Procrastinating

Finally, I have started working on a new tapestry.  I was getting ready to do one that is based on a photo I took at Darebin Parklands (I suppose it is really Rockbeare Park as it is on the Banyule side of Darebin Creek).  It is of the cliff near a pond and the particular picture is quite purplish.  It must have just been the right time of day at the right time of year.  I have others of the same spot that are not nearly so purple. (Actually, it doesn't look all that purple here, but it prints out very purple every time.)

I forgot that you cannot work all the way up a loom, it gets too tight if you work too high.  So I had to revise the size of the image when I had warped up the frame.  I had intended to do it at about 60cm x 80cm but that would not fit on the loom I had warped up.
I put off starting as I was debating what hitching-on to do.  I have tried the traditional hitching-on that requires plaiting of the warps when finished and leaves a white edge.  I have also  tried the small tapestry hitching-on that does not have such an obvious edge but uses a lot of hitching (and wool, and time).
I have recently found a copy of The Techniques of Woven Tapestry by Tadek Beutlich (a 1986 copy) and he had notes about weaving a small amount that can be turned under when finished.  This eliminates the white edge also.  I saw this technique when we went to see some of Jennifer Sharpe's work too.

I found the book when I was browsing The Book Depository, a website that sells books online and sends them postage free!!  Turns out they did not have it but gave me a link to another site that finds second-hand books (Abe Books) and I ended up getting it from a shop in Healesville, so it came within days!

I kept putting off starting the work.  Finally I realised that there was a little voice in my head saying, "You want to do it bigger!"  That was why I had been procrastinating so much.  So I have warped up a bigger loom and will start work on the tapestry this week - if all goes to plan.
I decided to use the traditional technique, I need the practice with plaiting.

I hope I get it done by the time my work is due to be handed in.  I have until November the 5th (Guy Fawkes day  - maybe I can let off some fireworks if I get it done in time).  I will work on it on campus, so that will mean going in at times apart from class times. Once again, I am hoping to play with some texture techniques and novelty yarns.

Getting there

 Well, I have finished the weaving and cut it off the loom. Then, to my horror, I realised that I hadn't hitched on properly. It is not a disaster as it is half hitched on. But I must have been in some strange state of mind when I started and only did some of the small tapestry hitching on procedure that I learnt in my first tapestry weaving course. 

I finished off properly, thankfully. 

So now I have to put a backing on and hope that it hides the strangeness. 

Also, when I have taken it off the loom and sewn in the warp threads (despite the strangeness of the hitching on) I have realised that it is totally reversible in the portrait orientation. One way shows the dark valley with the sunset coming in, the other shows the sunset with a darkening sky. 

Neither was the original intention, that the background colour changes our perception of the blue rectangle. 

Now I will have to decide how to hang it! But first I have to finish it off. 

Large Tapestry (large for me)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am working on a tapestry based on a photo I took in Rockbeare Park/Darebin Parklands.
I decided that I wanted it to be much larger than ones I have done previously, so it will be about 55cm x 75cm.  I have had to borrow one of the looms from RMIT as I do not have one that will accommodate that size.

It is too large to be carrying back and forth, so I will have to work on it on campus.  I am not so keen about this as I will have to change my schedule to be on campus on days that I am not normally there but I am keen to do a larger work, so I will have to grin and bear it.

It has taken me ages to get organised to start - I have only done the small tapestry technique of hitching on so far and that has taken about 2 - 3 hours.  I will have to make sure I socialise less and work more in class from now on!

I've been reminded that it is 20/2/2022 today.

 As the heading says, today is 20/2/2022 or 20/2/22. Still lots of 2s! 

What to post about?? 

I have put away my tapestry wools for the moment as I have finished my small tapestry. But it is so small that there is a whole lot of warp available above it, so I am considering doing another at this warp sett. 

I have a picture of a leaf that I saw on the ground, I am considering doing that. I may even be adventurous, for me, and do a shaped piece. I will take some time to consider it, but not too long because I will want to get the first piece off the loom. 

I also have some gorgeous silk threads that I got somewhere, sometime. I am thinking about how to use them, they are the right colours, mostly. Of course, I will still use the ATW wools as the basis, silk is a bit too slippery for proper bedding down. 

The different thicknesses will be my excuse for having to do eccentric weave at times, the sort that doesn't match up with the weaving around it - well, that's how it works for me. 

Now to look up how to do shaped pieces, how to hitch on, etc. I think it is fairly straightforward but I will look up my notes and books, just to be sure. It will the the first hitching on method I learnt, not the small tapestry hitching on that I commonly use now. I have talked about both here, when I was still doing the textile course. 

