A Fiber ~ Art ~ Moment 🌺 Throwback Thursday

Hello my lovely friends 💕 Thanks for joining me today! 

I hope you don’t mind, but for today’s ‘Fiber Art Moment’ I’d like to show you a few of my past creations. 😊

See – I’ve had this “sometimes in life the best laid out plans are ruined by unexpected goings-on” thing happening here. 😜 Nothing disastrous, just normal interruptions of my routine. So –  I didn’t have the leisure to explore the webs for awesome artwork. I hope these here will do, and add some enjoyment to your day. 😍

I made this ‘Nature Weaving’ last year ~ using twigs, enameled leaves, and ribbon to embellish the pretty yarn. 😊

This one hangs in my bedroom. I removed a large canvas (print), and used the frame as a loom. 

One of my first Dreamcatchers… 💕

This here is one of my favorites. 💜 I felted an old wool sweater, and needle-felted unspun wool on it. Back then I did write a ‘how-to’ post, if you love it and need (yet) another project 😝here’s the link 💕

I hope you enjoyed this blast from the past! 😃 Maybe something inspired you to get busy! I would really love to hear about it! 💜

Oh… I did find one thing I don’t wanna keep from you…

The guy on the right looks happy 😂 If you start now you could surprise your guy with one for Christmas! 😜 

Thanks for visiting and reading to the end! 😘

I hope you come back soon! 

Until then 💕

~ Tina xoxo 

Weaving on a Dime

Well, it’s a little more than a dime….but not by much! 😁

If you always wanted to try your hand at weaving but shied away from the price of a loom then I have a low-cost solution for you.

All you need is a piece of cardboard (I used the lid of a shoebox), yarn in your favorite color palette, and a tapestry needle…and you’re ready to make your first weaving.

But first this….

(Image found on Wikipedia)

~1. Cut a rectangle out of your cardboard, pencil in 1/2″ markers on the top and bottom, then cut triangles so the point is between the markers.

~2. Make a little cut before the first, and behind the last triangle at the bottom. This will keep your yarn in place once you start winding the warp (the set of lengthwise yarn).

~3. Take a length of non-stretchy (!!!) yarn – I learned that the hard way – now I use cotton or hemp. You want to wind your yarn twice around the first triangle. Otherwise you won’t have a little loop at the bottom, which you will need later – I learned that the hard way too!

~4. Wind your warp yarn around the triangles.

~5. Now you can start your weaving.
With your tapestry needle and your favorite yarn you will create the weft.
Secure your yarn around the first warp, by looping it around twice.

Alternate between weaving your thread above and under the warp, and reverse in the 2nd row, and be sure to never pull the weft too tight.
Now just keep going – but always check the previous row -just to make sure that you go over when the previous row was under and vice versa.
If you don’t like ‘cleaning up’ your edges, aka hiding/sewing away the tails, you can use multicolored yarn to get a fun, colorful piece. Or, you can knot the lengths of yarn together – and let the knots show for some extra texture.

~5.  After a few rows push your weaving together using a wide tooth comb or your fingers. Repeat after every 4, 5 rows of weaving.
When you get to the top, loop the weft around the last warp string twice, secure it – either with a knot or by sewing it down the side.

Look at it – you made your first weaving! How cool is that?!

Now what do you do with it?
You can
– add fringes (that’s why you need the loops of the warp    ) and a rod (knitting needle, twig) and display your first masterpiece

(If you like add more fringes in between the loops)

-make multiples and stitch them together for a scarf, a bigger wallhanging,
a pillow, a purse, a baby-hat ….

~This one is crochet, but it would great in woven fabric

I sure hope this tutorial is helpful – if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!
Have fun! 😃  …..and please show me your creations!

Until next time!
Take care! 💕

~Tina xoxo

 

Pendants from the loom – but first – this….

