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Summer Sarah-Dippity Skirt

3/26/2019

 
Picture
Please disregard the dubious expression on my face,
because I'm having a great time
with this garment.
Picture
Amidst the shoveling of February,
I got to make samples:
-hand spun linen,
-hand spun wool (for linsey woolsey),
-mill spun linen,
-walnut dyed (but not hand spun) cotton,
--a commercial blend of cotton, linen, nettle and silk,
Picture
There are so many variables.
In the photo above,
I'm re-sleying the rigid heddle,
moving from a 12 to a 15 dent.
(Both ends of the cloth are lovely and astonishingly different)
Picture
Project in the raw: samples (in the red bowl), calculation sheets, fiber, snips loom and knitting needles.
My favorite samples
are the 100% hand spun linen
and hand spun linesey-woolsey,
but I haven't yet spun enough fine linen  
so I decided to keep building working on that
while beginning on this first non-wool skirt:
--a combination of the walnut dyed cotton 
and Nettle Grove (cotton, linen, nettle and silk).
I chose this last  in part because of the name,
(though of course there is hardly any actual nettle fiber in it),
in part because there it was at the Yarn Underground (my LYS),
and mostly because it is pleasant to knit with --
and essential feature of Sarah-Dippity  skirt materials.
Picture
Using the basic warping technique
 from Backstrap Dialogues
I wound my longest  Backstrap warp yet (four+ yards)
threaded the 15 dent rigid heddle,
plunked my butt on the floor,
​and started weaving.
Picture
With a wool skirt to keep my legs cozy,
Picture
old quilt to sit on,
 and a few simple tools--
Picture
this part went way too fast. 
Picture
All too soon, it was done.
Picture
Of course then I got to wash and press it,
drape it against my legs,
​and get all excited about actually putting it on.
But first
​ --three wedges to knit 
(a couple of weeks of evening reading time),
Picture
--a rough layout to test my calculations,
Picture
--a more careful layout to test the actual fit
Picture
-- some time devoted to the question
of whether the knitted wedges
should go over or under the woven panels
(I chose under),
Picture
-- careful (but rough), basting 
--and finally, yesterday afternoon,
trying it on (see the beginning of this post),
at which point I learned that I do, indeed,
need to knit a fourth wedge.
Picture
More, then to come in future blog posts:
-the Great Closure Debate
(buttons? zipper? snaps?)
-The Waistband
(I think this skirt might want one,
but do I want to weave it
and if so,
how?)
and 
-Final Fitting
Oh, the DRAMA.

Until then, here are 
a few amazing  Sarah-Dippity links:

-Jaya on Instagram
-Peg on her Blog
-An entire Ravelry Thread
-#sarahdippityskirt
(a hash tag  I hope any of you making skirts and on instagram, will use)
​What else? Do let me know.
Thanks everyone!
Vicki
3/26/2019 12:19:25 pm

So cool your shirt has it's own hashtag!

Kathy
3/26/2019 01:08:29 pm

Thanks for the inspiration, Sarah. I want to learn to spin linen! And then weave it, of course. How can I learn?

Mary
3/26/2019 03:11:38 pm

Ply magazine published an issue on linen. I would start there.

Sarah
3/26/2019 05:57:06 pm

Thanks Mary. I totally agree.

Kathy
3/26/2019 06:35:05 pm

Thanks, Mary!

Sarah
3/26/2019 05:56:48 pm

Yes! Mary’s suggestion of last spring’s Ply magazine is perfect. A fabulous source.

Kathy
3/26/2019 06:35:46 pm

Thanks, Sarah. I'll check it out.

Eileen
3/26/2019 02:12:39 pm

Hi Sarah,
I have some special woven lengths of fabric picked out for this project and they are a mixture of Cotton and are from a weaver who influenced me, who is now past. I plan on doing the panels in handpun wool.
Besides this one you just showed, have you mixed the two fiber materials?
Love your experimentation!

Sarah
3/26/2019 05:57:52 pm

I’ve only mixed them in my experiments, of which I hope there will be many more.
Look forward to seeing what you do.

Freyalyn Close-Hainsworth
3/27/2019 03:32:06 am

Well, if if needs a waistband surely you can just inkle one out. Or even tablet-weave one!

Sarah
4/1/2019 07:53:43 pm

Both excellent ideas — indeed, I’m in the midst of an Inkle band right now, so thanks!

Gretchen F
3/27/2019 04:09:00 am

How fun that two of the blogs I follow had backstrap looms today! I also read Japanese Textile Worshops and Bryan has warped his, and for extra interest, has a short video of making silk hankies.
It’s wonderful seeing common projects in two different parts of the world.

Peg Cherre link
3/27/2019 05:11:35 am

Thanks for the link, Sarah. I note in one of my replies to a comment that I’d like to do a skirt for summer and am pondering what I’d knit the wedges with. You are always an inspiration.

Kristin
3/27/2019 07:36:40 am

It's shimmering! I just may have to try this one out :)

ellizaduckie
4/1/2019 02:56:15 pm

Delightful blog. I just found you today and have been lost in your pages and clicking on referenced links. Joy. I especially liked your use of paper, and the winter skirt! I’d been considering weaving panels and using knitting in some way. So I was very excited to see your use. Inspiring! Also intrigued by “fringeless” weaving and how you came to it. I too like simplifyng things so my sometimes annoyed body will cooperate. Keep on keeping on, I’m going to enjoy reading your blog and looking at all your luscious visuals.

Sarah
4/1/2019 07:54:54 pm

Wow, thanks! And Welcome. This work is all so interesting in the most surprising ways, isn’t it?


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    ​Sarah C Swett 
    tells stories
    with
    ​ and about

     hand spun yarn. 


    Picture
    Click for info on
    my four selvedge
    warping class
    with
    ​ Rebecca Mezoff  
    fringeless


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