New sample to apply all I learned

Step one warped

The plain weave section shrinks about 20% and the tapestry section hardly shrinks at all. I decided to try weaving and shrinking the plain weave section before adding the tapestry section. I designed two charts: one for step one at the larger size and one for step two after the first step has shrunk. The result was very pleasing and I am planning to do the whole jacket this way.

Step one after weaving

Step one after shrinking

Chart for step two

Step two warped

The finished sample

Woven samples

The samples I wove allowed me to test a number of things: the method for joining the tapestry section to the plain weave section; various methods for weaving the buttonholes; and how the finished fabric responds to fulling. The graph paper squares are what I used to chart the pin positions. The coloured sections show the amount of shrinkage after fulling.

Sample

With a little bit of the Ryeland wool spun to the thickness I want, I made a sample to test the sett, the colours and the way the two kinds of weave work together. The sample shows the even weave which will be used for the main fabric of the jacket; and tapestry weave to be used for the thicker sections like the front facings and the collar. It worked well to use three ply for the warp of the whole fabric, three ply for the weft of the main fabric and two ply for the weft of the tapestry sections (woven over two warp threads). There are two colours in the fleece.  I'll use the lighter tawny wool for the main fabric since there is a lot more of it and the slightly softer, variable brown for the thicker sections.

After weaving the sample, I checked how it shrinks by throwing it in the washing machine with a load of clothes on the low temperature easy-care cycle. The highlighted area on the pin-weaving chart shows the amount of width and height that has been lost through shrinkage. The even weave shrank more than the tapestry section. I can see that I will only be able to hand-wash this garment very carefully!

Finished weaving the doll's jacket

This was a fun test! I purposely used delightful colours to make the process enjoyable. To explore the structure, I represented different sections with different colours, warping the body of the jacket in teal, the sleeves in dark blue and the shaping wedges in purple. Then I did all the weaving with a bright pink. That way, the finished jacket shows really clearly where all the threads travel. The sleeve warps go all over the place on the jacket body, some of them forming warp threads down the sides, some of them making stripes across the yoke, and the rest becoming the weft threads on the shoulders. You can clearly see the shaping wedges at the sides. 

The tops of the sleeves have two rows of blue grey. When I started I thought these rows would be temporary and that I would replace them with weft threads travelling around from the yoke. But in the actual weaving, this didn't work the way I thought so I just left the "temporary" threads in place. I'm not exactly sure how this will work in the full sized jacket, but I think (hope) it will become clear as I chart the warp and weft on the final pattern pieces.

after the sleeves have been added to the warp
and the weaving of the body has begun

I learned that all the warp threads must be very carefully planned before starting to warp. This I will attempt to do by colour-coding the grid on the pattern pieces. The places where I skimped on planning and left it to figure out on the fly while warping were the places where I had problems weaving. The place where the sleeves join the body and any shaping wedges will need to be very carefully thought out and marked in the final project. 
I intend to have a collar on the final full-sized jacket, but I haven't solved the warping problems for that yet, so this doll's jacket is collarless so far. My knitting friend Caroline will help me figure out how to make a knitted one. Maybe I will pick up stitches and knit it right on the jacket, or knit it separately and stitch it on.

Testing the weaving form concept

I intend to use a sewing pattern as the basis of the weaving form, so I decided to test this method at a smaller scale. I found a sewing pattern for a doll's jacket and scaled it to fit the doll I have and sewed a sample to see how it fits. 

Then I planned the adjustments I want in the woven jacket and marked them on the pattern (see the green marks on the pattern). 

Finally I traced the pieces on graph paper and used them to create the cardboard form. The graph paper aided me in planning the pin positions. I added 10% to the length to make up for stretch and take-up.

Another sample of thick and thin weaving

Embroidery stitches over an even weave base:
Top - cross stitch
Bottom - cross stitch and bargello stitch.

This created a firm, stable, thicker section and was quite quick to do, but the appearance of the stitched surface doesn't look good with the even weave. I don't think I would use this for the jacket.

