SAORI WITH JACQUELINE

SAORI WEAVING

ADVANCED 3-D ART

Saori loom, weaving fibers & tools, sewing notions

Today we take a look at what senior Jacqueline Yu has created with her woven Saori cloth.

A super cool summer top.

She poured thru several Japanese pattern books showing garments made with Saori woven fibers,

and picked out this pattern then made it her own with a few adjustments.

She plotted out the exact lengths she'd need to make it happen,

and choose her colors.

  She,

like Shreya,

 also decided on a mostly neutral palette but decided to throw in a burnt orange

which gave it so much vibrancy.

She used a leather tie for the straps

and a sewing machine to put it together with.

This is Jac's first time to make a piece of clothing for herself 

since we no longer offer Home Ec. anymore

(what a shame),

and I felt she both enjoyed it but was also challenged by it as well. 

The side view is terrific.

Her challenges came in the back.

The pattern called for a looser fitting style,

but she wanted a more form fitting silhouette. 

She put in a couple of darts across the shoulder blades

as well as two elongated darts thru the waist area.

What we didn't do before we put this up for Open House and photograph it 

was to wash it to soften it up thru back neck and dart areas.

I'm hoping you wore this beautiful piece thru the summer Jac.

I'm been so very proud to share all that you and Shreya have made this last year,

and miss you both so much.

Can't wait to hear how your first year in college has gone.

WEAVING & CONSTRUCTION WITH SHREYA

SAORI WEAVING

ADVANCED 3-D ART

Saori loom, weaving fibers, weaving tools, sewing notions

Seniors Shreya Sheth and Jacqueline Yu were both required to learn to weave

on a Japanese Saori Loom,

and then to construct a 3-D bag or piece of clothing.

Today I will feature Shreya's piece and tomorrow Jacquelines.

Here is Shreya in the midst of weaving her length of cloth.

She has chosen a light neutral color scheme.

Both girls will have used the black cotton warp that was on the loom.

Here is the piece of cloth as it came off the loom.

You can see Shreya's careful measurements for each portion of her bag.

She made up her own pattern before she even started to weave 

so she would know exactly how much length she'd need for each section.

And here is her amazing completed bag.

A brilliant design Shreya showing off your incredible problem solving skills.

Snaps with the flap open

And the leather bottom from a recycled leather jacket I found at a thrift store.

I am so proud of you.

This was probably one of your most difficult challenges this year!

WHAT'S ON YOUR LOOM?

2-HARNESS TABLE TOP LOOM WOVEN SCARF

ADVANCED 3-D ART

2-harness tabletop loom, warping board & weaving essentials

Let's see what our 3rd year 3-D girls are up to.

In 2nd year 3-d they learned to weave on a frame loom,

so this year they graduated to a 2-harness tabletop loom,

and also learned to use a warping board.

Above we see senior Shreya Sheth helping senior Jacqueline Yu remember her warping sequence.

And below Shreya is bored waiting for her turn.

Pretty cute Shreya!

Here is Jac's lovely and yummy finished scarf hanging on display at Open House.

And a couple of close-ups.

Fringe was optional.

I really like how Jac played with several different sizes and types of weft yarns.

Next we have Shreya's finished scarf.

She went a completely different route then Jacqueline.

She was inspired by hounds tooth cloth and made up her own pattern

for a very striking piece.

The girls told me the warping process was way too tedious but once they started the actual weaving they were loving it.

Yeah!

LA PURISIMA MISSION

I've discovered a new Mission in California,

 owned by the state,

that has been preserved as a historical site.

A really great gal I met at my Studio tour,

Diana,

turned me onto it. 

 She told me I'd love it after she saw my work.

It's in Lompoc, Ca.,

and shows the spinning wheels and looms that the Chumash Indians worked on. 

Look at the size of that floor loom!

It's immense!!!

This is going onto my bucket list as a place to visit for when I retire.

SAORI ANYONE??

I can't remember if I shared this,

 and couldn't find it in the search engine on the blog.

So just in case I didn't,

 here we go.

Senior Kaili Hamada became fascinated with the Saori Loom I bought two years ago,

and senior Karisma Dev taught her how to use it in their spare time at lunch. 

Kaili loved it so much that she produced several beautiful pieces on it.

This is one of them.

I'm not positive anymore,

but I believe our Physics teacher,

 Mr. Z,

 bought it at Open House.

As you may have seen and read last week in another post,

Kaili will have access to this incredible weaving studio at UH.

These are 4 harness floor looms,

so Kaili will be able to learn all the different weave structures

that she couldn't do on the 2 harness Saori.

Heaven,

she's in heaven!!

LOL

FRESH OFF THE LOOM

LOOM WOVEN GARMENT CONSTRUCTION

ADVANCED 3-D ART

Saori loom, weaving yarns, sewing machine

Senior Laarnie Barcelon has been pushed to the max this year in her 3rd level 3-D class with me.

Her assignment:

to construct a garment to wear from a long length of loom woven fabric she wove.

She also had to design her own pattern which involved high level critical thinking.

She did not disappoint.

The jacket below is amazing in so many ways.

