Woven Tote Bags, my happy accident.
This past spring I was playing around with double weave twill. I actually was working on a fabric not shown in the above picture, but that fabric led to the tote bags that you see. First I planned on making a lap throw. Fine. I was using the direct warp method, and was just about finished when I realized that on two of the 8 shafts, I had run out of heddles. Fine, I could start at the other end and add the 3" additional warp. Wouldn't you know it, I was short heddles on 2 of the other shafts on that side! Undaunted, I figured a wrap would probably be better yet. I wove the double weave twill, most times unweaving more than I actually wove. Fine. Then I got to the end of my weaving, feeling a bit uneasy that despite all the weaving that I had woven and unwoven, that it seemed a bit short. It was. Hmm. So I cut it off the loom, studied the fabric and realized that despite my best efforts, my fold was just dreadful, very holey , not nice at all. Well maybe once I finished it the holes and uneveness at the fold would work itself out. I threw it into the wash, and I lightly fulled the fabric. The fold was still awful. I also realized at this point that my fabric was going to be too short for a wrap, even with me and my short arms.
Even a shrug was out of the question. FINE. I would just felt the whole piece and figure out what to do with the fabric. Well the felting worked just great. It was a lovely soft woolen fabric. I kept thinking of all the time that went into a piece of fabric that could have more easily been woven flat on 4 shafts rather than double on 8 shafts. Well I did learn alot about double weave, although the fold still bothers me. I had woven a plain weave double woven piece, and was quite proud of that fold. What is it said about pride, it comes before the fall? Point taken.
Well I couldn't stop fooling around with the fabric, it really was quite nice, and by now the holes at the fold were totally gone. I folded the fabric this way and that, and suddenly there it was, the tote. I had left the fringes, which actually made the whole thing fall into place. So my fabric evolved from lap blanket, to wrap, to shrug, to felted fabric, to bag. Fine.
4 comments:
Hi Ginger, I love the woven tote bags and would like to make one on my Knitter's Loom. Could you tell me where you got the great handles for the bags? I'd like to get the same ones. Thank you. Terri Kistler
Hi Terri,
I actually supply the handles for that bag. They are available in black and brown, in both lengths shown. If you contact me through my website I can help you out.
Thanks,
Ginger
I saw your bags in Ashfords, "Wheel" 2006 addition. I am trying to make the larger tote, but am a new weaver and am not sure how long to make it. This is my second go at this project; so you can imagine that I am a bit nervous to make too short after felting. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
KB
PS-if you are ever traveling in Dunedin, NZ you are welcome to stop by for a meal or a place to stay. :)
Hi KB,
Thanks for the invitation, I would love to take you up on it! As far as the length of the bag, I have myself made one that was too short. I'm going to add a solid fabric to form the base of the bag. It really depends on the yarn that you use and how much it takes up when you felt it. I would err on the side of too long. At least then you can always cut the extra fabric off the bottom, as I already have done twice! I would add at least an extra 10-12" to the length. You can also play with the fold as to how deep you need to fold it. My finished measurements on the large bag are 11" x 11" The fold is an additional 5" including fringe. If you have any more questions, please feel free to email @ vbalch@optonline.net. Emails from blogger can only be answered directly if you leave an email address.
Good luck!
Ginger
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