Backstrap Complimentary Pick Up

A week from today I leave with my friend, Kathleen, to attend a backstrap weaving workshop with Laverne Waddington. The workshop is taking place in Sonora, CA at a friends home. There will be 8 of us in the workshop. I can hardly wait.

The topic is Pebble Weave. This weave structure is a type of complimentary warp pick up technique. In preparation, I have been practicing my complimentary weaving.

This is the warp I started with. Plain weave is relaxing and easy to do. Pick up is very finicky. I had to really concentrate to get the pick up portion correct.

I was weaving at Kathleen's a couple of weeks ago and this is how I anchored my loom. I used cork and cardboard to protect her nearly antique window sill.

This is the end of the tape. It looks perfect. right?!? Well, in full disclosure, it took me about half an hour to do each hook motif! I had a lot of trouble picking up the warp yarns in order. Each motif is only 17 weft picks. I was very frustrated. Sometimes the weaving went smoothly with no errors, which was surprising. Then I would make about 10 errors and had to weave and unweave over and over until the motif came out correctly. Arrgh!

As challenging as pick up is, I can tell you it's even more impossible when the warp is upside down and backwards. Laverne tells us to start picking up with the light thread and then follow with the dark thread. Well, Of course I had it set up completely opposite. I had to start with the dark warp and follow with the light warp. I could not figure what I was doing until Kathleen pointed out the backward/upside down warp thing going on.

You can see the errors in the photo below. The top tape has clearly shaped hooks. The lower tape shows lots of twisted spots and specs with no clear definition. I almost gave up. But that is not allowed! With Kathleen's guidance the weaving got easier. Sort of. I still picked the wrong threads. But that's because the yarns wanted to fool me by squishing together and making it hard for my fingers to pick up the correct warp yarn.

I persevered though and finished the tape. I am happy with the results. AND I learned how to unweave on the backstrap. Always an upside. Right!?!

You can find my post on weaving my backstrap here.

Shibori Fun

For my non-textile friends I describe Shibori as Japanese Tie-Dye. But it's so much more than those words imply. Shibori is an incredible art form.  Using simple stitches, threads, clamps, and wraps as resist, patterns are created on fabric. It is detailed, finicky, surprising, unique and always lovely.

I took a Shibori workshop last weekend with Glennis Dolce. Her blog is here. Her website is here. Her work is amazing!

The workshop took place at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, downtown Los Angeles. My friend, Kathy, and I spent two fun filled days stitching, tying, dyeing and meeting other avid Shibori artists. I highly recommend the workshop. Glennis teaches at the museum throughout the year. It is studio format. She teaches newbies as well as regular students who prep stuff at home to dye in the workshop. Not everyone has space to have their own indigo vat at home so it's a great opportunity to have vats and all supplies available.

What follows is a photo essay of what I did in the workshop.

Inspiring samples on every wall of the room.

My favorite piece on the wall was this large quilted Sashiko piece. The table had a selection of fabric pieces we were given to play with.

Silk Noil, cotton lawn, silk kimono lining, silk organza, silk jacquard, silk Habotai.

 I started with silk Noil and a selection of stitching samples. I used red nylon thread.

Pulling the red thread tight makes a funny unidentifiable wad of silk.

This is Kathy's sample.

Dye vat and my sample is now blue. When a pice comes out of the pot it is more green. Magic happens when indigo dye is exposed to air, a process also known as oxidation...it changes color! You can actually watch it happen.

There were two vats. One darker than the other. The piece on the right is from the lighter vat but it is still oxidizing and turning darker blue.

My two samplers, pressed with all the stitching remove.

Next, using cotton wrapped thread, I wrapped the silk Habotai around a tube (polypropylene in this case). Glennis has this nifty contraption where the pole sits on old skateboard wheels. I'd wrap a few inches and then push the fabric and thread up to one end of the pole.

Closeup of fabric scrunch. This Shibori technique is called Arashi.

The pole in the indigo vat.

The pole in the vat along with the whole dye table. Rinse buckets, water buckets, clamps and other tools piled up.

