Jahanara's E-Portfolio

Weaving Workshop in Ireland!

weavemage — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 07:27:32 +0000

Greeting everyone.

You are invited to the “A Warping Good Time II” for a 2-day intensive Warping and Weaving Workshop! We will begin, Friday evening, with a basic discussion of weaving including the different weaving methods and when and where each was used. I would like everyone to share the history behind their favorite weaving technique, or ask questions about techniques that interest them. Followed by a hands-on session Saturday morning during which you will focus on warping your loom. Attendees are welcome to bring looms that need warping., or use one of several loaner looms available. Once the looms are warped we will tuck into your weaving. This is where I need participants help. I am willing to offer instruction on Tapestry or Rigid Heddle Weaving. Please make your preference known in your RSVP. Please not we will focus on one or the other according to participant interest. If you have a rigid heddle loom, please know you can use these looms for tapestry weaving as well!

Forthose who are brand new to weaving a Weaving Basics document will beprovided in advance to help you learn basic weaving vocabulary (please request this in your RSVP if you need it). This will allow us to getright to thehands on sessions!
When will this workshop take place you ask? 30 July-1 August (noonish)
Proposed Schedule:
Friday Dinner and Weaving Discussion
Saturday
Warp looms

Weaving, with breaks, lunch, and tea/coffee as necessary

Sunday- departures as needed, I will need to leave before noon to catch my ferry home
Where? Kilmurry House, Roscrea, Ireland

What should I bring? Yourself and any looms you need warped, or for which you need help and advice.
How many people can attend? Due to the nature of this workshop, there will be a 7 student limit.

I would like to let all interested parties know that I will be traveling to Ireland for Eplaheimr Peasant Revel 23-24 July. I will be staying on for the next week and will offer the weaving workshop 30 July – 1 Aug (noonish). I am more than welcome to run a shorter session at the Revel for those who can’t make the workshop weekend.

Now that’s a loom!

weavemage — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:58:47 +0000

As I was researching Persian Drawlooms I came across this!

”

Cases containing live silkworms underscore the humble origin of silk – the cocoons of Bombyx mori, the domesticated silk moth. Behind these cases towers a replica of a Tang-era draw-loom, created for the exhibit by the China National Silk Museum in Hangzhou. Its dimensions are impressive; nine-and-one-half feet high and seventeen feet long. And yet it still wouldn’t quite measure up to the original loom after which it was modeled, which is twenty percent larger. A silk-weaving expert accompanied the deconstructed loom to New York and assembled it in the gallery. As a final touch, a bolt of partially woven cloth was attached, serving as a permanent work-in-progress. Visitors can only imagine the time and effort involved in creating such intricate material.

” Twist Collective

Now I often times get the mick taken out of me for all my looms, but even if you took all my looms together, they’re nothing compared to this beauty! This is my kind of loom. People try to talk me into a vertical loom, but if I ever have a medieval loom, it’s definitely going to be a draw loom!

William Jefferies Tapestry Workshop!

weavemage — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:48:36 +0000

Well it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here. I’ve been busy with many other things. I did finally take some time out for weaving related things!
I traveled to London to participate in a William Jefferies Tapestry Workshop hosted by the Handweavers Studio!
This was a very exciting trip, because this was my first time taking a Jefferies workshop and my first visit to the new HWS locale!. The new shop space is fantastic. It’s got most of the same great products we’ve come to expect from HWS, but in a more spacious and well lit environment.
The workshop was also everything I expected. William is a fantastic weaver and teacher. I went to the workshop hoping to learn how to weave a circular tapestry and to learn soumac, so I can begin to weave tapestries in the 7th C Persian style! I learned both these techniques and so much more.
William has a style of weaving that is very different to what I had learned so far. I learned how to more efficiently use my tapestry bobbins, how to effieciently work with several bobbins and a better way of ending and beginning with new threads! I was able to weave a roundel and incorporate soumac into the tapsetry.
I also learned so much about teaching weaving! William has a very organic style of teaching, which really lends itself to tapestry weaving. His teaching style is very much like tapestry weaving himself. He doesn’t talk about what you’re going to do. He demonstrates and gets you started on each step without bogging his students down with too much vocabulary or too many instructions all at once. He also doesn’t have students work with cartoons right away.
This really threw me in the beginning, but by lunch time I realized this is an excellent way to get students tucked into their weaving and that once students are comfortable with what they’re doing you can talk about cartoons, vocabulary etc.
This workshop has really improved my weaving and I think will prove to help me improve my own weaving teaching style.
Namaste,
Jahanara

Sense of Accomplishment

weavemage — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 19:27:29 +0000

I finally finished V’s Blanket. At this point it’s a toddler blanket, not a baby blanket, but it turned out so great that I think Mama and I will both agree that it was well worth the time. It’s still not perfect, but I’m very proud of it.

