Category Archives: Show and Tell

Show and Tell posts

Show and Tell, May 2021

Show and Tell

Linda H: 

I’ve been having fun lately weaving fabric as a base for embroidery.  In this case I wove  60/2 silk in 6 shaft false damask with gulls as a background for a beach themed embroidery of my granddaughter’s initials.  Said granddaughter isn’t 2 yet, so I don’t know that she has an opinion on it, but her parents like it.
Embroidery notes (if anyone is interested):
Most handwoven fabric benefits from being backed with muslin, to stabilize the stitches.
Transfering a pattern to handwoven fabric can be virtually impossible if there is any intricacy to the design.  I found tracing the pattern onto a clear soluble stabilizer such as Solvy, then basting it to the fabric and hooping carefully works better than trying to apply it directly to the fabric.
.
.
.
.
John H:
I finally finished weaving linen curtains after many false starts with beaming the 50″ wide linen warp and tying up my countermarch loom. The curtains are woven from unbleached 40/2 Normandy linen at 20epi and ~18ppi in a huck lace pattern of my own devising. They were inspired by Ulla’s 50/2 linen curtains. They are held up by temporary loops of ribbon from Michael’s. I am weaving a 9 yd ribbon of the same 40/2 linen in plain weave at 24epi/ppi for the permanent loops.
.
.
I took Barbara Shapiro’s twisted paper box weaving class at the beginning of April. I used ¼” paper splints while most students used thinner, colored paper. My box is on the chunky side because of the thickness of the paper splints, but I like it.
.
.
.
.
.
Gudrun: Card Woven Hat Band
.

Show and Tell, April 2021

Show and Tell

Ange: 

I made this band in the recent  Andean Pebble Weave workshop taught by Laverne Waddington; it’s 3/2 cotton in whatever colors I had in stash.

 

 

Betsy B:

My 18-year placemats! They were on my loom for 18 years (long story) and were designed to go with the dishes pictured here. They are now off the loom!

Show and Tell, March 2021

Show and Tell

Gloria: 

Here’s what’s on the loom right now. After all our discussions about supplementary warp and my need to work from the stash I decided to break  into a single ball of precious novelty yarn and threaded it to float above some muted greens—rayon chenille and boucle with a tencel weft.

 

Kathy S:

Supplemental warp done in 4 shafts.  5/2 bamboo for warp and weft .

 

Show and Tell, Feb 2021

Show and Tell

Ange: Overshot Runners

My first Overshot projects! Three runners from Janet Dawson’s Overshot class.

 

 

 

Gudrun:  The Gang is Back — Woven Dolls

“The Gang” was first described  in Weaver’s No 5, 1989. Members of the Gang have been seen at times, here are some from Mary Anderson’s collection
(https://wovenbyhand.wordpress.com/2020/07/17/mary-anderson-weavings/#jp-carousel-148) and (https://wovenbyhand.wordpress.com/2020/07/17/mary-anderson-weavings/#jp-carousel-143)

The weaving is a 4H doubleweave woven in the form of tubes. The shuttle goes either all the way across or is pulled out in the middle or sides to form legs and arms. The dolls quickly develop personality through their proportions, clothing, and embellishments. They do surprise you.

 

 

 

John:  Woven Towels

I’m taking an online weaving course by Joanne Hall, a well-known weaving teacher who works for Glimakra. It’s called Countermarch at Home, teaching people who are new to countermarch looms how to get the best results from their loom. I just started weaving a set of towels (for the exchange). The draft for the towel is the one that I created a few months ago by decoding a towel that Gudrun got from a friend many years ago. The class is great. My technique with my countermarch loom has improved quite a bit. Joanne is teaching a course in draw loom weaving in February.

 

 

 

Kaye and Sand: 

 

 

Marjorie:  Sprang Braided Pouch

This project is a 2-2 Sprang braided twill phone pouch.  I don’t know what the yarn is specifically for the body but that it’s wool. The other yarn is Tahki Tandem. The button is from Buttons! By Linda Sicard.

