Monday, already?

Where did the week go? Seems like the week just slips by but I did get some warps woven. 

The last painted warp is woven! They take more time because of the skeins having to be wound, painted, then wound back into balls. It can take quite awhile but the results are so awesome. The picture is a bit deceptive, but the colors are bright and cheerful. Just the thing to wear on a dreary winter day!

Since the bamboo is done, I got back into weaving cotton. This first warp is jungle green, royal blue, purple and red. The picture doesn't show that on the right is another stripe of the green. Woven with black, the stripes are subdued somewhat. However, this will be a cheerful garment that will have accent squares on point sewn at the bottom near the hem. It's got to be washed before I assemble the pieces, probably next week.

I wound a new color block warp yesterday and will be putting it on the loom this morning, between loads of laundry.

There was a question last week about what pattern I use for my pieces. Well. Sorry to tell you, but I don't have one. I have a lot of weaving books. Since I've been around for so long I even have those boxes of patterns for handwovens that Interweave put out years ago. They're good for inspiration and sizes. When I decided to weave clothing, I knew I'd be selling to people of many shapes and sizes. I needed something that would fit a lot of bodies. The best way to do that was to have simple lines. So, they don't have a lot of intricate seams or darts. I basically use a rectangle. For a jacket, I know how long to weave the fabric. I serge the 2 ends and wash it in the machine with warm water. Hang to dry. Then I cut off enough for each sleeve. I learnt how much by measuring from shoulder to wrist. Each of those, I fold In half lengthwise and taper a bit for shape. Then the  body of the jacket. I find the middle and mark it  with a lot of pins. I cut out the neck and cut up the front for the opening. Serging all the raw edges is a must. Most of the time I put a tuck at the shoulder to get rid of what you don't need at the top but is nice to have at the bottom of the jacket. Again, it's a matter of marking with pins and then sewing it. I crochet around the jacket 3 times because I crochet openings for buttonholes. Think simple. I don't want to put stress on the fabric so think of ways to create things that look good but are fairly easy for me to do. I always have pieces waiting to be crocheted by my chair. Oh, yeah. Another thing I do is once I've sewn the seams, I go back and open the seams with my fingers, then whip stitch them down so they stay open. It makes the inside look as good as the outside of the garment and will help lengthen the life of the piece as well. I hope that helps. I do special orders on occasion for both larger and smaller people. 

Well, I'd better head down to the studio and get some work done. That warp won't go on by itself!

Until next week, keep weaving!

Carol