As I was celebrating finishing the shoulder section I suddenly realized a problem with the next section. I still have about 4 inches to weave around the whole jacket before I can begin to weave the sleeves and body separately on their own forms which I prepared before cutting up the loomskin. But I have no form for this part. How could I have overlooked this?!
This section is the most complicated part that goes across the body and over the sleeves above the point where the weft meets just under the arm. It needs to incorporate the underarm sections of the loomskin which I cut out in order to warp them and now need to re-insert.
Even though I didn't have a solution for the weaving I went ahead and re-assembled the loomskin. I pinned the joins onto a strip of styrofoam and sewed with large stitches in contrasting yarn.
For my first attempt at creating a form to weave this tricky section I used Frieda the dressmaker's dummy. I dressed her in a denim jacket, put the loomskin over it and then stuffed the shoulders with stuffing from an old pillow. I then pulled the warp down firmly and tied it really tightly (with my husband's help) like a tourniquet at the waist and elbows. I began to weave, but it was impossible to get anywhere near the right tension with such a squishy form. I unpicked most of the rows and disassembled the form.
