Autumn

~ twilltextiledesign

Went for a little walk recently and was totally inspired by the amazing autumn colours. Warm yellow ochre, red rust, paprika, plum, warm sand, olive and sky blue.

So out came the yarns and a colourful yarn explosion took place in my little studio. By the end of the day, a new scarf warp was designed and made!

Can’t wait to get them on the loom. I’ll post some more pics once I start weaving.

 

Advertisements

Utilitarian

~ twilltextiledesign

I was heading towards the end of this indigo blue cotton warp…. but there wasn’t quite enough to weave another scarf…..so I finished it with a set of washcloths.

Soft, simple and useful.

I am sharing my weavers notes here, in case anyone would like to have a go at making something similar. They would make great eco-friendly gifts, especially if teamed up with a nice hand-made soap.

Warp –

  • 3 ply denim cotton.
  • Total of 173 ends (width approx 8.5inches by 1m/1.15yards long – this was the end of a warp).
  • Sett at 20 ends per inch (10’s reed with 2 warp ends per dent).
  • Herringbone threading plan (see diagram below)

Weft –

  • a mixture of 4 ply and 8 ply cotton and linen,
  • woven in a 2/2 Twill (sometimes reversed to weave diamonds)
  • 12-16 picks per inch depending on which weft yarn was used.
  • Each cloth was woven 11-12 inches long on the loom but did shrink a bit when washed.
  • I added a fine plain weave turnover seam at the top and bottom of each washcloth using 2/20’s cotton weft. And a crochet chain tie in one corner to hang them up to dry.

Loom – Four shaft Ashford table loom, with a direct tie up pedal stand. This is the thread up pattern I used.

Denim blue Herringbone washcloths

3 indigo cowls

~ twilltextiledesign

For those who prefer ‘not too fussy’ but still like to keep cosy.

Soft and simple indigo soft cotton and merino hand woven infinity cowls. One subtle blues, one with herringbone colour blocks and one with patterned stripes.

Wrap once around neck to wear long and loose, or twice around for a snug fit.

Available at the Little Beehive co-op, Nelson or directly from me if you send me a message (they are NZ$95 each with free post anywhere)

 

 

DIY bird brooch kits

~ twilltextiledesign

So excited that these are now ready and available in the Etsy shop and at The little Beehive Co-op, Nelson.

Each kit makes 1 pretty embroidered bird brooch and there are 5 designs to choose from.

The kits are designed and made with love in New Zealand and are a special collaboration between Twill Textile Design and Rosemary Horn  – who is an amazingly talented photographic artist, embroiderer and friend.

Ready-to-wear brooches are also available to order.

Jupiter weaving

~ twilltextiledesign ~ Leave a comment

I recently enjoyed weaving a special commission piece.

This fabric length is going to be a backdrop in an independent short film.  I also made the little alien creature with the red hat who lives on Jupiter. Both will be in the stop-motion section of the film, which probably lasts less than a minute.

It’s really exciting being a tiny part of this project. Will update you when it’s all finished.

img_2734
img_2729
img_2731
img_2716-1

Big loom

~ twilltextiledesign

The old loom works again! I spent a few days rebuilding it and dressing it with a nice new warp. Then worked out how to get the ancient IBM computer running with giant floppy disks and MS Dos commands. Finally, I learnt how to input my own weave structures and got the computer talking to the loom mechanism. Each day, I challenged myself to a new step until finally it all started to come together.

I even got to talk to two previous owners – who still live in the region. The loom frame itself was made in Auckland by Landlooms and was moved to Nelson in 1992 when it was converted to a computer assisted 8 shaft dobby loom by David Thorpe. It now sits quite happily filling up an entire room of the Railway Cottage At Founders Heritage Park.