Skywise Seppa - the handwoven wrap, pt 4, finishing!

The Handwoven Wrap

The finishing

Pre-wash

After it came off the loom, I laid it out on the floor to see how the various whimsy weft stripes worked out against the warp stripes. At that point, it measured 190cm long and about 38cm wide, without the tension from the loom, it immediately shrank about ten centimetres.

Some of the warp and weft stripes are subtle, others are obvious.

I still needed to finish the ends and repair the broken flax-linen warp threads, as well as weave in and trim the dangling ends from all the weft stripe changes.

Some of the warp breaks are obvious.

It took me some time to find a suitable blunt-tipped needle with a large eye to do the repairs. I also had to look for a crochet hook for when the yarns were too frayed to work within the eye of the needle. Oh yay.

I'm kinda glad the breaks happened not at the very end, but near it.

This project has taught me which yarns can coexist and which will fight against its fellow threads.

In the next picture, I have finished the repairs, tidied away the weft thread changes, and knotted the ends into a fringe. It's still quite stiff and open, as I haven't yet washed it.

Stiff and coarse.

I am satisfied with the coppery thread I used in that one weft stripe, it's the one place that sparkles... at least, until the wrap accrues Worth to it.

Post-wash

I used a lingerie bag and some wool and silk safe detergent, and then used the wool/hand wash cycle on my machine, with a 20°C and 1000RPM settings. I hoped that it would soften and bloom, and it did. I hung it up to dry in a cool and out-of-the-sun place in my home.

I like how the loom-waste fringe curled and twisted, they remind me of jellyfish tentacles.

I separated the fringe a little bit but I didn't trim it, so they are various lengths. I might tie things into/onto the fringe, as the wrap gains a story to it.

The yarn bloomed and filled in some of the open spaces between threads.

The metallic thread survived the wash.

The success is that it lost that rigidity, but shrank another ten centimetres, with final dimensions of 180cm length (not including the fringe) and ~30cm wide (I need to redo the measurements, my memory is a bit dodgy). It softened and is easier to touch.

Conclusion

I will do more of this, but with greater care to my warp threads and perhaps beating closer during weaving. Warp threads would be wool and silk, and maybe cotton, but no flax-linen, it's too thick for the other yarns and doesn't like the small reeds.

I am satisfied with the results of this piece; but I also know that I can improve on it.

Last item: I forgot to incorporate the glow-in-the-dark thread, so I will be stitching that into the wrap somewhere, sometime.

I am working on things related to Seppa

OK,

I hate the new blogger interface, it's ridiculously, painfully SLOW. I cannot type with any speed because SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW.

I guess I will have to look at a new blog host. Ugh.

(/rant)

I am doing some weaving on a rigid heddle loom for Seppa's kit.

New project

Yes, it's been a while.

New steampunk project in the works as I'm finally taking a dressmaking course to assist me.

The hat:


The blouse:


The jacket:


The cloak pin:


The cape:


The trousers:


My intent is to create a gender-mixed, slightly military-flavoured outfit. My use of the red wool and green lining will remove confusion with any known military unit. The cape will end at buttocks. I intend to wear my All Saints Damisi boots. I'm going with 'antique gold' for buttons for the shell jacket. I'll have to look at creating some fingerless gloves.

You'll be correct in noting there are no mentions of gears or goggles. I do think I will do some Irish-style crochet for possibly the hat or the shell jacket collar, I haven't yet decided.

Suggestions, comments and whatever are appreciated.

a steampunk - gaslight fantasy costume

So my elder asked me what character I might build my costume around for conventions and events, one based on Steampunk or Gaslight Fantasy.

(This ties in with the chain belt I'm still working on.)

And this is what I came up with. I'll see about some photos tomorrow of the 'rough beginnings' of a costume for this character.

"travelling companion, holder of packages, little voice of caution or incaution... sometimes damsel in distress, sometimes the one doing the rescuing..."

- I have a black hat that is undecorated, wide-brimmed and lovely wool. I have some crow and raven feathers that the birds have freely gifted me on their own, moulted feathers collected from the ground. I have some quartz crystals and copper wire. I think I will wrap the crystal and the feathers to create a centrepiece for the hat and some black or some suitable colour of grosgrain ribbon for the hatband. -- Need to check on what ribbons I have.

- I have a purple-plum long skirt that is 'distressed' and 'frayed' at the hem, it's long but not floor legth, it ends around the lower calf. Made of cotton.

- I have some black and purple Bald Mountain custom made boots. Leather.

- I have a teal and purple plaid neckerchief. Cotton.

- I have a black jacket with brass buttons. Cotton and brass.

- I have a white voile shirt. Cotton.

- I have black gloves. Leather.

- I have some coptic-style bound books that I can use for a prop. I did build and bind them myself, but they're empty and require some 'filling' to gain more function, perhaps adding a small travelling bottle of in and well.

I can likely get some suitably loud or complimentary coloured tights/leggings for the wintertime.

I think bracers for optional costume changes or seasonal options would be useful.

The copper belt I'm working on. I also have glass bottles and some ready-made chain that I can hook together for the fantasy elements. I think hawk bells and one of the Kwan-Yin bells would add some movement.