Hello and ‘Good Morning’ my friends! ☺ Happy ‘National 2nd hand wardrobe day’!                                                                                                                                                                          Are you a thrifty shopper? I am, and I love it! I don’t like malls, department stores never have what I’m looking for…unlike 2nd hand stores and Thrift shops! A good friend of mine is the proprietor of a beautiful resale shop, and I never leave her boutique without a bag full of beautiful ‘like new’ clothes! If you’re ever in Weston, Missouri, make sure to stop in ‘My Sister’s Closet’ for some amazing finds. Your pocketbook (and your hubby) will thank you! 😁

This is a coat I got there last year…I show you this, because it comes with a funny story. The first time I wore it, a lady asked me where I got it. When she heard it was from a resale shop, knowing there was not going to be another one, she gave me her card and asked me to call her when I’m ready to sell it to her!                                        I haven’t called her yet! LOL

In Jewelry News…    My ‘Autumn Line’ is still in the early planning stages ~ but there’s one thing I can tell you already…there will be handwoven ‘Pendants of the Loom’. Let me show you what I have so far

 

I repurposed my bead~loom, because it’s just the right size for pendants. The warp is cotton, and now I’m experimenting with different yarns for the weft, or filling.

Stay tuned…(hopefully) soon I can show you the finished necklace!

Until then please take care, and I hope you’ll come back for more!

Love                                                                                                                                                                                              ~Tina xoxo

Woven Wallhanging ~ Part II

?Hello ~ me again! 🙂                                                                                                                                                                     I’m very happy to report that my weaving (the one on the canvas frame – see previous post) is finished and hanging on my bedroom wall. The finishing touches took a little longer than expected. I added the pompom-fringe (my favorite part! – I told you I love fringe! I think I’m a little obsessed with it! 😉 ) and wrapped the top bar in yarn. Now…without further ado ….here she is!

 Did I tell you that it’s 2′ x 5′?

Here are some detail photos….

The pompom – fringe! 😀

That’s it for today! Please come back soon for more creative news!

Tata for now! Thanks for reading!

~Tina xoxo

Looking back on my summer

Hello and ‘Good morning’ ~ and a good morning it is!

We woke up to a cool (AND non-humid!!!) day. 56 degrees and a little cloudy…feels like heaven!                          Fall is near, and with it comes a new planning stage for my business. See, Fall and early Winter is the busiest season in Weston, the small historic town where I have my store. But first let me tell you what I’ve been doing the last few weeks – the jewelry creations in my  new lines ‘Bohemian Dreams’ and ‘Simply delightful’ found new homes – which is always a little bittersweet (’cause I do form a bond with every piece on my worktable), but exciting nonetheless. Here are a few pictures…

Then, a few weeks ago, after a particularly heavy thunder+ rainstorm, my store flooded. A foot of water            (yes, 12″!!!!) found it’s way in, bringing a lot of mud with it. Ugh! After the water receded, there was about 1/2″ of mud left behind. I spare you the sight, it wasn’t pretty! Clean-up took a few days…but I was very lucky to have customers and friends stop by to lend a helping hand, and moral support!

In between all that I found some time to weave – my latest passion. I made a few small wall-hangings, and I’m just finishing up a piece that’s about 2′ x 5’….yes, you did read that right – 2 feet x 5 feet! Pretty ambitious, huh?You’re probably wondering -How? Why? Well, for that I have to go back a little.                                                   When we bought our house a few years back, I found myself facing a lot of empty walls. Some of them pretty big. One day, while grocery shopping I saw these pictures, print on canvas over a frame – you guessed it, 2′ x 5′. The motif was kinda nice – a landscape with lavender fields, and a little farmhouse in the background. So, I bought it, and up it went. It just wasn’t very artistic, ….well, it’s a print. Painting over it was not an option – I’m very inept with pencils/pens/paintbrushes. So, I took the canvas off the frame, made the warp, and started weaving. Let me show you….

 This was last week!

Now the weaving is done! Yay! Time to add the fringe…I love fringe, need fringe! 😀

I guess that’s it for now – I hope you’ll be back for more! Lots of new and exciting ideas rushing around in my head.

Until next time – I’m always looking forward to (and enjoy) hearing from you!

Take care

~Tina  xoxo

Weaving and Beads

In my latest project I got to combine two of my favorite things – Yarn and Beads.

When I saw a photo showing a crumbling brick wall with flowers spilling over the edge, I wondered if this image could be turned into a woven wall-hanging. I took out my sketch book and started doodling.

Not a work of art by any means, but putting pencil to paper gave me time to ponder how to execute my idea… the various components, the how-to.

I gathered everything I needed – that took a few days. I ordered rectangular marble beads, visited my favorite yarn shop, and finally had the whole caboodle lined up.

I strung the beads onto the yarn and began warping my little loom.

