Weaving away

Back on the loom, I've been experimenting and working up to my final samples for the block. In the last day or two I suddenly felt like weaving made much more sense. Initially, I'd found the mathematical side of the lifting plans a little restrictive, and although the weave patterns are all beautiful, I wanted to create something that wasn't so flat! However, once I started exploring looping, adding in contrasting yarns and combining the patterns I was using, it all became much more freeing and alive.

looking back to research drawings and windings for inspiration 

exploring looping with jelly cord and shredded metallic paper

using lurex against warp yarns to create a shine!

playing with patterns and textures

a pile of design ideas and yarn cuttings for final samples!

When we cut all our samples off the loom at the end of the week, it was such an amazing feeling to spread all our collective work over the workshop floor- it was like we'd created some kind of giant rug! 

The process of weaving has a very satisfying end result- I am still amazed that I have physically woven together my own fabric samples from 3 meters of warp yarns, that, a week and a half ago was still just a load of threads on a big spool. When I visited Leighton House Museum yesterday, there was a video clip about the restoration and recreation of the fabrics that would have furnished the house in the 19th century. It showed a workshop with a lady hand-weaving silk braiding for one of the upper rooms, and I thought- wow, now I've had an experience of this wonderful process too! Images of my final samples are to come….

Weave under-way!

It's weave-time! First I tried plain weave, the most basic style of weaving. I think it could be quite effective to have strips of plain weave in bright blocks of colour between sections of more structured/manipulated bits of weaving. 

Looking at my artwork and windings, I decided to start playing around with a few different colours and qualities of yarns in the weft. I especially want to focus on getting the plastic-y shine of my research objects, so I've been making up bobbins with iridescent thread wound into them and have brought some jelly-like plastic cord. 

mixed blue and iridescent bobbin

 Lisa introduced us to lifting plans, where you can move the heddles in different formations to start creating different patterns in your fabric. Here I was playing around with a 1/3 twill- I like how you get a different effect on the front and the back. It will be interesting to fully examine this when my samples so far are cut off the loom!

I feel like I only just got going- now I have so many ideas I want to try out! Next week, I want to try and experiment a bit with the surface of my weave, and see how I can add in some more texture, rather than having all completely flat pieces. I hope I'll have enough workshop time to play around a bit more, as well as making some final samples for the block. 

Weave preparation

Weave definitely has its own pace- after preparing our warp yarns, we then had to learn how to thread up and 'dress' the loom before we could begin making. 

It was so exciting to start our first sample after all the anticipation! It feels very satisfying to actually be creating your own fabric- it seems like there are endless ways to change the structure of the weave and manipulate it. As we're sharing looms with a partner, its also quite interesting to see how Mary's blue and beige colours sit next to my pink and orange. The blue creates quite a striking contrast to my warp when added in along the weft, so it should be fun to play around with this when we get chance to experiment individually.