A little weaving

I didn't realize how long the floor loom had sat unused until I offered to make a rag rug for my grandson from the worn sheets from his first big boy bed. The last warping had been to make a rug for the nursery this same, then unborn, grandson six years before.

After a few small rugs to use up fabric that would probably not be used for sewing projects, I decided to weave with smaller weft. These two scarves (red is 60" x 22", the black and white is 78" x 22") were woven with the same warp. The black is a light weight smooth cotton, the white is a nubby cotton. The warping pattern was black, white, black, white, black, white, white, black, white, black, white, black across the loom. The first four treadles were hooked up for a twill weave; the last two for tabby.

The black and white scarf was a tabby weave for the most, alternating weft colors for ten passes and then reversing the order. The stripes were woven using just one color of weft and a tabby or twill weave.

The red piece alternates ten passes of tabby weave with thirty twill--treadling 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 and so on.

The red piece was really a surprise. I used a light weight cotton weft for the first inch like I usually do when I weave a rug, then switched to some red knitting yarns, but they looked too heavy, so I removed them and continued with the light weight cotton. Both pieces drape well and are light enough to fold lengthwise for a winter scarf, or use without folding for a shawl.

Shibori Experiments

Recently I started experimenting with Shibori. I had played around with tie dying years ago, but when I saw an exhibit of Japanese kimonos that included some stunning examples of shibori, I wanted to see if I could have more control over the dying process than previously.

I had a pile of 14 inch squares of white cotton to use for practice. After some preliminary trials, in which the dye was too light to really show what was going on, I switched to rit in a slow cooker. I could put up to six of the squares into the cooker at a time and obtain reasonable results.

Of course having a dozen or so dyed squares was nice, but being practical by nature, I wanted them to be of some use. I had earlier made a pleated bag from a pattern on Pinterest, so that was my first project. More detailed than a simple tote bag, it allowed  me to combine several of the squares into a bag, which because it has a waterproof lining, should be useful this summer.

Being very frugal, I retied and clamped some of the too-light pieces that had been dyed in tumeric, and redyed them in the blue. Those I combined with some navy blue cotton to make a table runner.

My last example is a bleach out experiment using an old burgundy t shirt. I pleated both halves from the center outward and clipped it with wooden clothespins, then placed it in a bucket with about a cup of bleach and enough water to let it spread out. I didn't think much had happened, expecting white to appear, but was pleased with the results. I cut down the t shirt before bleaching, and sewed it up, with a cotton facing after the process.

I still have about a dozen dyed square to use and am trying to decide whether to piece them together and make a summer top, or combine them with a plain fabric and use them for the skirt of a dress.
I'll save that for a later post.