This is Alix: Weave

We started my final technical with an introduction to the loom and the different aspects of the loom how it works. We were given a pattern sheet to go with this, where the black squares represent the weave that will be showing. Weave was as simple as lifting the levers to raise the shafts (marked in black 1- 8) and threading your yarn through and pushing down with the reed in the batten.

At first I learnt and played around with different plain weave and twill combinations to get a feel for the loom, this is where I began to think about colour and colour combination Therefore I looked at my drawings, previous technical blocks and my wrappings and windings. This is where I found I needed to produce some more wrappings and windings so that I can get my colour proportions right and see which colours work best together.

I also began a swatch file which included many different fabrics with different qualities and weaves, this was to help me understand the process of weave more, I also deconstructed a sample and re weaved in it a contrasting colour. I found doing this swatch book helped me when producing my own weave sample .

I began by producing simple weaves to get a feel for the loom using simple patterns such as plain, twill, irregular hopscotch and other patterns which created a squared, and triangular effect as this was a shape that ran throughout my previous technical blacks and linked back to my drawings. I simply just used yarn for these samples in my chosen colour palette. At this point I began to consider the colour of the weft to link in with my colour palette so I began to dye some of these in my chosen colours.

Even though my samples became more how I wanted them with more complex designs and the colours how I wanted them I wanted to create new textures more like the ones of my collection. Therefore I wanted to create a weave using plastics this is when my samples I feel became to life and became more than just a simple weave. I considered different thickness of the plastics as well as combining it with more complex yarn patterns. These samples I feel are best.