Shibori Scarves

The Shibori scarves are woven and it is now time to experiment with dying.

 

 

My inspiration for this scarf  came from the Koi pond my Dad made for my Mom. I used a tangerine color for the abstract fish shapes and camel for the rock shapes. I used a blooming leaf overshot for the resist.

The next step I will gather the resist threads and direct dye a aqua marine and peacock color to represent water. Fingers crossed.

This is what it looks like as it is being gathered.

One of the problems I ran into is a halo of color after dyeing. I think it is due to not mixing the dye enough. However, I really like the way it looks so now I will say that I wanted it like that hehehehe.

The next scarf I wanted to try using the thicken dyes I made last month just to see if they still worked. I also wanted to see if I could use a stencil with the thicken dye. here is what resulted from this experiment.

I used a dragonfly stencil

You can see in this blurry picture that I used Cayman Isle green thickened but not as thick as the rest of the colors and a running color resulted. The other colors left a somewhat sharp edge.

The inspiration for this scarf  I found while walking near a creek . I was looking at the water and saw the reflection of Dragonflies dancing close to the surface of the water. The next step is to create the water surface and the reflection of  green from the nearby trees.

More on this after I finish!!!

Okay , so I have finished the scarves.

They turned out pretty but, I want to take what I learned form doing theses and improve my design. What I will change is the size of the fish and the amount of fish. Also, I made a stencil that I will use next time along with thicker dyes. Here is what the stencil looks like.

The next scarf looks like this

One of the things I learned from this scarf was how important the thickness of the dye is when using stencils. The body of the Dragonfly ran a little because it was not thick enough.

Playing with Zebra’s

Tuesday I took some time out to go with my friends Deborah and Chelsea to play with Zebra’s, Llama’s, Alpaca's, goats, camels, buffalo’s, yak’s, and baby bunnies. Here are a few pictures:

This is a little Zebra named Nemo. Deborah is in the process of buying him for the ranch. He would be great for future plans she has to own a rescue and rehab center.

 

This is Dot com and Thor.

Baby Llama

Dominique is preparing to halter Nemo so Deb can work with him.

 

Dominique is showing us how she halters the Zebra’s

Here is Deb loving on her Nemo xxooxxooxxoo how sweet!

Ikat

Today I will be designing with turned Ikat.

Ikat is a dyeing technique.First  you put your yarn into a skein then you tie it in places and dye it. I got some information on ikat from a website called www.weavezine.com ,one of my favorite places to get information on weaving. Here Bonnie Tarses gives in great detail how to do a “faux” version on ikat. This is the technique I will be using today. Bonnie says “ the word ikat comes from the Malay-Indonesian word “mengikat” which means “to tie” or “to bind”. In traditional ikat a design  is planned out and drawn onto a full sized cartoon; then the warp is wound and laid out over the cartoon; sections of the design are tied into the warp masking off select portions; finally the warp is dyed, untied, and then put on the loom to weave.

In traditional weft ikat, skeins are wound the desired weaving width, and once again the design is tied into the skein from a cartoon. In both instances, careful planning is required.

To bypass the planning stage and create spontaneous ikat designs, I developed “Turned-Weft Ikat”. Simply stated, I wind and dye skeins as if I was going to create weft ikat, but instead, I make the skeins into balls and then use them to wind a warp.” There is much more to this article that you can read by clicking on the link. http://www.weavezine.com/spring2008/wz_sp08_BonnieTarses.php

After im finish planning this out and dyeing it I will post pictures that I took along the way.

I used some of the techniques that Bonnie shared in her article and some of my own. Here’s how it turned out.

First I dyed the warp

10/2 Tencel

24 epi

12 dent reed

 

Then I wove it using a black weft yarn and plain weave

 

 

up close.

 

 

I am going to try this again using the dyeing strategies I found in the article Bonnie wrote.

Hand woven loom shibori and a little history on Tencel yarn

I recently purchased a couple of pounds of white 10/2 Tencel.

Here is a little info I got from www.heritageyarns.com that explains what tencel is.

These facts are courtesy of Milano Textiles, Inc.

What is Tencel?

A. Tencel is a cellulose fiber made from wood pulp from trees grown on special tree farms in the USA where the trees are constantly replanted.

How is it produced?

A. The fiber is produced via a special "solvent-spinning" process using a non-toxic solvent that is 99 percent recoverable and recyclable. Because no toxic chemical products are produced during the process, there are no harmful fumes released into the atmosphere.

Is Tencel a natural or synthetic fiber?

A. Tencel is not only natural, since it is made of wood pulp, it is also environmentally friendly because of it's ecologically sound method of production.

How does Tencel compare with other fibers?

