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:
What was your process in figuring out the shrinkage difference?
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
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.
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
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