Bryony Studio

Two weeks ago, I warped up my loom with a new length of material. Weaving the lace at 10 dpi left an open and airy fabric, very lightweight and beautiful. As you can see, it is rather open, though not as much as I thought it would be. I have about six yards of material. Four of the pieces I wove off at shorter lengths, intending them to be made into a skirt later. What I hadn't expected was the shrinkage after washing the material. What was originally about twenty-four inches shrank to a little over eighteen inches. Yet, despite the surprises, I think this will wind up making beautiful garments. I think it would make a good summer top, or with a contrasting layer underneath, it would make a wonderful gown or skirt. I look forward to see what I can use this material for, and how it could be made with different materials.

One of the things I love about weaving is the ability to experiment. It's fun trying different fibers, weave structures and color combinations. Currently, I'm working on an open weave structure based upon weaves from previous designs. The original version was like the ones above: lace weave done in cotton at 12.5 dpi. I had woven something similar at a wider spacing (7.5 dpi) with cotton and wool. The photograph below shows what happens with wool and cotton.     What I wanted to discover is if the same process would work at a 10 dpi. In other words, would I be able to make an attractive fabric with a wider lace design? Ideally, the project will turn into a dress, but I'll have to see how it washes up first.   Hopefully, it will turn out somewhat like I thought it would be. 

So I ended last year with a warp, a beautiful burgundy warp of chenille and cotton. My intention was to turn it into a tunic of some sort, but it ended up being a Christmas present. Ah well, sometimes things happen, I've learned. One of my biggest surprises for Christmas was receiving a dressmaker's dummy. Very excited about this because now I can start to design clothes with the material I weave up. I currently have material on the dummy as I write, but I'm still mulling over the design. I have great respect for fashion designers who can make beautiful garments for the masses. I'll post photographs later on. I hope everyone has a happy new year.