Tapestry group challenge

Some members of our small group that meets regularly have taken up a challenge, proposed by one of our members. The challenge was issued in response to our enjoyment of having participated in the Johnston Collection Christmas exhibition last year. We were commenting on the focus it gave us last year and how we need to maintain the enthusiasm.

Now 9 of us are working towards making small tapestries that are going to be put together to make one larger image. A photo of autumn leaves was divided up into 9 sections and we all have a section each to do.
We can use any hitching on method we like but we are all using seine twine 12. That is as far as the instructions go, really. We are free to choose the warp sett that best suits our interpretation, using the seine twine 12, and our colour interpretation is up to us too.

Today we brought along what we had done. Three members have finished theirs (and it was a challenge for at least one person to do that large a warp) and the rest of us have made various amounts of progress.

Doing part of a photo means that you are not trying to reproduce an actual image, you have a more abstract piece to work on. I have found that very freeing. I know, intellectually, that they are parts of leaves but I am working on just parts that have different amounts of light and shade and it is easier to ignore the larger picture. 

I also know that we will not all be interpreting the colours the same way, that we weave differently and that the parts may not all match up perfectly - and it doesn't matter! It is part of the fun.

Two finished pieces and one still on the loom.

Two that go side by side.

Another two side by side.

It was quite exciting to see pieces laid together as they appear in the photo and see the image appearing.

We are working from a small cut-out piece of the original photo, a larger colour printed photocopy (which has printed out slightly different colours from the photo) and a black and white master at the exact size for weaving. It really is aptly called a challenge, to meld those three sources.

I am enjoying it greatly! And it is making me weave.
Thanks Pat, great idea.

Starting a new tapestry

Our small tapestry weaving group met today.  We asked for a longer time to use the guild rooms and it was granted.  We now meet between 10.00 and 3.00.  It is a much better amount of time, it means that it is actually worth collecting together all your stuff and taking it there.  Previously, by the time we had caught up with each other and the lovely ladies on duty at the guild, it never seemed worth bothering setting up my loom.  Now there is time for chatting, eating the delicious food people make and bring to share - and weaving!
It is also wonderful to be able to ask advice about what you are doing, how to set about doing a design, how to fix up problems, etc.  I have missed that sharing of ideas and knowledge that you get in classes and groups that physically meet.  I like the ability you have to actually show someone, or see someone demonstrate for you.
There is also enough time to be able to chat to everyone, catch up on everyone's news, rather than have half conversations with people that get interrupted because you are trying to catch up with other people's conversations too.
Having the longer time put pressure on to have some weaving to take.  I have spent several hours this week finalising my design, warping up my loom and hitching on.  It made me keep to the task, not go and play patience games on the computer, as is my wont.  It was a bit like having a deadline, something that can be very helpful, even when it stresses you.

By the way, the guild is offering a certificate course in tapestry weaving.  It will be taught by Cresside Collette and Joy Smith.

Revisiting the past

Well, what a year it is turning out to be!

Being in the social distancing period, I have started a tapestry. It was for an exhibition that I assume will not go ahead but I went with my initial idea anyway.

I was going to do an image of trees with a background that is either sunset or bushfires. It is up the viewer. I was going to call it What Do You See?

I was feeling rather stressed by the initial instructions to stay home, so have warped up the loom - it took me the usual ridiculous amount of time. I really must practise!

Then I decided to do the small tapestry hitching on. I also decided to do the image sideways, so the tree trunks would be relatively smooth.

The image changes colour all along the edge. I really didn't do a good job of making a cartoon. I have played around with several images, some from the internet, one from a photo of a piece of fabric.

I am using a piece of sewing I played around with, using the fabric and the basic idea.

I did a rough idea of what I wanted. I also found another image I might like to use and photocopied it in black and white.

So now I have a cartoon with no colour! But I started anyway, the stress of all the changes to our lives made me desperate to be deep into weaving.

Now I am making it up as I go. I think some of the colours are way too strong. But I am not going to do anything about that. It will be what it will be (as someone or other said).

I have got past the stressful hitching on, I have coloured, roughly, the cartoon (very roughly) but I am still making it up as I go.

I think the image would work much better if I turned it around and did the portrait orientation but it is too late now.

The weaving is giving me some much needed concentration that is not about COVID 19! It will serve its purpose whether the colours are right or not.

