infinite warp – Page 3

September 6, 2011 by Tien Chiu 1 Comment

Maple leaf draft

I was doodling around this morning, and came up with this potential draft for the newly-reworked Autumn Splendor:

And here it is without the lines:

I haven’t decided yet which I like best – the diagonal lines give a pleasing “grid” to it, I think, but the leaves without the lines look freer and more flowing. I think I will weave up both and see which I like more.

(This is done up in 3-1 broken twills. I could have used 4-1 satins, but I wanted less contrast in the pattern, to make it a bit subtler.)

Meanwhile, I have realized that there’s really no reason the collar has to be leather, and there’s actually a good reason to make it of something else: leather is a royal pain to sew, and I think it would be nice to do some embroidery on the collar – tracework of leaves, in gold, I think. A green silk charmeuse would be Just Right.

I’m amused with how this warp has metamorphosed into an Art Project, as opposed to the quick-and-dirty projects I was going to make; but you knew this was going to happen, didn’t you?

September 5, 2011 by Tien Chiu Leave a Comment

A burst of inspiration

I finished resleying this morning and tied on again tonight. I started by weaving a header in fine silk, then switched to a slightly thicker weft to weave up enough fabric to start the rotary temples going.

The pirn I happened to grab from the “extras” bin was a leftover painted-weft pirn from the Autumn Splendor sample, and it wove up beautifully, like this:

I was admiring the color shifts in the weft and thinking what a pity it was that I couldn’t do the painted warp trick on this warp, since the warp’s already on the loom. Then it dawned on me…there’s no reason the warp has to be painted! If I weave with either cotton or wool weft, I can differential-dye just as easily, by painting the silk with dyes that won’t “take” on the cotton (or wool). I could make the silk a solid color or paint on splotches of color, entirely as I please.

And then I thought…what if I make the collar of the coat out of deep green leather, and paint the weft in a series of autumn colors, as in my last Autumn Splendor sample warp?

Here, as a reminder, is that last Autumn Splendor sample:

And here is the coat muslin:

I’m envisioning a deep green collar (the color of green maple leaves) against a gold/bronze background, transitioning into orange, red, purple, and brown as in the Autumn Splendor sample. Warp would be dyed after weaving in shades of gold and bronze, so there is virtually no pattern visible at the top, and as the colors get progressively darker, the pattern stands out more.

The first thing that will be tricky is trying to unravel the knitted-blank weft. I am quite confident that I can unravel a knitted-blank weft in 60/2 silk. Trying to unravel a knitted blank in 40/2 cotton or 2/60 nm wool, on the other hand, is apt to be fraught with frustration, as the yarns are considerably more delicate than the corresponding size silk. I may resort to using a thicker weft. That wouldn’t be good for the drape (fabric drapes better if it is slightly warp-dominant) but with such a fine, supple fabric, it probably wouldn’t make a huge difference.

The second thing that will be tricky is the coat pattern…which requires fabric wider than I can weave. Normally not a problem, as I can invisibly sew the panels together for most fabrics. However, with painted-weft work, the edges won’t line up exactly, and the seam line will be visible. We may have to re-modify the coat pattern to make it more “friendly” to my fabric width, or else add a princess seam somewhere in the garment. I’m pretty sure Sharon will have ideas.

I won’t be able to get a grid of gold embroidery thread because the warp is 100% silk, but since I’m not doing devore, I can simply add a strand of gold embroidery thread to the weft, using a second shuttle, to get that lovely touch of glitter.

Yes! Yes! Yes!!! I think this will work!

September 4, 2011 by Tien Chiu 1 Comment

(Un)common sense

I was working on the coat muslin yesterday – designing the collar as I recall – and had to make a decision on how to draw part of the pattern. Immediately, I said to myself, “Oh, do it this way – that’s just common sense.” Then I realized that, six months ago, the same question would have sent me into conniptions of “Help, I don’t know what to do!”

Which just points up that common sense is hardly “common”: it’s wisdom that comes from experience and study. That which is common sense to an expert may mean hours of pondering and experimentation for the novice. I am pleased to note that I am starting to develop “common sense” for pattern drafting. Hooray!

In muslin news:

I was still mulling over the jacket fabrics as I drove up to see Sharon. I really loved the diamond pattern, but wasn’t convinced it would work. Sharon thought it would work just fine, and after seeing myself pinned into the jacket muslin, with the diamond pattern draped over the jacket front, I agreed. In fact it may work better than the Celtic braid, so that’s what we’re going to do. I will resley the loom and start weaving the yardage for the jacket – 8 yards ought to be more than plenty. The pattern still needs one more set of tweaks (and Sharon says I really need to learn how to set in sleeves; apparently my sleeve-setting is horrendous), so I will do one more muslin as well.

Coat: the coat pattern, as it turns out, is just about fine the way it is! As with the jacket, there are still a few tweaks that need to be made, so another muslin is in order. But it’s almost ready for prime time.

