Handwoven for Garment Construction

Here’s the drying system for my yardage. I rigged up a second shower curtain rod in the guest bath and hung the yardage on the 2 rods. The profile looks like a giant “M” with the rods holding up the 2 peaks.

I finally started spinning my accent yarn. I have decided on the ebony warp with indigo weft, so the base of my accent yarn is black. Andrea shared the leftover dyes from another study group’s dye day, and they were a perfect match. I am very pleased with how this is coming out. I should finish the accent yarn this week.

Hi all,

I won’t be at the meeting on Sat. b/c of a family wedding in San Diego.  Will try to get my samples to Andrea and would enjoy getting any feedback on them.

Thanks,

Kitty

I don’t think these photographed well with my phone and it certainly doesn’t offer the hand of these samples which is wonderful!
I wove one (bright) sample with the Sajama Alpaca and silk cord that I warped with mainly to check the color combination which I’m very happy with. I also played around some with the double weave pattern. The more dense pattern is a little too busy and a bit thick, but the larger squares I really like.

In the lighter samples I used a 20/2 silk (which I will dye) and lace weight baby alpaca to see how this combination would effect the fabric. The baby alpaca moved around within the squares while being washed, creating an interesting effect.

I plan to use the 20/2 silk in the warp and weft (instead of silk cord that I sampled with) so the quality of the fabric will be more pliable. I’m not positive tho I think I will probably use the Sajama alpaca also for warp and weft.

I finished it using Orvus Paste and hand agitating at 110 degree water for 15 min. Blotted excess water, pressed until dry. Shrinkage is at about 20%.

I finished weaving and wet finishing my sample just in time to bring to a weaving class with Peggy Osterkamp last week-
It was great to have her input-

My sample is about 12 inches x -12 inches-
Weave structure- tabby / Sett- 12epi

I created a background plaid that is dark using 2 natural shades of Elemental Effects Shetland – moorit and dark gray- adding accent color and texture with a doubled strand of hot pink Kid Silk Haze and a dark thicker strand of Habu mohair-

After wet finishing the sample the Shetland softened nicely and the hot pink showed off very well but the gray mohair became almost invisible-

Peggy liked the feel of the fabric and felt the sett was right- she told me really to think about the large boxes created by the hot pink threads – if the gray mohair had stood out more – then maybe the pink squares would be more subtle-
Peggy had a great idea to add the mohair back in with possibly greater effect- using supplementary weave-
So I am starting another sample -

Thought you might like the website for Mercy Center.  http://www.mercy-center.org/ We did sign the contract for day use but we have the option for overnight accomodations. The grounds are really lovely and I think it will be a good place for the workshop. Its about 10 min from SFO.

I still have my sample on the loom.  Haven’t had too much time to play.  It feels like I need to simplify it right now.  I’ll posat pictures when I get it off the loom. Gloria

I’m a bit discouraged right now. I finally finished putting the warp on yesterday and started weaving. It’s not at all what I would want in a jacket and the yarns are all wrong. And the pattern doesn’t look like I think it should look. It’s supposed to be a two block twill but it came out two long rectangular twill. The blocks are 3 times wider than the height. I had wanted them square. Back to the drawing board me thinks.