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Peer Support: Design Help – September 2023
For anyone who wasn’t able to attend the Design Help session, here is an overview of what we talked about.
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This month there were no questions submitted, so the floor was open for the members who were attending to ask questions.
Joy started us off noting that she has plans to travel to a shop that stocks some weaving yarns (which is a luxury for many of us!), and she noted that the shop stocks Tencel® yarn.
Joy has not woven with Tencel previously, but has seen some comments on various online platforms about using it. Some of the comments were good, and some were less flattering to Tencel® as a fiber. Joy asked the group what their experiences with tencel have been.
The other Joy in attendance shared that she had just wound a Tencel® warp and dyed it, and was anxious to get it on the loom. Joy has woven with Tencel® before, and noted that it is a beautiful fiber to use for scarves. She also has fabric that she plans to make a jacket with, but she is a little concerned that she should have used a tighter sett, as Tencel® is a “slippery” fiber.
Kathy shared that she had just taken her first Tencel® off the loom recently, and was working on twisting the fringe for that piece. She commented that it was delightful to wear, and that her niece joined in the fun, and wove part of the scarf as her first experience weaving. Kathy plans to send the scarf to her niece as a gift when it is finished.
Cass shared the Tencel® scarf that she wove on her rigid heddle loom, and is an award winning piece from her state fair. Cass thinks that Tencel® has a really lovely drape, but notes that it is a little harder to use when indirect warping as it is a bit slippery. Cass also shared a piece that she has woven that is Tencel® and mercerised cotton, which she was very pleased with. She commented that the Tencel® has a little more shine than the cotton, and that her finished piece had some iridescence, which she was very happy with.
Cass has plans to weave Tencel® with a 3 shaft twill on her rigid heddle loom, and she was encouraged to share the results in the Academy forums.
Several other members confirmed that Tencel is a fiber that they enjoy weaving with, and Joy noted that she is quite encouraged by this, and will likely buy some to weave with on her trip.
Joy P. then asked for some help finding a pattern for a “Baja hoodie”, of the type that people often purchase inexpensively on vacation in South America. Kathy recommended the website sewingpatternreview as a source to search for patterns, and see what other people think of them.
Kathy M shared a pattern that she had on hand, from Islander Sewing System. Kathy did express some challenges sewing with the pattern, and the fit, that noted that the experience of another person sewing the same thing could be different. Ruby shared that Daryl Lancaster also has a similar pattern, and there was some discussion that Daryl is a great source for patterns, as she is also a weaver, and supplies information that is specific to sewing with handwoven fabrics.
Joy then noted that she was having some trouble with Fiberworks. She had inadvertently saved a file as a .dtx, and was unable to save it as a .wif. She normally is able to do this, but was not able to this time. No one had experienced the same thing, and Joy was encouraged to share her question in the forums, as there are many members who use Fiberworks, and there could be someone who could shed some light on the issue.
Carol shared that she was intrigued by Janet’s design in a live lecture where she had designed a twill with the new twill generator, and was using a color repeat where she was shifting the colors for each repeat. Carol was wondering how using different contrast levels would change a similar design. No one had a quick answer, and Carol noted that she might try warping for two scarves, and using different contrast levels in each, to find out what the effect would be.
Joy P shared that she often chooses a shape in a design that she would like to emphasize, and uses light colors (often yellow, as she has a preference for yellow), and will continue from there with the design.
Kathy noted that any premium member who would like to see the Live Lecture that Carol was referring to can go to the left hand navigation bar, click on events, then recordings, and easily find the recording of all previous events. (note that Peer Support sessions are not recorded.)
As a last question, Joy H. asked about warping sticks, and beaming. She recently beamed a 13 yd warp, and ended up with her warp looking like a sausage on the beam, which caused her some tension issues. Several members shared what they use for warp packing. The options included warping stick, portions of venetian blinds, paper bath mats (!), yardsticks, redboard (which contractors use to protect floors in newly constructed homes), and heavy wallpaper.
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3 Replies
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@joy-pate If you put the details of the issue you were having in the Fiberworks Questions discussion, I’ll see if I can recreate it on my end.
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HI Janet. It is a very bizarre problem that has never happened before. I can open any existing wif file and save it as a wif file with no problem. I can download and save wif files. But suddenly, when I open a file saved as a Fiberworks doc (dtx), I cannot save it as a wif. Similarly, if I open FW and open a new file and create a draft, it will not save as a wif. Attached is a screenshot of the message I get, and a file that I would really like to have as a wif to upload into color editor! (So, if you can make it a wif for me…… :)). One thing to note – I recently ran a software update on my Mac, and it is possible that there is now some kind of compatibility glitch. I have emailed Bob at FW and asked about this problem and told him the new version of software update, but no reply as of yet. He is probably trying to figure out what is going on!
ACK!!!! The system won’t let me upload the screenshot or the FW doc type of files! The screenshot is a jpeg, but apparently has some forbidden font or something. I will email them to you.
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That does sound like a Mac OS issue – I know that there have been a few with semi-recent updates. Bob is usually good to respond with a solution ASAP so I’m sure you’ll hear from him soon. In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye out for your .dtx and send it back!
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