That Could Have Gone Better

I have finished my landscape tapestry.  It has lots wrong with it but I decided to forge ahead and just get it done. Actually, it is not finished, it is resting on the loom, with the tension taken off.  I will cut it off tomorrow and tidy up the back and edges.

It pulls in on both sides, something I had hoped I no longer had a problem with. Not so. Both this tapestry and one I am doing as a colour sampler are pulling in. I will have to keep it a secret from the purists and steam it, hoping it will become more rectangular, rather than my usual trapezoid shape.
I thought about pulling it out but realised that I would have to go WAY BACK and didn't want to.

I also had some challenges with using the leftover wools from other tapestries (thrums).  I didn't have much blue and the sky in my original images is very blue.  But I just made it up as I went along and now have a cloudy sky. I tried to use some of the blues I had but some of them were very strong colours and just didn't look right.  So I pulled them out - after hitching off - it is very hard to pull out hitching off! Especially when you are feeling impatient.

Then I got to the end (again) and realised that I did the beginning of the tapestry wrong. I used the small tapestry technique that I learnt at RMIT but forgot exactly how to do it. I like to use this method as you don't have to have the white cotton showing.

However, when we were starting, I let the others in our group influence me with their strong conviction that you use seine twine as the double hitching rather than my tentative belief that it should be wool (or whatever you are weaving the image with). When I got to the end, I realised that I usually finish off with wool, not the cotton. This caused a dilemma as I don't usually like the cotton showing at top and bottom.
I decided to have the white showing at the top as it was at the bottom, trying to keep it symmetrical(ish). So I will just have to suck it in and put up with the white edges.

Maybe it can be one of those tapestries that you put in the compost heap and let rot, something to do with 'art'. Not sure I can bring myself to do that, even though I am not totally happy with it. Maybe it will be better after I block it - hopefully. I am still learning to do the weaving, I am not ready to start stretching myself into further areas yet.
Anyway, it has been a learning experience, mainly in terms of using my cartoons.  I have been able to use them as a basis for my work but not stick closely to them - hopefully I will be able to develop a better 'abstract' process. I am trying to develop less pictorial works and will continue to work on this idea. I think this one is relatively 'interpretative', especially compared to the original image.
The workshop was about design and I think I will have to work more on the ideas that we discussed. I need to do more designing, maybe without any actual weaving. Then I might come up with designs I like and can weave.

The Benefit of Being in a Group

I have been working on a small tapestry with the main aim to improve my technique rather than to have a tapestry to hang on the wall. One of the main things I have been having trouble with is pulling in the sides.

I think this has become more of a problem since I finished my course. I find that working alone is ok but you definitely need to have people around with whom you can discuss ideas and problems.

I took the loom to my monthly tapestry group meeting. I didn't particularly take it for advice, more because I wanted to be doing something while we chatted. However, two people offered good advice. One because I was asking but the other person came later and hadn't heard me asking for ideas. But she observed me weaving and came over quietly to say that I was doing a particular thing and it would cause exactly the problem I was having.  I was so glad that a) she noticed it and b) she had the courage to come over and say something - which was probably the more important thing.

What was I doing?  I was holding the wool too tightly before I beat it down. Sounds simple, doesn't it? I instantly remembered being told in class that it is best to leave the wool in a looser line, I had just forgotten.

Now the sides are going straighter. I didn't pull it out again, for about the 5th time. I decided to just try to be straight from where I was up to.
I find that I am getting some ridging (it is clearly visible in the blue part) and I am not sure if that is because the weaving underneath has been pulled too tight in the centre or if it is because of how I am weaving differently. Not to worry, I am about to do the hitching off and can try again. Looks like I'll have to work on another sampler.

The other thing I am using the tapestry for is to play around with colour blending. I have based the design on the optical illusion that I used for my small banner quilts. The interpretation is slightly different but I have enjoyed doing the blending.  The illusion is not very complicated, just that the surrounding colour will make the fuchsia bits look different when they are actually the same colour.

I used 4 strands of Australian Tapestry Workshop wools. I only did one pass each of a colour. Then I would change one of the strands of wool, moving on to the next colour. Some of the colour changes are quite subtle but others are much more marked.
I started each pass from the opposite end in the hopes that I wouldn't have all my loose ends on one side, making it bulkier.
Overall, I am happy with the work. I have learnt lots.

Small tapestry finishing off.

I have tried another way of finishing off, usually used for small tapestries.  It involves lots of hitching but allows you to hide the white warp threads reasonably successfully.  I did this with the historical piece and my miniatures.
We had to do miniature tapestry weaving for one of our assignments and I decided to make three small pieces to go into a doll's house.  It is based on some Art Deco designs and furniture I have seen lately.

