This is my first HalloWeave and it happened to coincide with my entering in the world of weaving. So i figured i have to get the most from this experience in matter of learning new things and spending quality hands-on time with my first loom - a vertical portable tapestry loom with four heddles which my husband built for me. To make the project really challenging and fun i decided to dye the yarn myself. Never done either the dyeing or the weaving part, but couldn't wait any longer. So i started with the dyeing - and orange dyed cotton.For the dyeing i used carrot and onion peel mix. The yarn is mordanted with vinegar. For the other colours i also plan on using natural colouring since it's more eco friendly and it's something i believe in.
Updates:
20110930 - orange yarn still in dye bath. Tomorrow morning will see the result. Fingers crossed!
20111001
- The result was pale and brick like colour and what was i thinking
using tan coloured yarn for the dyeing. Starting again with white yarn.
God this is fascinating! There are so many possibilities and it's so
much fun to try them out! Have to get it right this or next time, since
end of the month is close. Will try making one of the browns using
eucalyptus leaves. Wish me luck!
20111003 - Not orange for sure -
it's nice yellow though. Cotton is proving to be really hard to dye with
natural dyes. So i'm giving up the natural dyes for synthetic. Hurts to
say it, but the project has to move ahead. The yellow might come handy
so i'll keep it. Changing the colours of the project since there weren't
dyes in those colours available. I'm in dye-frenzy but love the
experience all the way! Uploaded the project stripe as a project image.
20111004 - Got the gray one. It turned out darker and a bit blueish, but hopefully it'll go well with the green and yellow. My goal is to get the colours balanced and to make them work together. I'm on the green today and probably tomorrow will be the warp-test day. If it goes well i might do the warping too. Photos on the way!
20111005 - Lesson learned the hard way - never EVER let the hank get unwraped while dyeing. Second day untangling the gray - if that ain't a great way to learn and remember... No green, no photos, just untangling... If anything can go wrong for a beginner, it sure will, but that makes the beginner more experienced and hopefully wise.
20111007 - Done untangling the gray. Now on the green. Thanks to the valuable advice from Robert aka r1mein54 and Karren K. Brito. Hope to get it right this time!
20111011 - Don't like getting stoned, but the whole untangling thing got the best of me and made me kind of scared to go on. Scared no more! Moving on and starting the warping. Its about time to do the green colour. Hopefully the weather will get better and the hanks will dry fast, so i can continue my warping. As soon as the stripes appear pictures will be due :)
20111012 - Here is my loom :) Began doing the stripes. Waiting for the green to be ready and will continue warping...
20111013 - Another change in colours. The green turned out quite different from expected. Will be used for sure since it's a nice colour, but not for this project. The design of the stripe has changed as well.
20111030 - Unfortunately family issues kept me away from the loom. Anyway i have not given up the project. Did some warping, but the cream thread was not enogh. Trying to find more of the same colour or will replace the warped parts with another close colour and continue on.
When you get a chance please post a picture of your loom. Looms that people make for themselves are of great interest to people on this Weavolution.
Have a good day!
Sure will post a photo. It's a replica of the Schacht portable tapestry loom, but made with whatever's on hand at home. Budget is tight these days so we had to do it ourselves.
Vinegar is not a mordant, it changes the pH and some times the color but it does not help the dye to bind to the fiber. Cotton is the hardest fiber to mordant, Make sure it is well scoured before starting. Alum is a non-toxic mordant but for cotton we a sometimes do Alum-tannin-alum. You can read a bit about mordants here.
I have never dyed anything in my life and the vinegar thing i saw in a tutorial - obviously wrong one. I sure will try alum and alum-tannin-alum method. Thank you, Karren!
at your loom and I wonder how it adjust the tension? The top and bottom bars look fixed, or is one of them adjustable? It looks like you are using a circular warp, is that correct?
Weaving towels could be different from weaving tapestry in that the warp will get shorter (not actually,it will bend around each weft and get much tighter acting as if it were shorter) and you might need to adjust the spacing between the top and bottom bars to keep the tension constant and get good sheds.
The top bar is adjustable via bolts. I should have made a closer photo of the system. It's quite rudimentary, but works. Yes the warp is circular :)
Never actually figured the 'shortening' but you sure saved me a lot of trouble again :) Thanks!
pattern is very nice and your colors are wonderful. Please keep posting pictures as you progress.
Thanks endorph! Sure will post as soon as i get back to the loom. Driving license courses keeps me busy these days but weaving is the first thing on my list after i get the dreadfull license :)
