Aside from the two taildragger banners, the sign for our guest powder room, and the Christmas snowflake hanging, these are test pieces and samples. The combination drawloom is a playground for design ideas. Test pieces and samples are not meant for display. I do want them to be seen on occasion, however. (See Time Lapse: Windmill and Taildragger on the Drawloom.)
This is a sign to hang in our guest powder room near a stack of handwoven hand towels.Snowflakes on the drawloom.
In the September, 2004 issue of Complex Weavers Journal, Jette Vandermeiden wrote about weaving small serviettes to place between her good dishes so they don’t scratch each other. That sparked the idea for me to use my learning experience with the Myrehed combination drawloom attachment to make these small pieces of cloth. The various designs will bring delight as they are uncovered, one by one, when we set the table in our home with the good dishes.
Drawloom playground results using the Myrehed combination attachment.
Enjoy this review of the process of setting up and weaving on this playground.
May you have not-so-hidden treasures in your home.
Take a short stroll through our home and you will see and touch linen in all its superb versatility. Linen warp and weft speaks of elegance. Yet, this natural fiber is right at home with ordinary daily living. Linen, oh, how it sings!
I am thrilled to be dressing the Julia now with 16/2 linen on eight shafts. We will have another linen highlight to grace our home—a table runner for our dining room table.
It is a happy day when new tubes of Bockens 16/2 line linen arrive at the door.Winding two threads together at a time on the warping reel.Dividing the warp into three bouts makes it easier to spread and beam the warp with even tension across the warp.Golden bleached linen is a gorgeous backdrop for the olive center section and contrasting midnight blue borders.
Is there anything more vibrant than the sheen of linen saturated with color? And, have you noticed that plain unbleached linen is anything but plain? Linen fills both ends of the spectrum—glowing exuberant color and natural wrinkled humility. Linen, oh, how it sings! There’s always room for more music in the home.
Come, look over my shoulder as I weave a windmill and taildragger image on the drawloom. The central design is woven using 103 single-unitdraw cords. I have a simple motif for the borders that uses only three pattern shafts. In the video below, watch as the three draw handles for those pattern shafts appear and disappear throughout the weaving.
Draw cords are used to raise single units of threads to create the image, one row at a time.Woven from the side.
I recorded my weaving in time-lapse form so you can watch three hours of effort compressed into three-and-a-half minutes. In the video you will see my hand pulling the draw cords, and then touching all the pulled cords from right to left to double check my work. That double checking saved me from dreaded do-overs.
When our good friends, Jerry and Jan, saw my drawloom they brought this picture to my attention. — Forty years ago Jerry discovered the silhouetted windmill and airplane tucked away on a back page in an old issue of Flying magazine. Because of his affinity for airplanes and windmills he cut out the tiny picture and saved it. Years later, Jan found the picture and had it enlarged and framed. — After learning about my loom’s pictorial capability, Jerry and Jan wondered aloud if this special image could be woven on a drawloom…
A pleasant surprise arrived in the mail this week—the November/December 2018 issue of Handwoven magazine. Guess what?! My Stained Glass Scarf made it to the front cover!
Four shades of blue are carefully arranged to make a brilliant blue 8/2 cotton warp.
Two scarves. I wove one to keep, and one to send to the Handwoven editorial team.
Swedish lace adapted from a draft by Else Regensteiner in The Art of Weaving. Her draft was for a tablecloth. I made it into a scarf/wrap instead.
Twisting the fringe. This cotton scarf/wrap calls for fringe that is a little bit chunky. I feel like I’m dressed and ready for fun when I wear it!
Is there such a thing as too many handbags, pocketbooks, tote bags, and purses? Of course not. Naturally, my favorite handbags are made from handwoven fabric. Linings made from remnants, handwoven bands used for shoulder straps, hidden zippers, and, of course pockets–these are the details that other people will seldom notice. Yet these are the details that make me smile every time I use one of these bags.
Nineteen handwoven handbags. Various sizes, fibers, styles, and purposes. And colors. Lots of colors!
…You know that box of handwoven bits and pieces? Those weavings from the end of the warp, and the “scraps” from various projects? Hmm… looks like I might need to make another handbag or two.
Here is my collection of handwoven handbags, divided into a few categories. Plus, a short video just for the fun of it!
Wool, novelty chenille yarn, crochet cotton, and narrow fabric strips are used for weft in these bags. Buttons are from my grandma’s button jar. The small rag-weave pocketbook has a permanent home in my daily handbag. The fabric for these bags was woven on my Beka 32″ rigid heddle loom.
Linings are from remnants of other sewing projects. Bag handles were woven on my inkle loom.
Travel Finds
Trips to The Philippines yielded interesting woven goods by artisans there. The green stripe tote bag is woven from native plant material, and the teal and burgundy purse is a beautiful example of ikat weaving. The colorful weft-faced woven shoulder bag and the purple bag with lovely weft-float patterning came from travel to Chile.
Project Carriers
Large tote bag, woven with 1/4″ fabric strips for weft, carries my “show and tell” when I go to my weaving study group. It’s known as the “Mary Poppins Bag.” Rag-rug bag in the center has straps, woven on the band loom, that were woven into the bag. This bag carries my portable tapestry weaving. The rag rug bag on the right carries my one-and-only crochet project.
Special Use
Linen bag has beads woven into the fabric. It is lined with satin. Rag-weave purse is simply a flat piece folded in half, with lining and pockets added to the inside. The blue bag is wool, woven in a weft-cord technique. The fabric was partially fulled to produce the ribbed texture.
Lining for this bag is made from extra fabric after weaving cotton/linen fabric for cushions, and the pocket is a remnant from a two-block twill tencel scarf.
Daily Use Favorites
Representing some of my “firsts.” The brown and blue small shoulder bag is from one of my first cottolin towel projects. This is what I did when the last piece was too short to use for a towel. The green and turquoise clutch has remnants of my first ever handwoven towel, my first rosepath rag rug, and my first big rep weave project! The blue shoulder bag is the bag I use every day. It’s a remnant from the baby wrap I wove for my daughter’s first baby. It’s lined with a remnant from an Easter dress I made for her when she was a little girl.