I learned a lot from this project. i learned that you can’t leave the warping process too long, as this project took me a long time to warp and the threads got fairly crossed. I was also reminded how important it is to keep with the proper pattern. When you get off the pattern your selvages stop getting properly woven. Once that happens you have to unweave to the point of the mistake in order to correct it properly. Finally I want to make a width template for my next project, so I can check to ensure that there isn’t too much draw in over the project!

I think between making such a nice fabric and learning these lessons, this project is a success. Cutting this project off the loom and tying the fringe gave me a very real sense of accomplishment!

Diamond Twill Hood

weavemage — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:42:27 +0000

Started this lovely diamond twill fabric, which will later be made into a hood for my partner, Eldgrimr. The threading isn’t perfect and I need to comtemplate fixing the threading errors. I think fixing two of them would just mean rewarping a few threads, however the last one may mean rewarping about 30 or so threads. That one may stay as it’s less noticeable than the others and threading errors are period!

Though I know I’d be happier with the time spent if I suck it up now and rewarp the errors!

It’s been a wonderful journey already, watching the lovely yellow wool go onto the loom, then fixing a few initial errors and finally now beginning to weave. There is something very satisfactory in weaving cloth as our oldest ancestors had done, rigid heddles have been found as far back as the Roman Era. The weaving is a bit slower than my 4 shaft floor loom, in terms of weaving. The differences trade off, this style weaving warps much faster, but weaves a bit slower. The floor loom takes a bit more time to warp (or seems to), but the weaving is much faster. I’m not sure if I will continue weaving textiles for Medieval re-enactment using this authentic equipment, or if I will choose to use my modern loom and weave even more cloth more quickly! This rigid heddle loom is still a modern loom with modern rigid heddles, so it’s a bit 50/50 in regards to that as well.

Alas my quest continues!

Rigid Heddle Twills

weavemage — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 09:21:54 +0000

I’ve been working more with my Rigid Heddle looms these days. I’ve managed to work out how to weave twills using two heddles.

It’s pretty simple and very medieval. Rigid Heddles are amoun the earliest weaving implements found by archeologists. The technique goes back to the Ancient era. Twills are also found in very early time periods.

I’ve drafter my own patterns for my use and welcome anyone else to feel free to use them. When I warp the loom, 1 indicates a thread that goes through a slot in the back heddle and a hole in the front. 2 goes through the hole in the back and slot in the front. 3 means slots in both heddles.

Straight Twill

Diamond/Lozenge Twill

The wheels are turning

weavemage — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:57:00 +0000

As I wrap up the robe project. I’ve started on a matching hat (see previous post), that will be embroidered with gold vines and green leaves, as well as one gold crescent moon. The crescent moon is a symbol of our burgeoning Principality. I’ve also been letting the idea of a 7th Century Persian diadem, in silk and rich embroidery. I have decided to style this after the image below. The hat will mimic the look of the hair, without the top knot. The cloth bit will be about 3″ tall with a band of gold silk embroidery encompassing green embroidered ivy. I will include three gold embroidered roundels, compassing a single purple lotus blossom each. I hope to mock up a solid purple filet for the upcoming Coronet Tourney to see if my current pattern for this will work, before spending the time embroidering the final product.

The matching robe, can be worn as shown below, or more often worn as a jacket. I hope to evoke the same imagery with my latest 7th C Sasanid ensemble.

This is a 7th Century Sasanian Plate, depicting a banqueting couple. The diadem showing their royal status.

7th C Persian Hat

weavemage — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:04:43 +0000

Embroidery begun

Oppulence and Whew!!!

weavemage — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:37:18 +0000

Nearly done! I now have to patiently wait while the lining settles before putting on the finishing touches!

Opulence

weavemage — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 19:19:00 +0000

I’ve been working my fingers and sewing machine to their nubs making a set of matching Persian and Viking robes for my partner, Eldgrimr, and me! I’ve just gotten down to the last bit of work to do on his Viking robe. He is out of town, so his will have to go on hold for over a week. Lacking the actual model to try the robe on, I put it on myself (as our measurements differ only slightly). The only word I can use to describe this robe is opulence. The vibrancy of the blue and gold colours scream opulence. The feel of the silk, opulence. There is no other word, except perhaps luscious!

Be hold opulence in textiles.