Common Threads Textile Group

We’ve slept a few times since hanging Alive With Change last week, so I thought it might be time to share the exhibition as a whole rather than give you close up sneak pieces. First up is our “Shawl Wall”.

We have chosen the shawl as the medium through which to explore and express the role of women through Bradford’s changing times, from rough wool for millworkers to silk and other luxury fibres for their masters’ wives. Throughout history, the shawl is ubiquitous and has come to be used as shorthand to represent status within the social hierarchy, depending on the materials used and the way in which the shawl was worn. It has become a paradigm for women’s presence and labour in industry, as in society. Here we pay tribute to that presence.

Alive With Change continues at Bradford Cathedral until 27th November.

More sneak peeks...
Alive With Change opens tomorrow at Bradford Cathedral and runs through until 27th November.

Just a few sneak peaks to tempt you to come along to the Alive With Change exhibition that opens tomorrow at ...

Winding a new warp...

Day 30: Favourite post by a participant, chosen by

Why do I like this piece by Sue Nicholls? The actual image appeals to me. I like that sort of outline drawing of trees, and the colours. Also it's something I couldn't do myself, which I also find intriguing.

with
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Day 26 of by - I’ve caught up with the challenge - today is CONTROLLED - this is an example of one of my precision machine embroideries. These tend to grow organically from something I see in my head rather than from a sketch.

Day 29: Edge posted by

I have a bit of a ‘thing’ about my selvedges when weaving. Some say I am too fussy and ‘fiddle’ too much trying to get them right.

This image is from a small sample. Not a finished piece that will be used or seen by anyone other than me. I still couldn’t stop myself from trying to get the edges right.

Can you spot the point at which I decided I didn’t like this piece and didn’t care any more?!!

It’s a _very_ bad sample that makes me give up bothering to get the edges right!!!

Day 28: Found posted by

I bought a pair of old linen sheets from a car boot sale, and, when I got home, found this sandwiched between them. I love the colours and pattern,the rusty needles still threaded as if the needlewoman is coming back to finish her work. I would love to know what it was going to be.

Day 27: Uncontrolled posted by

As well as a hand weaver, I am also a handdyer. Today I am setting up for and there always comes a point where it all feels very uncontrolled (or maybe I mean out of control?) when I’m partway through building the stand and it feels like I’ll never be done because I need to keep trying until I find the best configuration.

Day 26: Controlled posted by

Usually weaving is all about control – the weaver controls how the warp is put on the loom and how the weft is thrown and the loom controls how the threads are lifted. But occasionally it’s fun to let something else take control. This is a picture of a narrow scarf/neckpiece I wove some years ago. The white threads are linen but the pink and purple are very overtwisted wool. I spun the wool on my Victorian spinning wheel, which is a flax wheel and therefore has a ratio that is really far too high for normal wool spinning. It was all flat when under tension on the loom of course, but once it was off and washed the wool tried to naturally release some of the overtwisting resulting in a narrower scrunched up piece. It’s fun and I love it, but what was in control here was definitely the wool!

Day 25: Detail posted

I really admire the work of Jo Bee, and came across this picture in "Open Spaces", the latest book by Susan Guagliumi. This combination of delicacy and intricacy is quite seductive.

Day24: Reverse posted by

This is a small sample for my current project.

It consists of two layers of cloth, woven at the same time. The front layer is hand manipulated leno, leaving gaps where the back layer can be seen through.

I don’t like this sample and will not be taking it further, even though I do quite like the colours on the reverse side!

Day 23: Pattern

I love pattern, not just any pattern but rows, lines, columns of repeating geometric pattern. I think that’s one reason why I love weaving so much, because that’s exactly what a loom does – produce lines and columns of geometric pattern.

These three pictures are screen printed furnishing fabrics from the 1970s designed by Barbara Brown for that I took at an exhibition at the Whitworth Gallery in Manchester. I like that they’re monochrome and that they’re a bit dazzling if you look at them for too long. I’d love to be able to buy them.

Day 22: Story/Narrative posted by

This image is from a paper, published by Cornell University, entitled "Stitch Meshes for Knitted Clothing with Yarn Level Detail" in which detailed research and application is outlined in digital representation of individual stitches and stitch patterns. The image is so succinct, telling the entire story in one picture, and leaving room for the imagination to fill any possible gaps with flights of fancy.

Day 21: Favourite posted by

Picking a favourite thing or activity is difficult as it's something that constantly changes. But one of my favourites is to spend a day dyeing yarn. The first picture shows my table set up ready to work. The second is dyed yarns. The wool I dyed to knit myself a winter jumper, but as each of the wools was dyed I noticed there was still colour in the dyebaths. So I quickly wet out hanks of the silk I weave with and added more vinegar mordant. I really love the range of shades. Interestingly the blue silks were in the exhaust from the green dye. The wool had taken up all the yellow from the mix.

