Condominium Dress Continued

I finished my project that I was weaving at the condo.  I thought I would have enough yardage for a dress, but I underestimated - it is going to be a top.  I lost a lot of width by putting in stretchy yarn.  The women at the studio, including my mentor Hiromi, thought it was very creative.

The long, wide portion of the fabric will be the sides and lower portion of the top.

The fabric above will be the bodice.  I wove 5 to 10 rows of red/blue thread alternating with 5 to 10 rows of stretchy yarn.  I looks like a waffle.

This portion of the fabric will be the back of the top.  For this section I wound bobbins with red/blue thread and stretchy thread together.  I looks crinkly, like it needs ironing.  

Awards Ceremony

Today, my last day at Saorinomori, I was awarded my Level 3 and Level A certificates.  Kenzo Jo gathered everyone at the studio together and announced that I passed my two tests.  He said it in English for my benefit and in Japanese for everyone else's benefit.  The certificates were framed and formally presented.  Everyone clapped, it was very sweet!

Washi Paper

Today Hirome was sewing with some of the students.  I stopped by the sewing room for a peek at what they were doing.  Hirome modeled matching pants and a top made out of Washi paper.  The top has a section of Leno (now that I know Leno I am seeing it everywhere).  I was finishing up my projects and Kenzo suggested I wind a warp (good practice).  He generously offered to allow me to leave the warp behind at no charge.  I decided that I wanted to try to wind a warp with Washi paper.

The following pictures are of the warp:

The paper yarn is interesting because it is flat, think thin raffia.  The first portion of the warp is tan, brown, and dark gray.  I changed out the colors as I went along.  I took out some of the brown colors and wound white, light grey, and light blue.  It is about six yards long.  I decided that I liked it so much I wanted to buy it and bring it back home with me.  I bought, at least I think I bought, four or five partially used cones of Washi paper yarn for weft. 

On the upper left hand side of the warping frame is a black cord.  I was using plastic and Kenzo had me swap it out of the black cord.  Kenzo, joking, told me that I need to bring it back to Japan with me the next time I come. LOL.

Shout out to Kenzo and Hirome (pictured above) - It is your turn to come to the US.  You are officially invited to NY/CT.

Flair Reboot

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  The following pictures are of my second attempt at making the fabric flair.  The first two pictures are the project still on the loom.  The third picture is of the finished cloth.  As you can see the thick black band at the top is shorter than the subsequent rows.  Hirome said that she made four flaired panels and sewed them together into a skirt.  Kenzo suggested a cape, for my mother.  I don't think there is enough fabric for that.  I will mull it over and wait for inspiration to hit me.  When in doubt, tell everyone that it will be a top.  It looks like a bath mat in the bottom picture.

Flower Dyeing

In addition to the Bengala dyeing, Hirome dyed four warps with flowers.  She said the flowers collected from one batch were cooked right away.  The warps dyed from the fresh flowers were lighter in color and more yellow.  Two warps were dyed from flowers that were collected but two days passed before they were used to make the dye bath.  The warps dyed in this bath were darker more brown in appearance.

The flower dye baths and warps were heated on hot plates.  They didn not appear to have boiled but were too hot to handle with your hands.  The warps were stirred with wooden sticks.  They were drained, put in a bucket and then spun in an old washing machine.  They were placed on a metal curtain rod to dry.  Kenzo is peeking through the warps looking at the projects drying in the shade.

Bengala Dyeing

Today, I observed a class on Bengala dyeing.  I had seen the dye advertised and read about it on the Internet.  It is Eco-friendly and simple to use.  

Hirome taught the class to two women, and Kenzo's oldest son, Naoto.  The Naoto I've encountered, up until today, is very serious.  Kenzo is very outgoing and gregarious, Naoto, not so much.  I assume part of it is a language barrier, but....

Well, who would have known that Naoto was so funny.  He made silly faces when people were taking pictures and was very congenial.

The participants wrapped rubber bands around their t-shirts, inserted rocks and marbles into their project and tied around them with string, they clamped different shape pieces of wood to their shirts, and made knots around portions of their t-shirts.  

They pre-soaked their projects in "acid?", mixed the dye with water and then placed a portion of their shirt in the dye.  They soaked and squeezed repeatedly until they got the color they wanted.  Then they repeated the process on another section of fabric with a different color.  

When they were almost done Hirome asked me if I wanted to dye my face towel.  So, I did.  I was happy with the result.  I appreciate being included.  It was fun and I would love to do it again.

New Techniques - Flair

Above the pink section of Leno is my first attempt at making a flair.  The idea behind the flair is to add extra weft to the cloth.  When you lay in the weft you "measure" an extra few centimeters.  Every five centimeters you add an additional 1 to 2 centimeters.   

So, first of all "estimating" weft does not appear to be my strong suit.  Second of all "gradual" is also not in my lexicon.  Third of all - there is no third of all - I cut off the cloth and put it aside for another day.

Fast foward a day - a new day has dawned and I have a plan.  I switched from cotton to wool. The thicker the better.  Then, I got a handy, dandy measuring tape.  I would like to say I got better at estimating as I went along ----but noooooo, I became more systematic at measuring.  I am all about whatever works.  

I will insert a picture of my new "flair" attempt when I am back on wi-fi.

Some times the better part of valor is to stop when you are not successful, reanalyze, and wait for another day when you have more patience.