There is a lot of hitching on and off with this technique but I like it because you don't have such an obvious, white, edge where you usually plait the warp threads. You use double half hitches and soumak, with a full pass of weaving with the thread you are using (I used stranded cotton for this piece) and also one of the seine twine used in the warping up.

When you are finished,  you pull out the seine twine and fold the work over in that space, sewing through the full pass space, through to the front.

As I said, I used stranded cotton more commonly used for embroidery.  It was comfortable to use but does slip up and down the warp rather easily.

Almost finished.

I hid in the house with the cooling on this afternoon and worked on finishing off the small tapestry. I have finished the weaving and the hitching off, now it is loosened on the loom so that it can 'rest' and be ready to cut off. 

I'll cut it off tomorrow and see if one of my ideas will work. I have done some areas that might be able to be pulled down and loosened, to give a bit of texture. But I have also experimented with doing a cotton sewing thread hitching off and I am not sure if that will grip too well for this technique to work. Time will tell - as long as I don't botch it up and have it half-textured!

My ruler tells me the piece is straight but my eye disagrees. Another thing to check once it is off the loom and tidied up. There will be a couple more hours of work to go - it isn't finished when you stop working on the loom!

It doesn't have any relation to what I thought I would come up with - probably because I didn't really have a good idea of what I was trying to achieve! I enjoyed the process though, so that is a bonus. 

Ooops

I thought I had posted about this tapestry earlier but found that it is still in draft form.   So ...
This is the post as written a couple of weeks ago (November 26th, to be exact), I hope it still makes sense.

I had plans to twist and turn the slits and make it all join up - in a very 3D way.  Those plans are on hold for the moment because of the exhibition.  The way I planned to sew it together would make it very different from the other two small tapestries I have done, so I have taken the curator's advice and will leave it in its current state - almost.

When I hold it up, the weaving develops a slight curve.

It is very messy at the moment and will stay pretty messy.  But it was suggested that I could dye the hanging strands of warp thread to make it more interesting.  I can see that it could look very much in tune with my other work.

I decided that I wasn't that happy with how I had finished off the weaving, as I had been going to braid it.  So now I am doing the (very!!) tedious job of double half hitching using cotton, with the work off the loom.

I have been a bit concerned about how to dye the threads without having the dye getting onto the actual weaving, or wicking up the threads.  I have had several helpful messages, suggesting water colour paint, food dye (not sure if you can get black, assume so) and procion dye.
Then I went with a friend to visit Kraft Kolour and Bonnie, lovely lady, got out some cotton yarn, some black sun dye and painted the yarn there and then.  It took the dye well and didn't rub off.

I decided to try some leftover warp threads before launching into working on the actual piece and painted them with the sun dye.  I left it in the sun for a while.  It says on the bottle to heat set the dye (when using it on fabric) but when I washed it, no colour came out.  So I will be big and brave tomorrow, if the sun comes out (it is forecast to be thundery), and paint the warps.

I am hoping to cut them off later, braid the ends, and sew it up as I had originally planned, so I don't want the dye to go all the way up to the weaving.

Case moth information

theregatha asked me about casemoths and I have found some information.

 I remember having a casemoth in my classroom many years ago.  It was kept in a fish tank but escaped!!  We had an unusual room which had extremely high ceilings that had large wooden beams across the room.  Every day we would wait till someone spotted the casemoth high above our heads and call out "There it is!".  I have no idea what it used to eat, there were definitely no plants up there.  It stayed for several weeks and we never did discover where it went.

Anyway, back to the point.
I have found information about casemoths at the Queensland Museum site.
Some of the interesting facts I found:

Case moths spend most of their lives as caterpillars, the larval stage, which may last for up to 1 or 2 years in some species.  Once constructed, the caterpillars never leave their cases.  The head and thorax of the caterpillars are quite heavily armoured and they have 3 strong pairs of legs on the thorax with which they move around, dragging the case behind them.

This is the one at our front door, showing its thorax and legs.

Here is a clue about what it eats, but not really what the one in our classroom found to survive on.

Many species of case moth caterpillars are plant feeders; others feed on lichens; while some live within the nests of ants and are thought to be scavengers.

I think my pictures are of a Saunder's Case Moth (Metura elongata).  According to the Queensland Museum site,

Its biology is typical of those species where the adult female is wingless. 

One of the amazing parts is how it attached the twigs to its case.

