Sunday, 2 May 2010

Handspun Cushions

I woke up this morning very depressed. After a couple of hours I realised that the prospect of weaving the fan reed was the problem. It took me 90 minutes to weave 4 inches which is very slow. And I have only just got over weaving 12 yards of 90/2 silk!

So I decided that I would weave the handspun I have been given and make some cushion covers (at 6 epi!!). The idea is to weave them as double cloth which avoids any thick seams down the edges and finish the top and bottom with a fringe. The design is for a plain back and a 'fancy' front which is felted after weaving. The photo below shows all the handspun of the same thickness that I have and it ought to do three cushions. The two skeins hanging over the breast beam of the Megado are two warps for the cushion backs - Jacob mixed with Wensleydale. Goodness only knows how it will shrink. The advice I have been given (by Linda Scurr) is not to have wide stripes of any one lot of handspun because of differential shrinkage.

I have created a design of coloured stripes for the fronts and will weave with different wefts to get different but related patterns. I should have it up and running by tomorrow.
Camellia Lady McKinnon
My apple cordons. They were moved three feet backwards in January and look okay to me.
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About Me

I am weaver and - -. I dye my yarns with acid dyes, I paint my warps, put fabric collages and stencils on my weaving. I have three looms, a 12 inch wide, 12 shaft Meyer for demos and courses, a 30 inch Louet Kombo which is nominally portable but has a stand, two extra beams and a home-made device containing a fan reed. And last a 32 shaft Louet Megado which is computer controlled, has a sectional warp and a second warp beam and I am the proud owner of an AVL warping wheel which I love to bits and started by drilling holes in. I inserted a device for putting a cross in. I have just acquired an inkle loom and had a lesson from an expert so I can watch TV and weave at the same time. I am interested in weaving with silk mostly 60/2 although I do quite a bit with 90/2 silk. I also count myself as a bookbinder with a special interest in Coptic binding.