A. Tencel has all the characteristics of a luxury fiber: the natural, workable comfort of cotton; the fluid drape and color richness of rayon; the strength of a synthetic; and the luxurious hand and luster of silk!

What are the characteristics of fabrics made of Tencel?

A. Fabrics of Tencel have exceptional strength, a luxurious hand and fluid drape, are naturally absorbent and comfortable, and accept dyes readily, from pale pastels to rich jewel tones. They also resist wrinkling and shrinkage, and are often washable.

Can Tencel be combined with other fibers?
A. Yes -- and when combined with other fibers, Tencel enhances their best attributes. For example, you can combine with linen, rayon, lycra, micro denier polyester and cotton. Tencel's high strength enables the production of finer count yarns--providing a finer, softer and less wrinkled fabric.

Why should the consumer choose Tencel in their clothing purchases?

A. Today's ecology conscious consumer likes the idea of choosing a fiber that is natural, biodegradable and non-toxic to the environment. In addition, they want fabrics that breathe, are comfortable, drapable, soft, and resist wrinkles and shrinking.

With that being said, I warped up enough for two shibori scarf’s and of course a sample. These two scarf’s are woven in a blooming leaf overshot. The difference in doing shibori with an overshot is that instead of one pattern pick then one tabby pick you, you do one pattern pick then 4 tabby picks. This elongates the pattern. In this case Im looking to create a sort of water running in a creek look. I will show the steps as I go. Here is the scarf on the loom.

I later used a different treadle order with the same threading sequence and it looked completely different.The next step after weaving, Is to scour the fabric in a warm soak of dawn and water then into a bath of soda ash, then using thicken dyes I will paint the fabric to accentuate the weave structure. Next,process that for about 4 hours then  rinse and dry. This will be followed by  a vat dye after I have gathered the stitching. Keep you fingers crossed! 

SCA project gallery store

I was recently invited to have my textiles in the gallery store. Here is the link to view some of the items that are in the store.

www.scapgstore.blogspot.com

I am proud to be in the company of such great artist.

More about the Gallery can be found at www.scaprojectgallery.org  Check it out!

Links to my favorite sources

Iloveyarn is a great place to get mill ends like the eyelash terry I used for the bath towels, tencel, and silk and tencel blend.

Dharma trading company. For dyes and dyeing tools

Yarn barn has just about everything at a good price

I will add more as I go. If you have a great source to share post it on my comments and I will add it to the list!

Studio Posse

All weavers have some sort of Pal that keeps guard of the studio while we weave. Here are a few pictures of mine.

This is Chloe, my beautiful Pug. This is “HER” chair.

This is Leopold weaving a scarf I think!

This is Emma and Chloe.

This is Juliebean.

Shadow weave scarf

This is a scarf that I made for my son for Christmas. The structure is called Shadow weave. It is sett at 12 epi in a 12 dent reed. I used 8/2 cotton gray and black.

it is really hard to see the pattern in pictures.

Tools I made myself

Weaving takes several tool that are very costly so I decided to see if I could make them myself with recycled wood and stuff my Dad had in the garage. This is a tension box that cost $125.00

Here is the one I made from birch for about $16.00

To buy an extension that you see on the one I made cost an additional $58.00

 

 

This is called a warping mill which sells for $580.00

Here is the one I made from recycled Oak. I repurposed a entertainment center and had left over wood. It only cost me time!

This is a warping Board it can cost from $41.00 to as much as

$110.00

 

Here is the one I made from an old 2x4 and 1inch dowel

One of the problems that weavers have is beaming on a warp especially if it is a lot of yardage. The problem starts with not being able to keep control of warp while winding the back beam. The next problem is having consistent tension while beaming on.Being inspired by the tension box I came up with this Idea.

I made this tension device out of wooden shelf brackets ($8.50 each) and 1 inch dowels.

I can change the tension by simply changing the configuration of the dowels.

And one last tool, Bobbin Rack used for sectional warping. $185.00

Leftovers:

 

I have also made Temples, angel wings, and a fringe twister.

Raw silk scarf

I made this scarf from raw silk. it was sett at 10epi on a 10dent reed. I used a huck lace weave structure. It is so soft and has beautiful drape. Here is a picture of the yarn. you can see it has slubs which really adds to the texture of  fabric.

 

Heartthrob scarf

The inspiration for this scarf came from a weaving book called Twill Thrills. I used a 10/2 perle cotton, black for the warp and metallic wrapped 10/2 cotton red for the weft I got this from www.iloveyarn.com. set at 24epi 10 dent reed. The pictures do not do it justice, it is so pretty in person. I used Hematite hearts and  red crystal beads.