The one catch, though, is that it really won’t work well with the black and red Celtic braid fabric, because the braid produces a straight line that clashes with the diagonal of the front:

coat muslin, with contrast collar and cuffs

It really needs to be used with a subtler allover pattern, something that will be interesting but which will not clash with the collar for attention. So, oddly, developing the pattern to a good design has eliminated its suitability for its original purpose, which was finding a use for the Celtic braid fabric!

All of which reminds me of a lovely quote from Annie Dillard’s The Writing Life, on the writer’s way of working:

Courage utterly opposes the bold hope that this is such fine work the work needs it, or the world. Courage, exhausted, stands on bare reality: this writing weakens the work. You must demolish the work and start over…

The part you must jettison is not only the best-written part; it is also, oddly, that part which was to have been the very point. It is the original key passage, the passage on which the rest was to hang, and from which you yourself drew the courage to begin.

The unfortunate truth is that the stripes clash with the flow of the coat. So it’s time to let them part ways, and find something else to do with the Celtic braid fabric, while developing a fabric to suit the design of the coat.

I am eyeing this pattern from a previous post, one which I had discarded as “blurring into static” from a distance:

sample 2 - Handwoven.net draft 29495, from "Fancy Twill Variations" by Ralph Griswold

I will probably rework this draft a couple of times before declaring it suitable, but it will be a good base for the coat pattern: subtle enough to be interesting close up, but not so bold as to draw attention to itself. I want the clear focal point on the coat to be the dramatic collar (which also draws attention to the neck and face), and a strong fabric pattern will muddle that.

I have not thought about colors yet. I’d like to have strong colors in the collar at least – Sharon is suggesting blues and greens or blues and purples, but I’m more attracted to red. (Hey, you knew I was a drama queen!) Because I can’t dye leather dependably (and I do want a leather collar), I think I may approach the problem by buying the leather for the collar first, then designing a fabric around the collar, rather than trying to find leather after the fact. This is a great occasion for a trip to Leatherwise, a shop in Santa Cruz that specializes in fantastic leather. I will probably go down two weekends from now – I’m booked next Saturday and they aren’t open on Sundays.

Meanwhile, I have not forgotten the Celtic braid fabric. Sharon suggested making a cape or a cloak from it – the long lines would go well with simple rectangular shapes, and I have (more than) enough to make a very nice cape. I borrowed one from Sharon that I think would work well, and will take the pattern off the garment and make myself a mockup in fleece before proceeding with the Celtic braid.

I won’t be seeing Sharon until late September, though, due to conflicts in both our schedules. So that gives me plenty of time to adjust the patterns, redesign drafts, and finish that article for Handwoven. I will weave up the samples for it today and tomorrow, and hope to get back to my own weaving this week.

So it looks like I have my work “cut out” for me!

September 2, 2011 by Tien Chiu 1 Comment

Jacket muslin

I finished the jacket muslin today. Here’s a pic of the muslin with contrast collar and one contrast cuff:

I then decided to see how it would work with the various patterns:

jacket muslin with Celtic braid, with black between braids

Jacket muslin, with Celtic braids separated by white stripes

The first one is my favorite; the lines are clearly defined, and the pattern coordinates well with the contrast collar. The second one is a bit too busy. The third pattern is drop-dead gorgeous, but it’s so strong that in a full piece, I think it would overpower the collar.

I like the contrast cuff, though I haven’t gotten a really good look at it on me. Tomorrow!

And now, off to work on the coat muslin!

September 1, 2011 by Tien Chiu Leave a Comment

Whew!

The last few days have been a nightmare of trying to juggle work, social obligations, and my personal projects. But one of my projects at work is safely launched, and another is doing well and will launch next week. My problem child project seems to be smoothing out, and the new project I’ve been assigned is (thank goodness!) not in a state of crisis, so I’ll get a breather before things get crazy again.

And, I’m getting a three-day weekend! Monday is Labor Day, so I get the day off, and can focus on weaving.

Plans for the next few days:

Friday/Saturday: Finish adjusting the jacket and coat patterns, and sew up the muslins. Go see Sharon, samples in hand.

Sunday/Monday: weave up the samples for my Handwoven article.

The jacket muslin is actually well on its way to completion. I’ve altered the pattern and sewn up the body; now I just need to add the sleeves, cuffs, and facings. The fit is now close enough that we’re going to try simulating the look of the contrast collar/cuffs. I bought some vinyl (which Sharon says is pretty close t0 leather in the way it sews up) and will be making the facings from the black vinyl. And I’m adding the cuffs, which I drafted out yesterday morning and cut out of the vinyl yesterday evening. I’m designing them to be about 3.5 inches wide and stand out from the arm by about 1″ when complete – quite dramatic! No idea if it will work yet, but I’m looking forward to finding out! I hope to assemble it and have photos tomorrow.