Tottie Talks Crafts Blog » weaving & handwoven

Saori Saltspring is hosting a virtual Saori Kai

tottietalkscrafts — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:26:54 +0000

My dear friend, Terri Bibby, of Saori Saltspring, is hosting a virtual Saori Kai: LINK

Which is what?

A Saori Kai is a gathering of Saori weavers so they can learn from one another and share their discoveries and see what each weaver is up to.

Terri hosts Saori Kais in Victoria, BC, but due to health issues (please send Terri lots of healing love and light and energy!), Terri needs to have the Saori Kai online this month.

This is lovely for those of us who are not near Victoria – it allows us to participate virtually.

And here is my contribution to this month’s Saori Kai:

Woven on my Saori floor loom, Toshi-san, who came to Canada from Japan about 30 years ago.

These two banners were originally one piece, but I cut it in half because I wanted to turn them to have the images oriented correctly.

Here’s a closer look at the surface embellishment:

I posted a video tutorial explaining how I do the chain stitch embellishment here:

Chain stitch embellishment

Even though these two banners are now off the loom, I still consider them to be ‘WIP’s (works in progress), as there is a lot that remains to be done to and with them.

And, that hasn’t quite revealed itself to me, yet, so I will have to wait until the inspiration ‘ripens’.

Until then, happy weaving, and joy in all that you do!

Whatcha working on these days? he asked

tottietalkscrafts — Mon, 14 May 2012 01:01:06 +0000

Last week, a friend asked me what I was working on these days.

In response, I rattled off a list of projects and tasks that is the length of my arm.

The next day, as I was leaving the dentist, he drove up to the stop sign, he said: ‘Oh yah, you say you’re working on all these things, but here you are, just walking down the street!’

Um… if I could master the transporter, I would! Zap! into the dentist chair! Zap! Home again! Sparkle sparkle zing.

I would like that….

Anyhow, here are some of the things that are happening in my studio right now….

(Not ~ all ~ the things that are happening, as I can’t show projects that I am designing for magazines etc- the editors would be smacking me on the side of the head if I did….)

(and I am working on some stuff that I need to not talk about until it ripens. You know how it is.)

Okay… first things first…

We have adopted an adorable little rescue…. he’s 4 1/2 years old and is just wonderful.

(except for being a cat botherer… that is NOT good ) This is him (in his fetching blue harness) with his adopted big brother. (Our dear old chihuahua/daschund cross).

Ah, well, other than being oh so barkie about the cats, he is completely adorable. As you can see, he has settled in beautifully.

Although, every adoption takes time and patience and attention….

Alright…. a brief zip around the studio:

Okay, in the southeast corner, there’s a big project happening on my tri loom (configured to the 3 foot size).

I’ll be posting more about this as the project moves closer to the finish line:

My tri loom is from Dewberry Ridge looms, and it’s beautifully crafted. I love it.

I have other projects on the go on Dewberry Ridge looms:

I am weaving a scarf for my daughter on the 14 inch tri loom. Link to another post about this scarf: linkie

And, I am using a Dewberry Ridge Potholder loom for a new design that I will be releasing soon:

And, I am still working on my husband’s vest on the Structo Loom:

And…. I am working on several new tapestries in my series of ‘Woven Women’-

I have two ‘new to me’ looms that I bought from other weavers who didn’t bond with them:

I am delighted with my ‘new to me’ Mirrix ‘Joni’ tapestry loom. I am just singing Joni’s praises!

I am loving working with her! Perfection!

At the same time that I bought Joni Mirrix, I spotted a little wooden tapestry loom on Kijiji, and happily bought her.

This is a very slow little loom to work with, as there are no built in shedding devices, just good old fashioned weaving swords and string heddles.

Even though, I quite love this little loom and am enjoying working on her.

And………… I am also working on a whole buncha other stuff, that I’ll be telling you more about later.

Until then, may the sun shine softly upon you!

Happy weaving!

How to weave a heart motif on a pin board loom

tottietalkscrafts — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:52:50 +0000

Hearts are one of my most favorite design motifs ever.

I decided that I should design a tiny little woven heart motif as a project for the ‘Stitch Red’ heart health campaign, and also work as an embellishment on a special ‘I love you’ scarf for my daughter.

