Guild of Canadian Hand Weavers Bulletin Samples Part 2

The samples have been woven and this blog post is about what happens next to the samples.  I put the finished fabric on the counter so I could make sure that I had enough samples.  Thankfully I hadn’t miscounted otherwise I would have had to put on another warp!

Then the monster sample was washed and hung it up to dry.  It quickly dried in the summer sun.

The next step is to iron a small chunk of the samples, I did about 10 rows.  Then place a piece of plastic between the ironing board and the sample fabric.  Make up your glue solution 1/3 Elmer’s School Glue and 2/3 water.  Using a paint brush, brush this solution onto the waste yarn between the samples.  We then used a blow dryer to speed up the drying of the sample.

When the glue is dry remove the plastic sheet and add rotary cutting board in its place.  Cut the small section of samples free.  Repeat the steps of ironing, gluing and cutting until done with the large sample piece.  I have to admit that this took awhile!

Almost done, just need to cover a table with a plastic sheet and place the now small sections of samples on it.  Use the same glue solution to paint the lines of waste yarn between each sample.  The glue will sit on top of the yarn so a paint brush is needed to force the glue between the fibres.  Be generous with the glue.  I placed it outside to dry and move onto the next section.

The sections are dry and now it is time to cut all the samples apart.  We found it was easier to use scissors then a rotary cutter as it dulled the rotary cutter immediately and replacing that can be expensive.  If you have a friend or a loved one to help to it goes quite fast, about an hour.

Now the samples are all separate and  ready to be sent to the Bulletin newsletter editor.

We sent three out of the four draft samples in one box.  Each set of samples was wrapped with plastic to keep the samples dry and a paper copy of the draft was attached.  An email copy of each draft was also sent to the Bulletin newsletter editor.  And that was it, done!

Final Garden Shot is the strikingly veined leaves from the Lords and Ladies (Arum italicum).  Spring is in the air!