The woven landscape…

Last we chatted, I was weaving in yarns and pieces of recycled neckties to create a lovely bolt of fabric that will be turned into handbags! And guess what? This week, more of the same – just pinkier! (This is immensely funny because of all the colors in the whole, wide world, pink is my least favorite! Turns out, I can stomach the dark pink colors better. But still, the coincidence is not lost on me!)

Yes, please!

Making progress!

With this loom, I can typically weave about 6″ before I have to forward the project – and that’s a nice amount of space! If any of you plan to do a bit of loom shopping in the near future, my suggestion is to specifically ask about that dimension since every loom is built differently. And if you don’t have “loom shopping” on your list of things to do, I highly recommend it!

Adding in more purple!

It’s a bird’s eye view!

As I go along, I am taking out the dark purple yarns and replacing them with bright magentas and pinks. The goal is to gradually morph from one hue to another. I love it when colors seem to ease in and out of each other – especially with yarn, because I know each one is a solid color. So, I find it magical when they look like they’re changing in front of my eyes! (Can you tell I spend a lot of time thinking about this?)

Shuttling along…

Just makes me happy!

And let’s not forget about the neckties! I’m using ties that blend in fairly well. So, at times, you just sense that the texture is different versus actually being able to pick out each tie. But, that’s OK with me. The joy of being an artist is deciding what you want your product to look like – picking which elements are critical and which ones aren’t.

See how the fabric changes?

The end is coming quickly! Next week, I’ll finish up the weaving fun and cut this puppy off! And then, who knows? Don’t you love the delicious, agonizing minutes in between projects? It’s something to look forward to! Talk to you soon…

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And we’re weaving!

So last week, I kicked off the project with light blues. Now, I am slowing easing into darker colors. Occasionally, I’ve been throwing in a strip of necktie to provide some additional texture, as well as incorporate something fabulously re-purposed!

What would we do without rag shuttles?

The ties blend in better with the darker colors.

I own a small handful of different types of shuttles. There are lots in the entire universe, I am sure! But, the versions that I love to use are the rag shuttle (great for holding either fat yarns, or a handful of different yarns together), and the boat shuttle (which holds a bobbin that you can wind very quickly). Those (2) are my go-to pieces of equipment, great in nearly any project!

A tie is joining the party!

Occasionally, the ends try to escape!

Because this will be used as fabric to make handbags, I don’t worry about the ends of the yarn. I just let them all hang out! They will simply get cut when the bags are being created anyways. This is huge time-saver!

And then there are the ends of the weft!

We’re getting darker!

I love the process of subtly changing the colors in the shuttle. Usually, I’ll swap out one or two yarns in the bunch each time I load it up. That way, I can avoid a drastic change and instead, aim for a smooth transition from color to color. The challenge of figuring out how to best accomplish that makes me so happy!

See the ties hidden in the fabric?

And the weaving goes on! I won’t have too much fun without you – promise! We’ll talk soon…

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A group of Mini Bags!

I have about 4 different sizes of bags I produce. For this project, we did the Mini Bag, which is a 6″ x 6″ cross-body big enough for the essentials, and we did the Messenger Bag, which is a larger version meant to hold pretty much everything!

Check out the handmade button!

I have a wonderful contact who makes handcrafted, ceramic buttons. It’s great fun to see them paired with the handwoven fabric! Makes me so happy!

Yum… brown….

Some purple for the fans!

I didn’t take a picture of the lining, but each bag has a white and black fine plaid suiting material that includes a little hint of sparkle! It’s a nice touch!

Messenger Bag!

Next up… I’m not sure! How’s that for honesty? I have a few things in the hopper. I may have to do a little eeny-meeny-miney-mo to pick one! No matter what, I promise you it’ll be colorful! Thanks for tuning in! Talk to you soon…

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Here goes nothing!

When I cut the yarn, I make sure I leave a nice big tail so I have no trouble with making a knot. Then, I shorten it up so the tail isn’t in the way!

Cut, then knot, etc.

Almost there!

It’s always a little scary cutting the project from the loom. But, you can’t exactly start the next one if you don’t clear the decks, so to speak! So, chop it off, we will!!!

Ah, the unraveling…

One of the most fun parts of the project is releasing the brake and just letting the fabric spin around into a big gorgeous pile on the floor! Sort of like giving the toilet paper roll a rip and letting it fly off!

Just yum…

Because weaving is a slow process, it’s great to look at the fabric you created in the beginning of the project and see how it progressed to the end! Makes me immensely happy!

Untying the fabric from the rod.

To completely separate the fabric from the loom, I have to untie the front of the project from the rod.

Removing the yard sticks.

