Weaving this week

Tie Dyed cottons drying on the clothesline for my rag fabric weavings and crochet projects. Recycling old sheets and redoing so so fabrics to make them more interesting this last week while house sitting.




This week I am experimenting with weaving on simple looms using cotton strips. Weaving has been on my mind for a while now and while I had the time and space while house sitting this last week I took the plunge.I made a large rug frame out of the metal rim from a folding table that got destroyed in the rain but forgot to take pics of it. I've got an almost completed 24 x 40 runner in shades of blues and lavenders done on one side of it. I designed the loom so I could weave on both side. I had to leave it over at the house as I couldn't move it in the car over to the shop without tieing it on top. I have been making some cardboard and foam board looms that are tote bag sized to do weaving in the round on. I've started one in reds, oranges and yellows on a 15 1/2 x 20 black foam core loom. I've never done this kind of weaving before so don't expect much as I'm still learning as I go.

I decided to try the weaving after I made 3 crocheted rag totes using 1" cotton strips and size Q hook. They took 2-3 days each to make and used up lots of fabric. It's a toss up which uses more fabric crocheting or braiding, so in the interest of making my fabric stretch further I am trying to weave some bags with the cotton strips. These are fabrics from my mom's, grandmother's, and Cecil's grandmother's fabric stashes I inherited some years ago. Most are okay pattern wise but there are a bunch that I have to wonder what they were thinking or how cheap was the fabric when they bought them as they are rather ghastly in my opinion. I know I could dew them into something but I am not in a sewing mood and want to try making things that don't require needle and thread. My interest in braiding has whittled down because of all the sewing required by it. I will get Walk Me's braiding done eventually, I promise.



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The current weaving project was inspired by a weaving book in my stash I had forgotten about, "Weaving For Beginners" by Lynn Paulin, Glick Publishing, Inc. 1977. It's only 41 pages but it is packed with info , photos and diagrams that are easy to follow and understand. It has info on how to construct several different types of frame, cardboard and masonite looms along with patterns to weave bags, handings and pillows. I love all my older books as they are always so easy to follow and understand, more so than current more pricey books now a days.




I'm using 1" or so torn selvage size strips from various plain and print cotton in my fabric stash==probably about 10-16 different prints and solids so that I can go from dark red up to light yellow without having sharp jumps in colors. My warp is Peaches and Cream cotton yarn in red. I'm using a piece of double sided black foam core board with 1/4" cut notches on top and bottom, with 4 1/4 dowels, 2 on top, 2 on the bottom to hold the weaving up from the board. I am weaving around the board to weave a tube that I will then sew closed when finished. I'm using a long wooden naalbiding needle as my shuttle, and a large hair pick as my beater. I did 1/2 to 1 inch simple tabby weaving with some extra P & C cotton to hold my weavings in place. After I get this piece done I'll have a better idea of time and fabric factors. I am hoping to eventually build my skills up to try to do tapestry weaving which I have been wanting to do for years but have a hard time figuring out how to do color changes in my weaving.

A little more progress on the dino rug. I do work on it off and on. So far I think I'm happy with it.

Caws Paw, Dino Rug and Braiding

I've started reworking the cats paw runner. This time around after taking out the cotton strips I was trying I'm using left overs from previous projects. Though today I'm cutting up some supplimentary colors to make the colors balance a bit more and make it more cheerful looking. I have a lots of dull muddy colors left from Walk Me and those are going in the Dino rug which I have also started. The cats paw is being worked on an old needlework scroll frame and the dino is on the oval hoop. I thought I'd do some simple primitives just for a break from my more elaborate designs.

The cats paw is a fairly common pattern with multiple variations of its design. I'm not even sure how old the design really is as you see variations on circle or shapes on a background color back to ancient times in various fiber crafts. The only thing different I am doing is making an irregular looping edge to it instead of a straight line edge, though that too has been done by different people. I'm also debating on building this--adding a braided edge then doing some small additional paws and enclosing them in braiding and adding them randomly until I have reached a size I like.

The braiding on Walk Me is proceeding slowly. I have almost finished the first round around the edges. So far it's going good.

Walk Me and Braiding

I'm slowly moving along on Walk Me. This is just the top left section. I at least have the tower done, some of the mountains and am working on the sky. Decided it needed more dragons. I was just told my daughter had something come up and can't go shopping with me so I get some more time working on this today and will hopefully get the rest of the sky done this afternoon.






Been getting lots done on the braiding though. I hope I can get this flattened out more as it gets bigger. I like the braiding part, it's all the hand sewing that is slow going. You can see the progression of the rings. Once I have 2 more rows of the white done then it's getting a pink and lavender ring with four points coming up off of it in between the four points now. I'm going for a kind of star or sun pattern with this.





I'm making myself concentrate on these 2 projects alone to get them finished. Though more on the Walk Me rug. Then it will get the braided border which I am still gathering fabrics for. After that I promise to get some work done on GM and Famoly rugs. Time seems to be slipping away from me so fast now. I know I've got until October 10th but I don't feel like I will have that much done by then to have a decent dispaly. I'm stuck inside for awhile because of the heat and the kids being at home which doesn't help my mood. I miss my greenery, my dog, and the peace and quiet over there but as always I make do. I do have a bunch of canvases to do I created but haven't felt like looking at them and doing color planning on them. Too tempting to start a new one before the older ones are finished and I do have to get these finished and out of the way first. I'm determined to stick to that.

I'm Back at the shop

One of my backyard vistors. Anyone know what kind of bug this is? It was about 3 inches long and flew.



My 'Vacation' is over and I'm back home again for awhile. Really going to miss the backyard, my dog, the birds, squirrels, butterflies, peace and quiet, and no internet. I've made lots of progress on Walk Me and have been getting lots done a day as I'm able to work 12-16 hours on projects with no interruptions, as well as think about future project ideas. Too many people, distractions and interruptions here most days. My room here is sort of windowless and is lit with fluorescence lights. Always feel so restricted and claustrophobic in here--miss my wall of greenery, the birds and butterflies--even as a kid I'd rather be outside than in. My squash, tomatoes, eggplant and peppers all have blooms and are developing fruits, Moved my grape bushes to where they'll get more sun, and shifted some of the containers around, but didn't do as much gardening as I did last week, I just wasn't feeling that good this week and did more sitting and working.





I've made lots of progress on Walk Me. I've actually made more than the photos show. This was taken on Sunday, and I've now got the castle up to the top roof done, and all the landscape next to the dragon to the edge and up to the mountains filled in. Still have the sky, the roof and mountains to go on the left side. I'll try to get a decent picture shot tomorrow.




First braided rug finished and have started on the second rug in shades of lavender, pinks, light and dark blues, and creams. I started out doing this as a round up I've added four bands coming up out of a round so this will have more shape to it. I'm calling this one Aurora's rug. Which it may end up going to her eventually. I have some fabrics already picked out for one to do for Autumn in fall colors. In my head I have several more rugs planned and am going to try braiding in shapes like a pig, or cat or even a mouse or sheep.

More progress on the Folk Angel too.



I've added a link to a new rug hooking site Red Jack Rugs by the very talented April DeConick in Houston TX http://redjackrugs.blogspot.com/. Please check out her site and rugs.