Weaving around the beads was time consuming – but I was quite pleased with the result. Since the beads are only in the bottom half of the (sideways) weaving, finishing the top half was a lot faster. It started to look like the picture – the one I had in my head, not the one on paper 😉 )

Out came the wool roving and my newly acquired felting tool (love that thing!)

I punched, and punched ~ and flowers appeared on top of the ‘wall’!

I am very pleased that I could turn an idea and vision into something physical, something I can hang on my wall and enjoy every day.

Here it is…

My first weaving project ~ Part II ~ The finishing touches

So, here I was. With a semi-finished piece of a woven textile, planning the finishing touches.      I picked out some beads (of course!), buttons, yarn. I walked through the yard, eying every little twig, judging it for it’s potential to become part of my creation. I decided to use a twig to complement the natural fiber I used.

After I laid everything out, I unhooked the top portion from the loom – that was a little scary! Somehow I imagined everything to fall apart. But, good news, it didn’t! 🙂

I wanted to knot the loops to make sure nothing would unravel in the years to come. The little loops were just that, little – as in, too short. So I took my wide-tooth comb, and row by row compressed the weaving.

You might notice that the piece is shorter now, than it was in the previous picture.

Now I had enough length to work with. I knotted the loops, and threaded a wide-hole bead on each one. Time for my little twig. Loop by loop the piece of weaving became a wall-hanging.

My plan was to unhook the bottom portion, cut the loops ~ aargh, scissors! But, as you can see, it ended well 😉  ~ and knot the warp to create a fringe.

As you can clearly see, ‘Fringe’ is not the right word for the wimpy strands, sticking up ever which way. But – fret not – I still had some beautiful yarn left. So – now the ‘Fringe’ deserves it’s name!

I played with the buttons, until I was happy with the look. A few stitches and they were securely in place!

Now – how to hang it up? I don’t just want to hook the twig on a nail. Out came the ‘Kumihimo’ Disk. Believe it or not, I still had some silk-yarn and -ribbon left. I picked some additional yarn from my stash, and made this pretty cord.

And it’s done! I will proudly display it in the shop, where it will soon be joined by many more woven, bohemian-style wall-hangings! 😀

Thanks for sticking with me ’til the end. I hope you enjoyed the ride!

Now – the ‘Grand Finale’ ~ TaDA

My first weaving project

A few days ago I bought this cute ‘retro’ weaving loom. I had one like it as a kid – but back then not too much interest in any craft. That came later! 🙂

Here is what I found when I unpacked the box (isn’t this box just darling?)

I knew I had to create the warp onto the frame – so I picked a pretty yarn and did just that (a little tip – don’t use stretchy yarn! I did that, and, boy, did that make the process harder!) Silk and cotton works best!

Then I wrapped the shuttle needle with the yarn I wanted to do the border with. That was easy! LOL

I fitted the ‘Heald Shaft Gear’ under the warp, and let the yarn (1st, 3rd, 5th strand, etc.) fall into the slots. The yarn needed a little assistance – but, still not hard!

Finally I got to weave! After each row, the Shaft needs to be turned one fourth forward, so the 2nd, 4th, 6th Strand etc. falls into the slots. Easy-peasy!

I wove 5 or 6 rows with the yarn for the border. By then I had an inkling of an idea why it was suggested to me NOT to use stretchy yarn! See, the yarn stretches, but doesn’t bounce back. Making it harder and harder to do the over/under motion of the needle. But, I wasn’t about to give up, and start over. I kept going, vowing to use cotton the next time.

Now it was time to pick strands of yarn, and ribbon for the actual ‘decorative’ part of my piece. In my favorite store (Florilegium in Weston) I found  bags with a variety of silk yarn and different ribbons. Perfect for my little project! Since the loom only came with one shuttle needle, and I didn’t feel like winding/unwinding the yarn every few rows, I went and got out  my tapestry needle – and, since it’s a narrow piece, found that this was ideal!

So far, so good!

And on and on I went – then I got fancy! I started a simple ‘design’ – by weaving to the middle, turning around, going back weaving to one warp before the last, and so on. Then I did the same thing, with a different yarn, from the other side. Et voilá – two triangles!

Here is the finished piece! I’m quite happy with it! Now I have to embellish and hide the yarn-ends ~

I’ll be back soon to show you the final result!

I hope you enjoyed following my process! Let me know if I inspired (and maybe helped) you with your own little wall hanging!