Here is an excellent YouTube video about weaving narrow bands with a backstrap. I love the humour and the clear way everything is explained. I have not tried weaving whilst vacuuming!
I weave most of my narrow warp-faced bands on a Swedish band loom. I thought that this month I would talk about one aspect of inspiration for designing stripes
Inspiration from paintings
My inspiration for the colour stripes on these two bands comes from Kazimir Malevich. He was born in Kiev to Polish parents. He was part of the Ukrainian avant-garde which was an avant-garde movement in Ukrainian art from the end of 1890s to the middle of the 1930s. I love his work. One of my earliest blogs was about an exhibition of his work in London.
Here is a mug decorated with one of his painting .
I used the colour order of the stripes to design a cotton band.
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| cotton band on band loom |
This cotton band has 36 ends of 16/2 cotton.
Here is the drawdown.
The warp order is
Black - 4; Blue - 2; Orange - 4; Green - 8; Black - 2; Pink - 6; White - 2; orange - 4; Yellow - 4.
I used a yellow weft so that on the black selvedge is shows as a dotted pattern along the edge.
I like the asymmetry of the colour order.
The second band
The second band is from another painting called the Red Army.
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| Two mugs with Malevich paintings. |
It has 78 warp ends of 16/2 cotton in six colours. the colour order is asymmetrical.
Here is the drawdown.
Here is the warp order.
Black 2 2 6 8 6
Red 4 2 2
Blue 4 4
Yellow 2 2 6 4
Green 10 6
White 4
Both these bands were very easy to design. I used the colour order on the painting and tried to ensure that the width of each stripe was in a similar proportion to the original.
Another design inspiration.
Recently I went with my friend Moira to the Durham Book festival for a reading of Cuddy by Benjamim Myers.
I thought that I would design a narrow band using this cover as an inspiration.
I liked the design of the waves.
Here is the simple design that I made. The colours are not straightforward as I wanted to give the feeling of merging in the colour order. Each warp end is two strands of 16/2 cotton. This means that I can mix colours. So for some warp ends there are two shades of blue.
This drawdown was the starting point for making the warp of 60 doubled ends. I used two shades of yellow, two shades of green and five shades of blue. The drawdown was a guide not definitive.
Weaving length approx.: 6.75 inches
Weaving width approx.. 0.75 inches
The plaited end is made with four groups of threads. Both ends are whipped using West Country Whipping.
West Country Whipping.
This way of finishing a cord or band is found in the Ashley Book of Knots.
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| West Country Whipping |
- Take a length of thread for the wrapping.
- Tie is around the end of the band with a simple reef knot.
- Turn the end of the band over and tie another reef knot so that is is close to the first.
- Turn the band back to the front and tie another reef knot.
This forms a neat way of wrapping the warp ends.
You can finish the ends with a double knot and feed the end back into the wrapping if you want.
A Five-end plait
I plaited the other end. I divided the warp ends into five more of less equal groups.
Plaiting with five ends is easy.
- Take the right hand group and go over the adjacent group and under the next group to the centre.
- Now take the left hand group and take it over the adjacent group then under the next group to the centre.
These two 'rows' form the sequence.
Continue plaiting until you reach your desired length.
Finish by wrapping the ends using the West Country Whipping technique.
The completed bookmark
My friend wants to try weaving so I have designed this bookmark for her. I have set the band loom so she can weave her own bookmark. It is going to be a surprise when she comes to visit next week.
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| Band on Swedish band loom |
I have also put a narrow band onto my four shaft table loom so that she can have a go on a second type of loom. Should be a fun morning.
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| Narrow band on four shaft table loom |
This band is a variation of the bands I designed for my book The Art of Simple Band Weaving.
Published by Blurb. https://www.blurb.co.uk/b/11486284-the-art-of-simple-band-weaving
The three designs on page 50; bands 85, 86 and 87
St Cuthbert and Durham
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| St Cuthbert stained glass window in Durham Cathedral. |
I thought that you might be interested in learning about St Cuthbert. I went up to the cathedral today to take some pictures.
The book Cuddy is about St Cuthbert (684 - 687) who was Bishop of Lindesfarne. He is buried in Durham Cathedral. His shrine was a focus of pilgrimage in the middle ages.
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| Notice at entrance to shrine and tomb of St Cuthbert. |
His shrine is behind the altar and choir.
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| steps leading to the tomb and shrine |
The red banner dedicated to St Cuthbert is modern.It was designed by Northumbria University academic Fiona Raeside-Elliott and embroidered by local textile artist Ruth O'Leary.
To find out more about this lovely modern embroidery there is a YouTube video to watch. the St Cuthbert Banner.
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| Tomb of St Cuthbert |
Outside the cathedral there is a carving. It depicts a cow and two milkmaids .
This relates to a legend about how the resting place of St Cuthbert was found. One of the monks accompanying the body had a vision in which St Cuthbert told him he was to go to 'dun holm'. They did not know where this was. Fortunately they came across a milkmaid looking for her lost cow - or dun cow - meaning a brownish grey colour - who told them she had last seen her cow at dun holm.
.......and so the legend was born.
Update
Moira enjoyed her first weaving experience. She tried weaving on a four shaft table loom and on the Swedish band loom. Once she had finished I showed her how to bind the ends.
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| Moira's woven band and the bookmark. |
She will be coming back for another go at weaving - including disc weaving.
Susan J Foulkes November 2023
