well, hmmm.
Many times, in recent months, I have thought "I should take a photo and put that on the blog."
Clearly, thinking is not doing. Something I have said over and over to people wanting to weave! You have to just jump in and do it.
So herewith, the last few months:
Handspun muga silk fabric, for a kimono, made and worn at Convergence in Reno:
This is the fabric for the body of the garment, and here is the band of the jacket on the loom:
I love that it "goes with" but is not the same. I think both are sett at 48, I'd have to check my notes, but that is somewhat standard, for me, using my handspun silk. No actual photo of the finished garment, and this is what tends to stop me posting at all: should I post what I have, or wait until I have it all? You see the issue. Today? I will post what I have!
Next up:
A leather bag made for my friend Eileen, using her fabric as the pocket patch. I am definitely getting better at this leather stuff, practice does make...better? But! I did have to rip out and fix a bag I made for myself:
This is the first iteration: bison leather bag body, and elk leather for the pocket, with a little western sunset in handspun silk on the pocket. The lighter color pocket was a little jarring, to my eyes, despite the good intention of using "western" leathers for a western sky. I used the bag for a few months, until and at last, I realized the lighter color leather was also too thin and floppy to be a pocket. My keys, sunglasses and phone dragged the pocket down and made it look like a deflated balloon, to put it politely. And who wants to carry that around?
So I remade the pocket. I took off the old pocket (which leaves holes in the leather), and stitched the silk patch onto bison leather, added a zipper and then stitched the whole thing over the perforations made by the original pocket. I love love love the stitch pattern on the new iteration! It's a good size pocket, big enough for my phone, and in a pinch, a few other things. But being flat, it is not as good for keys, sunglasses...oh well!
I still totally love it. Since this was made bass-ackwards, so to speak, I will try another using this stitch and another shaped pocket on the front of a bag, done in the proper order, to avoid the holes that this pocket hides.
Just to make this post really long, I'll include one of my recent fabrics:
This is a tweed silk yarn I purchased from another weaver. It makes The.Most.Fabulous.Fabric! This is dip dyed in indigo, and is the top of a blanket. The top is in the process of being stitched to another layer of this silk, the lining/backing or whatever:
Both fabrics are 15/2 silk tweed yarn, sett at 30 epi, woven with 20/2 cotton. I am not a quilter, so I am winging it, just stitching the two layers together with a running stitch, in hopes that it will feel like the whole cloth quilts I like so much. Again, no photo of the whole thing, that will (may?) come later. The stitching will take me months, but is a pleasant contemplative activity:
When I am done with it? A double layer silk blanket. What a treat! The thing weighs at least 4 pounds, too, so it will double as one of those anxiety blankets! And given the current state of affairs in this world, I may need it...
There are a few more things I could post/talk about, but I'll leave this here for now, and make an effort to come back soon with more photos, and more projects. Thanks for listening! and thanks to those of you who have asked where I've been.
Clearly, thinking is not doing. Something I have said over and over to people wanting to weave! You have to just jump in and do it.
So herewith, the last few months:
Handspun muga silk fabric, for a kimono, made and worn at Convergence in Reno:
This is the fabric for the body of the garment, and here is the band of the jacket on the loom:
I love that it "goes with" but is not the same. I think both are sett at 48, I'd have to check my notes, but that is somewhat standard, for me, using my handspun silk. No actual photo of the finished garment, and this is what tends to stop me posting at all: should I post what I have, or wait until I have it all? You see the issue. Today? I will post what I have!
Next up:
A leather bag made for my friend Eileen, using her fabric as the pocket patch. I am definitely getting better at this leather stuff, practice does make...better? But! I did have to rip out and fix a bag I made for myself:
This is the first iteration: bison leather bag body, and elk leather for the pocket, with a little western sunset in handspun silk on the pocket. The lighter color pocket was a little jarring, to my eyes, despite the good intention of using "western" leathers for a western sky. I used the bag for a few months, until and at last, I realized the lighter color leather was also too thin and floppy to be a pocket. My keys, sunglasses and phone dragged the pocket down and made it look like a deflated balloon, to put it politely. And who wants to carry that around?
So I remade the pocket. I took off the old pocket (which leaves holes in the leather), and stitched the silk patch onto bison leather, added a zipper and then stitched the whole thing over the perforations made by the original pocket. I love love love the stitch pattern on the new iteration! It's a good size pocket, big enough for my phone, and in a pinch, a few other things. But being flat, it is not as good for keys, sunglasses...oh well!
I still totally love it. Since this was made bass-ackwards, so to speak, I will try another using this stitch and another shaped pocket on the front of a bag, done in the proper order, to avoid the holes that this pocket hides.
Just to make this post really long, I'll include one of my recent fabrics:
This is a tweed silk yarn I purchased from another weaver. It makes The.Most.Fabulous.Fabric! This is dip dyed in indigo, and is the top of a blanket. The top is in the process of being stitched to another layer of this silk, the lining/backing or whatever:
Both fabrics are 15/2 silk tweed yarn, sett at 30 epi, woven with 20/2 cotton. I am not a quilter, so I am winging it, just stitching the two layers together with a running stitch, in hopes that it will feel like the whole cloth quilts I like so much. Again, no photo of the whole thing, that will (may?) come later. The stitching will take me months, but is a pleasant contemplative activity:
When I am done with it? A double layer silk blanket. What a treat! The thing weighs at least 4 pounds, too, so it will double as one of those anxiety blankets! And given the current state of affairs in this world, I may need it...
There are a few more things I could post/talk about, but I'll leave this here for now, and make an effort to come back soon with more photos, and more projects. Thanks for listening! and thanks to those of you who have asked where I've been.
posted by Sara at 5:33 AM
3 Comments:
You are beyond better!!! I absolutely love the new pocket - using the bison leather and the placement of your fabric is spot on!!
I wish that double layer silk blanket could stretch to cover us all!! I usually don't like covers that weigh down on me but these days ... bring it on!!!
Your work is stunning.
Oh my goodness, the hands-spun muga silk fabric is just stunning. Now I have a goal for my own spinning - to be able to consistently spin something that fine and lovely. Thanks for sharing.
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