The yard sticks have had a little bit of a journey! They started on the back, keeping all the yarns evenly wound on. Then, they traveled to the front to keep the fabric rolling on smoothly. Lastly, they were dumped on the floor and eventually moved back into the big bucket where I will then pull them out for the next project! And now you understand the reason I have no less than 40 yardsticks sitting next to my loom!

Taking out the TP.

The toilet paper comes out from the front of the project and the fabric’s ready to go to the seamstress! I completely forgot to take a few photos of the fabric rolled out. But, I already have the completely bags back! So, I’ll give you a peek at them next time! Talk to you soon…

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Let’s weaving something!

Adding a little more blue to the mix!

One of the things I did differently this time around was to change the spacing of the yarns in the loom. I tightened things up a bit. It’s an interesting experiment! You can see the warp yarns (yarns in the loom) better because there are just more of them! And on the flip side, you aren’t as aware of the yarns in the shuttle. I’m not sure I love it for this purpose. But, we’ll see how the rest of the yardage looks! You never know!

Here comes the shuttle!

Making progress!

I really love the stripes! That will definitely go into my idea box for future projects! I think that’s the wonderful thing about creating! No matter what you try, there isn’t such a thing as a failure! A project may not turn out like what you intended. But, you can always learn from each attempt! (And that is your deep thought for the day… Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming!)

A shot of parakeet blue in the mix!

It’s a good bite!

The fabric is turning out a little denser than normal because of the added warp yarns. This isn’t a problem for me! But, my seamstress may swear at me a little more than usual because it could be tougher to sew it into handbags. It’s a good thing she loves me! Most days…

A close-up, please!

Back & forth, back & forth!

When working on yardage like this, I tend to compartmentalize. I want the colors in the weft (yarns in the shuttle) to blend with the warp. But, they don’t have to match. Thus, the reason for a vibrant blue mixing in with the other yarns in the shuttle. A little pop of color is a good thing! Plus, once it’s off the loom and seen from a distance, it’s not as prominent. Just enough to say, “Oooh, cool!”. (At least that’s the goal!)

The view from below!

There is a bit of weaving left to do! Then, it’ll all come off and be shipped to my awesome seamstress who will magically transform it into wearable fashion accessories! Life is good! Talk to you soon…

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Yarn soup!

Thank you to everyone who has stopped by my page to check it out! Special Thanks to Sonja Milojevic with Art from my Soul, who leaves a wonderful comment with nearly every post!

A little recycled necktie fabric!

Thank you to Danielle who always talks me down when technology freaks me out – which is more often than I care to admit!

It’s a good bite!

Thank you to Chris who gave me the best advice when I was thinking about starting a blog – “you don’t have to do it often, but do it consistently”! She’s so wise…

A tie sneaking out of the fabric…

Thank you to Laura who helps me overcome my perfectionist tendencies on a regular basis, and encourages me to just do it!

Messenger Bags

Thank you to my friends and family who support me and love me, no matter what hair-brained idea I decide to follow!

Keeping the width

And here’s to another 100! Considering I do one per week, we’ll plan to party in 2015 – schedule it into your calendar! Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Talk to you soon…

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Heading out of the yellows…

I’ve finished up the yellows and am moving into some neutral colors. I strive to incorporate the colors that I set up in the warp throughout the project. It gives it a cohesive feel, I think! And ultimately, I’m the boss! So, there you have it!

See the treadles (pedals) in the background?

Lots of yumminess!

So, when this bolt of fabric is finished, it will be handed over to my seamstress where she will magically transform it into amazing handbags! She is a genie with a sewing machine! And thank goodness! Because I get somewhat violent if I have to attempt it…. sooooo not pretty…

Some color blending going on here!

Sort of nutty and warm, right?

Color blending is such great fun! I find it amazing how adding just one thin, charcoal yarn to 7 other yarns instantly changes the overall look of the fabric! It doesn’t take much!

Turning to the dark side…

My lovely roll of fabric!

And how do you know when you are ready to cut it off the loom? First of all, you can see the knots at the back and all the yardsticks have long since fallen out. Secondly, the space where the shuttle goes through the warp yarns becomes smaller and smaller, until it’s just too snug! At that point, you pull out the scissors!

Woohoo! We have knots!

Bird’s eye view

I like to start in the middle and cut chunks of yarn moving out to the sides. But, I don’t think the world will tilt off it’s axis if you do it differently! I think you’d probably be fine if you started at the edges and worked your way in. I wouldn’t dock you for it!

Snip, snip!

And it’s almost free! I’ll have a lovely bolt of fabric for you next time! Talk to you soon…

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Only a few more ties to go!

You know you are almost done when you can see the knots at the back of the loom! There are plenty of inches in the middle of the project when you can’t see either end. So, it is completely gratifying to watch the knots creep closer!

“Houston, we have knots…”

The end is in sight! Literally!

