Kelly

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 8

In the last post, we laid out, pinned and prepared all of the pieces of bag to sew together.

Now that we’ve pinned our 2 main bag panels together, we can take them to the sewing machine. With a straight, medium stitch, sew around 3 sides of the panels, leaving the top part that we didn’t pin open. Remove your pins as you go. When I’m sewing at the machine, I use my magnetic pin bowl to be able take pins out of the fabric quickly and pop them onto the bowl, where I know they’re not going to go anywhere. It has the added bonus of helping you find any pins that you may drop on the floor, especially on carpet. I just push the magnetic bowl around on the floor until it finds the pin, it’s very handy!

*This post contains affiliate links. This means that if you click on the link and purchase, I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

I’ve said it before, but it’s an even more poignant point for bag sewing, which needs to be sturdy. It is a total false economy to sew with cheap thread that is just going to break – either when you’re sewing or very soon afterwards. Use a good quality, “sew all” thread such as Gutermann.

When you have sewn around all three sides you will have what looks like a very big pocket!

Now we sew the lining fabric panels together in the same way EXCEPT that we leave the 6″ gap along the bottom edge. This is really important, as you won’t be able to turn your lining to the inside of your bag without it.

To sew the bag straps or handles, sew down one long side where the 2 edges join. You can also sew down the folded side if you like symmetry, but it’s not essential.

Take all of your pieces to the ironing board and press them on a steam setting. The level of heat to use will depend on what yarn you have used – you don’t want to scorch anything. If you’re worried about scorching, use a lower setting and/or a presser cloth. (This can be as simple as an old sheet or pillow case).

This part is best explained in the video, but to give you an overview, you put a finger into the corner of your inside out bag. Pinch the seams together so that the side and bottom seams are sandwiched together.

Hold a measuring tape against this seam from the top point.

Measure 2 inches along and place a pin horizontally across the pinched corner.

Place other pins horizontally across the corner at the 2″ mark, flattening the 2 layers of fabric together. You will end up with your corner in a triangular shape. Repeat to the other corner at the bottom of the bag. Now repeat the corner treatments on your lining fabric.

You can find all of this lesson in video format here:

Thanks for joining me today, as always, leave a comment about this lesson if you have any questions.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

How do I find the right class for me?

by Kelly 20 Comments

Currently there are over 60 classes available on my Online Weaving School. That is a lot of classes!

With all of that information, it can be a little tricky for new visitors to navigate the space according to their weaving level.

This little tutorial will show you how easy it is to find a class to suit you!

I have categorised each class into one of three categories:

Suitable for beginners
Suitable for weavers with some experience
Suitable for advanced

*One disclaimer. These categories are general terms that I put together to help you find your way around my classes. They are not set in stone. And please, don’t be put off trying a class just because it’s marked as advanced. Different weavers learn in a variety of ways and at differing rates. If you’re interested in a class, have a look at it before you determine that it’s not for you.

OK, on your homepage at the top left you will see “Category: All”, with a little green upside down triangle next to “All”.

Click on the upside down triangle and a drop down menu will appear.

There are lots of different categories apart from the three I already mentioned. These are in alphabetical order and just there to further help you find classes.

Scroll down until you reach categories beginning with “S”.

Select the option that you think would be the best fit for your level by clicking on it. I selected “Suitable for beginners”.

You will be taken to a new screen showing you all of the classes that come under the category you collected. From here, you can find out more about any of these classes by simply clicking on the thumbnail.

If you want to check out another category, you simply go back up to the top, click on the upside down triangle next to “Category: All” again and repeat the steps already described.

One of the reasons I chose Teachable as a hosting platform is that I felt it was very straightforward and easy to navigate. However, I have made an additional resource for you, to help make site navigation crystal clear – giving you the best learning experience. This free mini class covers these topics:

Site overview/how to navigate

Your avatar

Managing your profile

Managing your subscriptions

How to access/purchase classes

You can access the Teachable Tutorial by clicking here.

I hope this helps you, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to comment under this post. I’m always open to suggestions for how I can improve my school, so I welcome your thoughts on this as well.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

1000 sales giveaway!

by Kelly

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.

