Buttony, wavy, ribby and wide weaves

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Glenda’s completed weave

Yet another magical workshop came to a close too quickly over the weekend.  Several of the participants were Sturtees and returnees.

Daisy selecting buttons
Ordering and threading the buttons

Daisy came to work on a special buttony weave which incorporated her mother’s buttons in a bed runner. Rather than stitch them onto the two metre plus cloth after weaving it, we decided to have the buttons threaded onto a warp thread which could be woven with each row and the buttons positioned as she went.

The buttons could also be positioned with the weft but I think the warp idea went better. A large shuttle full of many large buttons were a bit of a ‘danger’ in that movement usually twisted them around each other, so Daisy used a paper sleeve to protect them and the shuttle was left on top of the shelf. The buttons were stopped from falling with a little peg and just bought down as needed. She did very well indeed.

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How the threaded buttons worked on the loom

Ruth used her great artistic colour palette to create yet another truly delightful piece. Like Daisy, Ruth has been to two previous workshops and each time I’m loving her work more.

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A buttony runner complete

She used the ‘wavy’ beater to great effect and we did the friend weave distorting the cloth. With the 2 and full 3 colour clasped weft she used a bobbin in a shuttle on the Saori shelf to control the interlock. I’m always putting cones or shuttles on the floor and it never occurred to me to have it higher than the cloth but it does work well.

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Ruth’s irregular ‘blob’
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Ruth’s completed cloth

The black in Ruth’s work really defined the wavy work and made all the other colours pop!

Paula worked on a sampler for a roman blind. Working with jute and its properties on finishing provided a good decision for the actual blind. She used some Cordyline Australis spines for the ribs which will work on a narrow width but I think she will need something stronger for a wider width. Another great project for the loom!

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Paula’s blind and yarn sampler after the weaver’s finishing process
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Paula starting some wave work
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Ikat Kasuri weft created for 30cms, woven on 20cms

Three of the weavers also participated in a little dye demo/experiment using ikat/kasuri wefts. You can see Paula’s weave here and it was surprising just how organic the pattern wove up. With resist areas going off edge and gathering stronger in some areas.

Glenda was an experienced spinner but new to weaving – although who could tell! Restricting her palette but not her techniques the cloth was so beautiful. Her next task was to thread her new loom with the widest and longest pre-wound warp. Which she achieved in just a few hours. With a long 30 metre warp there are many cloths ahead just waiting for the human hand to bring it to life on the warp.

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The ‘hover of the weavers’

Thanks so much for the great, great workshop!

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Glenda’s finished first cloth!
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Glenda’s weave in progress
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Glenda underway with the threading

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Comments

2 responses to “Buttony, wavy, ribby and wide weaves”

  1. Susan Avatar
    Susan

    Trust Miss Daisy to push that button embellishment into another beautiful piece. Paula is developing some #outofbox thinking. More cloth ideas for Ruth. Sorry I missed the Sturtees ..see you in July. Keep sewing those Saori seeds xx

  2. Gail Ellis Avatar

    I love the button idea and also the weaving with the black areas which looks fantastic.

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