little weavings

i've been struggling with my last couple of warps. i get an image in my head, not clear or precise, just go with it, and put planning aside. pretty much just warping first and thinking about the weft later. with this set of weavings it worked out well, as i was able to experiment with a variety of warp threads and techniques.

using a fine paper yarn and a strip of bunny fur created a light, tiny weave with open spaces woven in silk. i need to frame this one, but am still working on that part.

this one was a mixture of kasuri remnants from a previous piece; very speckled.

the curly weft threads all but lost the linen warp, which is cool, as it brought focus to the pile weavings. it was quite fun to try these surface embellishments, hopefully i can use them in future pieces.

linen on linen can be boring, but the pattern really comes through, and the shots of cochineal dyed cotton add interest.

this yellow thread was really fun, so chunky, and made the pattern huge compared to the first one. i played with some pile weaves and a chain stitch like weave in purple yarn.

there was a tiny bit of warp left, so i finished off with some cottolin and bamboo.

i have another linen warp now on the loom, but i'm a little lost as to what weft will be going on it. i had wanted to use a tsumugi silk yarn, but it completely overwhelms the warp, so i need to do some planning. i shall spin some wool, and think some more.

pins and other things

while i was in kyoto, i stopped in at mina perhonen on several occasions to obsess over and then purchase little baggies of remnant fabric from the designers workshop. the quality, colors, and designs are utterly fantastic; i'm just sorry i didn't buy a higher quantity, and don't have access to the store anymore.

one of the things i did with the pieces was make an inspiration book. i made the cover from a shopping bag, the pages from a stiff fabric, and embroidered the butterfly logo on the first and last page, i used yellow thread to sew in the pages, which matches the yellow ties. it's nice to have access to such a wonderful source of inspiration.

luckily, i had some duplicate pieces so i added them to my small stockpile of scraps. yesterday i felt like sewing a puffy pin to take advantage of the materials texture. i can think of it as an evolution on the white small puffs i've done in the past. the weather has gotten chilly here, and all i can think about is fluffy beds, warm fibers, and fuzzy textures.

stretching one's area

last saturday the guild meeting was focused around the textile artist, barbara james, whose speciality is in surface design through dyeing and printing. it was interesting to play around with the different ways of creating texture on cloth. i'm kicking myself for getting rid of my screenprinting frame from when i took a printmaking class in college. i really want to play around more.

my first dyeing attempt went well. this photo is of my second piece of fabric. i decided it would make a lovely tea towel; so i hemmed the edges. i'm not quite sure of the first one i worked on, as the design is agreeable but the colors are very loud and not quite to my taste. i may take a photo of it anyway, though.

we used the procion mx dyes which got me thinking again about getting into dyeing. it would be a good focus as i eventually would like to create my own cloth; weaving, dyeing, and printing. i think that where i will go from here is to experiment with natural dyes and the screen printing process. the procion dyes were easy enough to use and clean up, but i'd rather be truer to my own feelings about my impact on the environment. plus, i like how natural dyes age, it's really very wabi-sabi.

if it moves is it still illustration?

cartoons are delightful! just because one is an adult, i don't see why one can't continue watching cartoons. they are created by adults aren't they? see, my point exactly.

one of my recent favorites is the marvelous misadventures of flapjack. what is it about this spiffy show that tugs at my heart strings? besides the incredible texture, amazing color choices, delicate linework and awesome animation, the storyline is quite humorous, the characters are fleshed out and the voice acting is well matched.

and because of the great thing that is the internet, i can watch it whenever i want!