It's all in the Beat

Plaid scarves woven by Judite Vagners

Like in music, beat plays a significant role in how satisfied you will be with your finished woven product. Recently one of our very experienced weavers, Judite  Vagners, wove these 2 scarves in a very fine wool yarn. The same pattern, the same yarn was woven at two different setts. One at 20 epi (threads per inch) the other 30. Of course, the one at 20, ended up being wider than the first, but also of note is that the one at 20 had a much more supple hand than the one woven at 30.

Baby Blanket in 2/8 space dyed cotton (available in the weaving class) by Susan Abrams. A waffle weave, sometimes called honeycomb. This weave structure is often used for tea towels and baby blankets. 

The closeness of the threads both in the warp and weft, combined with the weave structure as well as the purpose of the textile, will determine it's suppleness or lack of. If we want a rug or placemat that is hard wearing then of course, something with more rigidity and hardness will be more suitable. If we want a scarf or baby blanket, softness and suppleness are critical. How does one determine with precision such outcomes? My standard answer is sampling and experience.  If you work with one fibre mostly, you will get to know the characteristics of that yarn and what works best for it. If you are always making rugs, then of course, beating hard is necessary, but not for a delicate silk scarf. Mindfulness to these elements as well as a little common sense will prevent a lot of disappointment down the road.

Other Weaving Happenings 

Erin Lewis will be giving a talk on Fibre Optics in weaving and her work at the Burlington Weavers and Spinners. Monday Mar 2 2015 7pm-10.

Susan Middleton, tapestry weaver, will be giving a talk/presentation on her work at the Toronto Weavers and Spinners at Riverdale Park 7:30 pm. 

I (Line Dufour) will be giving a talk on the direction of my work at the Etobicoke Guild of Weavers and Spinners at Nielson Park April 7 2015 at 7pm. 


Karen Bota Really good tutorial for a beautiful colourful scarf on the rigid heddle loom
thebluebrick.ca/2015/02/15/tutorial-the-colour-shifting-scarf 

Tom Mae writes: We are having a special screening sponsored by our co-producer, Tartu College on Feb 28, 2015 Keepers of the Loom Documentary Film Special Screening

310 Bloor St W, Toronto, ON M5S 1W4 (enter off Madison Avenue entrance on the west side of building). 2014 marked the 70th anniversary of the 1944 mass exodus from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, that was triggered by the Soviet advance into the Baltics. 

“Keepers of the Loom” is a documentary film focusing on the Estonian Women’s stories of the Baltic Diaspora, of how they kept their culture and heritage alive through the making of their folk clothing and handcrafts.

 keepersoftheloom.com You can see the trailer for the film there. Tickets can be purchased here:  http://keepersoftheloom.com/?w=a00sd#sect15

In June 2015 I am taking a group to Florence Italy to the Fondozione arte Della Seta Lisio http://www.fondazionelisio.org/ for a one week historic jacquard weaving workshop along with guided museums visits that relate to the textiles we will be studying, including the Uffizi, where we will be looking at paintings that render with great detail the luxurious textiles produced during the Renaissance, and which Lisio reproduces for their patrons. If you are interesting in joining me in June 2016 please contact me at linedufour.tapestry@gmail.com. 

artist: Bronzino. 

Jacquard loom on display at Lisio. 

Don't forget their are 2 one week wonderful weaving workshops being offered in August 2015. 

Tablet Woven borders with Embellishments by Inge Dam 

August 10-13 2015 $350.

Inge Dam is known for her meticulously crafted and artistically hand dyed woven yardages with card woven embellishment inserts,  from which she creates luxurious  garments . She has garnered many awards for her weaving and has taught extensively, in particular throughout the United States, including for many Convergence conferences, organized by the Handweavers Guild of America. She has recently authored a book on her techniques, Tablet-Woven Accents for Designer Fabrics Contemporary Uses for Ancient Techniques which you can purchase from her at any time.  

Through her studies of ancient textiles Inge became fascinated with the concept of weaving tablet woven borders jointly with a piece of fabric on the loom. This technique was used on many of the ancient garments she  studied. Students will be introduced to this type of weaving through a brief introduction to its history and hands on practice. They will set up a loom with a simple weave structure and learn how to make a tablet warp and how to arrange it beside the fabric warp so the border and the fabric can be woven together using only one shuttle, rather than attached separately. The students will also be taught how to avoid tension problems between the border warp and the fabric warp and how to accommodate for the differences in the take up of the two weaves. A simple tablet weaving technique will be employed and the students will learn how to add embellishments to the tablet woven border, such as tassels, twining, beads at the edges and on the surface, braiding overlay, wrapped warp ends, loops, Ghiordes knots, and brocading.

Level of expertise : participants should know how to weave plain weave and 4-shaft straight twill. 

Location:         Burr House, 530 Carville Road, Richmond Hill 

Time: 10am – 4pm

Maximum: 12

RSVP by June 1 2015

Cost: $350 plus $2 material fee

 [] Send Cheque for $350 to Line Dufour, 

25 Beckett Ave, Holland Landing L9N 1E6. tapestryline@sympatico.ca

Woven Drawings with Nieves Carrasco. 

August 17-21 2015

Woven Drawings workshop: Nieves Carrasco                               August 17 to 21 2015 

For her exhibition "Woven Drawings" at the David Kaye Gallery in January 2014, Nieves wanted to bring the universe of drawing, printing, and painting into weaving by using paper in the weft.
It took a lot of experimentation to develop a technique that she thought was suitable aesthetically and technically, which she will share with you during this workshop.  
During this workshop participants will weave narrow samples (approximately 6 inches wide) using paper that has been drawn and painted on, in the weft. By the end of the workshop each participant should have at least one sample finished and mounted, ready for framing. Two or more samples will be assembled to explore creating larger pieces out of narrow modules.
The workshop is divided into two parts. The first part will be dedicated to learning the techniques required to prepare the paper and weave a few samples. Once the techniques are learned, participants will have time to explore the possibilities of what they can do with the techniques acquired with a new set of paper sketches and samples. 
Location: Burr House, 530 Carville Road, Richmond Hill 
Time: 10am – 4pm
Maximum: 12
RSVP by June 1 2015
Cost: $350 plus material fees

 [] Send Cheque for $350 to Line Dufour, 25 Beckett Ave, Holland Landing L9N 1E6. linedufour.tapestry@gmail.com. 

If you have weaving news share, don't hesitate to send it along. If you would like to have your weaving article posted, you are welcome to do so, please no larger than 500 words.