As I’ve been slicing fabric for weaving, I’ve processed a lot of fabric in the “November” color story, which is mostly men’s clothing, and therefore, mostly tans, khakis, and dark neutrals. I pull out approximately 1/4 of every garment for knitted rug stash, and my box of browns was overly full. It was time to…
Category Archives: 746 Textiles
Working on stash
I am still developing the process I follow to turn old clothes into rugs and wall hangings. When I first started processing fiber for weaving, I simply blocked out garments, cutting off the bulky bits and then flat folding what was left. Now that I’m preparing to weave, I need more refinement. The photo below…
Sun on sheets
Color. Nothing but color. (And a Chihuahua.) Not sure how anyone slept on these, but it sure is fine to sit and inhale the color as the late afternoon sun adds backlight accents!
Washing Fringed Rugs
I’d heard horror stories about combing out long fringes after the washing machine got hold of them. I also had a sternly worded suggestion from my weaving teacher that if you are going to sell a rug as washable, you should wash it first. I also wanted to see what happened to a rug when…
A new color story
People who see my rugs in a show sometimes ask where I get my ideas for colors. “Everywhere.” Simply everywhere. Admittedly, I read (or own!) a significant collection of color idea books, from Pantone, the paint companies, both artist and domestic, and any one else who prints a color chart. My first stop in the…
100 Yard Warp Part 1: Cone management
Newcomb Studio Art Rug looms shipped with a sectional warp beam that will hold at least 100, if not 200, yards of 8/4 carpet warp. Given that it takes only a tiny bit more time to put on a long warp than it does to put on any length at all, it’s much more economical…
Where did my ergo cutter go?
My routine is to do an hour of prep work in my studio, slicing incoming fabric, assembling colors for a new rug, sewing up bottom and sleeve bands for the “hit or miss” rugs, and so forth, followed by at least two hours on the loom, before I turn on my PC. I was just…
India in the Sun
My latest spiral, Colors of India, was inspired by a picture of a spice market in an old National Geographic magazine. The rug is almost finished; it needs a bit of neatening up and a wash and block, and it will be on the Rugs page in no time. The rug was on the corner…
Teal & Peach Nautilus Rag Rug, WIP
WIP = work in progress This is a quick post to show how a Nautilus rug is assembled. I will post a similar picture of a traditional spiral rug in progress so you can see how the parts are similar but the assembly is different. The pink strip wrapped around the black is how I…
Newly sharpened shears
Say THAT three times quickly! Newly sharpened shears newly sharpened shears newly sharpened shears! Oh, the joy of finding a new sharpening service! The little store where I used to take my good shears closed in the depth of the recession. It was sad; it was a convenient location I passed frequently on my way…