Here’s the link to the previous post about using tambour crochet to embellish the scarf: Link

The yarn used in the heart motif is from Koigu, made specially for the Stitch Red campaign. Link

Here is the pattern to make the pin board loom to weave the heart:(Note: Print it out so the pattern is 2 inches by 2 inches)

Materials and equipment: a square of foam (I upcycled some packing material) that’s about 4 inches square by an inch or so thick.

34 pins or 1 inch fine finishing nails. (You may need a nail file to file rough edges off the tops)

A 3 or 4 inch square of clear plastic from a clamshell package or other recycled thingie.

Knife to cut the foam, scissors.

2.5 mm crochet hook

small tapestry needle

Instructions

1: Copy the pattern, and trim to fit the size of piece of foam.

2: Place the piece of clear plastic over the pattern. Push the pins into the dots.

Warping: The right hand arch of the heart is held vertical and the left hand arch is horizontal.

3: Tie 2 strands of yarn together (Note, you need to be working with fine yarn, like a sock weight) and place over the pin at the point of the heart.

4: Skip 8 pins, go around the next pin and down to the lower edge, and around the pin to the left of the pin at the point.

5: Go up and down across the 5 pins at the top and their mathcing pins on the lower edge.

6: Take the yarn up to th emifpoint pin (there are 3 empty pins above it) and down.

7: Go up and down across the next 5 sets of pins. There will be 3 vertical pins/nails left empty. Make an ’8′ around the last set of nails to bring the yarn back down to the lower set of nails.

8: Weaving

Row 1: Weave hook from right to left: Over 4/Under 4 between the 1st and 2nd pins.

Make a loop of yarn and place it on the hook, then draw it through the warp strands. Place the loop on the 2nd nail on the right hand side.

Adjust yarn.

Rows 2 & 4: Weave Under 4/Over 4 across, pick up the loop of yarn, ease through, place loop on nail/pin.

Row 3: WEave Over 4/Under 4 across, pick up loop, ease through, place on nail on right hand side of loom.

Rows 5 & 7: Weave )ver 4/Under 4/Over 4/Under 4/Over 4… make loop, ease through, place on pin on right hand side.

Note: on Row 7, the yarn passes by 5 pins before it’s woven in.

Rows 6 & 8: U4/O4/U4/O4/U4 make loop, ease through, place on pin on right hand side.

Row 9: Working with top 3 pins only: U4/O4/U 4 make loop, ease through, place on pin on right hand side. (It already has loops on it, but not to worry).

Finishing:

Wrap the yarn around the circumference of the heart 2 1/2 ties and snip.

Working in a counter clockwise direction: Thread the yarn ends into a darning needle and lift the stitches off, one by one, stitching through them.

Some nails have 2 sets of threads on them, so lift the sets of yarn off one at a time.

Stitch over the long floating threads to capture them.

Stitch twice at the tip of the heart.

Untie the beginning knot and weave in the ends.

Adjust the circumference stitching to shape the heart, and stitch through the outside edge again if desired.

Weave in ends and trim.

The hearts can be used to embellish or trim scarves, hats, mittens, gloves, cowls, hair ornaments, bags, stuffies, dolls, toys, blankets, shawls, stoles, vests, coats, wall hangings, cellphone and tablet covers. The sky’s the limit!

Here’s the video tutorial on how to weave the heart motif:

I think that people might like to have a heart loom in wood, so I asked Donna and Gary McFarland of Dewberry Ridge looms Link if they would make them, and they said yes, so if you want one, drop them a note.

PLEASE NOTE: All content of this blog, including video, audio, written and photographed is the sole work and property of Noreen Crone-Findlay, and MAY NOT be used without my permission. Thanks so much!

A video showing the Woven Women Mermaids Song tapestry

tottietalkscrafts — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:29:44 +0000

I am working on a large series of woven and mixed fiber media pieces that I am calling: Woven Women.

I am almost done a fairly large piece, called: Mermaid’s Song: PLEASE DO NOT PIN THESE IMAGES

She’s large- 6 ft by 2ft, and hard to photograph in my studio, so I figured that I would show a video of her.

I used small looms, knitting, crochet, tatting, spoolknitting and flower looms to make her, along with copper foil work.