CONGRATULATIONS TO DEBORAH!

My little Etsy shop recently reached 1000 sales, isn’t that just amazing!?

To celebrate, I’m having a fun giveaway.

The winner will receive a Garden Path Scarf Kit in “Deep Lavender”, which includes the pattern and all the delicious Australian Merino wool you need to weave a scarf. I’m also including some really fun quintessentially Aussie snacks.

Now, before you poke your tongue out at the Vegemite, there is something we need to talk about. You know all those Youtube videos of people from countries other than Australia tasting Vegemite and proclaiming it the most disgusting food ever? They’re doing it all wrong!!!

Vegemite is never, ever, not even sometimes, eaten on a spoon! To be enjoyed as the delightful spread that it actually is, you need to eat it on toast with plenty of butter. Or in a sandwich with butter. But the toast is the most awesome. And just a scraping of Vegemite, not a bucket load.

I’m glad we cleared that up.

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere!

To enter, just tell me in the comments below which item from the giveaway picture is most appealing to you.

I’ll draw a winner in a week’s time, Tuesday 30th July.

Best of luck!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 7

by Kelly 2 Comments

Now we’re ready to sew the bag together! If you missed the last post on taking your fabric off the loom and wet finishing, you can take a look at it here.

*This post contains affiliate links, meaning if you click on the link I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Lay the fabric out on the ironing board with the WRONG side facing up. You will notice that your fusible interfacing has a shiny side and dull side. It’s the shiny side that will fuse to the fabric, so you want to place the shiny side down so that it meets with the wrong side of your fabric. This is worth doing properly. If you place the shiny side up instead, you may find yourself in the market for a new iron!

It is best to place a presser cloth over the fabric and fusible interfacing before you begin to iron. I just use an old sheet for protection. Set your iron to “cotton” steam setting a press evenly over the fabric. You can peel back the sheet here and there to check whether you have a good bond happening. Bear in mind that the bonding is not complete until the fabric has cooled.

Your piece should look like this when ready. The interfacing is completely bonded to one side of your fabric.

Fold the fabric over on itself so that the sides are all touching. Line up the pieces to fit as best you can.

Press the fold at the bottom of the bag to make a crease. This will become your cutting mark. If you’re a bit worried about cutting your fabric, don’t be! The fusible interfacing keeps it all very secure.

Cut right through the fabric, using the crease mark you just made.

Now you have two separate pieces, or bag panels.

At this point you will also want to cut your lining fabric in half after ironing a crease in it as you did before. There are so many choices you could make for lining fabric but if you’re really not sure, broadcloth is a good option.

If you’re not sure where to find all the measurements, they are in the Essential Info PDF in this post.

The next task is to fuse your interfacing to the bag handles, using the same method that was used for the main bag panels.

Fold the bag straps in half lengthwise and press. Open out and then fold in each long raw edge by about 1/4 inch and press. Fold the whole piece to the middle and press again. The raw edges will now be encased.

At the overlocker (serger) I run over all the raw edges. You can use a zig zag stitch on a sewing machine if you don’t have a serger.

This is what we have now. 2 X serged bag panels, 2 X lining panels and 2 X prepared bag handles.

Place a bag panel on top of the other, with RIGHT sides facing. Pin around all the edges except at the top, where you need to keep and opening. Do the same with the two lining panels, keeping the top open and leaving about a 6 inch gap at the middle of the bottom for turning later.

You can also pin the bag handle pieces together just so that they are held in place when you begin to sew them together.

Now all of our pieces are pinned and prepared for sewing. Stay tuned for the next post where we will sew the bag together!

You can watch the videos for this post:

And if you feel you need to learn more about cutting your hand woven fabric, I have a post for that here as well as videos:

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote bag Weave Along, Lesson 6

by Kelly 1 Comment

Now for the really exciting part! Once you’ve finished your required amount of weaving (check the Essential Project Information free download here) you can cut your weaving from the loom. Yay!

If you missed the last post about weaving and advancing the warp, you can find that here.

