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Sunday, February 25, 2018

Sense and Sensibility... Hat Bands



I travel around the USA and demonstrate and teach about early American pottery making.  When I work at fairgrounds, I do not have to be dressed quite as accurately as when I work at a museum demonstration.

When I first started my own pottery shop 32 years ago, I decided to make yellow ware. Yellow ware was used by immigrants here in New England in the 1700's.  It was imported from England, where this style of pottery began.  The English have a nice yellow clay and decorated it with slips  and feathering.

I also live near the famous 1800's potter, Hervey Brooks, who lived and worked making red ware in his small shop which has been moved to Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts.

Yellow ware.... East Knoll Pottery
I also live in a house built about 1820 and love history. So I decided to become an 1840's potter. Too late for Revolutionary war outfits, although I do have a Revolutionary outfit. Too early for a Civil war outfit, although I do have a Civil war outfit. I am somewhere in between. I am also "just a potter".  Potters were not on the high end pay scale. We lived then as we do now, on the basics....no fancy ball gowns, no frilly hats. Scarlet O'Hara I am not.




When I search for a new pattern for a dress, I do make my own, I look at paintings, museum archives and well done movies of the period for the background clothing.  People in the backgrounds were common folk. They wore simple clothing, some a little worn and beaten, like they had been working as a potter.

And yes, there is very little written about women working in a pottery shop in the 1800's. Not only are there few records on potteries, but there are no photos of women decorating, packing and applying handles until the late 1800's. A woman throwing a pot was probably pretty scarce. Grace Parker took over her husband pottery shop in Charlestown Massachusetts after his death in 1742. That is a fascinating story related in Lura Watkins book, New England Potters and Their Wares.

Sense and Sensibility, the English novel by Jane Austin, was published in 1811. The sisters came from wealthy families but they lived on a budget.



There are a good many days of rain at a fair and I have been thinking I need a new straw hat.  Sense I am also a weaver, why not make my own band instead of buying a store-bought ribbon?

I set up a plain or tabby weave.  I used my small Easy Weaver, modified with two bars so I could spread out the threads.  There is no beater, so I had to keep an eye on the width.

I used 8/2 cotton from Webs, about the same weight as crochet cotton but softer. I cut warp 12 feet long and the band came out about 7 feet long. The band came out 1 -1/2 inches wide.





I usually do warp-faced bands, so it was fun to do something different like this plain weave. My book, Tape Loom Weaving... simplified, does not include plain weave.  It is a little different to do on a rigid heddle loom like a gate loom or box loom because the threads are spread out with the wooden heddle and this can be tricky, especially with 60 threads.  If you are making or looking for a gate style loom, make sure you get one with 32 holes and 32 slots, 64 threads is a good size for making a band like the above or the pretty, fancy pick up bands.





Friday, February 9, 2018

Shaker Bands! Chevron Style Band Weaving....





Last year, I got my old barn loom set up to weave rugs.  I live only one and a half hours from the Hancock Shaker Village in Pittsfield MA, so I took the family over for a fun research day into the old looms they have.  The Shakers made wonderful rugs with a chevron style twist and incorporated the pattern into a lot of their rugs. They have a small floor style band loom which they made bands on to weave into chair seats and to decorate the ends of their rugs.

http://reggiesreenactments.blogspot.com/2017/05/shaker-looms-visit-to-hancock-shaker.html

Now that it is cold and bleak in New England and I have time off from my spring, summer and fall 24/7 pottery and weaving events, I am thinking about making some rugs with the chevron pattern.

So I got out my newly acquired book,  Weaving Shaker Rugs by Mary Elva Congleton Erf.  Wait one minute... There are bands in this book along with the rugs! So I set up a couple patterns on my Harrisville Loom.

This was a challenge. The books suggest plying 3 yarns on your spinning wheel. Someday I am going to learn how to spin.  I decided to try out a couple of designs about 6 feet long to practice and twist them as I go. I used cotton on these two pieces.

Here is a series of photos of how I set up the loom.

This pattern is set up below
Pattern number 2


I set up short warps on a dresser.
I made some more adjustments to my loom. I removed the velcro that was glued onto my beams. I added some warp beam pop sticks to the back beam by drilling two holes through the front and back beams and tied on the new warp beamsticks. I also clamped the heddle to that front beam so I could thread directly onto the loom.


On this pattern, I threaded the left border first.

My twisted warps are attached in pairs. Attached with a loop below.

