This is the warp going into the loom at the moment. It was inspired by 'snake skin' but the warp colour is a combination of two blues (peacock and bleu moyen from Brassard) so I'm calling it 'chameleon'. The first weft will be navy with a slightly purplish cast, from Borgs (I think - it's been in my stash for a while. A looooong while.)
Once that yarn is used up, the rest of the warp will be woven with a fine natural linen from Brassard. I think Brassard still carries it, but I'm trying really hard to use up what I have, and I have 4 tubes of the stuff so probably more than enough to finish this warp, maybe do more on the next.
As part of my 'new' reality, I have been paying a lot more attention to how long it takes me to do the various tasks involved in weaving. Since I can no longer weave for as long, or as frequently, it has become more important for me to pay attention to how long I do things for and not push myself beyond my ability to do the things I love.
My body has sustained injuries over the years, and while most of those injuries were not caused by weaving, they are not helped by weaving more than I can tolerate.
My new 'normal' is to work in the studio for no longer than 45 minutes, twice a day. Three times if one of those sessions is 'light' duty (ie pressing, or inspection/repair, etc.)
Since I've just finished beaming the next warp and begun threading, my awareness of the numbers is pretty fresh.
I begin by coming up with a design I think might look good and it generally takes about 30 to 60 minutes to work through the designing of the draft. More if I'm working out a new-to-me weave structure. I then put it 'away' for a while, then go back and look at it again. If I still like it, it may take another 15 or 20 minutes to make sure I'm happy with the transitions from one part of the design to the next, make sure it's 'balanced' if I want it symmetrical, and then generate the treadling, which may take another 20-30 minutes as I tweak the draft to 'fit' a tea towel size. So, about 2 hours (or more) for each design in the designing phase.
I beam sectionally, making a warp 24" in the width, 24 yards (approximately) long, which will produce about 18 to 20 towels, depending on the repeat length. Larger motifs may be longer than designs with a shorter repeat. Rather than cut a motif in half, or worse, thirds, I will either cut back one full repeat and do more repeats for the hem area, or weave the towels a bit longer.
Once I have the bobbin rack set up, I have been doing 5 warps of the same colour combination so I don't have to keep setting the bobbin rack up each time, which saves me some time. Setting up the tension box and then beaming the warp takes about 90 minutes with a longish break halfway through. This includes transferring the bouts to the long stick I use to bring all the sections up and over the back beam so I can reach them during threading.
The current towels are only 32 epi (not 36, which I was using for the mercerized cotton for weft) and it takes about 3 hours to thread the 760 ends (again broken into 45 or so minute sessions with long 'rest' periods between). Generally those 4 sessions are spread out over 2 days.
Sleying will take maybe an hour, depending on how smoothly things go. I may find threading errors that need to be fixed. Sleying tends to be done in one session since the posture/position isn't terribly awkward. If I feel up to it, I may tie on right away, or I may leave it and come back later.
Tying onto the apron might take 10 minutes, then I need to get the treadling sequence into the laptop and bobbins wound. Bobbin winding may be done here and there, for example if I'm waiting for the press to heat up so I can press the towels ready for pressing.
Weaving takes about one hour per towel. On a good day I might be able to weave 900 to 1000 picks in 45 minutes. So a warp that yields 20 towels will take about 20 hours to weave off. I will cut off after about 6 or 7 towels, re-tie and then keep going.
Then when the towels are cut off the loom, they get cut apart and serged, then inspected and repaired. The repairing part can take quite a long time depending on how many things need to be fixed, then a load will go into the washing machine (I might do all 18 or 20 towels at once, or I may do 14) and dryer.
Once they have been run through the washer and dryer (hottest wash water available, cold water rinse, with a double rinse, then into the dryer until damp), they sit overnight to 'steep' and make sure they are evenly damp. Then press. Each towel takes about 4 to 5 minutes to press and then hang on the drying rack, then grab the next towel and get it into the press. They are allowed to dry overnight, then they get hemmed. I can do 2 towels per hour, so about 15 minutes to trim, pin, and sew by hand.
Then, at last, the final press which takes about 2 minutes. Hang to dry (I spritz them with water for their final press) and then the next day they get neatly folded and set onto the shelves where they will live until they get tagged/priced and delivered to the guild for sale. Since I make my own care labels and affix the appropriate label to the hang tag, then use a stem gun to attach the label to the towel, that also takes time (and money because I have to purchase the custom hang tags and plastic stems, and then the care labels to the tag, then add a price tag when selling locally.)
