New Studio Space for Cloth of Kin

Solstice Studios has moved! Thanks to all the woven love out there I've taken a big step and expanded into a larger space where I can set up some more of my looms that have been languishing in storage. My new location is bright and sunny, has a view of the mountains, and most importantly, feels like a REAL weaving studio (big smile!) On top of all that magnificence, the side doors of my studio open into Art Scene, a lovely little art shop. When patrons wandering in and out, I occasionally slip into interpretive mode (thank you Parks Canada) and my tendency to hermit myself away is less available, a good thing, really.... It also means more people looking in on my mess so it was time to organize the yarn stash... welcome yarn wall!

Solstice Studios is also in transition, as you may know, I been very busy weaving vast yardage of Cloth of Kin lately. Cloth of Kin has also become a business name and the website http://www.clothofkin.com is in it's final stages of development, set to launch July 1st! With the launch of the website, Solstice Studios as a business will be laid to rest and Cloth of Kin Inc. will take over as the product name, studio name, and business name. Cloth of Kin Inc. will give weavers from around the world opportunity to connect with families who want to create an heirloom Cloth of Kin.

I want to send a big THANK YOU to all the families out there who are part of the initial development of Cloth of Kin. The family designs you have shared with me have brought joy to my heart and have set the stage for this grand undertaking.

If you want to know more about Cloth of Kin, there is some info on the facebook site http://www.facebook.com/clothofkin

Cloth of Kin design options

Cloth of Kin designed by Solstice Studios

Cloth of Kin is a family co-creation, a hand-woven cloth created by each member of a family picking one colour that will represent themselves in the cloth. Creating the Cloth of Kin has been a long labour of LOVE for me, starting with the birth of the idea over 2 years ago to selecting materials, developing the guidelines, weaving designs, getting online, and that's just the beginning! In time I believe Cloth of Kin will take many different forms as weavers around the world join this initiative and weave custom ordered Cloth of Kin in their own personal style. What I want to present in this post are the "Solstice Studios" warp and weft design options that I've developed for my Cloth of Kin custom orders.

Let me note that ALL the cloth on this post was created using the SAME 10 colours in 3 different warp designs. "Unity", "Fibonacci", and "Symphony".

Cloth of Kin Warp and Weft Designs:

Unity warp design

 "Unity" warp design - here are 10 different colours, selected by family members, spaced evenly across the width of the cloth.

The weft used on the top cloth was light grey alpaca/silk and on the bottom was dark grey alpaca/silk.

The dark grey weft interferes the LEAST with these bright warp colours, meaning that they stay truest to their unwoven colour.

Unity warp and Unity weft

"Unity" weft design - This weft design creates blocks of colour by taking the colours used in the warp and using them for weft. It's effect is very vibrant.

"Fibonacci" warp design - This design blends the colours slightly to create a rippling effect. The weft used for the cloth below was black alpaca/silk.

Fibonacci warp design

Fibonacci warp and Fibonacci weft design

"Fibonacci" weft design - This cloth was made from the same warp as the one above. The weft colours here alternate in the same pattern as the warp colours. This design is the closest to a traditional tartan. It takes a long time to weave so there is an extra charge for the "Fibonacci" weft design. Here I have added 0.5 m of "Fibonacci" weft to the 2 ends of a 5 m piece of cloth. The rest of the cloth is woven with grey cotton weft.

Symphony warp and Unity weft

"Symphony" warp design - This design uses the same colours as all the Cloths above but they are made into smaller stripes and arranged in a secret mathematical way :) It reminds me of Scandinavian fabric that I grew up with.

"Unity" weft design - The colours that were used in the warp are also used as weft colours woven in blocks.

Please note, all of the fabric in this post was made by Solstice Studios as an exclusive Cloth of Kin custom order and is not for sale.

Difference Between Warp and Weft

The difference between WARP and WEFT

Right here in Black and White!  And Grey and Beige! Are you thinking of designing custom ordered handwoven fabric?  The world of handmade textiles is full of archaic terms such as warp and weft, heddles and beaters, spindles, and maidenheads, just to name a few!

WARP is lengthwise threads fastened to the loom from back to front and DOES NOT CHANGE throughout the weaving.

WEFT is widthwise threads that pass through the warp using a bobbin and a shuttle. The weaver throws the shuttle back and forth between the warp threads and that is how the cloth is made. WEFT is interchangeable! The weaver can change weft as many or as few times as they wish. Changing weft slows down the weaving process as the weaver must stop, tuck in loose in ends, change the colour, and continue. READ $$$!

I have used a piece of CLOTH OF KIN above to demonstrate. The WARP colours from left to right are green, pink, yellow, burgundy, red, blue, etc. The WEFT colours from bottom to top are grey, black, beige, and white.

You can see that the weft colours slightly change the look of the warp colours, but the basic warp sequence never changes. When I weave a new warp, I like to do a sample of weft colours to see what weft will “increase the vibration” of the cloth, basically, bring out the colours in the most gratifying way. Even after 12 years of weaving experience, the results are often unexpected, hence the sample.

Can you guess which colour I chose for the Cloth of Kin above? 

...It was grey. In this case, I wanted the least amount of interference with all the primaries in the warp colours. Good luck with designing your WARPS and your WEFTS!