Release the warp tension at the back of the loom a little. If you want a fringe or are worried about your weaving unravelling at all, you can cut behind the reed which leaves plenty of fringe space.

Then, back to the front of the loom to release the brake, allowing you to easily unroll your weaving from the front beam.

You can either cut or undo the knots from the apron rod. I usually prefer to undo the knots (especially important if you want a fringe). Also, if you wove in a header with waste yarn at the beginning, now is the time to take that out.

Before wet finishing, it is essential to secure the raw edges of your weaving. A serger will make this job super easy, or a sewing machine set on zig zag stitch is also good.

You can find basic wet finishing instructions at the end of this video:

Or more detailed instructions in this blog post or video:

At the end of wet finishing and drying, you have some beautiful woven fabric ready to use and sew with. That’s what we’ll be talking about next time, I hope you can join me for that!

Until then…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 5

by Kelly Leave a Comment

In today’s post we carry on with the weaving of the tote bag panels and also talk about advancing the warp.

An important aspect of good weaving is advancing your warp. Of course, you can’t actually continue weaving unless you do so, as your weaving will fill right up to the heddle/reed and you won’t be able to weave any further.

Advancing the warp exposes more of the empty warp threads so that you can keep weaving. It basically involves releasing tension at the back of the loom, rolling the warp forward at the front of the loom, regaining your tension and then continuing to weave.

There is always a “sweet spot” for your weaving, the position is where the tension feels right and the beating is easy. If you wind forward too far, when you beat, the reed will touch the cloth beam at the front and the beat will be uneven. It’s also uncomfortable for your body to have to bring the reed so far forward, it puts strain on your wrists and shoulders.

Advancing often, and the right amount also helps you to keep weaving at the same tension.

My “sweet spot” for weaving. Not too close to the front cloth beam, not too close to the reed.

The best tip that I have for advancing the warp is “little and often”.

This video may help you to become more familiar with your loom’s tension system and gain a little confidence for advancing your warp.

I hope this post has been a help to you! Please leave me a comment and let me know, or ask any questions you may have.

The next post will cover removing your weaving from the loom and preparing for wet finishing.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Interview with Thistle Rose Weaving

by Kelly 2 Comments

Today I would love to introduce you to Martha of Thistle Rose Weaving. I am a long time admirer of her timeless and classy woven pieces. I know you will find her story very interesting!

What attracted you to weaving? How did you learn?

” When I was a young teen my family lived next door to a Swedish family. Everyday on my way to and from school I would see our neighbor, Mrs. Skarstad sitting at her huge Swedish CM loom. My curiosity finally got the better of me and I knocked on her door to ask her what what she was doing with that “thing” that was in her window. After watching her weave a beautiful white linen tea towel, I was hooked. Unfortunately my parents were not in interested in buying me an expensive floor loom and my dream of weaving like Mrs. Skarstad stalled, sputtered and went into remission.
My weaving dream remained in the back of mind for many years but time and life got in the way until one day in 1997 I had the idea that if I wanted to learn to weave I better get busy and do so. Without any idea of what I was doing I bought a very old 4 shaft Kessenich loom from a tiny fabric store in Madison, WI and then ordered Chandler’s “Learning to Weave” book. I sat down and proceeded to teach myself to weave. Without access to any weaving teachers I learned via books and good old fashioned trail and error. The internet was just beginning back then and not many weavers were posting at that time.”

Do you have any other arts and crafts you spend time on?

“I also occasionally knit, spin and sew, but weaving is my true love and I spend as much time as I can working on my looms.”

How long has your Etsy shop been open? Did you aim to sell your weaving or is it something that just came about?

“My studio is called Thistle Rose Weaving – it is my way of proclaiming affection and admiration for the historical figures Mary Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I. I enjoy the fact that I can in some small way combine two of my interests, renaissance history and weaving. My shop on Etsy was opened in 1997 as a way to sell my textiles to the public. “

Your woven pieces have a very distinct, classic and historic style. Is this something that you strive for?

