(102) Focus on the Warp: Controlling Creative Chaos ~ FULL

Students learn non-traditional techniques in setup and design while working effectively and efficiently with multiple warps and diverse warp elements. We will use instructor provided hand-painted warps in which the colors flow and change – creating designs in the woven fabric that appear complex in planning, but actually spring from making flexible and intuitive decisions as they are set up and woven. Students might choose to mix warps of different weights, textures and fiber content to create stripes within the space-dyed design. They will learn to cleanly split warps to use threads that their current project requires while saving extra warp threads for future projects.

These workshop warps can be woven in a variety of weave structures: Plain weave, ribb, repp, turned taquete, twills, double weave, etc. Hopefully, students will give them all a try! Everyone’s class design will be unique so class members learn from their own projects as well as from the others.”

In this workshop we start the designing process tying on to a dummy warp that students have threaded before class. Tying on can be a method to approach design techniques at the loom as opposed to on a computer or pen and paper. This workshop is not suitable for rigid heddle looms.

Instructor:

Kathrin Weber

Experience Level:

Intermediate

Maximum Class Size:

10

Materials fee:

$88 covers a generous selection of pre-wound, hand-dyed, 4.5 yards, 100 thread cotton thread warps for students to choose from for their workshop project. (Every project will be unique). Handouts.

Equipment required

4-shaft Loom, Pre-warped

Student Supplies:

  • 4-shaft (or more, but not necessary).
  • Weft provided by student to be discussed in teacher/student communication before the conference.
  • Personal weaving tools: decent full size scissors, tape measure, sley/threading hooks, two shuttles (boat for fine weft and stick/ski/rag for heavy weft), appropriate sticks or paper for winding 4.5 yard warp.
  • Calculator.
  • Two spring clamps big enough to clip onto your back beam.
  • Roll of 1 inch wide (no wider) yellow or blue painters masking tape. If you can find the yellow it is optimal.
  • Notebooks, pens for notes and handouts.
  • Optional: clip on light with extension cord for those who need more light than you might end up with in the facility.

Homework:

Dress your loom with a 300-thread dummy warp sleyed at 2 threads per dent in a 10 or a 12 dent reed to result in a sett at either 20 or 24 epi.

Click here to download warping instructions as a PDF.