Atwater-Bronson Beaded Top

Looking over my most recent posts I noticed I hadn't shared the results of fabric I was working on ...last May! I was surprised to remember that I started it that long ago, and it makes me realize how long the designing, weaving, and finishing process often is. I finished the weaving in June and put the top together then. I took it with me when I attended Convergence in July, but found little time to work on the embroidery and beading then. It was finished and mailed to Handwoven magazine in mid-August for publication in the November/December issue. The description, "Sarah Jackson's snowy, showy Atwater-Bronson top..." really does describe the look of the fabric, although the beads and silky embroidery floss catch the light and shimmer more noticeably than the photo shows.

 

In the close-up below you can see more clearly the two threads I used--8/2 cotton which has a matte finish and tencel which is shiny--in both the warp and weft. The embroidery and bead placement was mapped out with pieces of freezer paper  ironed onto the fabric.

It was fun wearing the top around the holidays for a bit of sparkle and shine!

Dogwood Lace Tunic

Finished! The label is sewn in and it's ready to wear. Well, actually... ...ready to wrap and mail to Handwoven. The wearing will have to wait. 

Someone in the publishing business once told me that greens and blues are the most difficult colors to photograph accurately. I believe it! The true color is somewhere between these first two.

Making the Chinese ball buttons and frog closures was an experience in itself! Definitely a challenging project, but I'm happy with the final result.

Atwater Bronson Lace Sample and Fabric

My Weave Structures Study Group has been focused on various lace weaves this year, and I recently discovered a draft for "Concentric Squares" by Dorothy S. Burton in Carol Strickler's 8-Shaft Pattern book. 

I thought it would be interesting to see if the squares could be woven in different combinations and/or with some solid, some open areas. After a lot of experimenting with a computer drafting program, I wove a sample-- a portion shown here:

While I have several ideas for using the squares-in-squares possibilities, I also worked out a way to weave open and closed squares across the width of the cloth. That fabric is now on my loom:

The limitation with this particular combination is that, in addition to the shafts for tabby (2), each square requires two more shafts; so eight shafts can weave three different squares. I used three of each square for a total of nine across the fabric, alternating weaving them solid or open.


The fiber is white tencel and natural 8/2 cotton woven with the warp floats on the surface. But... I think I'll use the reverse side of the fabric for the right side. I like the look of the weft floats, and, on that side, the pure white tencel creates a tiny bead-like spot between the lace squares which will look great with the beading I plan to do on the finished garment. 


Now, back to my loom!