Christmas Yardage

I got myself all organized again with things to accomplish each week for the next year or so.

This is what I needed to finish this week. This is the yardage I started last Thanksgiving to have on my loom in the living room during Christmas - last Christmas. A little red for the holiday cheer. This year the goal is to turn this yardage into a jacket.

It is done in that California Rags technique that Trudie Roberts teaches in her workshop. You buy fabric with a bold print and cut the fabric into strips and weave it alternating with some yarn. This fabric had little yellow and gold trees on it. I used a bright red slubby cotton yarn to alternative with the fabric strips.

To avoid having bulk at the shoulders you have to weave the yardage with the pattern going up for one yard and down for the following yard. I have four yards completed for the front, back and sleeves plus I wove the remaining fabric to give me an extra ten inches for something - perhaps a sleeve extender or pocket.

Since I had more warp left I did some speed weaving. Speed weaving is where you go as fast as you can with wild abandonment and no real care about the edges. Finished up the warp doing about an inch a minute. Its interesting that when I don't really care about the edges my selvedges come out good. I have about thirty inches of plain red weave...it may make a nice low key hood for the jacket.

Yes, the two pictures are of the same material - I took a picture of each side and the digital camera distorted the color a bit due to the warp. On one side only the red warp shows, on the other there is a yellow warp showing. This digital camera made one picture browner and the other more orange. No time right now to enhace the photos. But the true color is closer to the first one.

I needed to finish this up quickly since I committed to weaving some dish towels and I wanted to do them on my eight harness floor loom. Once the towels are done I will use the same sleying for some material for a lapel for the jacket.

Look for more progress on the jacket in...let's say October.

NOTE TO SELF: I should also take some pictures of the fabric I bought in Molokai for future jackets or vests and put it into my file for inspiration...and on here too...