Discovering Harris Tweed - part 2.

I promised to guide you through the Harris Tweed production process.
How do you get this Harris Tweed ...

 out of pure sheared wool?
1. Washing and dyeing
The wool for the tweed comes mainly from Cheviot and Scottish Blackface sheep.

Before the wool can be used for commercial purposes, it must be scoured, a process of cleaning out the dirt, dead skin, sweat residue, pesticides and lanolin.
The wool is then delivered in large bales to the mills of the tweed producers where it is then dyed in a wide variety of colours for blending.
Most of the dyes used are organic natural dyes .

This picture comes from the book: Harris Tweed: From Land to Street. (c) 2011 Frances Lincoln Ltd. and Lara Platman

available here
2. Carding and spinning
Carding is the process by which the wool fibers are individually straightened and sorted into separate fibers. This process converts a continuous matted web of fibres into individual ribbons of fine loosely organized threads.

This thread has just enough strength to be wound ready for spinning.
For the yarn to have the strength required for weaving, it needs to be spun into a strong thread by twisting it around 6-8 times.
The spun yarn is wound onto bobbins for the weft (left to right threads) and warp (vertical threads) supplied to the weavers.

3.Warping and weaving
The warp and yarns for the weft arrive from the mill and then the weaver sets to work. A major part of the task is the setting up of the loom itself, changing the draft to the correct pattern.
The threads are arranged in groups and colour on the warping frame in the right layout, so that each thread comes off it in the right position for its own unique position in the pattern.

 



 

4. Finishing and stamping

The woven cloth is returned to the mill where the first task will be to check it for any imperfections.

Any broken or stray threads are darned and mended.

 

Dirt, oil and other impurities are removed by washing and beating. It also makes the material softer and thicker.


The cloth is dried and shrunk to the required width , cropped on a machine which basically acts like a mower, removing a certain amount of surface fibre. 
It is then blow-steamed under pressure to give a similar effect to ironing.
Finally it has to be certified by the official Harris Tweed Authority inspector, before it can carry the Harris Tweed Orb trademark label.

 

Voilà, from wool to tweed in just a few steps; interesting isn't it?

 

Sources: I found a lot of information on the Harris Tweed Authority blog and here

Enjoy reading

Kristien



The Liberty fabric archive.

In the 1920s, Liberty , - the London based store- , funded by Arthur Lasenby Liberty, began to produce small floral prints that became known as Liberty Prints. They were printed on silk, cotton and wool.
The most famous is the cotton Tana Lawn , named after Lake Tana in Sudan, where the special cotton plant used for these fine cottons came from.
Each spring and autumn a new fabric collection is launched, apart from the classic designs which stay.
Some of the classic designs date back to the late 19th or early 20th century.
Some examples:

 

Lodden

It was originally designed by William Morris in 1884, but was made into Liberty's own design by rescaling and re-colouring.

 

 

Wiltshire

This leaf and berry pattern was designed for Liberty in 1933.

 

 

Elysian

was originally designed in the 1920s.

 

During all the years a textile archive has been build up.

It is used as a design resource for new collections.

 

Here is an interesting link to the Liberty Craft Blog with a post about the Archive

and a video showing how the Tana Lawns are printed:

 

 

Interesting isn't it?
Warm regards.
Kristien

A knitting bible.

Aside from embroidery and sewing, I have always liked knitting.
And now I think I have found the ultimate knitting bible!

Translated it is simply called : "Our knitting book"

 

Although it is written in Dutch, there are so many clear pictures, that you almost don't need the text.

It is packed with advice, tips and techniques . Many I didn't even know existed.

 

 

Part I : stitches, techniques and motives

 

 

To start with there is information for "knitting novices": chapters about starting a project (5 different ways are explained!) , basic knitting techniques, adding and decreasing the amount of stitches, finishing a project etc.

 

 

 

 

Then you can move on to more advanced techniques , knitting with more colours at the same time , circular knitting, more complicated stitches etc.

Part II: 5 chapters full of projects, for your home, hats and scarves, socks, fashion and accessories, projects for babies and children.

 

 

This book is beautifully illustrated:

 

 

A must have for knitting addicts.

I bought my book here.

You can also find it here.

Warm regards

Kristien

 



New book! "A bag for all reasons"

I hesitated before buying this book,  after reading the negative reviews on Amazon, saying that this new Lisa Lam book is a copy of 'The bag making bible'.
I am glad I didn't listen to them.
I already own the first book and indeed some of the techniques and pictures are repeated.
But they perfectly blend in with new work.
It is essential reference information you need, if you don't have the other book.

The layout of the book is lovely, printed on high quality paper and I am very happy with the spiral bound: much easier to keep the book open.

There are full size patterns, ready to use.

It would have been useful to have an envelop at the back to keep the patterns tidy , but I am going to add one myself.

I haven't started a project yet, but I am planning to make some of them.

I will let you know how I get on.

Kristien

 

Taking pictures

Recently I found this interesting little book.

It is packed with suggestions, tips, advice and examples of how you can improve the art of photografing your work.

There is a good chapter on camera basics: light, aperture, shutter, exposure, colour, focus ...

Planning your photograph is important: advice is given on choosing a background, the composition, styling, using detail etc.

There is a chapter for almost every craft:



Each chapter has the same layout: Planning& setup; composition; common problems & FAQs and a practitioner spotlight.

At the end there is a chapter on how to edit your pictures and last but not least : business advice.

This book is a gem; I found it here

Kristien



A babyquilt in progress

One of my nieces gave birth to a baby boy. As a present, I am making a baby quilt, not only to use as a bedcover but one that can also be used as a playmat.
I found my inspiration in 2 books.
This is the first one:

I used this quilt as a guide:

I reduced the size.
The "making of" is very clearly explained.
Fabrics: for the quilt top I used Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I chose the softer, pastell prints.
For the background I took a plain off-white cotton.
For the quilt backing I used a lovely citrine cotton fabric from Free Spirits.
Here is a tiny preview:

The true colour is hard to capture on film. The backing is far brighter than you see in the above picture.

This is a better resemblance, but in real time it is more sparkling lemon green-yellow. I love this fabric.

In this book:

 I found my finishing touch: that little extra which makes the quilt special. I will tell and show you more about it once the quilt is completely finished.

In the mean time I made the quilt sandwich: quilt top - wadding - quilt backing, which is now ready to be quilted.

This is it for today.

Have a nice evening.

Kristien



Making a bag... in Japanese

Recently, I found this book at 'Cottonpatch'.

 

I have no idea what the title means. Perhaps someone can help ?

I was attracted to some of the projects.

Luckily the pictures in the book clearly demonstrate what to do and I am not a novice in bagmaking.
I am planning to try one of the projects.
I will let you know how I get on.
Some pictures:

Kristien