Back on the Bench

Many other fibrey pursuits pulled me away for awhile, but I'm back on the bench again. The weaving bench that is.

Travelling Inlay

I purchased a studio wound vibrant green warp from a friend a while back and it is finally having its turn on the loom. The warp is 6m long, 245 threads, and mostly 5/2 and 3/2 cotton, but with one fifth of it being a single ply of a yarn called "silk cloud". I was a little concerned at first when, within the first few inches of weaving, I had one of those singles break, but I repaired it and have been weaving along with no further issues. 

Ribbon Insertion

I'm really enjoying weaving this warp and that enjoyment is translating into a very fast weave! I'm almost half done. 

In my usual style it is a real mixed bag of weaving techniques. Though I've stuck with (almost) all cotton as my weft the colours are being laid in randomly. I'm using numerous shades of green and ranging into teals and bluegreens. Much of it is stash generously donated by another weaver. It was in small bits and bobs that had been left on the cardboard cores weaving cotton comes on. 

 

In these final few photos you see the progression of a section of Sakiori.

A small piece of fabric chosen for it's vibrant colour, with no concern for the actual print, since it won't show.

The fabric was then torn into random (unmeasured) narrow strips. 

And then woven into the warp interspersed with several shots of the weaving cotton weft. 

My intent is just to use the fabric strips as accents in the weaving, not to create the densely woven fabric usually associated with Sakiori by inserting fabric strips with very little weft thread in between.

More of this warp yet to come. I think in the end it may be made into a jacket or vest.  

Morning on Slough

 We spent a lovely morning kayaking on the slough only minutes from our home.

We traveled quite a distance and were back before breakfast.

Fitting Muslin Saves the Day

 Well the "fitting muslin" does fit, but I don't know if I like the test garment enough to sacrifice the good linen I've been saving for the right project to come along.

This is Jalie 3678, otherwise known as the Rova Blouson Tank and Dress. True to the pattern name it "blouses" over a drawstring (or elastic) waistline, and I don't know if I want that effect enough to make a "good version" out of my hoarded linen.

I've worked hard to lose a significant amount of weight and I'm not willing to look like a sack of potatoes.

The designer used one fabric, top and bottom, and I know that would help avoid the visual widening effect that happens when an outfit cuts you in half, right in the middle. The half and half proportion is not one I would normally choose, but it worked with the fabric I had available for the fitting "muslin". 

It was a weird polyester sheet for a double bed, and oddly enough it was divided exactly in half, (vertically as far as I could tell), between the solid black and the black and white print. A Value Village find that only cost $4 CAD. It may have saved my expensive linen from a sorry mistake.

What really drew me to the design was the pockets. I do love to have pockets! There is a tunic length version too, but --- again with the figure drowning blouson waistline. I thought I'd like it more. What do you think?

Me Made May Nightwear

After sewing up 19 shirts for myself last month I have had no problem at all wearing something I've made myself every day throughout May. But what about the nights? LOL!

I know it's not a requirement, but I've tackled Me Made May nights too. Since my older night shirts are all hilariously large and sloppy on me now it was time for a couple of new ones.

Jalie.com patterns to the rescue again. I used a combination of pattern "3457 Dolman Tops" for the upper section and blended in the lower portion of the tunic view from pattern "3245 Raglan Tee and Racerback Tank". For the striped one above I had lengthened the tunic by 6", but have since decided it's too long for my tastes. I took 3 of those inches off for the red one below and I'm much happier with the length.

Both are made with a 95% cotton and 5%lycra blend jersey so they are very comfortable to sleep in. My bust measurement dictates a size that is 2 sizes larger than that for my hips but I just carried the one size from the bust down. I feel the extra looseness in the body portion is about right for a night shirt.

E-Spinning Outdoors

A beautiful sunny day perfect for spinning outdoors while catching a few vitamin D rich sun rays and enjoying the peaceful sway of a lawn swing.

Pocca is impressed with the huge bobbins included with the Electric Eel Wheel 6. They hold a full 8 ounces no problem.

Denim Statement Piece

Here's another pendant made using the basic ideas gleaned during the "Make a Statement" multi-media course presented online by Gwenn Lafleur. This particular one is my version of the "medicine bag". It forms a pocket for whatever special trinkets a person might wish to carry. 

I made the base of mine from an Inkle band that had been woven on my Saori CH60 floor loom for another purpose, but it turned out too wide. I repurposed it, and through some folding, fashioned it into an open pocket on the back. To form a "bezel" for the top of the pendant I folded the fabric over a plastic straw creating a reinforced casing. A tubular Inkle band, created on my Windhaven Ukulele Inkle Loom, passes through the straw in the casing. 

Both Inkle bands made use of weaving cotton given to me by a friend when she was moving to a new community. I believe it was originally part of the stash of another mutual friend and former guild member. In fact, all components of the pendant have special meaning to me.

All three of the buttons used came from a huge button jar that originally belonged to my grandmother and was handed down to my mother, and now to me. The buttons themselves may or may not be old since each of us has added to the collection over the years.

The pale blue lace surrounding the stacked buttons is a scrap leftover from making tiny doll clothing, another hobby of mine.

The frayed denim at the bottom edge is the hem of a discarded pair of my husband's jeans.

The large silver beads along the top, just below the casing, are from a broken necklace. Those beads are nestled into a small piece of tatting that I did years ago while learning shuttle tatting.

The thin blue fabric with white polka dots in the upper right corner is an ancient old, completely worn to tatters, handkerchief that belonged to my husband and perhaps might have originally been my dad's?

The little silver dragonfly was a gift from a friend that knows I have a special affection for dragonflies.

The small dark blue beads scattered beside the dragonfly are leftovers from an intricate beaded shawl that took many months to knit.

Arching down the left side is a piece of an heirloom crocheted doily. It was stained and there were holes in it so it had just been tucked away, unused. I'm hoping this use is more honoring of the original craftswoman.

The embroidery embellishing the fabric that runs diagonally across the middle of the piece was done using floss inherited from my mother.

I'm very pleased with this pendant. I think I'll wear it a lot, denim being such a wardrobe staple. 

StoDoll Eggy's Introduction

I've been so busy rushing to get the knitting patterns for DreamHigh Studio's micro doll Pocca ready for publication that I completely forgot to introduce a newcomer around here. Meet StoDoll "Eggy", renamed "Betty" after arriving here. 

I ordered her as a "full set", meaning she came with the wig, eyes, outfit, and shoes pictured above, which is a good thing because I was so caught up in the designing for micro-doll Pocca that I didn't have time to work with her much at first. 

(I know! Her expression does look like she was feeling the lack of attention!) 

The pattern collection for DreamHigh Studio's Pocca was published a few days ago, so now I can knit and/or sew a few things for Betty. This dress is the first of what will hopefully become a nice new wardrobe for her. 

She still looks a little sad. Maybe she's disappointed that it's only one dress after she waited so long? 

Fortunately Betty fits into the clothing from my Pukipuki line of knitting patterns. She is on a stodoll S body, which is much like an ob11 body but with legs that are 5mm longer and with stronger joints. 

The StoDoll body is amazing at posing unsupported!

True "ball jointed dolls" are strung with elastic cord, which often makes them "kicky" and prone to having their elastic stretch out over time leaving them less stable and needing restringing, which can be difficult. 

The StoDoll body has more of a mechanical joint and it holds varied poses beautifully.