I applied Howard’s Feed-n-wax to my newly made inkle loom, and to the freshly designed and cut wood rigid heddle and shuttle, both marked with the dragonfly symbol I designed for the loom.
It was so hard to wait for the finish to dry, I really wanted to warp it up and get testing!
I am putting together a display to showcase a number of different twined fibers. I decided to make the twine holders 3×5 with large print so that they could be read from a distance, and used my laser cutter to cut them from 1/8” plywood. Each card is finished with Howard’s butcher block conditioner before I start twining.
First up is long line flax.
I love long line flax, the ideal product that comes from flax processing. It is easy to twine and very strong, but still soft. I left a tail on the twined example so that people can see what the fiber looks like before it is twined.
Flax has been grown and harvested for thousands of years to produce linen cloth. The fabric softens with washing, and its breathability is superior in hot environments. Long line flax is sold in stricks, a bundle of fiber twisted, then twisted back on itself to form a stable spiral. Tow is shorter lengths of flax left over from the long line processing, and can be carded before being spun. I find touching a damp sponge before twining helps me grip the fibers better. Spinners will keep a small bowl of water at hand to smooth their spinning. Flax needs less twist than cotton or wool when spinning and can be spun extremely fine, using just a few fibers.
Eve Schaub is currently doing a project to grow a dress in her backyard, and is growing and processing flax. She is doing a great job showing the process, bringing in experts to teach aspects of the processing, and doing so in an entertaining way. It is well worth following her journey.
I’ve been fascinated for years with the magic braid done with leather where both ends of the braid are uncut. I found a good tutorial that uses reclaimed leather, and I had to try it.
I did not make these into bracelets as in the tutorial, but into key chain fobs, by folding them in half and adding a clip.
I went to a painting class at our new local Hobby Hut to do an interchangeable shelf sitter. Very cute design, there is a “bird house” base and the door and central design can be changed out. I painted the base at the studio but took the highland coo in the honey home to paint.
The original design had antenna on the highland coo, which I didn’t care for, so I cut them off before painting.
I did have to fill the space on the next layer where the antenna were supposed to go, but some cutoff bits of wood and a heavy layer of paint did the trick.
I will post the glued together finished project once I’ve done a clear UV protectant spray coat. It has been raining almost every day, so I haven’t had the chance yet.
It is traditional for Sweet Adelines to give small gifts of encouragement or luck in the time leading up to contest. Last year I crocheted worry worms, this year I made small four leaf clover charms from dyed green leather.
I designed the cut out in Adobe Illustrator. The grouping of four hearts represents the four voices of Barbershop Harmony. I originally wanted to do a fill engrave, then a cut out, but overall processing time would be 1.3 minutes each. I needed 60 charms. I redesigned the charm to be cuts only, using open slits to delineate the heart-shaped leaves, which dropped the processing time to 18 seconds each. The slits can also be used to hang the charm on a keyring or similar. I’m quite pleased with the number of pieces I was able to cut from a 12” square of leather.
I did lose three cuts on the left because the leather wasn’t completely flat, but all the other charms came out well. The laser does leave a charred edge, so I washed all the charms with water to remove the soot, then let them dry overnight.
I designed, printed, and cut flat cards and used glue dots to mount the leather charms to the cards.