Set of 3 threads are twisted before threaded into the heddle. 
I stand across the room a the end of the warp threads and twist them with my fingers,  counting 24 times as I twist.
Keep track of  S or Z twists.  Then thread them one at a time.
Once threaded, clip the ends to a cloths pin so they won't untwist. Notice the border threads are set carefully out of the way top left.
Weight groups of twisted warp threads so they don't tangle.
I added a warp beam to the front and back beams.
I tied the borders on first with even tension.
Groups of twisted warp tied on.
Wind the warp onto the back beam. I used some pop sticks on the beam layers to keep the warp evenly wound.  I gently combed the warp and held them tightly in my left hand as I wound the back beam with my right hand, stopping to check the tension once in a while.


Lease sticks and start of weft. This is not a warp faced weave.
Spread out your warp threads so you get a plain weave.
There is no beater, so keep an eye on the edges so you don't start pulling them in.

You can attach a paper folded around your weave so your edges stay even.
Working along.


Now I had to do something with the bands.  The band with the blue edges looked like a red tree growing in a forest.  Too pretty to attach to a bag or clothing and be seen only once in a while, so I mounted it with an unfinished sampler I found second hand.  Should I finish the cross stitch?



I made a quick vest for the other pattern.



Thanks for looking at my adventures in weaving.  If you are still new to band weaving, check out my step-by-step book to show you how to set up a loom and weave the fun pick-up patterns. Tape Loom Weaving.... simplified. available on Amazon.com and my web site, www.eastknollpottery.com

Sign up to receive notice of future blogs with more ideas and project.  Feel free to comment and offer suggestions!



Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Easy Weaver Loom, Susan Faulkner Weaver's Book... Handwoven Tape, Old Shirt = Colonial Apron



All tied up

I recently picked up a small new loom at a second-hand shop. I weave small bands of tape for colonial costumes and handbags. When I am at events I use a small box loom and hanging gate looms to demonstrate how it is done, but it is hard to demonstrate when I have to be literally tied to these looms by a cord around my waist.  Visitors are asking questions, wanting to buy, wanting to try weaving and I have to get tied up and untied up again.


So I was pleased to find this little loom that I can bring to my events and let people try band weaving.  It is very sturdy and well made.  The heddle floats on the threads.  It is set up to weave a piece about 6" wide and the threads are attached to a piece of velcro glued to the front and back beams.  The beams move nicely and have metal gears and stops. There is a block of wood behind the heddle where you can rest the heddle on in the up position, and a catch on it to rest the heddle in the low position.


To weave my small bands, I had to make some modifications.  I put a small nail in the center back beam to attach my warp loop to.  I removed the block of wood in the center easily with my screwdriver.  It gets in the way when weaving. Without the block in the way, you can weave about 12 inches before you have to wind your beam. And... I put a string and cord with a table hook on the back so I could attach it to the table. Now I can beat my weft firmly without the loom moving toward me.









I also recently bought Susan Faulkner Weavers book, Handwoven Tapes.  Susan did a great job explaining early tape weaving in Pennsylvania.  It is a lovely book filled with old and new bands, samples of how they were used and the history behind it all.

So I decided to set up my new loom to make a band for my granddaughters apron for her Colonial Costume. 

I picked out one of Susan's patterns on page 103. It did not have a threading chart, but this is easy to do on simple striped bands. Striped bands were used here on the eastern coast of America. The colors and patterns go well with checked aprons.


I cut my warp 58 inches long. This wove down to a 38 inch finished length.  I loop one end on my new beam nail and set the heddle right in the loom and easily threaded this short length.  




I cut the back out of an old plaid shirt after removing my buttons to the button jar.  An extra large shirt back is a good size for an adult apron.

And in less than an hour, my new apron is done!




Are you new to Weaving?  These little bands are easy to do, fun, hundreds of patterns and colors, great for modern weavers and reenactors. There are numerous new looms being made and you can find help right here on this blog to make your own quick and easy picture frame loom.

If you are not interested or excited yet, just look at my collection of loom photos here...
https://www.pinterest.com/potterymom1/weaving-band-looms/

The Easy Weaver I used here is made by Harrisville Designs in New Hampshire.

Susan Faulkner Weavers book, Handwoven Tape, is available at Amazon.com

My easy book, Tape Loom Weaving... simplified for beginners to learn how to weave tapes, stripes and fancy pick-up patterns is available at Amazon.com and my web site... www.eastknollpottery.com

Thanks for connecting and sharing with me on my blog!