I chose to weave rather than to knit. I am not a great knitter but have found the rhythm and flow of weaving very relaxing. I went on a weaving workshop some years ago and found the whole process very enjoyable so felt it was time to have another go. I bought a small loom and have found the experience very rewarding.
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This is a sample of printed paper (my curtains!) that I wove when working on chapter 1 but it didn't make my final selection. Weaving through alternate rows produced a herringbone effect. I copied the pattern from a Tudor jerkin. It took me ages to work out how to do it!
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This piece has been worked on my loom. I experimented with various types and thicknesses of thread. Here I have used wool, tufts of wooltops, strings of shells and gold knitted cord.
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Using the loom, I have incorporated various thicknesses of string, paper, wooden sticks and raffia to experiment with design.
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Here I have used a strip of knitting, fancy yarns, braided pearls, paper, feathers and strips of plastic.
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In this piece I have woven paper strips diagonally, with a wide band of raised paper strips through the middle.
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I tore strips of a variegated fabric (sheer and opaque) and wove diagonally. I then wove a red chenille thread vertically and across the diagonal band.
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To enhance the central band I wove dried seaweed into the chenille thread and added painted wooden sticks to draw the design together. The whole piece was very unstable as the weave had been very loose, so I framed the piece, back and front, so that it was easier to handle.
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I've looped the weft strips to create a 3D effect.
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I call this piece 'Old Threads, New Threads'. Most of my shopping has been online during lockdown. When a lovely jumper arrived, I kept the wrapping as I liked the colours and so have up-cycled it. I cut up strips from the wrapping and made cords from my stash of snippets of old threads, which I have been collecting for more than 10 years. This is the result. It's very simple but it amuses me!
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This piece of weaving took a while to work out from a photo. It consists of many interlinking strips and did not particularly inspire me.
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This one proved even more difficult to reproduce, so I coloured the strips to keep track of what I was doing.
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I decided to approach weaving from a different angle, looking at the spaces between the threads rather than at the threads themselves, so I made a grid of holes. I used my flower stitch foot (automatic stitch M3/97) and worked on clear organza backed with water soluble fabric to act as a stabiliser. These colours are inspired by my study of coral polyps. The circles shown are actually the underside of the circles, where there is more texture. I used two different coloured threads for each circle although it is difficult to see this in the photo. Next I cut them out with a soldering iron and dampened them to remove the soluble fabric. Then I stitched them all together.
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I made cords by zigzagging over string and also zigzagged over wire, although I didn't use the latter in the end. I didn't think it was necessary to use all the holes as this piece is a much about what's not there as about what is. I added a turquoise cord through the centre, coming up from the bottom rather than down from the top as a contrast, but felt that a little more was needed to finish the piece.
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The turquoise addition down the middle could be mistaken for weaving (at a pinch) but in fact it is tangles of glue, made with a glue gun and then painted with gouache and rubbed with acrylic wax to give it a shine. Very pleased with the result.
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This 'swimsuit' vaguely fits in with my coral reef theme! Woven on a loom using 3 different wools as well as wool roving. Embellished with beads and painted pearls, inspired by the necklace, which I bought in a market in Chile. Again, very pleased with the result.
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Close up.
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| Presentation Board 1 |
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| Presentation Board 2 |
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| Presentation Board 3 |
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| Presentation Board 4 |