To cut off the fabric, I like starting in the middle and working my way out. I’m not sure it would make a huge difference to do it the other way around. But you know how you get stuck in your ways? Guilty as charged!!

Clip, clip!

Slowly separating the fabric from the loom.

I love the moment right before the fabric completely separates from the loom! You can see multiple layers of the fabric – so cool!!!

Sometimes, you need a closer picture… at least I do!

Fabric/yard stick soup!!!

Free at last! I think it’s fascinating how the fabric looks as a whole piece, versus the 10″ chunks I could see while weaving it on the loom!

Finished Fabric!

Standing back, the silver’s much more prominent, isn’t it?

The view from one end…

…then the other!

It’s going to make some gorgeous little bags for a night on the town!!!

Just, yum….

What a fun project! Like most, I am happy I did it, and even happier to have finished so I can start something new! Yay, new project!!! I have a couple things in mind… we’ll see where the wind blows me! Talk to you soon!!!

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A Tale of Two Shuttles

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program…

Changing the spacing in the pattern

The weaving is going well! I’m “cooking with gas”, as they say! At this stage, I’ve decided to slightly alter the pattern. I’ve started to incorporate a few more rows of yarn in between each row of neckties. It gives it a slightly more geometric feel, which I like!

The seedy underbelly… only prettier!

Love the little bits of color!

When I’m weaving using the neckties, it’s a slower process than weaving only with yarn. Because each strip is a variety of sizes, I end up doing a lot of hand-positioning the strips because the shuttles will only carry the ties so far. It demands a little more patience than my other projects. It’s good for me… really…

Winding around the front

A little bit of me in the photo!

I only own (2) looms – which you might think shows great control. But, the truth is, I have serious space restrictions… at least for now! Anyways, my other loom is a 14″ table loom. I’ve found that each loom has its own strengths. The big floor loom weaves much faster because it has  foot-manipulated pedals (treadles) at the bottom, versus the table loom which has hand levers on the top. The table loom, however, fits easily in my car! So, there you have it! Justification for why a weaver needs a minimum of (2) looms! (Like I need a justification! Ha! Good one!)

Backing up to take the photo – for once!

Bird’s eye view

You can see in the photo above that the end is in sight! (The knots at the back are the big clue!) This is particularly good, because I am beginning to get low on neckties!

Slowly changing shades

Next up, I’ll finish this puppy up! A few more inches and then it’ll be free! You won’t want to miss it! Talk to you very soon…

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Meet the ties…

Last we chatted, the loom was fully dressed and ready for weaving! For this project, I’m using recycled neckties as a component of the fabric. Therefore, I spent some time chopping up ties prior to starting to weave.

Add a little TP to the mix!

First things first, I add a little toilet paper to the project. When starting the weaving process, you need to have a few rows of filler that spread out the yarns. TP is great for this! It’s a cheap resource that is perforated and easy to remove later. I can’t take any credit for this brilliant little nugget! But, you are welcome to steal it – ’cause it’s a good one!

About 5 rows will do it!

Dark silver ties to begin with…

I thought I’d start with the dark, silver ties right out of the gates! Because the warp yarns are purple and silver, I want to stay relatively in those color families. (Warp yarns are the yarns in the loom, versus weft yarns which are the yarns in the shuttle.)

The ties meet in the middle

When using neckties, I just overlap the ends. I don’t want the fabric to get too bulky. So, I stay away from knotting. And I’d rather personally yank out my eye teeth than have to sew anything! Overlapping, it is! Once the ties are trapped in between the yarns, it’s really difficult to pull them out. So, the process works just fine for what I need!

Why use one shuttle when you can use two?

In the past when I’ve done this sort of project, I’ve used one shuttle to place a yarn in between each tie. Mostly, this guarantees the structure of the fabric will be secure. But, this time around, I want to use the in-between cotton yarns as more of a design element! I think the narrow purple and silver stripes act as a beautiful bit of “glue”, holding all the colors and patterns together!

A sea of purple and silver!

Lovely building blocks of neckties!

What’s so interesting about using neckties is that you can’t always anticipate what the inside of the tie will look like! So, there are occasions when I’ve cracked open a tie and found that I like the inside better than the outside! For my recycled necktie fabric, I create a definite front and back to be sure the correct side shows up on the handbags!

Slowly moving into lighter colored ties!

I have to tell you, it’s tough to take accurately-colored images when there’s purple involved! Seems to me that purple and green are the tricky ones! So, forgive me if some of the photos look a little like they are glowing! I’ve tried to auto-correct them and in a few cases, the results aren’t great! Ah, technology…

So far, so good!

And here we are… weaving away!… but not driving at the same time. Promise! I have plenty of ties left to incorporate into the fabric! Talk to you soon!!!

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