If I offer them on ko-fi, I need to get photos (as accurate in colour as I can manage - not always an easy task!) then the description written up, the photo added and posted to my ko-fi shop.
So let's add that all up, shall we?
Prep time will get divvied up over the number of towels I make. Let's say 19 towels as an 'average'.
Prep time (approximately - it may vary) is about 400 minutes or about 6.66 hours. Divide that by 19 and prep time per towel is 21 minutes. That's before I ever pick up the shuttle.
Then about 60 minutes to weave each towel
'Finishing' adds up to around 30 minutes.
Marketing will add more time.
21 + 60 + 30 + 5 = 116 minutes (edited to correct the time)
Approximately.
Materials for a towel are about 5 ounces for 2/16 cotton. About 1000 yards for warp and about the same for weft for an estimation of 2000 yards per towel. As per the Brassard 2023 price list, 8 oz of 2/16 cotton comes to $8.50 (plus taxes, plus shipping). Yarn for a single towel is therefore about $5.50. More if I'm using linen for weft, but let's just consider cotton for the moment.
I am currently charging $30 per towel when I sell locally, but $40 per towel, which has a shipping charge included when via ko-fi. Considering shipping is currently more like $20 per packet, that means I'm actually 'losing' money when I sell on ko-fi. Unless someone buys two towels, and then the $10 shipping levy for each towel actually covers the actual shipping I pay at the post office. Doesn't cover the cost of the padded envelopes, the cost of the mailing labels, shipping tape (because the labels scrape off if they aren't stuck down with clear shipping tape. Nor does it cover the cost of my labour to do the preparation for shipping, nor the cost of gas to drive to the post office, nor my time standing in line etc.
People tell me I'm fast. I prefer to use the term 'efficient'. I try to not waste my time because once I've spent the coin of my time I can never get it back again. So there are times when I will sacrifice yarn at the end of the warp. I don't like playing 'yarn chicken' so if I'm not sure I can get another towel out of the warp, I may toss several ounces of warp yarn into my yarn recycle bucket.
If I run into problems, I may cut off, fix the problem, and toss the beginning part away - again into my cloth recycle box to be used for 'rags'.
Part of the reason all of this is top of mind right now is because of my next book. A Thread Runs Through it is a memoir - a closer look to what my life looked like as a professional weaver/teacher/author.
I have had to 'justify' my prices over the years because people ask 'how long did it take to make a towel'. Normally I don't go into all of that detail above because that isn't really what they are asking. What they want is for me to justify the price I am asking. Most of them are not interested in the detailed breakdown I've just done.
My prices also reflect my knowledge and skill. So while it may 'only' take me about 2 hours to make a towel, that level of production is based on nearly 50 years of honing my skills, learning my craft, and creating unique and above all, functional, textiles. Nor have I included 'overhead' - all the things that cost money regardless of any production happening. Electricity to run the loom, press, bobbin winder, the lights. Maintenance on equipment - just this month $110 to service the serger. But also any repairs/maintenance the loom requires. Separate rider for studio insurance (because no insurance company in the world would cover the loss of my studio equipment/yarn/inventory on a 'regular' home insurance policy.) The heat. Water. No, I'm no longer in 'business', but after 40 plus years of being a home based business, I'm well aware of the over head costs.
No, I will not give a discount to random strangers.
But I will, at times, gift my work to people I know will appreciate them. Or I will give textiles to my health care providers. Because they are, right now, the only thing keeping me functional enough to actually get to the loom.
Why do I share all this? Because there are still people who are not valuing their work and selling their textiles for far too little. Perhaps they have never bothered to keep track of their investment in time *and money*. Or they don't have to worry about finances that way I did.
Some people who *are* trying to earn an income weaving get very stressed about the people 'giving' away their handmade textiles and want to 'do something' about it.
For me, I was never too bothered about other people's prices. I had enough confidence in my work that I asked what I asked and if others were selling tea towels for less than I was, it wasn't a big deal to me. A few times my presence in a sale meant that those people selling for less became aware that there WAS a market for higher priced items, and in one instance, by the time I stopped doing a sale everyone else who had been charging much less then me when I first went there, were, in some cases, charging more than me. And selling. I suppose they watched my higher priced items sell and they gained the confidence to raise their prices to match - and exceed - mine.
As for those who didn't raise their prices? The people who bought the lower priced items were not 'my' customers, so I never worried about them.
Stay tuned for more information on the new book, coming down the pipeline. And yes, the hours, days, weeks involved in creating a book have a similar investment of time, knowledge, and effort.
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