Building Bridges 2020

Rhea Cosentino

Blue Charm

Rae Cumbie Rasa Jacket Pattern, Weave Structure Bateman 304-2, -4, and -5 in Weaving Innovations from the Bateman Collection by Robyn Spady, Nancy A. Tracy and Marjorie Fiddler, 2015

Weaving is a bridge to collaboration and wearable art. This jacket is the vision of guild members Mary Pflueger, Carol Hamelink and me. Inspired by Rae Cumbie’s class, we embarked on designing “Fit for Art” fashion with fabrics woven on two 6.5-yard warps of 10/2 mercerized cotton sett at 24 ends/inch. Variations in weft color and 6 shaft weave structure created unique fabrics for each artist’s palette. Tabby wefts of 20/2 and 5/2 mercerized cotton were woven as described by Bateman 304-2, -4, and -5.

Mary Pflueger wove fabric for the band and side panels and I wove the front, back and sleeve fabric and constructed the piece. I thank Carol Hamelink and Mary Pflueger for weaving samples for this project.

Anne Elixhauser

Water Under the Bridge

Parallel threading, eight-harness, 8/2 Tencel in warp and weft, sett at 24 epi, based on Marian Stubenitsky, Weaving with Echo and Iris, draft downloaded from handweaving.net.

Four colors of varied greens and blues in the warp, with random threads of gold and lime green doubled in some heddles. Colors are: Blue Ming, Mineral Green, Aquamarine, Teal, Gold, Lemongrass. Warp is dark gray (Slate). I expanded and adjusted the treadling so that one pattern repeat is 1,276 weft picks. The full length of the scarf is about one and a half pattern repeats.

The scarf is meant to convey water flowing, yes, under a bridge with bits of sunshine reflecting from the surface. The long waves represent a slow meandering stream in late afternoon sun.

It is one of seven scarves that I made on this threading, but with different yarn colors and different treadlings.

Anne Elixhauser

A Bridge Between Weavers

The threading comes from another weaver, the previous owner of the loom, though I don’t know her name.

Six harnesses, 40 epi. Warp thread is most likely cotton. Weft is a fine cotton from my stash and embroidery thread in green.  The structure is probably Summer and Winter (since that treadling worked).

I purchased an eight-harness Baby Wolf Schacht loom that had been donated to the Guild.  It had an old warp still threaded through the heddles and the reed, sett at 40 epi, but using just six of the eight harnesses.  I believe the warp is a very fine cotton, based on the burn test, the feel, and how easily it wove.  It was such a fine warp that it obviously took a long time to set up so I didn’t want that work to go to waste.  After entering the threading into weaving software, I played with possible treadlings but nothing looked right.

So at a Guild meeting I asked two weavers (Pat Capogrossi and Lanna Ray) what they thought the treadling might be based on the threading I described and they both suggested I try Summer and Winter.  It was a structure I had never done before, but I found a treadling online that resulted in this cloth.  I used a fine cotton I had on hand for the tabby weft and a much thicker green embroidery thread for the pattern.

It is a bridge between weavers — the original loom owner who left the warp for me, the expert weavers in our Guild who guided me, and me who wove it off.

This was the finest warp I had ever woven.  I’ve since wound a long warp to tie on and plan to weave a set of placemats.

Ann Guralnick

Bridging the Generations by Welcoming the New Generation

Blanket from “Handwoven Baby Blankets” by Tom Knisely, p. 64 & 65. Summer and  Winter Blocks.

Six-shaft summer and winter. Warp and tabby weft are 8/2 Egyptian cotton dyed by me. Pattern weft is Block Island yarn from Halcyon used doubled.

Had some extra warp and a bear was conceived –

Thomas the Bear, for Thomas Telford, a famous UK civil engineer known for his bridges.

Body woven with brown 8/2 cotton. Inner parts woven with Rosy Beige. Pattern from petraswonderland.com – Memory Bear Ben, reduced to 75%.  Sewn by a dear weaver friend and sewer extraordinaire, Jane Perkins. She had the honor of naming the bear.

Carol Hamelink

Bridge to the Past

From Mary Black, New Key to Weaving

4-shaft boundweave flamepoint draft using clasped weft. Alpaca/wool blend yarn

This is a bridge to the past.  I began weaving when my father was raising alpacas.

Carol Hamelink

Bridge to the Future

V linen top from So-Sew Easy.com.

4-shaft overshot woven as shadow weave using clasped weft for color blocks. 8/2 Tencel yarn.

Weaving is a bridge connecting a very difficult past year with the future, which is beginning to brighten.

This shadow weave technique creates a dense cloth suitable as an over layer. The use of Tencel still allows drape.

Deborah Herrin

Skyline

10/2 cotton; clasped weft.

Coming to DC to attend Georgetown was the bridge to my future.

In Handwoven, I had seen an example of a skyscraper skyline using clasped weft weaving.  I wanted to see if I could use the same technique but create a real, identifiable skyline.

Deborah Herrin

Nothing Wasted

Weft is plastic bags that newspapers are delivered in; woven rag rug style. Bottom is denim from daughter’s old jeans. Lining is a jersey nightshirt that I didn’t like.

My parents’ newspapers get delivered in such exciting-colored bags that I had to find a use for them. When an old tote bag wore out, I had my answer.

After attempting to make a band on both my floor and table looms, I broke down, bought an inkle loom and made my first band. I gave the band from my table loom attempt to a neighbor to use as a yoga strap.