Fuzzy and red

Today I have been weaving some fuzzy red fabric on my rigid heddle loom. I'm using alpaca silk by drops for the weft, it's really fuzzy. I'm hoping that after I have fulled the fabric it will be even fuzzier and even more so once I've brushed it! I'm am going to make some bears out of it to sell next month :)

I also have a picture of the scarf I finished a while ago using the draft I designed :) 

I've just finished the same scarf yesterday but in purple, I'm hoping to make a couple more as well ready for the gallery in December :) 

 Happy weaving xx 

In its place

I finished my bear, the none had woven one. It's taken pride and place between my Mums bears :)

Another bear and scarf

Yesterday was very productive for me after I had made the blue bear in the previous post I went on to warp my loom for a second scarf using my name draft. I then made a second bear :)
I love making the bears they are so much fun! I am even considering trying to design my own bear. I will keep you updated on that front! So I will leave you with some pictures!

Weaving a bear!

I have loved soft toys my whole life, I must of had more teddies in my life than people I have known! Years ago my mum made a couple, and they now reside in my studio on the bookcase. I have been looking at them lately and last month I got myself a bear making kit. The picture below shows my progress so far. It's progress was stunted as a didn't have the correct pliers to bend the clotter pins (I've order some now though!)

After seeing the teddy bear weaving thread on the rigid heddle weaving group on ravelry I was stunned at the quality of bear everyone manage to make out of their own weaving! They were fantastic! So I have decided to have a go myself. The pattern I am going to use I bought from S Reetz bears on etsy and is a primitive pattern but very cute! Here is a picture of the bear from her etsy page.

I wanted my weaving to be as fur like as possible but to still have a worn look to it, so the bear could look vintage. This meant that I used a boucle yarn for my weft (Drops alpaca boucle) and I used a plain yarn for my warp (drops alpaca 4 ply). I am hoping to make more than one bear so I wove 30cm x ~25cm of each colour of boucle.

Once the fabric was off the loom I soaked it in hot water and put it on for a spin in the washing machine, followed by the tumble dryer. This really helped fluff up the boucle, however this was made redundant as I the ironed on interfacing! I had asked the lovely people of the rigid heddle loom group for advice on sewing the bear, and what to do about fraying. There advice was interfacing and zig-zag stich around the pieces, so this is what I did!

This photo shows the interfacing with the pieces drawn on and sewn around

The view from the boucle side!

The pieces after they had been cut out! No fraying!

I then went on to follow the pattern but I think I made an error. In order for the bear to have a better shape when turned the right way, I trimmed down the seem allowance and cut through the zig-zig, so I am afraid that some ends have come through whilst I was stuffing it! But never mind I will adjust that on my next bear! so here is my finished bear :)

I had so much fun making this bear and I cant wait to make the next two! I hope you have enjoyed reading about it.

Lastly I have no idea what to name him! He looks very much like the bear my older brother has had since he was a baby which was called bluey but I think I want a slightly more creative name! Any ideas?

Happy weaving xx

Christmas weaving :)

I love christmas! Yesterday I went to Bents garden centre to see all the christmas decorations. It was AMAZING!! I was overwhelmed, there was so much stuff. I decided my favourite style is Dickensian, reds and greens... And glitter! I got my nails painted red and covered in red glitter today, they look like Dorothy's shoes in the wizard of oz. 

I did some christmas weaving the other day, sadly when I washed it the pattern was unrecognisable. So here is a picture from when I was weaving it.

Are you doing any christmas weaving this year?

My first draft

My name draft 'Heather Swift'

I would love to see others weave it! Please email or tweet me a picture if you do ever weave it!

My very own overshot draft!

So a few posts ago I posted  picture of a name draft from my very own name. At that point I wasn't sure if it would work as a weave because there were so many floats! I thought if I did weave it it wouldn't be very stable. In the book picture below, it describes overshot in detail, and it was as I was reading this that it dawned on me that my name draft should be an overshot weave! I was delighted. I definitely recommend this book. You can get it from her etsy shop which is listed on her blog

I had so much gun weaving my own draft. Here are a few photos of it! 

This is the reverse side

I love the fact that it is based on my name! I need to adjust the draft because I didn't weave exactly what my original design was. I will post it tomorrow!

Happy weaving xx