Monday, November 17, 2008

Pattern for 12 Shaft Twill Scarves

My idea was to make two summer weight scarves. I found a lovely pattern in the book 200 Patterns for Multiple Harness Looms by Russell E. Groft; the pattern is called Mother of Pearl Pink.
I used 2/20 tencel set at 45 epi; 7 inches in a 15 dent reed, sleyed at 3 per dent. This gave me 315 ends. I put on 6 yards for 2 scarves, each 70” long with 8” fringes.

I wove the first scarf with gold 2/20 mercerized cotton and loved the look, but didn’t like my edges (this was before I bought my end feed shuttle!). I decided that the best way to deal with the edges was to bead the edges every 2” with seed beads and to make the scarf crimp in by pulling the beads in tightly I also added long bead runs to the fringe. I love this scarf and it is now one of my favourite to wear.

The second scarf was an opportunity to use some 2/20 procion dyed tencel that I had dyed at a Monashee Guilds’ dye day. The colour run is very fresh, but….the white tencel dulled it out a bit. I also didn’t like the fact that the scarf was turquoise, but the fringe was white. I decided to dye the fringe in a diluted procion dye bath. I soaked the fringe in mordant and then placed it in a cup of turquoise dye and allowed it to wick up the fringe. Much better, but the scarf needed more. I found some lovely silver butterfly beads and added them to the fringe along with seed beads and as a final detail I added butterfly’s to the centre of the scarf so that when worn folded the silver detail shows.
I had a gathering of Spinners coming up and wanting to show something to the group I decided to tie onto this warp. The previous year I had won a bag of Baby Camel Down and decided to use it and make a shawl. I tied on a handspun 2 ply Merino wool warp set at 10 epi; 30 inches in a 10 dent reed, sleyed 1 per dent. This gave me 300 ends. I put on 3-1/2 yards for 1 shawl. The Baby Camel Down is the weft. It really does look different from the scarves but came from the same pattern and treadling.
I'd like to thank Frick and Frack for their modelling!

4 comments:

Sunrise Lodge Fiber Studio said...

The blue scarf with the butterflies is amazing;)

Susan said...

Your models are bit stiff at their work, although quiet :)

I *love* all three pieces but I think the camel down is my fav.
I'll be trying that pattern myself at some point as I love the effect.

The idea of cinching in the edges with beads is wondeful as it becomes a 'design element'

Very inspiring!
Susan

Anonymous said...

Can you help me find similar hanging body forms? I coordinate a special textile studio that works with homeless folks in Philadelphia, and we are looking for just this kind of display forms for the scarves and shawls our participants make.
Thanks!
Leslie

Ngaire said...

Hi,

The wire forms were a lucky find at Home Sense, which is the same company as TJ Max in the States. We also use smaller bust forms that also hang, which we found at a store that carries retail store supplies and display items. Lisjen is the store name but I think that you could probably find something a bit closer to home then Kelowna, BC! I hope this helps.
Ngaire