complex weaving

Over the past 3 weeks I’ve managed to make 4 plain weave scarves, 12 herringbone tea towels and a bread cloth

while binge watching Kitchen Cabinet. It's a local TV programme where Annabel Crabb, a political journalist and keen cook goes into politicians' homes, cake or dessert in hand.  The deal is that she brings the second course and the host cooks the main course.  She hopes that in a familiar environment, distracted by cooking - the politicians who are keen foodies like to show off their skills, those who are not,  just pray that no disasters happen - they will open up in ways not seen in formal interviews.  It works, they do open up and seem much more human, even ones who would not normally get my vote.  It all makes good TV for weaving.

The scarves were just simple plain weave using an alpaca weft for 2 and a boucle loopy mohair for the other 2.  I thought the mohair was the sort of yarn that should be brushed, remembered that I had a little brush just right for the job, and even managed to find it. 

A quick brush raised the pile to give a soft and fluffy surface, just the thing for the cold weather we’re having at the moment

The tea towels are from the warp of leftover yarn I wrote about here.  While width of the coloured stripes was dictated by the amount of yarn available, the grey and black stripes helped to bring it all together.  I used a herringbone draft and wefts in the same grey as in the warp,

natural,

red

and a greyish blue, hard to say which worked best, maybe depends on the kitchen colour scheme. It's always good to get to the end and see all the towels on the cloth beam.

I was reading something about kitchen design recently where the author suggested that tea towels are the ‘cushions of the kitchen’ – an inexpensive accent of colour to make the space look more interesting.  I guess there might be something in it

I went to the Hawthorn Craft Market on Sunday and some additions to the stock were needed. 

I managed to make a couple of sales and learned quite a lot about the new credit card reader in the process.  I thought my limited technical skills were the reason it wouldn’t work but found out later that while there was an updated version of Android on the phone it wasn’t compatible with the card reader as its app had not been updated.  It’s all a learning experience but I’m still trying to work out why I didn’t just enter the card details on to the screen as I do at work regularly when someone has a card which can’t be read

Helen

A Day at the Market

Last Sunday was the first market for the year for the Hawthorn Craft Market.  I was better organised than usual – the tea towels were all labelled and dry rather than finished so late they were still slightly damp as things are sometimes when I run out of time.

They looked pretty good piled up

I made them using draft from Handwoven, September/October 2014, on an olive drab 8/2 warp. The colour was a bit out of my blue green comfort zone but I was pleased with the results.  I used linen in the warp for 2 of them and despite hearing horror stories about linen, kept the bobbins slightly damp and had no dramas.

I even ‘cold mangled’ them between the stone bench top and the rolling pin.  It certainly made a difference to the ones with linen or cotton-linen blend wefts as this picture shows where the line about a quarter of the way along on the left hand side, is the boundary between the right hand corner which has already been rolled and the unrolled part.  This yarn was a slubby cotton/linen blend.

A customer came past and asked where they were made, clearly thought they were from a sweat shop in a distant land.  ‘Glen iris’, I said naming the adjacent suburb where I live, and occasionally think I have my own personal sweat shop.  I was discussing this exchange with my neighbour on the next stall who was new to the market, it turned out I had been at university with her sister.  Sometimes I think Melbourne is a very small town.

I usually take some hand work for the quiet times, fringing, knitting, whatever needs to be done and is portable.  The only thing I had to take this time was my drop spindle and some very colourful roving.  I thought it would add a bit of colour and movement to the stall but the funny thing was that very few people commented on it at all, to the point where I began to feel it was a bit like an affliction that would be impolite to mention.  As we were packing up, the friends who sell hand spun yarn and knitted articles made from hand spun at the market remarked that I’d got quite a lot done.  I said how strange it was that very few people had mentioned it.  That’s when they said that a lot of people had gone to them to tell them that I was spinning.  Who knows what the passers-by thought but if they thought I was setting up in competition, they obviously hadn’t seen how slowly I spindle spin.  Any yarn made on the spindle will be precious indeed and certainly not for sale.

The unmentionable spindle and roving

It’s been a long weekend and while I had many plans on Friday, not much seems to have been done. I did find time to tidy the studio, remove all the mess from the tea towels and get the yarns back into the boxes where they belong, all ready to start a new warp, I feel something snake skin like happening.

I have finished spinning some yarn from 200 gm of First Editions merino and silk roving I won at the Geelong Show last year.   I thought it would be good if the 2 small bobbins

could be plied on to one of the large bobbins and while it did just fit,

it reminded me of one of those very woolly sheep who emerge from the bush from time to time having escaped from their flock and missed several visits from the shearer.

Helen 

Is there such a thing as a man's scarf?

The first run of herringbone unisex scarves turned out so well that I decided to do a second run on a different warp - navy blue and silver grey this time instead of the original red and charcoal grey.  I finished them this week and decided to test them on the models at work - usually known as 'the girls and the boy'.  He is particularly life like and has been known to frighten staff who see his reflection in the mirror and think that there's someone there.  The first scarf had a jade weft and looks great on both my models.  

The second had a navy weft with multi-coloured slubs, not pure wool but it still feels soft.

The third had a red weft, one strand of wool I'd dyed for a project long forgotten and one stand from the nearest cone of red wool.

The fourth had a denim blue weft from a bargain cone I found at a sale at a workshop, would work well with any colour of denim.

 The fifth and final one had the same silver grey in the weft as in the warp and by that time I was getting a little tired of all that herringbone so I reversed it every 16 picks to make blocks of herringbone.  They look like little crystals, perhaps ice crystals, and it's cold enough today for there to be ice crystals inside as well as out.  

And what was the verdict on the scarves - I think I've worked out that taking photos at work is easier than doing it at home.  There's a good place on the bench which faces South, there are plenty of drapes in the window dressing cupboard and there are models who don't complain. As far as men's, women's, and unisex scarves are concerned, I suspect it's hard to make a scarf that could only be worn by a man, these certainly seem to work well on my male and female models - and none of them complained.  

However, I did make the herringbone scarves so that there would be something on our stall at the Hawthorn Craft Market for men, so I had a look at the unfinished treasures to see if there was anything else for women and found 2 almost finished wraps I’d made last year.
They’re a combination of wool and multicoloured handspun, one a rainbow and one is shades of green and rose, wide but light, just the thing to keep out the Winter chill, so I finished them and added them to our stock for tomorrow.

Helen