Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Guest Blogging



I confess that it is always a bit of an ego stroke to be asked to supply a guest post for someone else's blog.

Recently I was asked to make a guest appearance on the blog of The Woolery a shop in Kentucky.

When I visited their website I discovered that they carry yarns from Maurice Brassard & Fils.  Since weavers in the US are always interested in my 2/8 cotton yarns, it was nice to discover another US supplier of the yarn I use so often.

The fabric in the above coat is a stitched double weave.  The exterior is good old 2/8 cotton, the self-lining is a fine wool/cotton blend.  I wove this fabric, oh, way back in the late 1980's, as part of my master weaver level for the Guild of Canadian Weavers.  I still have it and wear it occasionally; in fact I wore it to an appointment yesterday where it provided a few minutes of conversation as an example of the type of thing I can weave.

The purpose of using the wool/cotton in the lining was to full the cloth causing the lining to shrink and create air pockets between the two layers which provides insulation.  It's quite a warm coat and I have worn it during winter for a long time.  Unfortunately I noticed that it is finally beginning to show signs of wear.  After 20+ winters, I suppose I should consider retiring it sometime soon....

4 comments:

Katie said...

What was your process in figuring out the shrinkage difference?

Laura Fry said...

Oh dear, that was a very long time ago! As part of my thought process I got a ratio between the fine lining threads and thicker surface that felt right to me. Then the lining was woven in a 4:4 twill (I think - would have to dig through my notes) while the exterior was plain weave. I 'hid' the stitchers so that they are not obvious on either side, and then I just kept fulling until the cloth was stable. :)
cheers,
Laura

Katie said...

So was it doubleweave? Guess I don't understand the term "stitched doubleweave." If it is doubleweave, then if one layer shrinks too much, it would render the piece pretty hard to work with, right? Or impossible? I like this idea, but visualizing lots of problems.

Laura Fry said...

Yes it is double weave but rather than having the layers exchange places, individual threads are used to 'stitch' the layers together. I will post more info to my blog in the next day or two. Have to dig my notes out. :)
Cheers
Laura