“Here at Thistle Rose Weaving I delight in weaving heirloom quality traditionally inspired table linens and textiles. I try to use primarily natural fibers in all my work along with a dash of inspiration from the nature that surrounds my country home. Traditional Scandinavian weaving techniques have always interested me, I feel that classic design is timeless and blends into any decor. I strive to provide my clients with well made high quality textiles that will stand the test of time.”

What are your favourite fibres to use and why?

” Cottolin yarns, those spun with 45% linen and 55% long staple cotton fibers are my favorite yarns to work with for household textiles. Good long staple cottons that are colorfast are also a staple of my yarn stash – working with natural fiber yarns is expensive but pays off in the long run by being long lasting and beautiful. Silk or silk blends are also a joy to use when I turn my interests towards weaving shawls and scarves. “

What single item do you seem to make or sell the most of?

“I am primarily known as a towel weaver. Many weavers do not like to weave long warps of towels because they find the endless warps too repetitive. I enjoy the challenge of weaving towels with different treadlings and color change. I strive to make each towel something special. Using traditional weaving drafts and modifying them to my taste is something that keeps me coming back to my loom time and again.”

Are there any challenges for you in making a living from your weaving?

“The time it takes to design an item, warp the yarns, set up the loom, weave, wash, iron and finish the handwoven textile is very long. If a weaver actually charged a living hourly wage for just the labor alone, one tea towel would cost well over $75.00 or more. Most weavers are never going to get rich weaving, we would love to be able to support our family with this ancient fine craft but in today’s society that is not going to happen.”

What are your hopes and plans for the future of your business?

“I hope to keep weaving well into the future and do harbor a dream of opening a weaving studio somewhere out in the public eye where I can run an open studio. It would be great to demonstrate and teach those who are interested in learning. ”

Being based in Brethren, Michigan, what do you love about where you live?

“My husband and I moved to Brethren, MI just over a year ago. After a 22 year career in the military and a second 12 year career in the public sector my husband decided it was high time we get busy and build the farm we have long dreamed of. We moved to Northern Michigan to start our farm, Witcher Highland Cattle where we raise registered Scottish Highland Cattle. Some say we are nuts to begin yet another career but we are happy to live surrounded by the Manistee National Forrest, Lake Michigan and our beloved farm. Life is good.”

Thanks to Martha for joining us today and sharing a little of her weaving life with us! If you want to check out her beautiful woven pieces (and I know you will!) you can find the Thistle Rose Weaving shop here.

Thanks for taking the time to read, until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote Bag Weave Along, Lesson 4

by Kelly 1 Comment

Now you can really get excited about your tote bag project – it’s time to get weaving! If you missed the last post on threading, you can go here to read it.

Just one more teensy thing before you start to weave – the header. The header helps to spread the warp so that you don’t have big gaps at the very start of your weaving. As with most things in weaving, there is more than one way to put in a header.

*This post contains affiliate links.

My preference is (I think) the easiest. I use 2 cardboard separators (or warping sticks as they are also called). With the heddle/reed in the up shed I insert one stick, then change to the down shed to insert the second stick. Then beat to push them into place. You may want to weave an additional header with spare yarn if you feel your warp is too gappy (I demonstrate this in the video at 1:10) Pop the heddle into the up position again and you’re ready to weave!

Don’t forget to wind your stick shuttle.

It doesn’t matter which side you enter into the shed with the shuttle, but it is useful to develop a habit when working plain weave to always enter from the same side to avoid any confusion as to which shed you should be in and to easily develop a weaving rhythm.

I give yarn recommendations in this post, but a variegated yarn is particularly effective and makes the plain weave look more fancy than it is. I dyed my own yarn for this project. You can also get a bit fancy by using a novelty yarn as a feature. I used an eyelash yarn as an occasional stripe to accent this bag.

If you are a newer weaver, you may be worried about obtaining neat edges. This is very much a matter of practice makes perfect, but this video shows you my pinching technique that has helped many newbies improve their edges.

You also want to try to keep your beat consistent and even. One way to see if you’re beating evenly is to stand up and look at your weaving from time to time. You will see quite clearly whether you are beating straight or at an angle.

