Assignment 4 - Project 9 - Woven Structures - Stage 4 - Part Two - Developing Design Ideas into Weaving

(DISPLAY BOARD PIECE - BOARD 7 OF 10)

For this sample, inspired by the pleasing rustic appeal of the Mexican god's eyes, I chose natural materials for the frame, a piece of dried twig and a small dowel. I wanted to explore the relationship between the warp and the weft, playing with the interaction between the two. In my mind was the idea that in some weave structures the warp is the dominant force (warp-faced weaves such as ikat) whereas others have a dominant weft structure (weft-faced weaves). I was curious to explore not only the warp and weft-faced weave structure but also what happens if the warp is entirely exposed.

I realised that this would create a potential weakness in the weave but as it was for a decorative sample I did some research and discovered that it is possible to paint the exposed warp with dilute pva or starch to stiffen and strengthen it.

As I wanted some exposed warp sections, I chose an interesting-textured boucle yarn which was fine but strong.

I also wanted to experiment with different materials in the weft. I wanted to see how far I could push the open weave structure before it failed to work. I drew inspiration from the earlier braids exercise and selected a range of hand-dyed and commercial, textured threads - wool, raw silk, cotton and viscose. I included some hand-dyed, handspun wool yarn but also bulkier materials - hand-dyed fleece, roving and even as thick as braids. For the dyeing I used natural dyes - I used goldenrod overdyed with woad for the greens, coreopsis, goldenrod for oranges and yellows and iron-modified cutch for the lighter browns. The darker browns were naturally-coloured fleece/wool. I also incorporated a small amount of commercially-dyed yarn in the braids.

Design inspiration
The inspiration for the piece itself was piles of richly-coloured autumn leaves, laying on the ground in a dense forest, with moss and lichen visible through the piles of leaves as they crumble and decay. In the open areas the leaves have disappeared, returning to the soil to nourish the forest. Rich grey and brown handspun yarn represents the deep, rich humus and gnarly roots poking through the leaves. The lichen and moss are growing around the base, thriving in the cool dampness beneath the forest canopy.

Design process
I used starch paste to stiffen the boucle thread to make a very simple warp.

Onto this I wove a range of materials, fibre, fleece, yarn, string. I left parts of the warp completely unworked, some lightly packed to allow the warp to remain partially visible whilst other areas were densely filled and woven over. With the fleece, I left tufts at the front, anchoring them into some strong rug yarn.

 I

I drew on the earlier exercise (3) to make a number of twisted and braided cords which I attached to the bottom of the piece.

I completed the piece by applying additional dilute pva to prevent movement in the open warp sections.

Thoughts
I like the textural qualities of this piece and the natural forms. The warp is somewhat light for the weight of some of the weft materials but I like the concept of exposed areas - as well as reflecting the original design, it gives an impression of an old piece that has seen many years of wear and is itself in the process of slow decline. The use of natural dyes for the hand-dyeing added to the natural qualities. When I was working the piece it also had an earthy smell which added to the making experience. It would be interesting if this smell remains - it would add an extra dimension to experiencing the piece. (note to self: wonder if this could be used more widely - fragrance-infused pieces to evoke emotions/images?)

If I were to repeat this piece I might use a thicker warp, but  still with texture. I would also lose some of the braiding - it proved a little excessive!

Assignment 4 - Project 8 - Experimenting with Structures - What Have You Achieved?

Did you enjoy inventing constructed surfaces? Were you surprised at the results? Can you see a connection between your choice of materials and the types of structures you made; for example, regular, irregular, small or large scale? Which samples worked best - can you say why?

I did enjoy creating constructed surfaces. It was interesting to see how two different sheets of paper, for example, when interwoven, would create a much more interesting fabric and how strong images in the original images were altered once woven. What was also interesting was how the pieces looked when viewed from varying distances.

 Depending on the nature of the weave, in some cases (the alternating drips for example), looked nothing like the originals close up, but took on an interesting effect from a distance. The eye filled in the "gaps" created by the interwoven sheet and almost restored the original image, albeit somewhat distorted. This would be an important factor in planning any woven structure of this nature, considering and planning with the viewing distance of the observer in mind.

(Original images)

The reverse of some of the woven fabrics was surprising - often more satisfying than the "right side".
 ("Right side")

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 ("Wrong side")

Working with other materials produced some good, strong textural effects - the contrast between the thick but supple leather and the soft, delicate viscose was exciting and has potential for future development.

I also liked the idea of deconstructing a textile, in this case the hessian, and re-constructing it into a new fabric, yet retaining its overall character. Inspiration for this came in part from the "deserted house" sample I produced in Assignment 3.

