Browsed by
Tag: rags

finished rag weave material
About that ‘groove’ …

About that ‘groove’ …

Comments 16 comments

In April I talked about getting my groove back and trying something new.  Groove, rut, six of one, half dozen of the other, right?  Not really.  I had the opportunity to purchase a large quantity of pre-cut jersey rags from the Guild.  Bright yellow was perfect for a summer project and perfect to get me moving again.

The project is all done.

The final weigh-in is 2.5 kilos or 5 pounds.  Right now it needs to rest for a few days.  The plan is to do some minor repairs because there are always small repairs and then decide what to do with the material.

finished rag weave material

Some of the repairs are very small, just need a clip,

Some need a bit more of a reweaving and inspection.

And some really came as a surprise.  I must have been asleep at the switch with this one, but it’s totally fixable and I’ll take care of it.

Once I had used up all the rag I was left with too much warp thread for me to comfortably cut the threads and I was sure there was more to be made from this fibre. Weavers are known for being economical (aka cheap).  The work needed in warping a loom is significant and I hate wasting the time and the fiber.

So I found a bobbin of deep blue cotton and gave it a try. And I liked it, so now the warp is used not just for rags, but for cotton as well.

simple twill weave for cotton cushion cover

The final product is enough to make a great cushion cover or bag, or table drape, or maybe a project bag.  Lots of potential for this fabric. It’s surprisingly thick just as it sits without finishing.  So once it’s been washed it will be even fluffier and more dense.

finished cotton twill for cushion cover    Hem stitched finished edge on woven cushion cover

I did try hem stitching the edge and found it is not my strong suit.  But I’ll keep practising and someday I’ll be happy with the final result.

For now, everything is resting; me included.  The fibres need to come back into their original shape and that takes a bit of time.  I need to do the repairs and inspection of the final product and tie off all loose ends before it goes into the laundry.  Then I’ll see where I go after that.

I may want to leave the huge 7-meter piece for a display our guild is having this fall at a museum, but I’ll talk to our curator about that first. So many decisions, and so much fun for the next project.   Thinking of doing a linen table runner, never tackled one of those.

 

yellow cotton rags to be woven with cotton yarn for table runner
Getting Your Groove Back

Getting Your Groove Back

Comments 10 comments

How do the rest of you get your creativity flowing when you have no juice left?  I did a lot, and I do mean a lot, of spinning over the winter.  I played with colours, with silks, with blends, mohair, qiviut, camel, linen, all sorts of wools and nothing inspired me, nothing moved me.  I joined a knitting group to relearn knitting.  The group speak French as their primary language, so that was a doubly challenging.  We have a blast and I have to say I’m still a terrible knitter and still not bi-lingual, but I love their company.  Perseverance might be the only way through this arid spot.

We have started cleaning the Guild space and prepping for destashing.  In the 100 inch loom studio was a very large bag containing rags for weaving catalogne blankets.  These are traditional Quebec coverlets to keep sleepers warm during deep winters.  They are thick and heavy.  They are also quintessential recycle projects since they are made from strips of rags.  I was allowed to purchase all the yellow strips.  These are made from cotton jersey and I loved the colour.

yellow cotton rags to be woven with cotton yarn for table runner

One of our guild members made the happy/sad decision to accept a job in her home city and left here to move across the country to Vancouver.  She generously offered her yarn for sale to Guild members.  I love her colours so much that I violated my promise-to-self of no more yarn in the house. If you closely at the picture below you might spot a little loop of thread laying on the yellow spool.  That is all that remains of the mushroom cotton.  That’s yarn chicken at it’s finest, less than one yard remained on a 500gm bobbin.

All the mushroom, yellow and magenta cotton threads are now measured as a 10 yd warp ready to go on the loom and be woven with the yellow rags.

10 yd cotton warp to be woven with rags alternating with magenta cotton.

The final piece of this little “get moving – get weaving” scenario was a bag of warp spacers for a sectional beamed loom.  These spacers really were the topper because they allow me to do a really long warp on my loom. I have no excuses anymore.  This weekend I just need to put my mind to getting on with it and know I’ll enjoy getting creative again.