Take a peak at some gorgeous dresses and suits designed by Irene Lentz-Gibbons on her great-niece Karlyn’s website. Irene – a master!!! yes,yes,yes.

Karlyn and Greg Lavoi – THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!! THANK YOU!!!!

You can view what we are selling our ebay items for sale below.

I know, it’s not fiber related, however, I will be posting soon…. I promise…

In the late 80′s, I had worked for Crest Art, owned by Paul Finkel and Moe Krinsky. Moe had one of those tattooed numbers on his arm. I often think of my days at Crest Art. Moe with his twinkle in his eye and the sheer determination in his 3 foot hurried stride, running around, barking orders at his V.P.’s, two of which were his sons, the third, Paul Finkel’s son-in-law Jay. Paul and Moe were to be admired. Never afraid to look the fool if they were sure they were doing the right thing, like when they made their radio commercial talking about art neophytes. That was funny. Paul was awnry, outing Jay as a Rabbi (this in a company made up of mostly homosexuals), telling jokes, giggling, Paul reminded me of a mischievous Irish Leprechaun complete with rosy cheeks. They were both serious business men, tho. If you respected Moe and Paul, you worked as hard as Moe and Paul. Crest Art management knew the people working for them were human beings. However, the heart and soul of Crest Art, laid not only in the spirit of their convictions, but for me, in one type of person. You know, the type that you would love to shadow, to understand their magic, their thoughts, the type one deeply admires. Often, it’s not only ‘just business’.

I started searching around last night and found that Moe had passed away in 2006. While reading, I was surprised to find that Moe and his brother Joe owned Moe & Joe’s Pub, a long established and well-known Midtown hot-spot. I smiled, knowing that of course, Moe would be doing several things at once. It was sad to read that such a tour-de-force had passed.

It was late and I went on to bed. This morning, I decided to search around some more to see what happened to the Krinsky’s, Finkel’s, and Shapiro’s. Disheartened, I found that Jay Shapiro, my boss and mentor passed away March of this year. Jay was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, the same type of brain cancer that Senator Ted Kennedy died from. Jay and his family had only a few short weeks before he passed away. An unimaginable sudden death for his family and loved ones.

Jay was more than a boss, he was a mentor and friend. He ultimately was responsible for my becoming a programmer. When I met him, I was working at Binder’s Art supply in their paper department. He would cheerfully walk around the store, touching base with each area, making sure employees and customers were happy. I heard that there was an opening at the corporate office, Crest Art, Inc., for an inventory control clerk, and pleaded with Jay to give me a chance at the job. He thought it over for a week or so, then let me come and try for it. That was my first induction into computers, the corporate environment, Jewish people, and true friendship.

I used to just come and sit in Jay’s office, listening to him answer his phone calls, delegate work, chit-chat with him about various topics, mainly the Jewish religion, people’s personalities, and family, just ‘being’. I said to him once, “You know, they don’t teach us much about ya’ll, you know, Jewish people”, he just laughed and said “They don’t teach us much about people like you either, you know, Christians”. He told me about his Hanukkah bush – the neighbors old Christmas tree he’d drag into his childhood home and decorate after Christmas was over. No matter what he was doing, he would always take a few minutes to make sure I was doing okay and would stop for a few minutes, if I wanted to talk, no matter what it was about. I felt like I was visiting a big brother, he said I was like a daughter to him. lol Always feeling like the ‘old’ one in the bunch. I remember how annoyed he was when he had to get glasses and how he dreaded the teasing he would get. Always just taking life’s little curves in stride.

When I talked with him about an idea to start Creative Hearts, an organization to encourage creativity in children, he used his contacts to get us printed stationary, envelopes, art supplies, and volunteers. Jay was warned by the controller on numerous occasions that he was just too friendly (hugging, chit-chatting, etc) with the employees and that one day it would lead to a discrimination suit. Jay knew tho, that you cannot go through life scared, with a glass window between you and those you are asking to work for you. He knew they were human beings, with outside lives and interests, and that the best way to get someone to give you their all was to give them yours. I never ran into another manager that treated his employees with such respect and dignity.

When it came time to leave Crest Art, it was because I had an opportunity to learn programming. It was a chance for me to move up, and Jay was, as always, very supportive. I didn’t realize until my last day, what a crush I had on this man. I had not spoken with him for more than 20 years, mainly over embarrassment over my crush, yet, there was not a long time that went by, when I didn’t remember some little thing he said or did, or the way he laughed at himself or his own awkwardness. Last year, when Flash died, I thought of Jay and his heartfelt conversations when he had to decide to put his dog down. When my children were born, I thought of Jay and how excited he was when his sons were born, and how heart broken he and Andee were when some of the babies were not born. When a colleague at another business passed from cancer – with the company worried over insurance costs – I thought of Jay, and how he would have fought for this man’s dignity. Jay put people over profits, but also knew, that profits are what kept those people employed. He knew what to take and what to give.

He became a mentor to me, a Godly man, a man of strong convictions who knew what mattered the most in life and had the courage of his convictions to defend them. We used to tease Jay about being a 6 ft. sap tree, but we all knew that he was as strong as any maple tree out there.

I just want Moe and Jay’s loved ones to know how the gentle breeze of their souls filled my main sails for a long time to come.

Rest In Peace

Naturally, it was my first choice to make a pattern of.

This is the first iteration. I used the colonial print weaver’s cloth that I printed (wow – it’s been that long) in July of 2006. Altho, a heavier weight than what appears to be the lightweight silk, Irene used for hers (I believe Claudette’s is a lightweight cotton), I wanted to see how the print size worked out for proportioning besides, it was handy.