Some of the looms were: 2 inch square vintage weave it loom, potholder loom, pinboard looms, Martha Stewart loom and flower looms.

www.crone-findlay.com copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

And, here’s the video:

Remember: The size of your loom doesn’t limit the size of your finished piece!

Happy weaving!

Weaving a vest on my Structo loom

tottietalkscrafts — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 02:16:35 +0000

The other day, I had a big ‘aha’ moment.

My husband is a jazz musician and composer and completely awesome bundle of wonderfulness, and I love weaving beeeeeuuuuutiful shirts for him to wear when he’s performing. (last year’s Jazz festival shirt: Link).

I have been weaving away on fabric to make him a new shirt for this year’s Jazz Festival, LINK

But…. oops… it’s cream and ecru with lotsa colors…. and, the color that the guys mostly wear to perform in is black.

Our daughter made Jim a gorgeous black shirt from the Folkwear Victorian Gentleman’s shirt pattern, so it’s kinda dumb to weave him another one….. sooooooooooooooo the big AHA was…………… weave him a VEST!!!!!!

Ding! Lights go on, whee’s and skippetty hops and happy dances ensue….

When our son got married, I used the Folkwear pattern to make him and my hubby kilts, (oh my word.. the grooms men, hubby and our son, all wore kilts and they looked FABULOUS…).

The kilt pattern has a really spiffy vest pattern, which Jim likes (that’s essential- why make it if he doesn’t like it?)

Oh oh, whenever I go on the Folkwear pattern site, it makes me want to buy more patterns. I love their patterns and have been wearing them for more than 3 decades. We actually got married in clothing I sewed from Folkwear patterns, and our children grew up in Folkwear.

(No profit, affiliations etc, just love their patterns)

Okay, just had a brief noodle through their website, and am seriously in love with the Siberian Parka….. hmmmm… that would be fun to weave the fabric for…. hmmmmmm.

Anyhow…. in the midst of meeting design deadlines, and new projects that are so delicious and tantalizing and time consuming,

I am in the throes of weaving up narrow bands for this vest, and loving it!

The vintage Structo looms are kind of like the ‘Featherweight’ sewing machine – tiny, perfectly formed workhorses that are beautifully engineered and much sought after.

Although, after I spent hours the other evening, warping the black cotton, I would have cheerfully sold the blessed loom to the first taker. (Warping black thread at night is not so much fun).

Luckily, I got over my snit, and am now utterly enchanted and weaving merrily away.

Which is good, as the Jazz festival is getting closer and closer…. eep… I need to go meet some deadlines and then get weaving!

Happy weaving!

PS: I carved the shuttle in the photo a few years ago.

My dear friend, Terri Bibby, is a Saori teacher and weaver extraordinaire, who told me about some shuttles that don’t have a metal rod through them.

This intrigued me, so I made myself one to see how I liked it.

I absolutely love it. I made it small and low profile to fit the small shed of Structo and Peacock looms. Thumbs up, indeed!

How to use tambour crochet to embroider a chain stitch heart on a small loom

tottietalkscrafts — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:14:30 +0000

I’ve just made a new video tutorial showing how to use a nifty technique to embroider motifs onto small loom weavings.

The technique is tambour crochet, and the motif is one of my most favorites, the heart…

This is the first in a series of video tutorials and free projects that I will be posting in honor of ‘Stitch Red’, which is the Needlearts industry’s campaign for heart disease awareness- working to benefit The Heart Truth through the end of June 2013.

I care deeply about heart health, as my mother and mother in law both had heart problems, and my mom had to have surgery on her heart.

I don’t want any of us to have to go through that …. so I am very committed to helping people have happy healthy hearts!

I used the tambour technique to embroider the heart and greyhound for the memorial piece about the passing of our beloved companion in this blog post Link

In the video, I promised that I would share a heap of links, and so here they are:

The Stitch Red campaign website is: www.stitchred.com

You can follow on twitter and facebook

Their blog is http://www.stitchred.com/blog.asp

The yarn in the video is delicious gorgeousness from Koigu yarns: Stitch Red yarn and more Stitch Red

The loom in the video is a 14 inch triangle loom from Dewberry Ridge looms tri loom

More links to the Stitch Red campaign: Ravelry group

Run free dear greyhound

tottietalkscrafts — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:34:56 +0000

I’ve gone silent on my blog, as the last couple of weeks have been extremely challenging.

