Embroidery to Weave Rotation

This week I moved from embroidery to weave.

I started by looking at the samples and sketchbook work I had done recently to see where I could incorporate my ideas. I had particularly liked working with paper,  and so invested in some paper yarns that could be used in my future work.

Above shows a hand woven sample I did whilst in stitch. Although this is leaning towards weaving rather than stitch, I was looking at the ways in which I could create a fringe using hand techniques to make an 'edge'.

Below is a photograph of the first weave I produced in the 2 weeks. Although it is very basic in weave design, I wanted to enhance the edge I had made by not pulling the raffia in tight at the sides. This idea came from looking at the sample I made whilst in stitch where I had hand woven some of the same blue raffia through plain white string to produce a large fringe (photographed above).

After producing a few loom woven samples, I discovered that I preferred the appearance of my hand woven samples. Below are a couple of my paper and raffia weaves done by hand. I think I prefer hand weaving because it feels more free and more open to change when I have a new idea. I also like the unpredictability of the gap sizes between the 'warp' threads. I feel that my sampling in this way relates much better back to my sketch book work.

I particularly like the way the paper hangs freely at the bottom of this weave sample (below) which is part of the sample above (top). Here I have used the paper as though it were the 'warp' rather than the 'weft'. I feel that this sample was successful.