I am looking at building a set of prayer beads, I think the end token, instead of a cross will be either one of the St Christopher medals or perhaps my comedy/tragedy charms or perhaps a Goddess charm.

I'm still working on that lucet cord for costuming.

I now have some clock parts and watch pieces, would like to find a suitable locket of brass to go on the chain.

Happy Colours Scarf - Rowan yarns

I've been wanting to do some weaving again and have been trying to decide on colours, textures and yarn weights.

I did have an idea, out of many, this one using only Rowan yarns, so I could take it to the Woolly Women meetings at John Lewis, Bluewater, since it was sorta started by the Rowan rep, I try to keep to Rowan items to show (not always, though... ok, rarely!).

Another idea was to use two balls of Rowan Cashcotton that didn't really 'go' with the other Cashcotton colours I have... but they do go together with each other. Great, two things to combine...

Then there was the thought of 'warp-dominant' or 'weft-dominant'. I've been asking on the weaving groups about this. Amongst my questions and reading other posts and looking at what others have been doing, I decided to give the warp-dominant a try.

Now, I thought I'd go with a weft-dominant first, but that didn't happen.

And yes, I will get to the point here soon enough...



10dpi reed, Ashford RH loom, Rowan Cotton Glace for the weft, Rowan Cashcotton DK for the warp. The blue is much more turquoise and bright; the orange is more pink-orange. The weft is a mid-light green (not too light, not too dark). Combining these together has altered the colours of each yarn and... I like the effect.

Out of the Cashcotton, there's probably 10m or so left of each, bit less of the blue. The green was burned up, but I think I still have 1/3rd of a ball left.

I'll have more to say about this piece once it's finished being washed and has a chance to dry. Then I'll see how much it bloomed, though with the cotton content being the highest, might not bloom greatly.

And I forgot to measure before washing. Oops! I will say, this is my widest piece so far. (94 threads across)

Washed and dried

Finally, it's dry!

Finished size of the second practice piece: 16cm wide by 28cm long. It didn't shrink much, width-wise, but quite a bit length-wise. Will have to try and remember this when I make another item out of this yarn. It's still a bit rough (maybe it needs to be tumbled briefly) so I think the yarns will be utilised for things like table mats, placemates, table runners, bags or pillow covers.

Still pleased with the results, yes.

More about that second piece

Hurry up and dry already! *pouts*

Anyway, I've washed the piece in very soapy water and then let it soak for about 20-30 minutes to help the soap flakes get in to the fibre and get the oil out of it. Thorough rinse and it has bloomed considerably. The brown that had practically disappeared while weaving is now more visible. The gaps in between the warp and weft have definitely closed up and it doesn't feel very stiff while it's wet. I hope the drape/hand doesn't change too dramatically once it's dry.

I've got a wall radiator downstairs that puts out a lot of heat (and it totally ignores the thermostat settings, too...) so I'm going to hang the piece on the drying rack in front of the radiator.

Now I get to search through my stash for what I'll do next. I really like (though it's fiddly) the 12.5 dpi heddle, but I haven't tried the 10 dpi the loom came with and I haven't tried the 7.5 dpi. I know I want to continue (for now) working with wool/hair yarns and perhaps mixed with other fibres too (silk or cotton).

Second practice piece

Second go on my RH loom. I'm rather pleased with this attempt, I was very much afraid that I'd set up the loom to be too short, but this was long and wide enough to have worked out very well. The yarn wasn't specified for warp or weft just 'suitable for weaving', I wanted to find out if the yarn was robust enough to be used as a warp and it is, if used double; I had no snapped threads. It does stretch a little on the loom and the nature of the yarns meant that they tried to cling to one another frequently when moving the heddle up and down and when passing the shuttle through the shed. My selvedges are still a bit wonky but getting better. Better pictures will of course, be available on my picturetrail in the 'Ravelry Projects' folder.

12.5 dent reed (50/10cm)

Warp: Texere's Silk Heather (40% silk, 30% wool, 30% cotton) two strands, one oatmeal colour, the second "Moss Mix" (brown). Both yarns are a tweed (9/1nm -- whatever that means).
Weft: two strands together of Silk Heather oatmeal and two strands held together of Texere's Enigma (50% silk, 50% wool, 10/1nm) in "Spruce" (blue), Enigma is another tweed yarn. All yarns come on cones, spun in oil.
Measurement: I haven't washed the test piece yet, so it hasn't bloomed, shrunk/grown or done anything. It's been off the loom for an hour or two now and the size is 17cm wide and 31cm long. I will try to remember to measure it again after it's been washed and dried.

I'm torn on whether to take my chances and put it through a machine wash or just handwash it in soap flakes.

I am so satisfied with the results of this piece that I want to use it here in the house, perhaps as a small mat for something or in the display cabinet.

It's a... scarf? No, just my first practice piece.

I just finished my first RH loom project, it came out ok, but I have a lot of improvement to look forward to.

If you want to see pictures, I will be putting them up on my picturetrail shortly and also in my projects in Ravelry.

A picture...



It needs 'finishing'... ends tied off, stray bits on the side where yarns were introduced need tying off or weaving in. And then washed, to get the yarn manufacturer's sizing and whatever out and allow the yarn to be what it is naturally.