Thick and thin weaving

tapestry and even weave

A problem I want to solve for this jacket is the need for thicker, sturdier sections of weaving for  collar, front edge, and cuffs (the places where sewn garments have facings and interfacing). On the previous jacket, I darned extra yarn along the back of the warp threads at the front edge but this wasn't quite enough and the buttonholes are pulling and sagging with use. The options that I have tried so far are: 

Weaving some sections with tapestry weave - I used a 3 ply yarn for the basic weaving and and a 2 ply yarn over two warps for the tapestry (weft faced) sections. I did the even weave first and then went back and did the tapestry weave, interlocking into the edge along the vertical line. The result is a smooth thicker section with pleasing vertical ridges.

even weave and soumak

Weaving some sections with soumak stitch - I did all this in 3 ply yarn. The first sample of soumak stitch proved to be too stretchy, so I tried another stitched over a thinner horizontal thread (I call this corded soumak stitch). This solved the stretch problem, but soumak stitch worked all one direction has a decided diagonal pull. So I did another sample alternating the direction for each row. This formed a stable section thicker and firmer than the tapestry weave of the first sample. It has a horizontal "herringbone" texture. 

even weave and twining

Twining some areas - I used 3 ply for the basic weaving and 2 ply for the twining over two warp threads. It turned out about as thick as the tapestry woven sample, but feels a bit sturdier. It has a faint vertical direction with little dots between the ridges where the twist of the twining shows.

Another idea is to do the preliminary weaving all in even weave and work solidly over some sections with an embroidery stitch. I'll need to research what kind of stitch would work for that. 

Whatever method I choose to make the thin and thick sections, I will need to develop a method to make a consistent pleasing edge.

Another jacket!

Another all-in-one-piece jacket is now in the formative stage. Since finishing the jacket last year and enjoying wearing it, I have had the fun of making lots of other woven projects, mostly small purses. I have also been learning how to spin both on a wheel and with a drop spindle. A friend got two fleeces for me and suddenly I fell in love with the colour and feel of some lovely tawny grey wool from a ryeland sheep. Wouldn't that make a lovely jacket ... I have spun and woven some samples. Now the clean carded wool is waiting in its bags while I spin the other fleece for a friend to knit herself a project. This achieves three aims: I will get hours of experience spinning a quantity of yarn to order; I will no longer have the other fleece taking up space in my house; and I'll have time to make my plans and do the experimentation needed for the new jacket.

I'm determined that making this new jacket will be a very different process from last time. I want to try a new approach in which I weave some parts temporarily and finish them at a later stage in the project. Hopefully this will make it possible to keep the body of the jacket on the weaving form for the whole time instead of progressing from one form to another. I've discovered some re-usable plastic clips called Makedo and am experimenting with them for building the weaving form. Have a look at the possibilities here!

The weaving continues

Now that I'm wearing the jacket this blog is finished. I've begun a new blog  to document the other projects planned. There is a set of little all-in-one-piece zipped and buttoned bags, river rocks I'm weaving covers for, and plans for a bag on a cardboard box, experiments in twill, and a watercolour effect weaving/embroidery. Check http://ruthsweavingprojects.blogspot.com/ for my further adventures in weaving.

The finished jacket

I found out that it is possible to weave a jacket all in one piece. It fits well and is comfortable. I also found out that the method I used is much too unwieldy. I wouldn't do it again like this. I haven't stopped thinking about how it could be done better, but that won't be for a while, if ever!

The last of the weaving

Nearly finished weaving the sleeve

I finished weaving the sleeves and removed the cardboard form. I couldn't resist trying it on at this stage, but it looked ragged and was heavy because it was still attached to the loomskin.

Inside front panel showing the warp threads
needing to be darned in and weft threads needing to be clipped.

Finally I could remove all the holding stitches and release the jacket from the loomskin. The next step is tidying up. The ends of warp need to be darned in at the neck edge, buttonholes and hems. The weft threads were fastened in during weaving so all I have to do with those is to clip them off.

The jacket off the loomskin shown right side out.
Most of the weft threads have been pulled to the inside
and the warp threads at the neck edge and buttonholes
have been darned in.

Weaving the sleeves

I rolled and taped the previously made specially shaped cardboard forms forming sleeve-shaped tube structures. Then I stuffed the cuff, centre, and shoulder areas with tightly rolled cardboard. The tubes were inserted into the sleeves. I pinned the cuff into position and tightly tied the top at the shoulder. Then I rolled the rest of the jacket around the tops of the tubes. I ended up with a long cylinder with a sleeve at each end. I began to weave at the top of the sleeves.

Finishing weaving the body section

weaving the last two rows at the hem

I wove to the hem and then removed the weaving from the form in preparation for weaving the very last section; the sleeves.

detail of last two rows

finished body section after removal from the form

Weaving the body section

With the tricky section complete I removed the weaving from the form and emptied the sleeves of all the cardboard and bottles used to fill them. 

