Weaving again!

I spent this afternoon clearing out and re-reorganizing the garage.  The loom is now usable!  Here is a shot of Sophie, looking much more comfortable after the removal of all the stuff that was piled around and against her:

And after hooking everything up, of course, I had to weave a little something to make sure that Sophie was happy and working.  So this was inevitable:

Not the clearest writing (I wish I’d had black weft), but I hope the meaning comes across.

Meanwhile, coat-wise, I have turned the square buttonholes on their points to make diamonds, which I like much better.  I should have remembered from design class: diagonal lines are energetic, vertical and horizontal lines are calmer.  In this case, a little energy is called for:

Now I like it a lot more.

The main question is how big to make the buttonholes.  Which of course means I need to figure out what kind of buttons to make.  I have ordered some of these from Britex Fabrics:

I ordered five of the smallest size (3/4″) from Britex; we’ll see what they look like when they arrive.  I liked the knotted look, as it’s very much in keeping with the theme.  If it doesn’t work, I’ll fall back to round suede buttons, which I can get made in any size.

Tonight I am going to start underlining the handwoven fabric.  Because it is not super tightly woven, I want to give it some support, so I’m going to tack it to the underlining, which will be a lightweight China silk.  I had thought of organza, but I think I will get better drape with a China silk.  So I’m giving that a try.  I’m not quite sure how best to attach it yet – will ask Sharon for her thoughts when I see her tomorrow.

In a few days I should have the buttons and be ready to play with buttonholes, which will in turn tell me how to redraft the front to reflect the final design.