Conclusion

Looking back on this project, the earlier stages were difficult for me to pin down where I would like to see my work and what techniques I would actually use. The unit has allowed me to explore various new techniques such as double cloth and dyeing. I have given myself the license to try as many new ways of working as I could, and truly experiment and expand my knowledge of weaving techniques.

I am extremely happy with how the project has worked out, I have finally decided on where I see my work progressing towards, and have discovered that I love to dip dye my warp, something that I was wary of doing before.

My last two warps have given my work the anchoring to scarf making that I desired at the start of the unit.
I do feel that it has been a long and ever changing journey to get to where I am with my work today.

Final Warp

I created a series of paintings, long and thin, exploring the depth of colour. I used these drawings as a reference when thinking of my final warp. I again used lambswool, but this time added three bands of silk to bring something different to them. When I dip dyed these silk sections I was not prepared for how quickly and how vibrantly they would react to the dye. This has made my final warp extremely colourful and bright. I would not have dyed the warp this bright on purpose, but actually this mistake has given me a beautifully rich colour palette. I have created a smaller sample and a longer sample from this warp before running out of time for assessment. The silk has been woven with a satin weave structure, adding a wonderful silk stripe down the length of the samples. 

This image shows the original reeding of the warp. I have since halved the width of the selvedge as it was not sturdy enough. It now works a lot better as a strong selvedge. 

On this sample I used a dark teal coloured silk and a sateen structure to contrast with the satin band. I do not like how the stripe has worked out, however it may be due to the harsh darkness of the colour. 

Amsterdam

Although I enjoyed my trip to Amsterdam I did not feel that the photographs gathered related much to my project. I did however think that the architecture was extremely interesting and eclectic. The way that the buildings are so crooked, it looks as though they could fall over any minute.

Samples

These drawings led my sample making for this week:

I am extremely happy with this series of samples. I made a blanket warp, both with stripes of dip dyed sections. Here are a couple of images.

Both are over 8 shafts, one is a straight draught and one is pointed. I have explored the twill mostly in these samples as the lines cut across the darker areas of the dip dyed wool in a striking way. 

The pieces have a low ends per inch, 16, and an 8 reed meant that while weaving on the loom the samples were very open. Once washed and steamed the samples knitted together beautifully, and the light weight of the wool fabric feels very luxurious and suits the context for which I was imagining the designs for. 

I did create some longer samples to suggest a scarf, and the composition has worked well with these samples.

Overall these are my favourite bunch!

I have managed to out do any of my previous weaving, and actually wove 8 yards in 3 days. This gives me another two full weeks to use to create another set of samples. However next week I will be taking a trip to Amsterdam, an attempt to gather some more visual research!

Designing

Unsure of a colour palette for my next warp I decided to go monochrome for my drawing at this point as I know that I will definitely want to use lambswool again, and dip dye. These are the two elements of my sampling work that, to me, have worked the best and given me the most inspiration to carry forward into future samples. 

I scanned this image and played around with composition for design ideas. 

I am wanting to create a striped warp made of lambswool, with sections dip dyed differently to each other. I have learnt from previous mistakes to make each section of warp separately. I believe that this will add an extra element of excitement to my work, and will help to drive my work into the higher end one off market of scarf making, as there is a lot more effort put into a complicated pieced together warp like this one would be.

Bradford Textiles

I will be taking part in the Bradford Textiles live brief during this unit. The reason I am choosing this brief is because the entry requirements are quite broad and I am currently feeling at a loss as to where to take my work further.

I do believe that using this brief to focus my work will help to concentrate on my context and ultimately drive my work forward in a positive way.

Presentation

Just a short post about the presentation as I will do a proper write up for assessment.

The presentation was terrifying, I did not feel great about showing my work to other people as this always makes me feel very vulnerable and I always fear that the work is not good enough to present. The process did allow me to see weak areas of my work, and for this it was a useful experience. I spoke clearly and confidently, and this was something I was worried about getting wrong.

Overall I was happy with my presentation, although I fell short of the 10 minute time slot.

Paperchase

I have been given the opportunity to show my work in the Gallery space at Paperchase on Market street in Manchester City Centre. Here are a few images of my work in place:

Because the space is in a public area, the rules you have to follow to place your work here are that everything has to be framed. This is to prevent unwanted handling of your work by customers. It was unusual for me to place my double cloth woven samples into frames for display as I probably would never have done this in another context. However, it is amazing to see your work framed on a wall, this makes them look like something important, I would say that they looked a lot better than I thought that they would once put into the space. As this was the first time that I have placed my work on display for viewing, I did feel nervous and exposed. However the experience was surprisingly rewarding. The gallery holds work for a month, so I had to make sure that I would get the samples back in time to fit in with the deadline of this project.

Scarf

I had a lot of warp and little time left so I decided to create a long sample for composition ideas for scarves, both to find out how long it could take me to weave a scarf, and to use up the remaining warp on the loom.

