I never knew Nora Wrightson, but I have the greatest respect for her as a craftsperson. She had been active in the Manchester branch of the Embroiderers Guild and had served as treasurer (this was well before I joined). But I know she must have been a great stitcher because of her legacy. Nora died recently, and her family have very nicely asked the branch to distribute her crafting supplies and books to people who will make use of them. I’ve benefited greatly from this by getting a copy of Constance Howard’s Book of Stitches. It’s even signed by Constance, who is a justly famous embroiderer. I can feel the inspiration bubbling up!
September 11, 2009
September 07, 2009
Prototype zippered rag-bag
I never did knit on the bus- I think I’m afraid to wave knitting needles around like that. Instead, I’ve been prototyping a variation on the rag-bag that I got from Tanglecraft. The idea is to sew a zipper to a lining fabric, then put the card frame inside that lining. The warp is stitched through the fabric of the zipper rather than laced over a comb, but the weaving pattern is the same: weave side one, flip, weave side two, flip and repeat.
It took about two weeks to make, and obviously requires some non-bus time to get the sewing done. Here’s the breakdown:
The Good:
- Smaller size frame is easier to handle without a shed stick. Most of the weaving was done using a hair clip to thread the weft through, then a darning need to fill in the top bits.
- Used some tiny (like under 3 inches long) bits of blue yarn I had scavenged at the 8th Day knitting club ages ago. I do like how these rag weavings can incorporate tiny bits of colour.
The Bad:
- The chenille yarn was nice to touch, but doesn’t slide through the warps well. It was tricky near the top, but impossible to use when ‘filling-in’ the bit at the bottom (Perhaps I hadn’t pushed the first rows of weaving down enough, but the warps at the bottom were naked where they went over the edge. I filled it in with the green yarn using a darning needle.)
- It was nearly impossible to get the card out of the bag when the weaving was finished. I had overestimated how far the zipper unzipped. Even after bending the card, I still caught and snapped the warp thread at the far end. It wasn’t hard to tie back together, but it could be a flaw in the whole process. Or maybe it’s just because I used a chunky zipper.
- After the problems with getting the card out, I zipped the bag shut and the head of the zipper came off the end! Luckily it aligned and went back on. The zipper also caught the lining fabric. Zippers are tricky.
The Ugly:
- The un-even edge to the warp threads where they are sewn into the zipper. I tried covering these with a line of un-even chain stitch, and it was an improvement. Future experiments need to be more precise in stitching the warp.
- I think, though I’m not certain, that I strung the warp wrong. Using the comb loom, the pattern of warping only works one way, so the sides match up. I think with sewing in the zipper as the top of the loom, I started or stopped on the wrong side. This may have made the side edges a bit looser than they ought to be. Again, future experiments with more precise warping should clarify how it would work best. (Meaning, I just need to pay more attention to what I’m doing. Mindfulness.)
- The ends of the zipper stick out at the top, and the weft doesn’t cover them. I added some stitching when it was off the frame, but it looks rough. Zippers are tricky.
That’s a lot of bad and ugly, but it was a good prototyping exercise. I know the idea works, it’s just a question of refining it.
Truth is, I don’t need a coin purse- I’m perfectly happy with the wallet I’ve had for the last 10 years. But I’m interested in trying to make a pencil case, or maybe a bag for an odd shaped object, like a ukulele. It’s a case of curiosity rather than necessity.
Also, to make my blog more usable, I’m going to try to tag entries now. Hopefully each entry tagged as a prototype will be followed up by a beta, then finally with a set of full instructions. It’s a plan.
September 05, 2009
August 23, 2009
Quilt show report
Just back from a lovely trip to Birmingham. The fantastic Festival of Quilts at the NEC drew me there, but also had a nice visit with relatives and checked out the Warehouse Café and ate at Jyoti's (fantastic Indian vegetarian restaurant and sweet centre- 1045 Stratford Road). We’d been to the Jyoti's before, at the old premises, and the food is just wonderful. I recommend the pani puri, and the bhajiya selection is both many and varied as well as extremely tasty.
The Warehouse Café was new to us- how have we overlooked it for 15 years? The raspberry vegan milkshake is perfect on a hot day, and I love the mis-matched table and chair theme they’ve got going. And the wholefoods shop next door was convenient for travel snacks.
