For the Conference of Northern California Handweavers in 2014 we wove bags. Everyone contributed some of their yarn. Some was handspun, some dyed with indigo, some with a special meaning to the member. A loom was warped with a section from each of these yarns and members each wove a section of the warp with the weft of their choice. Each then chose how to finish the bag.
We started with a warp made up of yarns, mostly handspun, that we had dyed earlier with madder and indigo. Each of us is represented by one stripe in the bag.Each of us used our own weft to weave a section long enough to make a bag.Because of the differences in the elasticity of the warp yarns, the back of the loom became a mess. We hung weights on the loom to keep tension on the yarns.Some of the yarns were two ply, and some singles. We kept the singles controlled by lashing them to the madder stripes (using some medical tools).
Elaine’s fabric
Frank’s fabric
Lotus’s fabric
Marcia’s fabric
Phyllis’s fabric
Sandy’s fabric
Sharolene’s fabric
Elaine’s bag
Frank, “Felting is my bag”
Lotus’s bag
Marcia’s bag
Phyllis, “Running is my Bag”
Sandy’s bag
Shar’s ” Beading is my bag”
Sharolene’s bag lining
Too much fun! We are all set to get started on our next group project.
