Sometimes creating handwoven fabrics feels like wrestling mischievous imps. A project that looks gorgeous in the initial sketch, or in a weaving software simulation, turns into a muddy mess when woven. A garment that looked great while you were sewing it blurs into shapelessness from across the room. Often, it’s because your design is either too large or too small to look attractive in the context of the finished piece. So your colors blur together or become too bold, and your piece just doesn’t look right. Here’s how to design a piece at the right scale, whether it’s meant to be seen from six inches or sixty feet away.
How to show off the colors in your painted warp
Painted warps are beautiful. But they can be difficult to design with. Painted-warp colors can change radically when woven, depending on your weft yarn colors and your choice of design. This blog post gives you four ways to showcase the beautiful colors of your painted warp.
How to use clashing colors in your handwoven cloth
Yarns of clashing colors can be a challenge when designing your own handwoven cloth, because it’s easy for them to create ugly fabric. But it’s not that hard to harmonize colors that don’t “go together”. This blog post will show you how to use unlikely color combinations to make beautiful handwoven cloth.
Are your bright colors weaving into mud? Here’s how to fix that.
Ever picked out a brilliant palette of yarns, only to have your beautiful colors weave up into dull, muddy handwoven cloth? You’re not alone. Picking a palette that will stay bright when mixed is one of the big color challenges in weaving. Fortunately, the solution is pretty straightforward.
How to use black to give your handwoven fabrics pizzazz
Early in my weaving career, I was advised to use black wefts with brightly colored warps, because “black pops all colors”. But I quickly found out that that wasn’t true. Sometimes the colors came out clear and bright, other times they turned into mud. If that’s ever happened to you, fear not. There are two secrets for using black to make your handwoven cloth sing, and this post will teach you both of them.