This is a section of the piece. I am extremely happy with how it turned out, the depth of colour and the gradient of the dark to light is very aesthetically pleasing to me. It has become apparent that my over arching theme throughout the project has actually been about this shift of colour, blends of dark to light. The dip dye technique has allowed me to express this using a number of different yarns and techniques but to have the one constant throughout my body of work. Since realising that I have been on a quest to translate this depth of colour into my work I have been inspired greatly to create even more work in this way. 

Wooly Grids

Here is an image of a sample made using my wool dip dyed warp

The two samples are uncut from each other yet, and aren't finished properly. I still need to wash them and steam them. The textural qualities of these samples are amazing. The dense wool honeycomb has become extremely spongy and I have actually preferred creating these samples to the last double cloth ones!

The making of these samples has driven me to want to create for fashion. I am most interested in creating one off pieces, hand woven, rather than creating samples for mass production. I have had a look at a brochure of an exhibition of scarves that was in Wales called “all tied up” where I have seen some amazing and inspiring designs and designers.

This is a double cloth shawl made with lambswool and bamboo yarn. One is undyed and one is dip dyed. The blocks are so tiny the squares look like they are from a weave structure, but are in fact the two cloths interchanging. This resonated with me as I saw similarities from my previous work. 

Below is an image of Alpa Mistry's scarves inspired by her Indian heritage. The lustrous bright colours are all hand dyed and each piece is unique. This is definitely the way in which I would like to weave scarves, to create one off pieces of high end quality.  

Warp Four

I took one of the images of bricks and pulled out the colours I would like to work with:

The heavy texture has made me decide on using a weightier yarn, lambswool. I would like to make the wool quite dense so I have increased the ends per inch from 16 to 24. I have an idea to use a honeycomb weave structure to create a different type of gird form in my samples. I will definitely dip dye the warp again as I truly enjoy the unique qualities of a dip dyed sample, they become individual pieces unable to be replicated.

I am initially wary of using wool as I know that it can snap very easily.  

Brick Works

The pattern vs grid has inspired me to photograph at the gorgeous brick walls that I pass each morning on my bus through Salford to University. The textures and colours are amazing. These are just a couple of the photographs:

As I have once again surprised myself with fast pace weaving I have fell short of the weaving time by a week again. This gives me another chance to create another warp! I am very happy with my double cloth samples but due to the time constraints I will create a single cloth for the next warp. 

Patchwork

The process of piecing together small shapes to create patterns in my doublecloth samples reminds me a lot of patchwork, leading me to take out a few books from the library on patchwork quilts. Using images of my older samples I have created some drawings by cutting small shapes and piecing them together. Here are two of them:

I wanted to neaten these up so tried the same exercise out on photoshop. This is one: 

Although I usually prefer a digital version of a drawing to the hand-made, I actually have found myself favouring the hand-made cut and stick version of these drawings. I like the way that they aren’t perfect and the image on each shape differs. This reminds me a lot of real patchwork, hand –made and always room for human error. This is a lovely quality of patchwork as it makes each one unique. Despite enjoying this technique, I don’t feel that there is much more I can do with it for my current project. I will sadly leave the patchwork for now.

 

Piecing things together

Here is an image of one of my samples so far:

I have successfully translated the paint like qualities of my photoshop drawings and I am very pleased with the grid structure I have been able to create. The threading of this warp was definitely a challenge for me as it can be quite confusing when threading two cloths at once.  I also had a rocky start when trying to work out weave structures, but I do now feel that I have managed to get my head around the idea of weaving two cloths at once. There are many blocks in my threading, each only on two shafts. This means that this warp can only ever be woven in plain weave structure, but I have a lot of versatility when it comes to interchanging my two layers.

It is almost like the white top cloth is a page and I am drawing with the bottom wool dyed cloth by bringing it on top. 

I wanted to amplify the contrast between the two layers so decided to use a mohair and angora mix on the back of the cloth, and a viscose and lurex on the front in a couple of samples. 

Scanning in my samples does not show the sparkle of the lurex or the lovely texture of the mohair and angora of this sample. The first image is the front, the second the back. 

In terms of context for my work, I am very unsure. I would say that these samples could lend themselves to an interior context as they are very sturdy due to the high ends per inch (48) and the fact they are double cloth. However I am still working out the context for my general work, as other samples do not have this same feel. My thready pique samples would definitely not be practical for interiors as the threads would get caught quite easily. 

Design Development

I created this image using Photoshop to increase the contrast and neaten the edges of my drawings. These colours are unlike any colour palette I have used before. I think it is important to try new colour palettes when working, stepping out of your comfort zone sometimes as this can open up a new way of thinking about your work. This definitely has happened to me while trying to broaden and brighten the colours I have been working with.

 I wanted to play around with grid like structure from the photograph, so went on to experiment further on Photoshop.

I am enjoying the uniform rigid shapes I am creating. This drawing process has led me to think of creating a double cloth for my next warp. Initially I thought of creating two warps like this :

Both being four stripes, the first pink dip dye, white, pink dip dye, and the second, white, green dip dye, white, green dip dye.  I then realised that it would take much less time to create one full white warp and one alternating pink and green dip dyed yarn. I took a trip to Fairfield Yarns and bought an undyed 2/20 mercerised cotton and a very fine undyed worsted wool. I like the idea of combining the soft wool with cotton, and would like to see my double cloth made of two cloths of different yarns.

