to weave a wall

Be Inspired. Be Bold.

peace&love

Rebecca

The Rug.. Final Product

I am so pleased with how this turned out.  It took me about 7 hours to complete the weaving.

Now to finish the hem and the fringe and it's complete!

Be Bold in your Designs.

peace&love

Rebecca

The Rug.. Beaming the Warp.. Starting the Weave

Beaming the warp.

Love seeing the pattern roll by.

And the weaving begins.  

As stated earlier.. this rug is warp faced.  Warp faced is where the warp yarns doubled, so there is twice the amount of warp to weft.  Since I had such an intricate dye pattern on the warp, that was the only thing I wanted to show.

A plain weave was all I needed to show off this beautiful chevron Ikat pattern.  

Ikat occurs when there is a pattern on the warp yarns and when they are wound up, the warp yarns shift slightly.  A unique, random, beautiful pattern occurs right before your eyes.

Stay tuned for the completion of the rug.. hopefully later this week!

Be Bold in your Designs.

peace&love

Rebecca

The Rug.. A Touch of Blue

With the final color added, the yarns are ready for the loom.

So close.. It's the start of the end.  All the measurements, calculation and preparations have paid off.  I will pick up speed on Wednesday and in no time the rug will be complete.

peace&love

Rebecca

Placemats

The final placemats, all rolled out..

Cut into pieces..

Very happy with how these placemats turned out.  I can't wait to play around with new patterns and colors.

Be Bold in your Designs.

peace&love

Rebecca

Placemat Production.. the Hem

When weaving placemats, all the placemats are woven on the same warp threads.  So no need to set up the loom for each mat.  To separate the mats, when you have reached the appropriate length, do a couple of tabby weaves then hem the edge.  It's easier to hem when the mats are still on the loom because of the tension.

Then weave in some spacers, the same thin strips of fabric I used when first starting weaving.  This spaces out each mat.  This would also act as the tassels when removed from the loom.  My placemat will not have tassels so the spacing is small.  I then start the next mat, hemming the first edge after a few rows are completed.

A look through to see the completed mat beneath.

The production line.. very productive.  

Once I get in the groove, my tempo picks up and the mats roll out.  My goal is to maximize my efficiency.

Be Bold in your Designs

peace&love

Rebecca

Dying of the Yarn.. Part One

For my second project I will be hand dyeing my yarns first.  I want to create an ombre effect of colors on the warp threads then weave in the pattern with the weft yarns in a plain color.  

After all my calculations to figure out the total yardage needed for the warp yarn, I divided that number by 4 (I want four colors) and started measuring it out.  

**This is the step I forgot to show you in the last project.

These warp yarns are measured four yards long and there are four bundles of them.

The yarns are ready to be dyed.

Stay tuned for the dying later this week.

Try something new.

peace&love

Rebecca

Weaving is Fun.. Day Five

More close ups of the weaving experimentation.  Today I experimented with stacking yarns together, making a thin yarn thicker.  Also blending yarns together to get more variation in colors. There are no filters on these pictures so you can experience the true colors.  Enjoy!

Hemming the end and voila!  The final textile!

Now I'm looking forward to my next project with more intricate and planned out patterns.

Be Bold.

peace&love

Rebecca

Weaving is Fun.. Day Four

the weave.. playing with patterns

get in the rythm

go with the flow

see what is created

Be Bold

peace&love

Rebecca

Weaving is Fun.. Day Three

Now comes the fun part.

After tying the threads to the breast beam it's time to weave in the heading.  The heading secures and evens out the threads.  It is commonly strips of rags or toilet paper.

Wind the bobbin with the weft threads.  I experimented with threads that varied in thickness and color.  The bobbin goes in the boat shuttle.  The shuttle shoots through the shed (the opening) and depending on what harnesses are pressed, different patterns will start to appear.

Tabby, Basket 

2/2 Twill, Reverse 2/2 Twill

1/3 Twill, Reverse 1/3 Twill 

3/1 Twill, Reverse 3/1 Twill

Experimenting with different thread thickness and color, and weave patterns, hopefully I can come up with some pretty cool stuff, and something that's never been done before!

Be Bold in your Designs

peace&love

Rebecca