Weaving with Plastic

 So... I'm supposed to start my residency at the Ivanhoe Library and Cultural Hub in October. Even though vaccinations are progressing, our 'road map' doesn't seem to provide for enough opening for me to be able to do that. It's still not confirmed in any way and I don't expect it to for a little while. However, I need to do a little weaving 'just in case'. It also means that I get the current warp off my loom and I can think of a new project for October.

So I've started weaving my little plastic rugs. These are to form an installation that, basically, echoes the rugs used in a yurt and I hoped to figure out a way to hang them in a circle. I was to do two off the current nylon warp and then collect materials from the shops in Ivanhoe for the remaining completed during my residency.

So I started on the first one, which is a simple tabby weave with whatever plastic I have to hand.

And, I've finished...

Plastic is difficult to handle and the finished piece was cut-off before starting the next. This was mostly because of the bulk, but I wanted to reset the warp so that it wove easily.

The second 'rug' is using rya knots to create a rug with more texture. It's slower, but is interesting to weave. You certainly work out why, down the centuries, young small fingers have been exploited to weave these type of rugs.

Each one is only a metre long, so hopefully I can finish this, this week. 

Making fabric

Back in the day when I was studying Studio Textiles at RMIT, by the way, no longer a course, you can do fashion instead. Anyway, we had to come up with a business plan and mine was to make fabric, till the reality was that even a small designer needed a run of at least 30metres!

However, I've come back to that abandoned plan and am trying fabric lengths. I've started by diving into my handspun stash, and creating open warps. Simple weaving but, I think, quite effective. Then I'm putting them on Etsy (I'm teesjourney on Etsy) and am waiting to see what happens!

Here are my efforts so far:

The first using cream 3ply as the starting point and the warp. All the cream based yarns with the most gentle textures and colours.

Cream 3ply commercial cream warp with handspun yarn weft.

Lots of lovely soft textures and colours.

 The next was a full five metres starting with a fine black mercerised cotton warp and alternating stripes of black and colours. There are two repeats and I used the Fibonacci sequence as my starting point.

Five metres of black and coloured stripes.

I love the fabric all rolled up and waiting. 

The next one is sorted and waiting. Purple warp and, hopefully, matching weft yarns.

And would you believe, my handspun stash box seems quite full!