Tag: finishing

Weaving with Friends

Karen

Welcome back into my studio. I have been weaving, finishing, winding warps, and dressing looms. And spending time with friends. What better way to enjoy friends than to go on a floor-loom-weaving expedition together? Weaving Extravaganza at Homestead Fiber Crafts in Waco, Texas is the getaway. The looms are dressed and ready for us when we arrive. Abilities and experience are irrelevant. Anyone can do this!

From the projects available, I choose to weave a textured shawl. Keleen, a rigid heddle weaver (sitting at a floor loom this time), chooses to make fabric for an apron with a monksbelt border. Jan, who has never touched a loom until now, weaves natural-colored-cotton dish towels. Four hours pass in a flash, with weaving and camaraderie. We each complete our handwoven cloth. After returning home our fabrics are washed and finished, ready for use. My shimmering shawl is just right for a cool evening. Keleen’s fabric is soon to become an heirloom apron. And Jan’s first handwoven towels are drying dishes. Success!

Textured Shawl woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts.
Textured Shawl, mixed fibers, plain weave.
Textured Shawl woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts.
Golden yarn is used for weft stripes near the border.
Monksbelt apron fabric woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts.
Monksbelt apron fabric, cotton, plain weave and two-shuttle monksbelt pattern weave.
Natural colored cotton dish towels woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts.
Natural-colored-cotton dish towels, plain weave.
Natural Colored Cotton Dish Towels woven at Homestead Fiber Crafts.
Towels are made with all natural colors of cotton thread. This set uses a brown weft.

Abilities and experience come in all shapes and sizes. Anyone who wants to learn, can. Your heart goes in the direction you turn it. The Lord sees your heart. He’s not looking for ability or experience. He reaches the heart that is turned toward him. That’s where his grace comes to life.

May you have true friends.

Your friend,
Karen

Process Review: Rosepath and Butterflies

Karen

I allowed the remaining warp to sit on the loom for a little while after cutting off the Eye of the Beholder tapestry. It crossed my mind to be completely done with it. Go ahead, discard the bit of warp that is left, I told myself. But this is linen. I have a hard time discarding linen.

New tapestry, just cut off the loom.
Cutting off Eye of the Beholder tapestry.

The warp on the loom is threaded in rosepath, with a coarse sett of 3 ends per centimeter (7.5 ends per inch). The potential weaving length is no more than 20-30 centimeters. Then, the “what if” happens. What if…I use leftover butterflies from the tapestry as weft for a short rosepath design? One thing leads to another. Now, I have a new favorite purse. The tapestry memories live on!

Linen warp and wool weft in rosepath.
Stick shuttle works to carry various lengths of wool butterflies across the linen warp.
Tapestry butterflies put to use.
Tapestry butterflies are put to use. (Butterflies accumulate with every tapestry.)
Rosepath garden.
Butterflies in the rosepath garden.
Rosepath with leftover tapestry wool butterflies.
Cutting off beautiful linen and wool rosepath!
Cutting off.
Finishing the ends.
Finishing the ends.
Rosepath and Butterflies Purse.
Rosepath and Butterflies Purse.
Handwoven purse, with lining and pocket.
Inside of purse is lined, with a pocket added, of course.
Handwoven strap made from 12/6 cotton rug warp.
Strap is 4.5cm wide and was woven with 12/6 cotton rug warp on the Glimåkra 2-treadle band loom. I sewed the strap to the bag, keeping the warp edging of the rosepath fabric visible, with the braids at the ends as embellishments.
Rosepath and Butterflies Purse. Handwoven.

May you know when to ask, “What if?”

Be blessed,
Karen

Process Review: Eye of the Beholder Tapestry and Video

Karen

I started planning this tapestry portrait of my mother one year ago. As I was concluding her portrait on my loom, it became evident that her real-life tapestry was also coming to a conclusion. I arrived at Mom’s bedside with the portrait in hand, warp ends dangling. Her smile in that cherished moment is one I will never forget. In the days that followed, she quietly slept. I silently braided the warp-end edging, trimmed the tails on the back, stabilized the tapestry through the lining, and stitched the lining in place. I carefully secured the last stitch. In the wee hours of the next morning, while she was asleep, the Lord Jesus called my mother home. Tapestry complete. Beautiful.

Weaving a pictorial tapestry. Making butterflies.
Making butterflies gets messy. Balls of yarn are everywhere as I combine strands of wool to get just the right blends of color. And then I rubber band every label back on its yarn, and every ball of yarn goes back in its proper bin.
Tapestry portrait. Eye of the Beholder.
I was overjoyed when I was able to see her eyes in the tapestry.

Eye of the Beholder is about my mother who taught me to appreciate beauty. This is a portrait of a woman with an eye for beauty, with beauty in her eyes.

I humbly share my process of weaving Eye of the Beholder in this video:

May you seek beauty that never ends.

Her daughter,
Karen

Tried and True: How to Remove Guesswork

Karen

Documenting your work for repeatability is valuable for any any step-by-step process. With the Lizard tapestry I learned how to do the finishing, including the backing. By the time I was ready to put a backing on the Siblings tapestry, I had limited recall of that first experience. Now that Eye of the Beholder is ready for backing, I need help again. Fortunately, I made note of every detail while constructing the backing for the Siblings tapestry. So, this time I have the benefit of written and photo documentation. No guesswork!

How to Document Your Steps

How to document your process steps.
Photo guidance on the computer corresponds with enumerated steps on my phone. This removes guesswork for the next part of the process.
  1. Do research. Gather your notes, search resources, and get advice from experienced weavers regarding the process you want to document.
  2. Outline the steps. Write out and number all the steps as you understand them. Doing this before you start helps you think through the entire process.
  3. Refine the steps. Begin working through the steps in order. Adjust the steps as you go. You may need to add or eliminate steps, or change the order in which they are done.
  4. Make it visual. Take a photo of any step that benefits from visual clarification.
  5. Finalize. Simplify and clarify the instructions in every step as if they are meant for someone who knows less about this process that you do. Remove redundant and/or unnecessary photos.

May you remove guesswork as much as possible.

All the best,
Karen

Tapestry Making

Karen

This may be the most difficult thing I’ve woven so far. It has been compelling, rewarding, and especially difficult to weave this tapestry. I can’t tell you how many times in this process I have said to myself, “What was I thinking?!” Yet, at the same time, I can truthfully say it’s been a joy.

Cutting off a tapestry from the floor loom.
Cutting off Eye of the Beholder tapestry.

How does one weave a portrait of her mother? With many hours of reflective thinking — a play on words, since I probably reflect my mother’s attributes more than I know. At long last, as the maker of this portrait tapestry, I am cutting the warp ends to release the cloth from the loom. I still have finishing work to do, and then comes rest.

Finishing the ends of tapestry just cut from the loom.
Finishing the ends.

The Lord God is your Maker. We worship him by allowing his master-weaver hands to do the weaving, and we willingly conform to his ways. When he is finished, his hands finally rest. And then we hear the invitation we’ve been waiting for. Enter your Maker’s rest. And the Kingdom of Heaven welcomes another tapestry Master-piece.

May you allow yourself to be woven.

With reflection,
Karen