(Deserted house)

How accurate were you in matching all the colours in your postcard:
a) With paints?
b) With yarns/other material?

a) I enjoyed the colour-matching exercises and felt that the matching paints to the postcard was a success. It was interesting to see how many colour variants there are within a single image, even one that appears, prima facie, to be a monotone. There are still variations in the blue river and bridge post - not all the blues are blues at all, but some are green-blues, grey-blues, black-blues. I'm keen to continue trying this process with other media, for example, pastel crayons or acrylics.

b) Matching the yarns was harder, mainly due to limitations in my yarn collection, particularly as regards textured yarns. I could either get colour or texture right but not always both! I found working intuitively without any source image was more liberating and allowed me to explore colour and texture in a less constrained way. For a really accurate interpretation of an image I would most likely select appropriate textured yarns/fibres/fabrics in an undyed state and dye these to the colours I need. This worked quite well with the blue bridge postcard where I used my own naturally hand-dyed yarns as there were many subtle variations in the yarns from the dyeing process.

Combining yarns would also be a good way to build the desired colour. When I work with tapestry (sewing) I build up colours using a number of threads of fine crewel wool. This is a successful way of creating tonal variation without jarring colour changes. Presumably I could also combine colours and textures?

Assignment 4 - Project 8 - Stage 2 - Experimenting with Structures - Exercise 4

For this exercise I found some plastic drinking straws and formed these into a star shape.
To create the interlacing within the frame I selected some Twilley's Goldfingering and laced this around the various parts of the star shape. In order to ensure that the star didn't come apart, I was careful to wrap the thread around all the intersections and finished by lacing a small amount of a finer lurex/gold thread around each intersection, knotting and tying off then tidying up the edges.

Although this is a simple piece I feel it is quite effective. It would be interesting to perhaps add beads or sequins to the thread beforehand to give extra texturing. It might also have been possible to wrap some of the plastic straws but they were very slippery and didn't lend themselves to painting or similar additional embellishment.

Assignment 4 - Project 8 - Stage Two - Experimenting With Structures - Exercise 3

For this exercise I chose large craft pipe cleaners. I anticipated that these would offer a good, stable structure with lots of scope for manipulation. What I hadn't anticipated was how quickly the intertwining process would use up the lengths of pipe cleaner, resulting in a rather small piece. It was also quite difficult to make the ends stay in place despite the wire centres of the pipe cleaners. The fuzziness prevented a good attachment at the edges. The small amount of wire left at each end also proved problematic as it was very sharp!
 
Large pipe cleaners.

Thoughts
Not a successful piece. Not pleasant to work with and disappointing result. Taping or gluing ends was not practical as it spoiled the fuzzy nature of the pipe cleaners but the ends would not stay fastened in place. Wrapping with yarns might have been an option although it would have significantly altered the overall look of what I had planned would be a very self-contained, simple piece.

Assignment 4 - Project 8 - Stage 2 - Experimenting with Structures - Exercise 2

(DISPLAY PIECE - BRAIDS MOUNTED ON RINGS)
This exercise called for making a series of braids, exploring texture, structure, materials and composition.

I created a series of twisted cords using a hair braiding tool that I picked up at a car boot sale!

I tried differing numbers of threads in each braid to give finer and thicker cords. I used different combinations of colours of wool in the first 4 (left to right) to see how colour blending could be achieved. The fuzzy cord (3rd from right) is a wool yarn witha  loopy boucle acrylic. The thicker cords are pure wool. The thicker cords using more threads gave a really nice, rounded cord.

I experimented further by working a number of braids using finger knitting (top and middle) and French knitting (bottom). These produced almost squared braids. The finger knitted braids were open, stretchy and flexible. The French knitted braid (also called knitting Nancy, knitting dolly or cork knitting) was a much firmer braid - still quite stretchy but this could be reduced by using a stiffer yarn or twine.

I had the opportunity to try Kumihimo Japanese braiding using a traditional marudai. I made two round braids in soft cotton and one flat braid from fine, pure silk. I incorporated different pattern structures by changing the colour sequence. It was quite challenging and time-consuming but the results are very satisfying.

I also produced a number of small skeins of handspun yarn. A ply of yarn was spun from hand-dyed roving or fleece, then plied with a second ply to create a 2-ply yarn.

One of the samples was further plied with a third ply to create a crepe or 3-ply yarn. The 3-ply produced a firmer, more rounded yarn.

Using a range of different fibres with varying composition (wool, alpaca, slubs of silk, angelina) gave interesting effects in the finished yarn.

The final sample was a braided roving. This had been hand-dyed using natural dyes (madder and old fustic). The braid was a simple looped chain.

Assignment 4 - Project 8 - Stage 2 - Experimenting with Structures - Exercise 1

This exercise involved making woven pieces, starting with paper. Starting with simple squares cut from magazines.

Looking at the back of the weaves was also interesting and revealed quite different colours.

Playing with assymetric shapes, non-square grids, hand-painted paper and curves.

Using other materials and varying the weave structures.

Upholstery leather and viscose fabric strips.

Mexican God's Eyes using hand-dyed wool, sticks and twine.

 Hessian sack fabric with threads removed to create weft spaces, interwoven with textured threads and yarn. The threads were left loopy to add extra texture.

There is plenty of scope here to carry on forever!