So there I was, 
happily weaving along,
 ​minding my selvedges,

thinking about the interlacement
of linen, wool and plain weave
through the millennia,
​when I remembered this book.

so you might imagine my delight
when I suddenly realized--
wait-- I'm making cloth for clothing
and I can work tapestry into this cloth
RIGHT ​NOW!

As I think I mentioned last week,
historic Linsey-Woolsey
usually seems to be wool weft on a linen warp,
and the the same holds true 
for  late 3rd to mid 7th Century Coptic Tapestry
(which makes sense  given ease of dyeing wool for imagery
and a centuries old tradition of growing flax for clothing.).

Since my cloth had a wool warp and linen weft however,
I decided to do the tapestry part backwards too --
weaving a weft faced linen ground 
with little woolen squares
(using the same yarn as the warp).

Those of you who have read Backstrap Dialogues
are already familiar with the endless disagreements
between my inner Luminist and Storymaker--
so while they are fighting over aesthetics
 I will just mention that technically,
this first stab at tabby/tapestry
​was both a delight
​ and a pain in the butt. 

There are issues of tension,
shrinkage, sett,
connection with
(and the simultaneous weaving of)
the tabby areas on the sides,
all of which I want to mess about with
​in future experiments,

but overall I'm thrilled --
both with the addition of tapestry
and with the cloth itself which,
now that it is off the loom and washed,
(by hand as for wool, with extra agitation for fulling)
I find to be crisp, light, fluid
and even a little glittery.

The tapestry section is smooth and weighty
in an intriguing and satisfying way.
Nothing odd or 'unbelonging' feeling about it.
I will probably sew the slits
before beginning the actual garment --
and of course that can't happen
until I've completed 
the next swathe --
linen warp/wool weft
with whatever touch of sartorial tapestry
​ Luminist and Storymaker decide upon--
and designed whatever it is I'm going to make.

Two final thoughts --
1. Linsey Woolsey has a long rocky history
from breeds of sheep, to the use and abuse of power,
from linen processing in Coptic Egypt
to ramifications of the British Wool Act of 1699,
from The Fibershed  movement
to the enforced spinning and weaving of slave clothing--
as I was reminded by Mary Madison in last week's comments.
It is a history at once painful, fascinating and full of possibility--
 worthy of serious inquiry on many levels.
As usual I've no idea where it all is going for me,
but as you can see,
I'm on the path,
spindle in hand.
and thank you kindly
​ for your company.

2. Switching Newsletter providers last week seemed to go well,
though a few people reported
that their newsletter went into Spam
because it came from Sarah C Swett
instead of A Field Guide To Needlework.
I have now changed that and hope it works better.  
Thank you again for your support and patience!

Yesterday was wonderful.

Honestly, the prototype shirt  
I talked about last week
is just so satisfying and comfortable
I couldn't wait another minute.

Anyway, I really like to warp--
​for tapestry or plain cloth.

What's not to love
about strand after strand
undulating through a pair of lease sticks?​

My earlier linseny-woolsey samples
had both wool and linen in the warp.
The cloth is lovely
but warping was a total pain
so for this first swathe of actual yardage
 I'm using 2 ply wool as warp
and singles linen as weft.

​Historic linsey-woolsey 
apparently used linen warp and wool weft,
​and maybe I'll try that next time.

It is also amazing
to run smack into my fixed ideas--
whatever they may be
though in this case
that garment sewing
is all about subtracting shapes
from someone else's idea
of how wide cloth can be made--
and suddenly see
that those ideas
are but illusions
 I can stroll right through.

There is more exploring to do
along these lines
--building garments in an additive,
minimal-waste way--
and I'm definitely planning to do some,
even as, for the moment,
I'll keep geeking out
on the pleasure of using paper purns
and this old boat shuttle
to slip shots of flax
across the open shed.

Speaking of geeking out --
I just moved my newsletter host 
from Mailchimp, where it has been for the last few years
to Weebly, the outfit within which I have this website and blog.
There were myriad reasons for this,
​and the odd hassle,
but all I can say for the moment is -- it's done.

Do you ever lie in bed at night,
thinking about an idea --

​trying to imagine--
and then solve--
 every issue that might arise
when you actually start
​bringing it into the physical world?​

I have also been designing
the mythical garment
the cloth will become--
and growing wildly curious
about construction possibilites.

Every piece has selvedges,
which means overlapping seams
with minimal bulk
and the particular drape that results--
a thing  I hope to make a feature
of my mythical linsey woolsey garment,
and is definitely based
​on all I've learned
from the design of the Sarah-Dippity.
Indeed, that series of skirts
has given me quite a taste
for this business of
​additive clothing construction. 

Use the shapes you have,
and/ or 
make the shapes you need
then put them together,
 take them apart
and baste again
in a different way
until things are right.
​
Basting, indeed, is my new best friend. 
Great big stitches
make it possible to try things on,
even as they are easy to whip out 
when a new (and vastly improved)
idea for sleeve and underarm construction
arises in the middle of the night.

It's been a slow process
over the last few weeks--
filled with delight, frustration
and unexpectedly visceral
textile pleasure.

Indeed those scraps of cloth
​have provided such delight 
that the wee tapestry pocket
might even be too much.

Time will tell, I suppose.
As, indeed
I hope it eventually lets me know
if this shirt wants a nice tidy hem --
​or not.

All I know for sure right now
is that this garment-in-progress
is fantastically comfortable.

​

Nothing momentous this week--

rather, a motley collection of moments
that has somehow seemed worth noticing:

--Lovely tunes at an annual outdoor Renaissance Fair,
the straw-bale seating much improved
by the purse spindle in my hands
(9 gram Jenkins Kuchulu)
and the new Brandi hat to replace the one
that fell out of my pocket after years of faithful service
keeping my ears warm and the rain off my glasses. 

--A mis-matched collection
of  backstrap experiments

--The Sides-to-Middle sheet,
apparently enjoying its extended life
as much as I have been

-Two coyotes crossing the path
(not together, but both heading south --following the mice?)
and then a black cat we thought (pretended), was a panther. 

--Also, drawing some instructions
(hopefully something I can share before too long)

--Beverages with Rochelle,
are always magical
even when the thing I most like
about fancy cocktails
is drawing them.

--That moment after lunch,
when I can get a little work done
​without moving from the spot in the sun
​outside the woodshed.

--Oh yes,
and deciding on the 20 gram yellow Hepty,
for the spin-and-knit-as-I-go Summer Sweater.
For some odd reason​
though the spindle is four grams lighter than the wooden one,
the finished chain-plied yarn is a hair thicker
(2700 yards/lb vs 2900yards/lb)
and thus slightly easier to knit.
Also, the spindle shaft is longer on the yellow one,
so it holds more.

--More laundry today
but I haven't drawn it yet
(and anyway you're probably less excited than I am
about sketches of our undies
hanging in the sun),
so I'll leave you here--
messing around,
barefoot in the mud.