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When I visit with weavers from around the world, one thing that strikes me again and again is that the weaver is so much more than his or her loom. Handweavers in remote areas, working with the simplest of looms and tools, create stunning, intricate designs that would be a challenge to reproduce with...
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Spring has finally arrived in the Northern Hemisphere, and for many of us that means warmer weather, sprouts of growth in the garden, and spring cleaning. If, by chance, you take part in the latter and find nests of plastic shopping bags, don't throw them out; upcycle them! For those who aren't...
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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com Hi Madelyn, A couple of years ago I purchased the eBook Best of Handwoven: Top Ten Towels on Four Shafts . I made several Keep It Simple Towels and would like to move on to the Rosepath Plaid Towels. I have woven several items...
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Laura Fry is a longtime contributor to Handwoven , a master weaver, and an expert and dedicated researcher into the science of wet-finishing of fabric. She is the author of the definitive work on wet-finishing, Magic in the Water. Here she is to tell you why wet-finishing really is a magical step in...
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Robyn Spady's dishtowels are inspired by a sportscoat woven by her great-grandmother Vovo. Some of my most treasured family heirlooms are textiles: handsewn quilts, embroidered napkins, and knitted sweaters to just name a few. There is just something about cloth that, for me at least, triggers and...
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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com Dear Madelyn, My question stems from problems I have had when weaving a sample. How do you sample for sett on a wide warp, for example 36" or 40" wide? My experience has been that a narrow sample isn't really...
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We often talk of textiles telling stories, and in some cases this is literally true. For example, the Bayeux Tapestry uses embroidered pictures to tell the story of the Normal conquest of England. Another, less well-known example are the quipus used by the Incan empire. Quipus (or khipus) are made up...
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Some of Anita's creative cloth You know that famous poem about what you might do when you are an old woman? Wearing purple, spitting on the sidewalk, etc.? The first time I encountered it was when Anita Mayer sent me the manuscript for her wonderful book, Clothing From the Hands That Weave, which...
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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com Madelyn, I am enclosing a photo (shown below) to help you visualize my issue. The string that ties the back apron rod to the warp beam on my loom has slowly been stretching. I'd like to find a different system, but am...
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During the Renaissance, nobles who wanted to show off their fancy wardrobes used to do so through public portraits. Later, when they wanted people throughout the land to see their clothing, they began commissioning illustrations mass produced from engraved plates. These printings eventually became known...
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There are many past fashion trends that we love here at BeWeave It headquarters—we’d totally wear a peplos to work if we could get away with it—but one trend we’re happy is stuck in the past is the hobble skirt , and so we're making it the subject in part 3 of our Garment...
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Ask Madelyn HAVE A QUESTION? OUR EDITOR HAS THE ANSWER madelynv@interweave.com Hi Madelyn! When does one choose to hang weights to tension a selvedge? Or beam the selvedge with the project warp? I have seen the selvedge wrapped with the warp on table looms—maybe this is because there is no depth...
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Many weavers also spin yarn, and some handspinners weave, but few of us produce most of our own weaving yarn. Fewer still have begun to explore all the color and texture possibilities of using handspun yarn in our weaving. Sara Lamb has integrated her passions for weaving and spinning for decades, each...
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How to Weave a Scarf: Seven Handwoven Scarves from Weaving Today Scarves are the weaver's playground: a chance to explore color and weave structures to your heart's content. When you weave a scarf, you're not committing your loom for weeks or months, and you don't have to spend a fortune...
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To be a weaver is to dream. We dream of the exquisite projects we will make, and when life permits, we actually weave some of them. Here's a letter that my friend Julie Barnes wrote to her weaving cooperative recently. It's more about life than weaving, and I love it because it could have come...