But for the main attraction: Festival of Quilts 2009 was exhausting, in a very good way. I’m not much of a quilter, but the stuff on show was so impressive. A friend in the Embroiderers Guild had told me about last year’s show, and this one more than lived up to my expectation. I arrived early, around 10:30, and before noon I was already suffering from inspiration overload. My pictures don’t do justice to everything there.
Best thing at the show: Fair Trade Fabric Ltd stall! For years, I’ve been reluctant to buy non-fair trade fabric, but not been able to find fair trade fabrics for sale. It looks like things are changing for the better! The fabric is lovely to touch and I suspect it will be wonderful to work with. Now I need to find a project to make with it!
A confession: I was really bad and didn’t buy a catalog on the way in, and when I was leaving, my mind was too numb to remember to buy one then; so I’ve been unfortunately negligent in crediting the quilters whose work I photographed and put my flickr page, and I also can’t credit anyone on my blog. How embarrassing.
Quilting stuff to note:
- Loads of ideas for yo-yos or Suffolk puffs, as flowers, berries, sea urchins and as yo-yos
- Folding fabric, almost like origami, so a diagonal square stands out from the background square
- Fabric manipulated so it doesn’t lay flat: peaks, folds, puffs, wrinkles, tassels, ribbons, etc.
- Frayed edges- a stall was calling it ‘fake chenille’- a figurative quilt used it as a ploughed field, another had a frayed edge fringe
- The best of show group quilt wonderfully put together, lovely soft colours (which I see as modern- not part of my traditional quilting lingo). Beautiful. I overhead a criticism that it was a great quilt, but not original, and so of course started thinking of the role of originality in art. And it strikes me that any quilt made here today is art, as in it isn’t simply a functional item. If you’re cold in bed, you buy a £20 duvet and cover set. Quilts are items people just want to make.
- A book made of quilt squares- Flowers of Malaysia- I especially loved the bamboo, like the strip quilts, but representational and not static
- There are so many ways to represent animals on quilts. I loved the Animal-tastic quilt, and another quilt with a snail with bead eyes
- Morsbags were being made! They targeted the audience well, as I noticed several people with lovely quilted bags
- Plenty of products and even a demonstration area on printing/dyeing/colouring fabric. Maybe I can make some of my horded fabrics more exciting
- Embroidered patches integrated into larger quilts, as well as embroidery as an additional element in the quilting
The only bad point of the day is that I didn’t find any nylon embroidery ribbon. I did notice some silk embroidery ribbon, but I feel too sorry for the silk worms to buy that. Shall have to keep looking.
August 09, 2009
How does your garden grow?
The purple flower is finished and has acquired a safety pin. I’ve got a collection of pins that I never wear, and the flower is with them now. The woven centre worked well; the colour is great but my weaving is a bit uneven (not that I’m bothered). It may have been a bit much to add the three loops of beads at the centre.
The beading made me realize I’d been thinking wrong again, trying to separate the bus crafting from other things I do. The beading had to be done at home, where I could sit still with needle, thread and clear seed beads. I had been thinking that this would mean the flower wasn’t 100% bus craft. It took a while for me to work out that the point of crafting on the bus isn’t to make something entirely on the bus, but to get a bit of hands-on work done during my commute.
Next week, I’m going to try knitting on the bus. It’s school holiday time, so the bus isn’t as crowded as it usually is. Hopefully it will get my Clanger project going again! My planned weaving project will just have to wait a bit longer, conveniently giving me more time to get supplies together.
Actual gardening note: We ate green beans grown on our balcony yesterday! Good has triumphed over best.
July 31, 2009
Before and after
This is the postcard I wove, from the DIY Weaving Club:
I posted it to Su, and you can see the ‘after’ on her blog! Not undamaged, but I'm so glad I posted it.
July 28, 2009
Wrong thinking
On the weekend, I thought I should just put away the purple flower crochet, and start on a new weaving project. But that would mean I would have to put away the crochet somewhere, and thinking that made me realise I was thinking about this wrong. I have this ‘issue’ with using up stuff, and I was actually anxious about wasting the purple string on a project I might not like. But why do I have the string if not to use it on this flower? So, rather than putting it away, I started to work on it more. And I’m starting to like it more, with that extra layer of crochet on it.
I also decided to add a nicer embroidery thread in the centre, something less shocking than the bright yellow, then use the yellow just for some final stitches in the centre. A good exercise in not hording.
Additional bonus: P just gave me a bit of cardboard which will be great for the weaving project I aim to do next!
And a note: Finally posted the woven postcard- wonder if it will arrive?