Don’t forget to measure your weaving as you go. I do this in a simple manner by using a tape measure and marking my last measured place with a plastic or glass head coloured pin. I always write down the measurements as I go so that I don’t have to try to remember!

You will be advancing your warp every so often, and this video will show you how to do that.

Remember to refer back to your essential information project sheet, available as a free download for all the measurements you need to follow.

In the next lesson we will be talking more about continuing to weave and advancing the warp. Be sure to leave me a comment if you need to ask questions or are unsure of anything.

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Tote bag Weave Along – Threading and getting ready to weave, Lesson 3

by Kelly 2 Comments

Now you’re ready to wind on your warp.

Your warp is secure with the choke tie you already put in place. If you need to read over the last lesson, please go here first.

Decision time! Are you going to warp with a helper or independently? This decision can often come down to whether you have someone to help you or not. But, if this is your first warp or if you’re not too confident with warping yet, I always recommend warping with a helper. This is a time to get to know your next door neighbour better! Or invite that friend or family member around for a cuppa and just casually mention that you need their help with something and that it won’t take but a minute!

*This post contains affiliate links

If you feel like you really need more information on warping at this stage, I have an excellent class, Warping for Beginners.

To roll your warp onto the back beam your will need something to use a separator. In the Youtube video demonstration I use my cardboard separators (also known as warping sticks) but you can also use a roll of paper or a blind if you prefer a continuous separator.

Having a helper takes the pressure off the newer weaver. You can concentrate on turning the clicker and pawl system which rolls the warp on without having to worry about uneven tension. It also means that you have two hands free instead of just one.

Place 1 cardboard separator for each full warp rotation.

I like to keep winding until the end of the warp is just over the front apron bar. This ensures that I have enough length in the warp for comfortable threading.

At this point I cut the warp ends, then undo the choke tie.

Time to begin threading! Before you start, I highly recommend that you watch my free Threading Tips video. So, for plain weave, I thread one in the left hole and leave one in the slot. It doesn’t matter whether you thread in the right or the left hole, but the left is my habit and I stick to it.

Keep threading in this simple fashion right across the width of the warp.

Now we tie on to the apron rod. Some weavers prefer to leash on but I only do that for slippery threads as I find I get better tension when I tie directly on to the rod. For this section, I will refer you to the video near the end of this post – it is much easier to show than to explain the knotting system.

Go back over your knots and tighten them all to an equal tension. You are trying to obtain firm and consistent tension, not necessarily to get them as tight as you can. If you have consistent tension, everything will tighten up when you advance the warp in readiness for weaving.

Here is the video that goes along with today’s lesson, I think you will find it very helpful!

Well, now we are almost ready to weave and things start to get exciting. Join me next time for options for putting in a header and beginning to weave!

Until next time…

Happy Weaving!

Interview with Felicia Lo from Sweet Georgia Yarns

by Kelly Leave a Comment

Today I’d like to introduce you to the lovely Felicia, who grew a successful yarn company from the humble beginnings of a small blog. I love Felicia’s adventurous spirit when it comes to all things fibre and how she continues to learn, explore and create. She also happens to have possibly the cutest two kids I’ve ever seen!

You have a strong interest in more than one type of fibre art. Can you tell us about some of them?

“Yes! Sometimes I wish I could streamline my making and narrow my focus to just one fibre art… but I really do love the interaction of weaving, spinning, dyeing, and knitting. If you’re going to weave, you’ll need yarn… and what’s better than weaving with yarn that you dyed yourself or even yarn that you spun from fibre that you dyed? It’s so powerful to be able to control and affect the finished object at so many levels and can open up your creative possibilities. So the things I make tend to take longer since I want to be involved in the dyeing and weaving processes at the very least. And since colour is so significant as a personal expression, I feel like the work doesn’t have my “signature” on it if the yarn isn’t hand-dyed.

And while we create hand-dyed yarns and fibres at SweetGeorgia, knitting with hand-dyed yarns is really my hobby. I nearly always have a project with me for car rides, soccer practice, swimming lessons, and Netflix nights.”