 

Search for Colour

Drawing has lagged in the past week as the photographs from Blackpool as so very dull. I spotted this on my way to university one day.

The lines in the glass made me think of the lines created by the floating threads along the backs of my samples. I instantly found the colours palette visually satisfying and instantly got to work creating some drawings picking out the colours. 

I found the contrast between the rigidity of the grid structure and the softness of the patterned tiles interesting. This is something that I would like to translate into my weaving, a contrast. This may be in yarns or colour. I could combine soft fluffy yarns like mohair or angora, with something harsh and shiny like viscose. 

Blackpool

Thinking of my samples as a form of generating ideas, much like sketches, I have been inspired to go to a beach and photograph the sand in search of the ripples I have been reminded of. The nearest beach to me is in Blackpool, but I was extremely underwhelmed when I got there. The tide couldn’t have been further in, no sand was visible at all. The water was a revolting grey/brown colour. Overall my trip did not pan out to be inspiring at all, and I was left with dull photographs of murky water. However, I was interested in the white foamy marks on the surface of the water, I did in fact see a connection between those marks and the lines created by the threads of my previous samples.

 Although I am not impressed with the colours from these photographs at least I can try to create some drawings from these marks. I used the colours from my samples and earlier drawings in an attempt to create something with a little more excitement.

Check Samples

With just a week left and no warp left I have decided to try something I wouldn’t normally do for a small warp. I have only made the warp six inches wide, and four yards long. It is a very stripy warp, I did this as an experiment to see if I could enjoy creating check fabric as I have not in the past.

Here is a sample from the small collection that shows the warp stripes well: 

This was an interesting task for me to do, as I actually did enjoy creating small swatches of check fabric and stepping slightly out of my comfort zone. It was good to get the opportunity to experiment because I doubt I would ever have made a warp like this if it wasn't for the unexpected week that I had spare.

I created the wavy line from early drawings in weave structures rather than using the pique. I do this that these samples have worked well and could be easily allocated to a fashion context.

Time Management and Samples

After using up two out of four of my precious weaving weeks creating warp and correcting mistakes, I have finally created a small collection of samples in the third week, and finished my warp a week early. This means there are some quick decisions to be made about my next warp as I was not prepared to have an extra weaving week. This image shows best the qualities I have managed to create in my dip dyed warp sections.

This is actually the back of the sample, and although I was most interested in creating the wavy line through a pique technique, the backs of the samples were visually very exciting to me. The ripples of threads running from top to bottom in ordered chaos reminded me of the ripples in sand left by the sea on a beach. 

Warping up

Following my disastrous experience in the dye lab, I was immediately faced with two problems when it came to winding on. I had created my warp in three pieces: The smaller warp for the pique threads, the undyed sections of my warp, and the dyed sections. This meant that where I wanted alternating stripes of dyed and undyed warp, the process of spacing my warp out on the raddle was extremely difficult to do, as I needed another pair of hands to hold pieces of warp in place/out of the way to be able to put it on properly. This made this task very long winded. I now know that if I want to create sections of dip dyed warp again, I will create each section separately to ensure that it is easier to wind on.

 The next problem was that I had neglected to put into my warp the figure of eight ties needed to prevent too much tangling when dying. This meant that more time was wasted untangling and rearranging my warp to allow it to wind on. I definitely will not forget to put in the figure of eight ties next time. 

Threading the loom has also taken up a lot of time because I have made several mistakes due to the complicated nature of the pique, resulting in changing large sections several times. So far I feel disheartened by the many mistakes and time consuming elements of this warp. 

Dyeing Troubles

Week one has helped to give my work a push in the right direction to develop on from the summer project into a grounded weave project. The first week of this unit was particularly difficult as we were allocated the first four weeks of the term on the loom rota. I was feeling particularly unsure of what to weave as I had felt myself losing inspiration from my summer project. 

One group of drawings from my sketchbook inspired me to think about dying my own yarns, using a dip dye technique to recreate some of the painterly marks in vertical columns. As I haven only had a short health and safety induction into the dye lab, this idea was quite daunting to me. I decided that I needed some practice before potentially ruining my warp. . I have made a choice to use undyed mercerised cotton as I have preferred to use this yarn in previous work due to the strength of the yarn. I thought that mercerised cotton should be relatively straight forward to dye.

I will also be making another smaller warp to add on a separate beam to create a pique weave, inspired by the wavy lines in my drawings. It means that the threading up of my loom will be slightly different to what I am used to. Whilst threading my base cloth across two blocks of six shafts, I will be taking one thread from the pique warp between every two threads from the base cloth. This means that my threading plan will progress like this: 1, 2, 13, 3, 4, 14, 5, 6, 15 etc.

I made up some tester hanks to take with me to the dye lab of 2/16 undyed mercerised cotton. The process actually was a lot more confusing that I remembered, and I ended up not creating any of the right colours for my warp. This led to a long, and what felt like a wasted week, in the dye lab.

Eventually I managed to dye the cotton warp correctly!