Day 20: New Kills posted by

In my latest project I am making a panel comprising of macrame, lucet cords and tatted items, non of which I have ever done before!

I am really enjoying learning new skills but at the same time my brain is hurting!

I'm sure these new crafts will become second nature in time. I can feel my future projects list getting longer with every new discovery these techniques throw up!

Day 19: Nature posted by

Not a textile, but I really love this metalwork by . I knew her when she was a member of Shropshire Guild of Contemporary Craft, when her work was mainly inspired by leaves and birds, but since she’s moved to St Ives in Cornwall there’s lots of beautiful seaweed and shoreline inspired pieces too. I love the patination and the movement in the pieces, and, as the two leaves show, every item is different.

Day 18: Markmaking

I find the inbuilt raddle on the Louet looms invaluable. However, my method of resting the heel of my hand on them does lead to some interesting marks being left behind!!

Please note the scratch caused by an overenthusiastic weaving assistant helping with the winding of the warp!!

Day 17: Rework posted by

I’m intrigued by the differences that can be achieved when you rework a pattern with a different yarn and sett. The swatch on the right is a doublecloth worked mainly in 22/2 cottolin at 16 ends per inch for each layer; the swatch on the left is the same pattern worked in 2/60 silk at 32 ends per inch for each layer. The cottolin would be great for upholstery; the silk has a beautiful drape and handle and one day, I’d love to make enough for a shirt...

Day 16: Sustainable posted by

Sustainable

I’m a big fan of British wool. The UK has over sixty sheep breeds - more than any other country in the world. They often graze on land unsuitable for other farming, and in conservation grazing in particular are used to help keep shrub and grassland under control.

The pictures are of a Herdwick sheep, one of my favourite breeds, and part of a rug I wove entirely from Herdwick wool.

Day 15: Gritty posted by

I have chosen the definition of "gritty" that describes something as courageous or daring. These garments/creations (found a while ago via ) seem to me to fall into this category, designed to make political statements as much as showing a way to the future with the craft of knit.

Day 14:Cute posted by

Whilst my weaving assistant is undeniably cute, his assistance when winding a warp onto the loom is not always appreciated!

I've tried using sticks instead of paper to separate the the warp layers with the same level of success.

He just loves to 'help'!

Day 13: Colour, posted by

As someone whose priority is texture rather than colour, I commend this dress by Sandra Backlund as a prime example of how colour can accentuate a shape and endow it with its own sense. The scarlet implies a level of flirtatious danger that a calmer colour could not.

Day 12: Unravelling, posted by

During a recent tidy up, I discovered some experimental blanks a friend knitted up for me last year so I could play about with gradient dyeing. I thought it was time to unravel soak and stretch, ready for reknitting.

Day 11: Magazines/Blog

We've all been there; you're happily going through your day as planned and then something unexpected creates a delay and, horror of horrors - you've not brought a project with you and you're left twiddling your thumbs.

Fear not! Inspiration is never far away!

I recently discovered that, as a member of my local library, I can access all kinds of magazines on my phone/tablet for free. This is apparently a worldwide phenomenon and all you need to do is check with your library then enrol onto the website using your library card number.

Whilst this has saved me in unexpected moments of inactivity, sadly it has also added many, many items onto my 'future projects' list!

Day 10: Structure posted by

I was going back through some technical files from the first year of the Bradford Course ( ) and found these. It was the first time I had been asked to represent the making of a knitted structure as a follow-able diagram. The process of making a knitted stitch is quite simple, whereas the combination of simple stitches in a structure which forms the pattern can be complex. To follow a single strand of yarn from the first to the last stitch in a design requires patience and technical knowledge if one is to make a structure that is practical as well as elegant. Such fun.

Day 9: Fibre posted by

16 months ago we lost a beloved member of our group. I am lucky enough to have some of her yarn, which I keep in a special, clear lidded, box on display in my workroom.

Sue’s natural skill in combining colours and different fibre types in her weaving is something that I have long admired. To be the kind of woman and friend she was is something I will always aspire to be.

Having these yarns on display reminds me to be braver in my weaving, kinder in my relationships, to never stop learning and to be adventurous!

And you thought it was just a box of fibre!

Day 7: Texture posted by

This is really a piece of whimsy, putting two very textured things together to make something else. The romanesco cauliflower, whose texture is made up of endless fractals, atop a simple piece of ribbing with additional texture from integral hoops and rudimentary smocking, masquerading as a small child's drawing of a tree. It makes me smile