weaving for meagan

Weaving for Meagan has taken some time to get underway. Meagan first approached us early in 2022, asking if we could weave some of her wool into curtain fabric. It was the beginning of quite a long process, involving people skilled in their part of the wool production sector.
We call this slow fashion! Meagan has been involved in every step of the process.

Firstly the sheep were shorn. Two bales of the 2022 wool clip were sent to Timaru for scouring. Then to Wild Earth Yarns in Christchurch to be spun into yarn suitable for weaving curtain fabric.

We received the yarn, in the first week of May 2023.

Here are images and descriptions of the process ... from yarn to fabric.

We received the 120 tex woollen spun yarn from Wild Earth Yarns on 4 May 2023. It comes on cones, ready for us to transfer to the wooden bobbins that fit on our warping frame.

We have woven quite a lot of yarn spun by Jacqui and Graham at Wild Earth Yarns in Christchurch. Click HERE to visit their website.

The yarn is transferred from the cones to the wooden bobbins on our only piece of electric equipment, our bobbin and pirn winder.

Every part of this process is done by hand.

Woollen spun, strong wool - great for curtains, but not for scarves.

The width of the warp is wound onto the warping mill in four inch wide segments of 170 metre lengths.

Here you can see the 170 metre long warp, made up of four inch sections.

Rod is putting in the cross, creating a division between under and over threads, to make it easier to thread the heddles with the herringbone design Meagan has requested.

The counter - each four inch warp length has to be the same length. In this case the counter has to read 470. Rod has to keep an eye on the numbers clicking over - otherwise the warp ends will be of different lengths and make it very difficult and time consuming to finish the warping process.

The inside of the warping mill, showing each section.

Once the mill is filled, the warp is transferred onto the back beam. This is called beaming the warp. Here Rod is beginning to attach the warp to the dowel that will wrap around the back beam.

All tied on, and ready for the back beam.

I included this image just because I love the way you can see the rawness of the yarn, and the potential of what is to come.

Beaming the warp ... Rod turns the handle that winds the back beam, which draws the warp yarn off the mill and onto the beam.

The back beam is nearly full, with 1064 individual threads, plus 28 selvedge threads.

It's like a waterfall of woollen spun yarn.

It looks like a tangle, and it is! You can see the two pieces of dowel that hold the cross in place. This makes it easier to thread each thread through it's heddle on one of the four shafts.

I sit inside the threading frame and hand each thread to Rod, who threads it through the correct heddle on the correct shaft to form the herringbone pattern. I take an under, then an over, an under, an over across the warp width.

A close-up of the threading.

All threaded, hopefully correctly. We won't know for sure until Rod starts weaving!

Each set of threads is tied off so they don't get tangled together.

Rod has now threaded each thread through the correct dent in the reed. This part of the process is called sleying the reed.

I included this image because I love the way all the threads are kept in order, sitting on the reed, with the warping mill in the background.

Here the shafts and reed are sitting on top of the back beam, ready to be carried over to our #1 tappet loom.

And magically (joke) the back beam, shafts and beater with the reed enclosed are on the loom. I was helping and forgot to take photos. It's quite a mission, especially with a long warp on the back beam, to get everything carried over and installed. It takes patience and the need to follow each step correctly, otherwise everything turns to chaos.

Here Rod is beginning the loom tuning process. Every new warp means retuning the loom, as each warp we weave uses different yarn to the one before.

The first weft thread is shot across.

The brass temple which will grip the fabric, keeping the selvedges straight and even. Without the temples the fabric is likely to gradually get more and more narrow as the shuttle shoots back and forth.

The first couple of inches, and it's looking like we threaded up the pattern correctly - that's always a relief. This coarse woollen spun yarn is causing a few headaches for Rod as it's quite hairy, causing the warp threads to catch on each other. Rod has to patiently work through each stage of the tuning process.

The underneath of the loom, showing the pedals, shafts and how everything happens as Rod pedals.

Rod's trusty spanner. It lives on this hook on the loom.

The yarn will be wound off these bobbins and onto the cardboard pirns that sit inside the shuttle.

Pirns Rod has ready for weaving.

Broken threads are quite common at this stage. They are frustrating and time consuming to fix, but just part of it.

The lines across the weaving are the result of shaft #3 catching on shaft #4 as they were rising and falling. Rod fixed it by making more adjustments - all part of tuning the loom to ensure easy, even weaving.

A repaired thread. You can see how it has been woven it. The ends will then be trimmed and the mend will be invisible.

CARE INSTRUCTIONS

As this fine merino yarn is not chemically shrink resist treated we recommend washing
gently by hand using and eco-friendly wool wash. Dry flat. Cool iron.

DO NOT MACHINE WASH OR TUMBLE DRY!

Email Sue at: hello@mcleanandco.nz
Ring Sue at: 03 434 9545 or 027 295 7265

Crafted Waitaki Artisan Gallery
3 Harbour Street, Historic Precinct, Oamaru

Weaving Shed
37 Greta Street, South Hill, Oamaru 9400
Open by appointment

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Weaving for Meagan

Here are images and descriptions of the process ... from yarn to fabric.

CARE INSTRUCTIONS

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