The caterpillar uses its jaws to harvest a twig of a desired length, attaching it to the mouth of the case with a few strands of silk.  The caterpillar now withdraws into the case and, from the inside, cuts a small slit in the bag.  This may take almost an hour to complete because the material of the bag is incredibly tough.  The caterpillar then sticks its head and thorax out through the hole, reaches up and grabs the twig and cuts it free.  Withdrawing back into the case, the caterpillar holds the base of the twig in the hole and sews it firmly into place with silk.  From start to finish, the process takes about one and a half hours to complete.

Sometimes it seemed to take me that long to organise the twigs I wanted to attach to my tapestry!  First there was the process of choosing the exact twig I wanted, then the colours, then the hitching, then the wrapping and attaching at the other end.  It could be recalcitrant and unwrap just as I was about to attach it - very annoying.  So I have been really appreciating the case moth species as I have been working.

There is much more interesting information on the site (linked above), so go and have a look.

Almost there

I have hitched off the actual weaving, now I just have to do the finishing off which will involve a couple more hours of weaving (hitching off with sewing thread, then another lot of hitching off for the back, using wool. That gets turned over and not seen.

So I hope to get that done tomorrow. Then I can loosen the warp a little and let it 'relax' overnight before taking it off the loom and tidying it up - which will take another few hours. So - almost there.

There will also be some fixing of mistakes to be done. I 'think' they will be easy enough to fix - I hope so! I am intending to keep the tapestry, so it is only I who will see the mistakes.

Once again, I worked till it was almost dark, so the image has had the exposure  changed. It is not quite that light.

I have enjoyed working on it, especially in this strange time of being socially distant. It has taken hours every day. I was thinking that it has been very calming. Once the design is decided the actual weaving is more of a contemplative thing - you do have to work on the colours and making sure you are keeping to the design but you are not making big creative decisions, that gets done, mainly, before-hand. So I will miss it.

But I have enrolled for a Blackwork embroidery course and am currently up to doing the sampler, learning the various stitches that might be useful once I get to actually making a piece. So, at the moment, that is also rather contemplative - focussing on doing the stitching correctly but not having to be creative. Hopefully that will take the place of the tapestry - and I will get caught up with the course!

Almost There

I have been working more diligently on my tapestry for the last few days.  I want to get it finished.  Once I get this close I start to get impatient.  I have finished the actual weaving, now I just have to do the hitching off, sewing of slits (yes, I could have done them as I went but I find that I tangle the threads), the tidying of the back, etc.  That will take a few more hours and I am over it for today.
I started the sewing of the slits and am not sure which is worse, doing it as I go or doing it afterwards.
I think it helped a little with the ripple but has not quite got rid of it.  I will see how it looks once I loosen the tension and take it off the loom.  Here's hoping it is not too distorted.
Because I might try to make an animation of the growing tapestry, I have been taking photos as I have worked.  I usually took photos using the automatic setting (I thought that would give me better continuity with colours) but I forgot once or twice.  The difference in settings is quite marked.

automatic setting

automatic with flash

not automatic, probably depth of field setting

 After discussions with a couple of people, I decided that my ripple, clearly seen above, was probably due to a combination of issues.  One is that I may have too much weft in the weaving, from not pulling hard enough when I turn back to finish a pass (I was trying NOT to pull too hard!).  The other thing is that I probably had looser tension in part of the warp.  I tried to overcome this by putting paper under the warp threads.  It did seem to lessen the ripple but didn't eliminate it completely.

One thing I have improved on is the sides, they are fairly straight- very pleasing.

Finished the bark piece

I have finished my bark tapestry.  I did a little experimenting with texture, just a few techniques.  The main effect I got was by including some textured yarns, some wrapping the weft around a cable knitting needle, rya knots and some soumak.

still on the loom, needs to be rotated when I eventually hitch off.

I decided, after discussing it with friends and my teacher, to leave one edge slightly shaped, to simulate the uneven edges of tree trunks.  I have used the small tapestry hitching off technique again, so I couldn't have a very uneven edge.

I found this tapestry much quicker than previous ones for several reasons:

• I used a larger warp (seine twine 18)
• the weft was thicker, 6 strands of Tapestry Workshop (now known as the Australian Tapestry Workshop) yarns
• I did not follow a strict cartoon, I used my inspiration photo as a guide and did approximations
• because of the last point, I did much less unpicking, I could let things go even when they were not quite how I had envisaged them.

I am considering using this image again, or one similar, in the (not immediate) future as I would like to try for some different effects, more 3 dimensional where the sap sticks out from the tree, but did not feel confident enough in my weaving to be trying that yet.