Author: Karen

Handweaver and 'cellist, married to Prince Charming, mother of three superheros and three superhero-in-loves, and Lola to nine little princes and princesses. Life is a handwoven treasure, filled with hidden melodies.

Revive those Handwoven Scraps

Karen

Handwoven remnants (aka scraps) do not get thrown away. Every scrap is good for something. Some scraps are so unusual it takes an extra dose of creativity to find a use for them.

Simple rectangular handbag made from weft-cord handwoven fabric. The cording produces ridges. Ruffled gathers form in between the rows of ridges. 6/2 Tuna wool for warp and plain weave weft. I used a bulky single-ply wool for the cording.

This remnant of blue wool fabric is something I wove a few years ago during my Big Book of Weaving adventure. This structure uses a weft-cord technique, which creates interesting ridges in the fabric. The original project is a simple handbag. The remaining fabric has been buried in a box of remnants. Until now.

Handwoven remnants from previous projects are used for the lining and pocket in the handbag.

I had a great idea to make a bench cushion for my Julia loom from this unusual remnant. Guess what? All those ridges are not so comfortable to sit on (fortunately, I tested it first). My next idea, though, is a success! The blue bumpy scrap makes a nice lumbar pillow, adding special comfort to the rocking chair that belonged to my great grandmother.

Remnant is folded over and hand-stitched, leaving an opening in the center for a muslin pillow insert that I made to fit. The weft-cord weaving produces natural loops at the selvedges, which I am using to my advantage here. Three buttons from my button box are used for closure in conjunction with the selvedge loops.
Buttons to the back, the wide and narrow pillow works beautifully for lumbar support in my great grandmother’s rocking chair.

May you find uses for all your fabric scraps.

Your friend,
Karen

Weave a Distinct Cutting Line

Karen

Four down, eight to go. It doesn’t take long to weave a placemat.

End of third placemat. Block pattern extends into the hem area.

I weave a two-pick stripe between placemats. The stripe is always in the red or orange family of colors (unless the item being woven is red or orange). The red stripe is my cutting line, and two picks helps me cut on the straight and narrow. I once got confused about where to separate two towels that I had woven, and I cut in the wrong place. Yikes! That’s when I instituted the red thread rule.

Orange linen thread is used for the cutting line. Two picks make a clear path for cutting placemats apart after all the placemats are off the loom.
Ending the fourth placemat. Eight placemats to go!

Our lifetime has a distinct red thread rule. A true beginning and end. Life is brief. It doesn’t take long to weave a placemat. But while it’s on the loom, it has the weaver’s full attention. And so also, the Grand Weaver is attentive to all the threads of your life.

May you pay attention to the cutting lines.

Happy Weaving,
Karen

Tapestry with No Intention to Hurry

Karen

I call it Figs and Coffee, but the figs and the coffee are barely recognizable at this point. The image will make sense when it is complete. In the meantime, I am continually intrigued by the fascinating interplay of colors. You can expect me to keep adding to the tapestry until it is complete. It’s nice to not be in a hurry.

Warping slat hangs from the ends of the beater and sits below the warp. The suspended slat keeps the cartoon right under the warp. I use a quilter’s clip on each side to hold the cartoon in exact position.
Every time I advance the warp I examine the positioning of the cartoon to make sure it matches up with marks I have made on the warp in key places.
Regular stops to step back and see if I need to make color or contrast adjustments keeps me on track. Thus, the need to backtrack and undo rows of weaving is infrequent.
Corner window setting for this hand-built loom reinforces my intention to not be in a hurry.

May you keep moving toward completion.

Happy weaving,
Karen

Creative Handweavers Need Persistence

Karen

It’s good for a handweaver to flow in creativity. That’s where designs, colors, and out-of-the-box thinking thrive. Add the virtue of persistence, and those creative ideas become tangible articles of cloth. Making things takes more persistence than it does creativity.

Threading pattern heddles. 22/2 cottolin warp.

Threading pattern heddles is a repetitive task that I enjoy. I find greater joy, though, in the actual weaving phase of the project. That is when I get to sit at this marvelous instrument and challenge my hands and feet to work together to make the glorious sounds of a loom producing patterned cloth. It does take persistence to get to that point. Even when weaving, my focus is on the outcome – creative napkins for our family meals. The end purpose not only drives my persistence to the finish line, it brings enjoyment to each necessary task along the way.

Will be napkins with fun designs. Green, with gold borders, and various linen weft colors.
Near the halfway point of threading pattern heddles. Six ends per unit.

You and I are God’s creative work. He is persistent in the forming of our character, desiring to weave the image of Christ in us. His end purpose brings meaning to all the steps it takes to complete the fabric. Imagine his enjoyment every time we allow his hands to do each necessary task.

May your persistence out pace your creativity.

Blessings,
Karen

Last Little Bit of Warp

Karen

All the rugs in the set are woven, and there is a little bit of warp left on the loom. Not enough for another rug. Now what? This is where the fun begins! I have some ideas to play out on the loom. End-of-Warp experiments yield fantastic results.

I arrange remaining weft fabric strips into piles of blue, green, red, and yellow/white. Double binding uses a sequence of dark and light wefts. So, I work through the color piles in order, starting with the blues for one pick, and then, going in reverse order, the yellows/whites for the next pick. The result is vertical columns of adjacent blocks that have the color order going in opposite directions, with the reds converging in the middle.

Cushion cover: Off the loom, I fold this attractive rag weave rectangle in half, short sides together, and machine-stitch the two long sides closed. The remaining open end has handwoven bands, from my ever-ready band stash, for tie closures. Voila! With a cushion inserted, I have a new seat cushion for driving the truck. It’s perfect!

Ink and watercolor sketch as part of my new sketchbook practice.

May you use every last bit of your warp.

Happy experimenting,
Karen