A Rainbow Warp

Life is a choice; you can live in black and white,

or you can live in colour.

~ Karen Marie Moning

Remember how I am having an ergonomic bench made for my backstrap weaving?  And how the instructions include sewing fabric to cover a foam cushion for the seat?  

And how I decided to weave the fabric to make the cover?  

And, by "decided", I mean was swept away on a whim...  ;)

Well, I picked out five rainbow-ish colors and started preparing my warp!  

The pattern I am going to try is to weave horizontal bars, like these (from Laverne's blog on backstrap weaving):

So, going from left to right, I will have a series of narrow, vertical bands in the five colors (purple, yellow, orange, blue and green) and then a "ladder" of horizontal stripes that alternate between purple and yellow.  That's what you can see in the threads above.  Finally, on the right side, I'll put a set of symmetrical narrow bands in the same five colors, in reverse order.  

If you are thinking that my photo above looks way too narrow to cover a bench seat, then you are right!  It is one half of one piece of fabric - and I will need to weave four of these pieces and sew them together, in order to complete this fabric...  

Of course, I have to finish the narrow black purse band before I can start weaving even the first of these pieces in these beautiful colors!  :)

The Little Black Band

One is never over-dressed or under-dressed with

a Little Black Dress.

~ Karl Lagerfeld

And my woven bag is going to require a Little Black Band - so that is what I started weaving over the weekend:  

I used a white weft, to give it a "pop" along the edges and to tie it in with the woven bag fabric and the lining.  

It's coming along pretty well - but I have to say that weaving a narrow black band is kind of boring...  I am definitely a bright color girl!  ;)

And wait until you see the colors I've picked out for my next project!  (They just might show up on my blog sometime later this week...  hint, hint)  

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!  

Option, Options and More Options!

I meant to behave,

there were just too many other options.  

~ Darynda Jones

Yay!  I finished weaving my band, pulled it off the backstrap loom and lined it with a silk remnant from the wedding dress:  

Now I want to turn it into a small bag - the question is, how?  

I could fold it in thirds - with the top layer serving as the flap - stitching up the back and middle layer to form the body of the purse - add a row of decorative beads and leave the long fringe there...  Obviously I would also add a strap.  

I could do all of the above, but shorten the fringe somewhat...

Or I could cut off all of the fringe.

I don't have to fold it in thirds - I could fold it like this: 

I'd probably cut off the fringe, so that it doesn't obscure the design..  

Or some other combination - and the beads are optional too.  

What do you think?  How should I assemble this purse?

Gratuitous Kitten Picture

Kitten, ... your eyes are my home.  

~ Jeaniene Frost

At the Intersection of Two Worlds

Chance favors the connected mind.  

~ Steven Johnson

Sometimes the most original ideas come when a person makes a connection across two completely separate parts of her life.  

That's how I created my "How Much Fabric?" reference cards - I started with a question from my sewing life and applied methods and tools from my work life - and I ended up with something that no one else had ever done before.  

And I recently discovered someone else who made this type of connection - Dr. Karen Piegorsch.  Her work life is firmly rooted in ergonomics, a field that focuses on designing equipment to suit the human body.  And she has a passion for the visual arts.  

Well, weaving is a visual art and on a trip to Guatemala, she learned that backstrap weavers experience a lot of physical pain from weaving in the traditional, kneeling position.  And so, she set about designing a bench for (and with) them - a bench that would provide the physical support that they need for this particular art.  

She did such a good job, that she and her design won a number of awards!  

More importantly, she went about this in such a way that communities of backstrap weavers have been able to take ownership of the enterprise and to continue building these benches for themselves.  

And the plans are available, free of charge, online (here)!  So, guess who thought it would be cool to have a bench like this for herself...?  

I'll give you a hint - she writes a blog called "In Over My Head"   ;)

You guessed it!  

I went up on a website called ThumbTack and posted a "help wanted" ad for a woodworker to build this bench for me.  

And it turns out that there's even a role for me in this project!  

Yup - I'll make the cushion - the plans for the bench also detail all the components I will need and how to assemble it.  I think it's going to be a lot of fun to pick out the fabric and stitch this up!  :)

If you are interested in the bench and want more information, you can watch this video (click here).  

Wish me luck!

Looms, Looms and more Looms

The surface of the Earth itself is an immense loom

upon which the sun weaves the fabric of existence.  

~ Wade Davis

It seems like lately I've been surrounded by different types of looms.  Almost two weeks ago, I introduced my young friend, Mariana, to one of those potholder looms.  

Remember those?  :)

Then, last weekend, we were browsing in Michael's and I saw this newfangled loom:  

Oh, excuse me, I mean this "Loop De Loom"...  ;)

It's really kind of ingenious how it works - if you are interested, click here for a YouTube demonstration.  

At first, I thought it was a new and unique type of loom - but then my weaving friend watched the video and said that it reminded her of the weaving sticks that she inherited from her husband's grandmother!  

Being a sweetheart, she popped those weaving sticks in the mail for me and Mariana to experiment with:  

If I can get any actual weaving going with these sticks, I'll post some pictures.  ;)

Being a total sweetheart, she also prepared a small cardboard loom for us to weave on - check this out!  

What can you do with a loom that is smaller than an index card?  

Well...  

It turns out you can weave the most adorable little bag!  

And I know this, because she also included the above sample in my weaving loom care package!  :)

So, the number of looms in my house just doubled!  You know, because I don't already have enough projects queuing up...  ;)

Speaking of bags, hopefully I can finish my backstrap weaving project this weekend and start turning it into a small bag!  :)

What are your weekend plans?  I hope you have a great one!  :)

Progress, But I Need a Plan...

You can't get a suit of armour and a rubber chicken just like that.  
You have to plan ahead.

~ Michael Palin

Thanks to my husband's anchor and my weaving friend's warp, I am making good progress on my current project:  

It is about 5.5 inches wide, and I'd like to make it into a small purse.  My thought is to fold it twice - one fold to create the front and back of the body, with the back being a bit taller - and then to fold over the excess of the back in order to form a flap.  

That is as far as I've gotten in my "plan" - there are several open questions that need to be addressed:  

Holding the flap down - the metal snaps that I've used in previous bags seem a bit too heavy, I don't really want to add a button hole...  

Also, how should I stitch it up?  The fabric is kind of thick, and I'm afraid that turning it inside out and stitching up the sides might not work well.  

Finally, my weaving friend recommends lining it, and I agree - but I'm not sure exactly how I would go about doing that.  

I definitely need a plan.  

Any suggestions where I might find a suit of armour or a rubber chicken?  ;)

Or maybe just some thoughts on how I might turn this piece of hand woven fabric into a little purse...  ;)