 

 

Show and Tell, Jan 2021

Show and Tell

Ange:  Twill Blanket & Overshot

55 x 62 finished, not including fringe. It’s Timm Ranch wool from Meridian Jacobs, 10 EPI in a straight twill. I got about 25% shrinkage when I wet finished so it was ginormous on the loom but it went from a gauzy fabric on the loom to a beautifully soft and cohesive fabric off the loom. It’s natural white warp and white weft so hard to see any pattern on the photos… I attached one of it on the couch for size and another closeup of the twill.
I had two problems that I’ll note here…. One was the yarn was pretty lively twist wise so it wanted to kink up on me; I didn’t watch for that closely enough on the bottom layer so ended up with some parts where the weft doubles back on itself a bit. I fixed a bunch of them before wet finishing but left a few to see how they would look and now wish I’d fixed them. The second issue was that I was so afraid of pulling too tight at the fold that I didn’t pull tight enough so some of the threads there are a little loose; most of that came out in the wet finishing but not enough. Stripes would probably have hidden it 🙂

 

8/2 unmercerized cotton warp sett at 16 EPI and ground weft in pale green grey and 5/2 mercerized cotton pattern weft. I’m making it as part of Janet Dawson’s online overshot class.

 

 

Cathy DiBenedetto:  Coiled Rope Baskets
I was inspired to learn about these coiled rope baskets when I saw one
that was shared on the website in May. Although that one was held
together be weaving, mine are sewn on the sewing machine. I have done
many while sheltering in place this past year.I use clothesline covered with strips of fabric. I fold over the top edge of the strip so it eliminates the raw edge. I think it makes a
nicer looking basket. It’s a great way to use leftover yardage or fat
quarters. I’ve also experimented with Macrame cording. It works well but
the basket is not as sturdy. My sewing machine appreciates the less
dense macrame cording though. Much easier to sew through!  The fun part
is creating different patterns with colors and prints. Also doing a
variety of finishing with flowers or tassels, beads and buttons.

 

 

Show and Tell, Dec 2020

Show and Tell

Sharolene:  Vest

Daryl Lancaster designed vest. I used my hand woven fabric that I made with Kathryn Weber’s hand painted warps. Yarn is 100% cotton from 8/2 hand painted and 5/2 black. Weave structure is turned taquete. I am in the last stages of putting it together now. I still have to put on the trim and the zipper and a good press and I’ll be done.

 

 

Teddie:  Placemats and Table Runner

Four place mats and a table runner in rep weave. The pattern is from
Handwoven Sept/Oct 2005.

Show and Tell, Nov 2020

Show and Tell

Johanna:

Double width log cabin blanket from Jennifer Moore’s book p. 77-78.  It is woven with Shetland wool purchased from Eugene Textiles and is incredibly soft.  I altered the design a bit but kept it the same width on the loom of 40 inches, and wove 87 inches in length.  There is a total of 800 threads and is sett at 20 epi. I used a floor mirror to the side of my loom to check the side to make sure it remained open as I wove and this helped some.  I am pleased with how it turned out and will now work on finishing the twisted fringe and do a wet finish to give it more fullness and softness.

 

 

Gail:

Crackle Scarf, 7.5” x 71” on the loom, fringe twists and wet finishing still to be done.
8/2 tencel, warp and ground weft. Pattern wefts: shantung silk yaspee (dark brown) and a silk/wool blend (orange and tan). Also some picks in a metallic yarn for a little sparkle.

 

Betsy B:

Blanket, cardigan, hat and booties that I knit for my first grandchild.

Rag rug woven with cotton strips.

 

 

Show and Tell, Oct 2020

Show and Tell

Gudrun:  Hucklace Scarf

20/2 Perle Cotton with some iridescence, Sett 30 EPI

 

Ann: Lace Collar

Crocheted collar using handspun lace weight Bombyx yarn. Singles were spun S and plied Z in an effort to keep the yarn crisp through the hooking action. The collar weighs a mere 7 grams and measures 12″ across.

