(click through here for the full-size pix on Picasa)
All the samples have been woven, zig-zagged, cut (where necessary) and finished. Time to take a look at the results. Here’s what I’ve got:
The two on the left are my unfinished samples, sett at 24 and 30. Both are woven off with the 11/2 (natural) cotton and have both plain weave and bronson sections. Other than a basic reference, I’m pretty done with them.
These next two samples are the plain weave pieces that were sett at 30 and woven off with the 11/2, post-finishing. Of the two, I like the look of the mixed warp. I also like the hand of it. It has better drape and doesn’t feel as stiff. However, neither of them have the feel that I want for my light-weight shirt so I’m glad that I spent more time at 24epi.
First off, the plain weave. Definitely closer to a balanced weave than the 30epi samples, but still a bit on the stiff side. I’m sure some of that is the cotton, some is the size of the yarn. It’s also boring.
Here are the two mixed-warp samples, both woven off with the 11/2 cotton. The drape of this is better and I like the complexity of the fabric. Amazingly, I really, REALLY like the bronson on here. If you go back to the top-most picture, you can see the effect of the Bronson on the fabric. It distorts the vertical stripes just a tiny bit – almost yielding a honeycomb effect. And, I like the horizontal floats much more than the vertical for the same reason. They’re small enough that you can’t really see them but definitely enhance the fabric. Really wonderful.
These next two were woven off with the 10/1 silk noil. Can you see the texture on the plain weave? The hand of these two is TOTALLY DIFFERENT. It’s soft and drapey and the irregularity of the noil is really wonderful. Take the awesomeness of the mixed-warp above and go one notch further. I just love it. Unless someone talks me into something different, the mixed-warp with noil is the fabric I expect to take to production. We just have to argue about Bronson or not.
The last bit of homework was to weave off whatever was left with something “unexpected”. I was casting around for something and glommed on to the remnants of the cone of 14/2 Alpaca/Silk from WEBS. This is really, really good fabric, too. The alpaca/silk has enough texture to give some life to the fabric but doesn’t overwhelm. The drape is still really good, but now it’s a bit heavier. I think it might work well for a light jacket rather than a shirt – and with the variety of cotton colors I have, I think I may well toss something together as a complement to the shirt. I didn’t bother taking a close-in picture of the plain warp, but suffice to say that the alpaca really enhanced the look of the Bronson. You can see it second from the top in the overall piece, right-hand sample.
Boy did I learn a lot from this. The biggest thing I learned is that I don’t know squat about fabric and that I need to weave a lot more before I do. It’s like discovering a new author that’s written 50+ novels. I think I’m set for a while.
Whaddya think?
I think I have to sample more. In the past, I’ve just made (somewhat well-educated) stabs in the dark, and I’ve been pretty lucky. I’ve pretty much had to make stabs in the dark when I’ve been weaving scarves with, say, two skeins of hand-dyed sock/shawl yarn, as there really isn’t enough for sampling. Mostly (about 10 out of 12?), that has worked well. But going forward, I see that sampling would be really worthwhile, particularly for clothing yardage.
Also, I really like the last fabric, now that I’ve come back to look at the full-size photos. It just looks so interesting compared to the others. I can’t tell hand, of course (but you could send out samples!), but it just LOOKS wonderful!
I think I agree with everything you’ve said, especially the bit about not knowing enough (not sure about squat) about fabric. For the last couple of months if I’ve had to go into town I’ve made time to walk through clothing shops just to check out the fabrics – what they feel like, how they drape – and the cut of the clothes I like.