What attracted you to weaving? How did you learn?

“When I think back, I remember my parents giving me a Fisher Price toy loom when I was a kid. It was basically a rigid heddle loom and it was AWESOME. I remember weaving really thick white acrylic yarn and making a fabric that I hand sewed into a tiny purse. It wasn’t pretty, but I was so young, I just thought it was magic to be able to make something like that.

It wasn’t until I was almost 30 when I actually started to weave. It was actually my spinning teacher that gently enabled me to really start weaving. She taught both spinning and weaving at a school here in the Vancouver area. I took the spinning classes in a room that was FILLED with floor looms. It was inspiring and the itch to weave was inescapable. Originally she told me that weaving used up lots of yarn and since I was making tons of hand-dyed yarn, I just thought it would be a great way of using up yarn.

I joined the weaving class and remember learning how to wind a warp, how to dress a loom back to front, and then for one of my first projects, I wove a silk scarf from yarn that had been handpainted. Every part of the process felt addictive — threading the heddles, sleying the reed, tying onto the front apron rod, throwing the shuttle — all of it was addictive and I was always craving a little bit more. “

How did SweetGeorgia Yarns come about?

“SweetGeorgia happened quite unintentionally. It was 2004 and I was a web developer at the time and I was familiar with blogs, but didn’t realize there was a growing community of knitting bloggers until I started searching Google for information about this Rowan sweater design I wanted to knit (it’s this sweater, if you’re curious: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/audrey). Turns out there was a “knit along” for this sweater design and knitters from all over the world were knitting this pattern, taking photos of it, writing about their process, and documenting their successes and failures. And that’s when I realized that a blog was more than just a way of communicating or recording project details — it was (at that time) a way to participate in the greater craft community.

So of course, I started a blog so that I could also report on my Audrey sweater progress and random bread baking escapades. There were only one or two bread baking blog posts and then I continued to document my learning and experiences in knitting, dyeing, spinning, and weaving. The hand-dyeing I was doing caught the attention of the community and I found a lot of encouragement to continue dyeing and begin a little Etsy shop. So in 2005, I opened a small Etsy shop from my dining room table with three skeins of yarn. Now almost 14 years later, we have a team of about 13 people who help run our production dye studio! “

As a successful business woman who also has a young family, you must get asked the question “How do you do it all?” What are some of your strategies for balancing family, business and creative time?

“It’s funny because I’m asking every other mom/boss the same thing! I think I even asked you, Kelly, this same question over email! I can say, it’s not easy, but I try to keep a good balance of work and family life. Since my kids are still young, they go to school for part of the day and then my youngest, Nina, who is only three years old now, will join me for Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. So I squish work time into the hours when they are at school. Then when the kids are with me, I try to be present and put my work away, but we might do things like go to the dye studio together or do some craft room tidying and tasks (they like to wind balls of yarn). I generally never work on weekends or evenings anymore and I try to spend evenings with my husband, but that’s when I also try to squeeze in some knitting or weaving time.

I’ve also discovered this phenomenon where work expands to fill the time that you give it. If you give yourself 4 hours to do a job, it takes 4 hours. But if you only have 3 hours to do the same job, miraculously, it takes only 3 hours. So, I’ve started doing more “time boxing” and giving myself a set amount of time to do any one thing and the thing has to be done within that time frame (because there is no other time to do it). So, this allows me to schedule out my week and account for all the things that need to get done. For example, filming the vlog always happens on Wednesday afternoons between 3 and 4 pm, editing the vlog always happens on Thursday mornings from 9:30 to 11:30 am, and all of that needs to happen because the vlog HAS to be published at 10 am on Friday morning. It’s kind of great to give yourself this set window to work… otherwise, editing a video could easily take 8 hours if you let it and then you’ll definitely feel like there is never enough time. “

How many looms do you personally own and which is your favourite?