 

 

 

Damon: Floor Rug in progress

Finished  Dimensions:  46” x 70”.
Warp: 12/9 Egyptian Cotton
Weft:  primarily wool of varied weights, some heavy sewing thread in a few places

Loom: vertical tapestry loom

 

Joan: 

I’ve been practicing a little on my spinning wheel. I spun and plyed some off-white wool with colored wool (roving purchased already dyed). I’ll use it to make something with the pretty green wool I got from John H.

The other pictures are of Deer Hollow Farm wool I recently received back from Valley Oak Wool & Fiber Mill. This year I tried a blend of Finn fleece (dark brown) and off-white from a Romney cross sheep. It was fun to twist up all of the skeins – 68 this year.

The pictures are: a sample of the three types of yarn; a few skeins of Finn sheep breed only – dark brown; several dark brown with a little white blended in; lots of skeins with a balanced blend of dark brown and white. Contact Joan if you are interested in purchasing any yarn.

 

 

Terry:  Recent completed projects include a knit shawl and woven Shadow Weave kitchen towels.

Show and Tell, Sep 2020

Show and Tell

Kathy S:  Work in progress

Turned Taquete project done in silk 20/2 warp and 60/2 weft.

Jodi: New work off my loom

8/2 Tencel. The color is hand-dyed by me, except the purple gradients which were from Kathrin Weber.

 

Ulla:  Dear friend Gisela Evitt remembered,  weavings of her beautiful stash

My dear friend Gisela Evitt died in July.  She was one of the founders of Trampornas Guild and a contributor to Fabrication.  Gisela stopped weaving (but not spinning and knitting) when her husband Bill died in 2009.  She has slowly been passing her stash of yarns to me and I now almost exclusively use it in my work.  We are standing in front of “Gisela’s Linen”, an installation of 23 panels showing the different colors of a 50/2 Knott’s linen she gave me.

Last week was a week for finishing projects.  I had a long warp of linen curtains for our corner bay windows on the loom for a couple of months.  48″ wide, 24 epi and 50/2 linen from Gisela’s stash of Knox linen.  This linen comes in small spools with about 900 yards per spool. The curtains were to let in the light and provide us with privacy.  I wanted the fabric to be quite plain but with some small point of interest.  I saw John’s place mats in 6 shaft spot weave and loved the meeting of “hands” the spots suggested to me.

     

The other project I finished was two Tallits for family twins who are to Bar Mitzvah in October. The boys are identical twins and have since birth been identified by the color blue and green.  The Tallits are in silk (from Gisela), a grey warp and I dyed the weft.  My daughter who loves to cross-stitch sewed the initials for the two boys.

   

And here is August.
I have been working on Ply-Split Twining since I took a class with Linda Hendrickson last fall.  I like the SCOT Single-Course Oblique Twining and have been wanting to make rugs in that technique.  This rug is 27″x 84″ and made from 274 cords.  The cords are wool, 40 strands of Maypole 2ply,  a very old yarn, not in production any more.  I had two boxes of it, given to me by Gisela Evitt and Kathryn Coleman in many colors.  I used up a lot of them in this rug.  The rug is thick and springy and will never wear out – I think

         

Show and Tell, Aug 2020

Show and Tell

Betsy: Experiments using Abaca fiber.

I tried using the Abaca fiber from you to make bottle brush crafts… a tree and flower… I need to work on the technique… but it may give you some ideas.

Barbara:  Burning Bush: Conflagration but not Consumed.

Rediscovered and finally finished, here are  three handwoven ikat silk squares with gold leaf (or gold textile paint?) shibori motif. Only one of them had the painted flames. I matched the paint and did the other two to create a series called Burning Bush: Conflagration but not Consumed. Hung with tiny magnets painted to disappear. Hung above the bed in my new studio.