The finished piece of silk Habotai. It looks and feels like a cloud. I plan to sew the ends together to make a mobius scarf.

I forgot to take pictures before dyeing of this folded and clamped piece of silk kimono. It is still changing color.

Personally I think this piece was uninspired and not really attractive. But that's what sampling is for right?!?

Glennis showed us how to use stencils and fugitive dye with this cool little Japanese brush. Fugitive dye is color that disappears in water.

I stenciled these circles to stitch in the evening as homework for the next day.

All of this was the first day of the workshop!

Next morning, I finished stitching the circles. Glennis had us use tiny scraps of silk as anchors for the thread knots. It is a great technique for loosely woven fabrics and for finding your knots after dyeing.

The new wad of fabric. I had to poke up each of the spaces between the threads as I pulled tight so that the fabric would dye more evenly. I also added Kanoko knots in one corner. They are tiny wrapped points of fabric.

The circles half undone.

The finished sample with the rip in the upper corner when I got too aggressive in pulling the thread out. You can see where I pulled very tight (white lines) and not so tight (faint lines). It is a very pretty pattern that I will repeat again I think.

This is the organza that I did 4 different samples on. Clamped diamonds that I'm not sure how I accomplished. A scrumble (just scrunching the fabric with my fingers) below the diamonds. Then a spider web. The top right corner had spiral stitched lines that I forgot to pull tight. I saw the error after the first dip in the dye. So I pulled up and then dipped the corner again. You can just barely see the slightly lighter blue lines.

I dyed some cotton floss thread for Sashiko sewing. By this point in the workshop I was very tired and decided not to dye anymore.

But I did use the stencils to prep more samples to take home.

This is a sample from Glennis' collection. I just love the crisscross stitching. I hope to make something like this next time around.

This is another piece from Glennis' collection. All of the diagonal lines are made up of tiny wrap-tied points so closely crowded that the fabric feels at least 1/4 inch thick. The white tangled thread surrounding the flowers is released knots that reveal the design. I think I can safely say that I will NEVER be accomplished or interested enough to tie knots like this. Though it is incredible to see and feel an artisans work.

An amazing weekend of fun that I hope to repeat again.

Weaving Software Workshop

Yesterday I had the opportunity to take a one-day workshop with Robyn Spady on how to use weaving software. The software of choice this time was PCW Fiberworks.

Here is the cover of her workshop booklet. 

Robyn included both PC and Mac tutorials for us to follow. She had one of each platform set up and would switch back and forth on the monitor teaching the features and differences offered by both platforms.

My brain is a bit overwhelmed with the possibilities presented by using software to design weaving drafts. As much weaving as I've done I realize that I'm not sure I've done enough yet to fully understand all the weaving terms that would make using the software more efficient and fun. I am clear however that I REALLY need to take a paper drafting class. AND weave lots more!

The class was sponsored by the Studio 66 Workshop, of which I am one of the organizers. Robyn taught a 3-day weaving workshop on lace for us in February of 2016.

Closeup of my Bronson Lace.

My finished lace sampler.

Robyn is a wonderful teacher. It was great to have her back again. I highly recommend her workshops.

Anticipation

I am very excited to tell you that I am going to weave this weekend. For three days straight.

I am going to study twill rug weaving with Jason Collingwood, the world renown rug weaver from England. His late father is Peter Collingwood, master of master-weavers. 

This workshop has been in the works since last October. It is organized by Studio 66 Fiber Arts. In conjunction with several other guilds and groups in Southern California, we invited Jason to come and teach several workshops and seminars. I was and am lucky enough to be one of the organizers. 

Studio 66 Fiber Arts developed out of the Studio 66 Retreat, which I helped produce on Mother’s Day weekend in 2010 and 2011.

Mostly I’m very happy to have the opportunity to weave again. It has not been a priority for me since I moved in 2010. My apartment is space challenged and my loom languishes folded up in a corner. I’ve spent a fair amount of time spinning as I teach it now and need to stay very current with that skill. But I miss my weaving. This workshop will set me back on track, I hope.

I can’t wait to tell you how it goes.