Finished taping and cutting the 'before' samples this morning and serged the rest in preparation for wet finishing.
I am very happy with the collection so far. Since the majority of linen yarns are natural or half-bleached, I have included some cotton to provide a bit of colour and also because linen is expensive, one way to keep costs down is to use a cheaper yarn. Cotton is also less needy of special requirements so it makes good sense to use cotton for warp and the more expensive linen for weft.
The majority of the samples have been done on 4 shafts with just one on 8.
Quite frankly I am getting quite anxious to finish the weaving and writing for this publication because my inventory of textiles for sale is dreadfully low and I really need to be concentrating on making more sale items. I know the pressure will really ratchet upwards once I get the painted warps back from the dyer, so I'm concentrating on at least getting the weaving for AGY:L&H done before I leave for Sweden. Plus I want to cold mangle them there, too, so lots of reasons for getting a hustle on.
Sample number 8 is threaded, sample 9 needs to be designed and woven, while sample 10 is on the AVL waiting for me to get to it. Probably after I get home from Sweden because I'd also like to have some fabric for summer tops to bring with me and maybe even sew one or two of them under supervision. I'm quite sure there will be hints and tips for sewing on the bias. I vaguely remember something about that from sewing class but that's 50 years ago!
My how time flies when we are having fun! Am I really that old? Yesseree, that I am!
3 comments:
Laura, the linen samples look lovely. I am curious to see what fabric you use for your new tops. Have a feeling that once you sit down and sew everything you learned in the past will come back to you.
The cloth for the summer tops will have Brassard's new 2/16 cottolin for warp, and I was rummaging in my stash last night and uncovered some silk in the right colours to go with the warp so I may just do some of that. :)
Always nice to have some 'adult' supervision to bring back the sewing skills so I'm hoping Kerstin won't mind me in her sewing studio. :)
cheers,
Laura
Thanks for the idea to use linen as a weft - I've always been nervous about using it for warp because my tension isn't consistent. I'm looking forward to seeing these samples.
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