If I come across a weaver in Instagram, I follow them. I like seeing what others are working on, how they do it, and learning from others. I also take snapshots of interesting things and file them under “Inspiration”.
Recently I finished weaving placemats that were inspired by two weavers from completely different parts of the world.
A year ago I saw this table runner posted by a weaver from Germany. Sorry for the iPhone snapshot – I have not figured how to post pictures from Instagram directly.
Here is the direct link to that picture
I thought about how I can reproduce the same technique, and after three days of heavy mental exercises I finally got it!
Some time later a Japanese weaver posted a beautiful table runner (again, apologies for a phone snapshot):
Link to the instagram post
Wow, I thought, what a nice colour scheme! I want the same! And a month ago I finally got to a point when I wanted to make a Canadian project with German technique and Japanese colour scheme. I placed my order, and when it arrived, I started drawing squares with my finger.
Happy with the draft design, I moved to Numbers.
I maintain both imperial and metric systems in my calculations: I think in metric, but my loom is set to imperial one. So, duality of things.
After numbers comes the winding the bobbins part – this yarn will become the warp.
From bobbins – to the back beam:
And now time to thread the heddles:
Slaying the reed:
After that – tying the warp to the front beam and finally weaving. To spread the tied warp evenly, I use cardboard pieces.
Here is the warp with cotton threads: thick and thin:
Close-up:
And here is the warp with off-white thick cotton thread and sewing thread:
Here is my help:
When I was planning this project, I decided to do 24 placemats. I have not been thinking that it means to weave 12 metres!
And finally I am done weaving:
Off the loom:
Next stage – finishing the edges:
Close-up:
Cotton things shrink a lot after the first washing: look at the difference in length!
Now it is a time to take pictures:
With the help:
And now pictures:
And more pictures:
And more pictures! I ate the strawberry after the the shot was done 🙂
THE SILKY WEAVE 