Then I put the loomskin back onto the body form and safety pinned it down the front. I pinned the bottom edge of the loomskin firmly to the form and drew the top of the weaving together with large tacking tied tightly to draw the weaving as taut as possible.

I did some freeform weaving in the underarm section to level out the weaving line and then began to weave level rows back and forth around the body.

Half way down, I  released another tension row around the bottom and unpinned and repinned the bottom to tighten it. I discovered I had to re-tension the shaping wedges separately because they had way too much slack.  I'll need to darn in the extra length at the hem later.

shaping wedge with way too much slack

shaping wedge after re-tensioning

The tricky section, second attempt

This time I took the form I made for weaving the body section and added cardboard caps for the shoulders and a drinks bottle rammed into the top of the sleeve. A strip of cardboard wrapped around the bottle with wedges of folded cardboard inserted inside it filled it out to the right size. I re-tied the tourniquets around the sleeves. I pinned the loomskin firmly in place top and bottom across the front and back. This held well enough to weave this section.

This section was complete when the weft threads met under the sleeve.

Then I did a row of hem stitching to stabilize the edge of the weaving on the sleeve.

Oops!

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.

Finished weaving the shoulder section

front view

back view

Now this section is completely woven. I'm pleased with the way the shaping worked: it tapers to three threads deep at the front. To anchor the edge of the weaving for the next phase, I did a row of temporary contrasting hem stitching.

Weaving the shoulder section

Weaving this section was enjoyable and didn't take too long. The stuffed shape sat comfortably propped between my knees and the coffee table. I kept thinking of a turtle as I wove around the dome!

Getting ready to weave the shoulder section

The shoulder section is a strip which curves around the cap of the shoulders. It extends from the edge of the yoke to the point at which the sleeves and body separate . At the back it is about 15 cm deep tapering to about 2 cm at the front edges. 

The shoulder section viewed from the back

To get ready to weave this part, I laid out the loomskin on a large sheet of cardboard. Poking through the loomskin with pins, I marked the cardboard with the shape of the shoulder section. I cut it out and taped it into the proper 3-D shape. This I taped to the inside of the loomskin along the edge of the yoke. Then I wrapped the whole contraption around Frieda's shoulders (the dress maker's dummy) and sewed the loomskin closed across the neck, down the front and along the cut lines as far down as the bottom of this section. This produced a dome shaped structure which I stuffed with one and a half old pillows. Finally I attached a flat cardboard base. 

The warp pinned in place underneath

I pulled the loomskin down around the base and pinned it in place firmly to tension the warp. The rest of the length of the sleeves and body of the loomskin is folded away below the base.

Weaving the yoke

Once the tension problem was solved, weaving the yoke could commence. At the neck edge it was tricky to keep the pairs of threads in the right order. I had to keep following the warp threads down to the holding stitches at the edge of the yoke to check that they weren't crossing over. Once the first two picks were in place, the order was established and it was easier. Even so, as I went, threads got crossed a few times. Eventually I realized I could re-cross them in the next row. The surface is so tweady that this is not visible.

(So, in future, I need to establish the cross while warping to begin with. The order is obvious when the pins are in place, but it is very easy for the threads to trade positions when the pins are pulled out and the turns of warp are then held in place by yarn through the holding stitches. I could lay in a dummy weft in contrasting yarn while the pins are in place and before threading the yarn through the holding stitches. This one extra step while laying the warp would save a lot of frustration and unpicking while weaving.)  

The last pick at the edge of the yoke, I did as a row of locking stitches (under two threads and back over one, called Egyptian knot*) to stabilize the edge. In this tweady weave, this row is not visible, but it makes a slightly firmer raised line.

weave down to knots

I also needed to keep track of the points where shaping wedges are introduced into the weaving. I used contrasting yarn stitched through the loomskin and knotted around the turn in the warp to hold these extra warp pairs in place. These knots and their loose ends are proving very helpful at this stage. I can see when I am coming to the top of a new pair of warps and can make sure the knot is pulled into position between the correct warp threads. I weave down to it and two picks past before starting to include the new threads into the weaving. (I need to do this to account for stretch in the warp. If I introduce the new pair of warps into the weaving exactly where they turn, a hole appears when I release the warp from tension.)  

first row past the knots

second row past the knots

weaving including the new warps

* I found the name of this stitch in Needleweaving: Easy as Embroidery by Warner Dendel.