Kath had brought a wealth of source materials, fabric, and threads, plus some wonderful examples of her own needle weaving, which were inspirational. First workshop participants gathered round for a demonstration of the technique. It is recommended that a sturdy fabric or two layers of a lighter cloth are used, so there is resistance to the fabric puckering under the tension of the woven stitches. Here are some examples of Needle Weaving.
Using a removable marker such as a “Frixion” pen, sketch your design onto your fabric and stretch it tightly into a hoop. Choose thread to suit the cloth being stitched: options included two or three strands of cotton thread, perle, silk, wools (crewel or tapestry), variegated, ribbon, novelty thread. With a sharp needle begin by stitching straight stitches across the shape to be filled, in a similar manner to satin stitch, but with the strands further apart. Go through both layers of fabric. Every few stitches do a tiny stitch or two along the edge of the shape to anchor this warp and prevent the stitches becoming too loose and baggy to hold the weft firmly in place. Here are a few images of us making a start.
Meanwhile, those catching up on their own projects, were busy in the other room sewing.
Next, using either a blunt tapestry needle or the eye end of the same sharp, and the same or a different thread according to what you are representing, come up at the edge of the shape and start to weave. You do this by taking the needle alternately under and over the existing stitches without piercing the fabric. When you get to the end of the first line, go through the fabric to anchor the weft, come back up and go back weaving the opposite way.
As you fill the shape the threads will start to snug together to give the appearance of a woven fabric. Using different colours and threads adds a lot of texture, depth and interest to the piece and of course you can embellish it with bullion, French knots or anything else. Everyone produced something very different, from a seahorse, seashells and a jelly fish to an hourglass and a peony. We’re all looking forward to seeing the finished articles in due course.
With the usual tea, coffee, biscuits, lunch, shop, raffle and good company most members stitched right through the day until the gathering ended at 15.30. Here are the results of the day.
As you fill the shape the threads will start to snug together to give the appearance of a woven fabric. Using different colours and threads adds a lot of texture, depth and interest to the piece and of course you can embellish it with bullion, French knots or anything else. Everyone produced something very different, from a seahorse, seashells and a jelly fish to an hourglass and a peony. We’re all looking forward to seeing the finished articles in due course.
With the usual tea, coffee, biscuits, lunch, shop, raffle and good company most members stitched right through the day until the gathering ended at 15.30. Here are the results of the day.
T.G.
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