Asymmetrical design...

beautifully crafted...

color choices that flow together to please the eye.

And... it fit like a glove!

Note her first little woven project hanging around her neck that compliments the jacket?

Difficulty occurred when she ran out of the warp thread before she finished her panels for the sleeves.

So she had to re-warp the loom with not as much warp as she needed 

(end of year running out of money and supplies needed)

to a wider setting which caused the lower half of the sleeves to look a bit more airy

 and looser in structure.

It actually turned into a very pretty detail in the end.

You can see it here where she has extended out her elbow.

Laarnie, 

this is only the beginning for you.

You will go on from here to do great things,

be inspired by fabulously creative teachers,

and travel to places and see things that you will be able to incorporate into your work.

I'm so looking forward to your future.

LOOM WEAVING IS BACK

TABLETOP LOOM WEAVING

ADVANCED 3-D ART

tabletop loom & yarn

In the last couple of years,

 I've noticed that weaving is coming back

 and being taught again in the specialty upscale yarn stores.

I'm delighted because sadly it did go out of vogue there for a while.

It was big back in the 1980's so I had bought several of these table looms for the kids.

Two years ago we unearthed them,

dusted them off,

tried to clean as much rust off of them as much as possible,

and they are happy, happy again!

Senior Laarnie Barcelon took to the loom like a duck to water.

I had her learn to warp it in the traditional way on a warping board,

and then dress the loom.

Here she is above weaving her first little band.

I like how she turned it into a neck piece with silver ends and a gold pin.

Clever girl!

Kaili Hamada -Extra Credit

We saw some of senior Kaili's Handspun in yesterday's blog post

Well,

I wanted you show you what she's doing with some of it.

She's weaving with it on cardboard looms

 to create journals for her friend's Xmas presents.

And Kaili has a lot of friends  :)

Her mamma told me she is one busy girl right now!

Doing this instead of her homework.

LOL 

Happy Heart

Nothing makes me happier then when my students continue to create after their class with me is over.

Three of my senior students, Bianca Tolentino, Kaili Hamada and Karisma Dev, all checked out spinning wheels from me for over the summer so that they could continue to spin their own yarns.

Above and below you can see what Bianca did with her handspuns.  

She made a cardboard loom and wove an elongated piece of fabric which she then turned into a journal (a project we did in her 3-D class)

Senior Reis Misaka, who learned to work with wood in the 3-D class, hand crafted a Niddy Noddy from wood doweling for Bianca to skein her handspuns (above)

Wow!

I'm so thrilled to be able to pass on the fiber arts to this next generation so that they can continue to pass it along and keep these arts alive.

Back In Vogue

TABLE-TOP LOOM WEAVING

EXTRA CREDIT FOR 3-D ART

featuring Junior Bianca Tolentino

Weaving is making a resurgence in the Crafts World right now and we are so there.

I've pulled out my table top looms from the 1980's and I'm offering extra credit to my 3-d students if they'd like to try it out

Bianca was super interested in learning and this is her first piece.

A few close-ups of all the different yarns she choose to work with, 

and some beads she embellished with.

For her ending she did simple square knots which left her with a bit of fringe.

Great job kiddo!

Karisma's Latest Triumph

SAORI WEAVING

ADVANCED 3-D ART

wool, cotton, mohair

A couple of weeks ago I showcased junior Karisma Dev weaving on our new Saori loom from Japan.  

Well she's finished her piece and it's truly a remarkable feat.

Three 7 1/2 feet panels that she's woven then knit together to make an Indian style Sari.

I wish I had a better pix to show you...

but here are a few couple close-ups.

She wove all 3 panels with a black cotton warp then used various off-white fibers as the weft.

She only chose natural fibers.

Maybe one of these days I can get a pix of her modeling it for us!

The Fiber Arts Are Coming Alive Here at Whitney

HAND SPINNING & WEAVING

BEGINNING 3-D ART

featuring juniors Kaili Hamada and Bianca Tolentino

Two of my Beginning 3-D students, Kaili and Bianca, have expressed a huge interest in learning more about the spinning and weaving process after we finished those units in class.  So both these girls have been coming in during their snacks, lunches and after school to explore and work with me on an individual basis.

So here you see Kail with good friend Nicholas Tudor, using my drum carder to blend wools she has sent away for thru the mail.  Both girls are using their own funds and dipping into our fiber arts community for beautiful hand dyed rovings.  They are so excited when they arrive in the mail, running joyously into my room to show me their newest purchases.

Kaili has not only taught herself to spin on my wheels, but often times I find her standing instead of sitting to spin.  That's because we have very short snacks and lunches, so she doesn't have time to grab a chair, easier to just stand.  These kids crack me up!

Isn't she a doll??

Makes my heart so happy  :)

I've featured Bianca before on the spinning wheel, well here she is on one of my rigid heddle tabletop looms.  This is Bianca's first experience on a loom this size so she is making a sampler, then will use her own handspuns to weave and warp with in her next piece.

I'm just so proud to show off these girls, and all that they are learning to do, and how quickly they are picking it up.

Our next generation of Fiber Arts.

Woo Hoo!!!!