“It’s so hard to pick favourites! Over the years, I have acquired a few looms including an 8-shaft Louet Spring 110 cm loom, an 8-shaft Schacht Baby Wolf in cherry, a 4-shaft Leclerc Nilus 45”, plus a handful of smaller looms like a 4-shaft Schacht table loom, a Louet 4-shaft Klik loom, an Ashford 16” Sample It rigid heddle loom, an Ashford 20” Knitters loom, and a Schacht 25” Flip loom. Oh and that’s not including two wooden frame looms from Woven Wood Goods and a whole bunch of tiny frame looms from Purl & Loop. Oh dear, when you list them out like that, it looks like a lot of looms… but I’m generally weaving on just about two at a time. And I enjoy having this “fleet” of looms (what’s the word for a whole bunch of looms?) because it gives me the opportunity to lend the portable looms out to weaving-curious friends! I love them all… ok maybe I like the Spring, Baby Wolf, and Sample It looms the best right now because that’s mostly what I’m using on a regular basis. “

What are your favourite fibre/threads to use and why?

“Silk has always appealed to me and so when I first started learning to weave, I only wanted to weave silk and everything with 100% silk. But since that time, I’ve grown to love all kinds of fibres and yarns for weaving. I love untreated wool in the way that it fulls and blooms. And I love cashmere for unrivalled softness. I’m also totally in love with kid mohair and silk and love to use that in the weft. Ultimately, I’m really drawn to the texture and feel of the yarn itself and so I consider how the textures can meld together between warp and weft to make something fabulous to feel. “

What items do you love to weave the most?

“This year I tried doing a little bit of rep weave, having been obsessed with images of it on Pinterest. But I’ve loved weaving big blankets for family and friends and also scarves and shawls. I could just play with the interaction between colour and texture for the next decade (as I have for the past decade) and still wouldn’t tire of it. “

What did you do for work before starting your business?

“I’ve had a number of career changes in my life. I started off as a community pharmacist after graduating from the University of British Columbia. And then shortly after, I transitioned into my own design business. I had started doing graphic design and web development for clients when I was still in university and so when I graduated, so slowly moved away from pharmacy work and moved towards design work. And then when I was 28 years old, I started the SweetGeorgia blog and it morphed into what it is today. I just rolled up my graphic design skills and experience into focusing entirely on SweetGeorgia. “

One of your more recent endeavours is the School of SweetGeorgia. Tell us a little bit about that.

“Yes! Two years ago, I began building an online video-based fibre arts school called the School of SweetGeorgia. The idea was to build up a deep knowledge resource of education for the full spectrum of the fibre arts. From dyeing to spinning to weaving to knitting, sprinkling in a good dose of colour theory and design content as well. The School is currently offered as a subscription-based membership that also includes an active discussion forum and monthly livestream Q&As to help support our members.

This all began when I first published my book “Dyeing to Spin & Knit” and people were inviting me to travel to teach workshops at conferences and shops all over. I have two little kids at home and didn’t want to be away from my family with all these traveling and teaching opportunities. So instead, I decided to film my teaching and workshops so that I could provide education from wherever I am to my students, wherever they happen to be. Then we can all learn and connect from wherever we are.”

What are your plans for the future of your business?

“SweetGeorgia will be celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2020 and we will be three years into the School of SweetGeorgia at that time too. Our mission has always been to bring light to people’s lives through colour and craft, and we’ve been aiming to do that through making beautiful hand-dyed yarn and fibre and designing timeless knitwear patterns for our craft community. In our future, I’d like to see us welcome more makers, weavers, spinners, dyers, and knitters to the craft community. I’d like us to use our focus on education to introduce people to a new hobby or craft that might bring their lives light and joy. “

Being based in Vancouver, Canada, what is one of your favourite places to visit?

“If you come to Vancouver, no doubt I will offer to take you to two of my favourite places — Grouse Mountain where we ski and snowboard in the winter and where my husband and I got married, and Finch’s Tea, my favourite place for sandwiches.”

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Thank you for joining me here Felicia, I know my readers will be so inspired by your story, your enthusiasm and by all you do!

You can visit Felicia by following these links:

Sweet Georgia Yarns

Instagram

Facebook

Thanks for reading friends, until next time…

Happy Weaving!