I went down with a nasty flu, and also had major design deadlines to meet.

But – the hardest part of all, was that our beloved greyhound, who has been sick for more than a year, went into kidney failure and died.

We adopted him from the Canadian Greyhound Rescue almost a decade ago, and he was a beautiful, loving, wonderful companion.

I have been weaving pieces about him…. and will post more about them, later.

But for now, I just say, “thank you, dear friend, run free in the Spirt…..”

To learn how to do the chain stitch embroidery technique see this post: LINK

How to weave tiny fish on the Martha Stewart loom

tottietalkscrafts — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 03:36:14 +0000

I needed to make a long narrow piece to fill a gap in a woven piece that I am working on.

I thought…. why weave a rectangle, when I could weave a whole string of little fishies!

A few years ago, I figured out how to weave Cluny knots or Clunies, which are little woven circles or ovals, on the potholder loom.

While I was doing that, I thought that I could probably figure out a way of weaving fishies instead of circles. This thought has been lingering on hold in the back of my mind for years, and so, today, I decided to go for it.

I also decided that the Martha Stewart loom would work even better than the potholder loom, because you can just put in whatever pegs you want, wherever you want them. Brilliant!

So, I wove and un-wove and wove and un-wove and wove wove wove wove and came up with some pretty darned cute little Swishy Fishies!

They are about the size of a penny. You can weave one little Swishy Fish, or a whole line of them.

The fish can either be used individually (earrings, perhaps?) or can be woven as a continuous strand to make trim for wall hangings, towels, pillows, bags, hats, vests, coats, mitts, totebags, cards, journals, scrapbook pages or whatever your heart desires!

Here’s how to set up your Martha Stewart loom:

Here’s the video:

What do you need to weave Swishy Fish?

1] A Martha Stewart loom

2] Craft needle and a finer darning needle

3] Warp: A ball of smooth yarn that is medium weight

4] Weft: Each Swishy Fish takes at least a yard of yarn

5] Beads for eyes, and needle and thread to sew them on.

Here are some diagrams to hopefully explain things even more….

Here’s the warping path:

On a sad note: This video is dedicated to a very sweet little fish who lived in my daughter and son-in-law’s fish tank for 5 years, ‘Won Ton’ was a friendly little goldfish who was always interested in what was going on outside the tank! (I wove the little white fish in memory of Won Ton for my daughter.)

Sadly, Won Ton went to swim over the rainbow bridge while I was making this video, which struck me as a sad bit of synchronicity.

Swim on, little Won Ton!!!!

And, may weaving these little fish bring delight to weavers where ever they may be!

Woven Bunny free pattern

tottietalkscrafts — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 00:06:57 +0000

I designed a bunny for Lion Brand, using the Martha Stewart loom (which I love)

and, the bunny pattern is now available, freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee on the Lion Brand website.

Here’s the link: Bunny pattern

Happy weaving! and happy bunny fun!

Peg loom tapestry Dreaming the Well

tottietalkscrafts — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:51:36 +0000

PLEASE DO NOT PIN THE IMAGES OF MY WOVEN WOMEN SERIES

THANK YOU.

I am working on a series of woven piece, called, ‘Woven Women’.

Here is my most recent Woven Woman, ‘Dreaming the Well’.

I wove her on a peg loom (Yay, etsy, once again! Bought from: Suzanne’s etsy shop: LINK)

Here she is, with the weaving complete, still on the pegs of the loom.

And, then, I got out my felting needles and spent many, many, many hours, felting the details onto her:

And here are some closer looks.

She’s 27 inches tall by 17 inches wide (69 cm by 43 cm).

Unfortunately, my camera messes with the colors and makes the edges harsher… the felting does soften things up very nicely.

The images are based on meditations, dreams and just whatever wanted to be woven at that moment.

I keep promising to show more of the Woven Women pieces, so I will post more pics of them throughout the next few days, so stay tuned!

Mustn’t leave without giving credit to my daughter in law, for many of the handspun yarns in ‘Dreaming the Well’: LINK

And, as always…. go gently and with joy!