Number Two
The second baby wrap is off the loom, sewn and wet finished. It has been a learning experience for me, no doubt, but I can't say I'm not happy to have it completed.
This is the first time that my age has affected my ability to complete a project in keeping with my usual standards. As hard as I tried to find skips while weaving, I found a few but missed many, so after it came off the loom, I sat with the material and my magnifying reading glasses. Way too much eye strain, so I brought in a daylight lamp and looked again. Terrible headache developed, so I brought in a second daylight light. Eventually, I had to wear a smallish LED lamp on my forehead to complete the task. I must have looked a fright sitting there with all that STUFF around and on me! The headache lasted into the next day, and I even had some trouble seeing clearly through my regular specks for awhile. I'm sure part of it was the variegated colors, plus I've found that charcoal weft pretty much disappears when used with certain shades of eggplant. I've since ordered some lighting/magnifying gear to help in the future.
Today was washing and pressing day, and much to my dismay, I found two small areas of skips that span ~1/2 inch that I previously missed. I could sit with it and hand stitch it, but then I would have to rewash the whole wrap. I've decided to allow myself to put a creation out in the world that is not "perfect" in my eyes, hoping that someone will want to give it some love anyway. The structural integrity of the wrap is not affected, and the floats are extremely small, about 1/6", so I'm not concerned about them catching on something. The few doubled wefts that I told you about last time are visible, but not really in your face, and also do not affect the cloth.
It measured 31.75 " in the reed, and I wove to 6 yards under tension, not counting the hems. It is now 28 1/8" X 185", just over 5 yards long. I also decided to sew in a label as a middle marker instead of weaving one while it was on the loom. Note to self - buy some purple thread to match the label.
The selvedges, which were a huge headache for me, turned out fairly well. There are a couple of places where I wish they were straighter, but there were no loose bits, and the waviness from my first wrap are nowhere to be seen.
All in all, a success along my journey to weave beautiful, safe wraps for baby-wearers out there! I'm looking forward to a smaller project or two for now, until I get inspired to create another design. I've already wound a short warp for a merino/tencel huck scarf, and I think another long-ish towel warp is in my near future.
This is the first time that my age has affected my ability to complete a project in keeping with my usual standards. As hard as I tried to find skips while weaving, I found a few but missed many, so after it came off the loom, I sat with the material and my magnifying reading glasses. Way too much eye strain, so I brought in a daylight lamp and looked again. Terrible headache developed, so I brought in a second daylight light. Eventually, I had to wear a smallish LED lamp on my forehead to complete the task. I must have looked a fright sitting there with all that STUFF around and on me! The headache lasted into the next day, and I even had some trouble seeing clearly through my regular specks for awhile. I'm sure part of it was the variegated colors, plus I've found that charcoal weft pretty much disappears when used with certain shades of eggplant. I've since ordered some lighting/magnifying gear to help in the future.
Today was washing and pressing day, and much to my dismay, I found two small areas of skips that span ~1/2 inch that I previously missed. I could sit with it and hand stitch it, but then I would have to rewash the whole wrap. I've decided to allow myself to put a creation out in the world that is not "perfect" in my eyes, hoping that someone will want to give it some love anyway. The structural integrity of the wrap is not affected, and the floats are extremely small, about 1/6", so I'm not concerned about them catching on something. The few doubled wefts that I told you about last time are visible, but not really in your face, and also do not affect the cloth.
It measured 31.75 " in the reed, and I wove to 6 yards under tension, not counting the hems. It is now 28 1/8" X 185", just over 5 yards long. I also decided to sew in a label as a middle marker instead of weaving one while it was on the loom. Note to self - buy some purple thread to match the label.
The selvedges, which were a huge headache for me, turned out fairly well. There are a couple of places where I wish they were straighter, but there were no loose bits, and the waviness from my first wrap are nowhere to be seen.
All in all, a success along my journey to weave beautiful, safe wraps for baby-wearers out there! I'm looking forward to a smaller project or two for now, until I get inspired to create another design. I've already wound a short warp for a merino/tencel huck scarf, and I think another long-ish towel warp is in my near future.
I've been weaving baby wraps for about 8 months now. Lots of work. Did you know there are Federal labeling requirements? Someone suggested I join the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance, which is where I've gotten all my info from since. If you're going to be selling your wraps, you might find it worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peg, for pointing out the requirements. I am aware of them after much reading and research. I plan on joining BCIA as soon as I get a sense that I will be able to sell a wrap here and there. In the meantime, I have all the labelling and warranty requirements covered. How did you find your customers, if I may ask?
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