Here are images of the test smock pattern run:

Front View: Buttons are from my husband’s grandmother’s sewing box. She had 5 lt blues and 5 pinks. I used pink at the top and blues for the other 5.

Back View

Another back view

Cuff Side View: I wanted some glitz, so what else, but some glitz brand rhinestone buttons. The original sleeves were a regular button cuff long sleeve. I hate rolling up sleeves, so I made 3/4′s and added angled cuffs with piping and buttons.

Inside seams. I don’t like lined yokes because they are restrictive. I added the curved facing (it seems there was one in Irene’s smock also) and hong kong’d the back yoke seam. The rest is just serged.

Armpit view: You can see where the piping – pipes up. That will change in the next draft.

Here are pictures of the pattern pieces (with changes noted in colors, that were made during sewing on the test garment):



Back facing pattern piece



Modified back and collar pieces. Collar shortened along the red line and waistline lowered an inch on the back.



Modified collar angle.



Modified Front. Changed the raglan edge draft to curve over the pectorals and lowered the armscye and collar edges.



Modified Sleeve reflects changes for raglan draft and added a small seam allowance at center shoulder to avoid dart pucker.



Yoke and cuff. No changes.



Modified Pocket and Facing piece: In the original, it seems that pocket and facing is a one piece pocket cut, with an additional pocket facing cut and sewn. The top is folded down onto the pocket. I forgot that part while cutting, so I added piping and treated it as one big patch pocket. That will change in the next pattern iteration.

The steps:

I started the pattern using a basic block that fit me.

I cut 3 slits from the bottom up to the shoulder on each side of the front and back pieces for gores. The gores don’t work out so well on this heavier fabric, so I’ll make a pattern just for a heavier weight fabric with less gorey details.

A standard raglan draft came too high on the collar bone and armscye, so I lowered them as noted on the pattern pieces above. I also cut in the neckline about a 1/2 ” from each shoulder down to the front – evening to the center back pivot.

The raglan draft also, did not work for the shoulder of the sleeve (on this draft anyway). I ended up cutting that portion seperate and sewing it back to get the angle right on the front raglan. Hence, the sleeve cap became a regular draft. I’ll be changing it back to a raglan draft as noted on the changes on the pattern pieces above. I also will be dropping the armscye abt. a 1/2″ and blending the piping across so that I don’t get that upshot into the armpit.

Originally, I had a pattern piece going from one sleeve, across the back to the other sleeve. Unless Irene had access to some really wide yardage, I don’t see that this was possible. I’ve come to believe there is a seperate back yoke. So, I drafted a back yoke and cut the sleeves to a set-in. However, I’m not going to give up on the intergrated raglan. That, I believe, was there.

As all creative endeavours go, I ran out of piping. Originally it was going to all be navy. I had red, so I used it (after all it’s a colonial print, why not throw in a little patriotism). I’m wondering if Irene had couched in the trim to resemble a raglan, but wasn’t actually.

My piping is at the seams, whereas on Irene’s, noticeable at the collar, is laid within a 1/4 above the seams. I can’t help but wonder if that is really a raglan draft as the folds of the fabric follow down from the raglan to the bodice. I won’t know until I make several more iterations in different fabrics, altho, I suspect it was a true raglan based on her own smocks she wore, with just an offset collar trim.

The final change to be made is to lower the length a few inches to mid thigh so the pockets are proportioned better. There wasn’t enough fabric to lower it this time.

I haven’t seen a smock from this era with raglan sleeves and a back yoke together. A bit reminiscent of a cheesemaker’s smock I saw once. Most smock patterns of the era are either curved half circle yokes, or cut straight across as seperate front and back yokes. It’s easy to see why Irene loved the raglan sleeve. All in all – it was a fun excercise and it only gets better from here.

The Star-Spangled Banner

O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
’Tis the star-spangled banner – O long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash’d out their foul footstep’s pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov’d home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with vict’ry and peace may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto – “In God is our trust,”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And all that – from the hand of a physician – who waited with baited breath to see if our flag was still standing while our men fought to keep it there.

It was neat to watch the shearing, however, I wasn’t prepared for how much sheep bleed when their hoofs are clipped too close. Yuk. lol Jim commented that the barn wall was still stained from a previous year’s trimming. So, if you have a weak stomach where blood is concerned – it’s best to forgo this.

Okay – onto the fleeces.

I purchased 6 fleeces, two of them are from the ‘black’ sheep which are a gorgeous deep brown and gray color.

First I skirted: this mainly consisted of me sitting in the driveway with each fleece on a screen and pulling out all the edges with dried poo and obvious big schtuff.

Second, I began washing the first fleece at 8am yesterday and have been washing Rocky’s fleece for over 20+ washings now – and I tell ya – other than fluffing quite alot, it’s nowhere near clean. The rinse water is still dirty with alot of silt in it.

For the first wash, I put sections of the fleece (from 4 to 8 oz’s) in mesh laundry bags. Washed with 160′ water (added boiling water for hot temp), at least 4 times (using dawn) with an added 8 rinses. After that – the water ‘seemed’ to get clear, so I removed the fleece onto a towel, and lo and behold, the fleece had folded on itself and was just as filthy in the center as when I had started. You can definitely feel the stickiness of the lanolin still in the wool. So fears of removing too much lanolin are gone.

After reading a sheepgrowers’ assoc. letter about soaking it loose with a detgt for 2 hours in very HOT water (read as 160+), I put it back into the wash – washing 3 more times, each with a 1/2 scoop of Gain and 2-3 tbsp. of washing soda. Rinsing only Lord knows how many times…. The rinse water is still dirty. *sigh*

By 2 am, and images of a $300.00 utility bills from boiling water most of the day as the hot water tank ate electricity; Discouraged, I put the wool out on the back porch and was ready to give up…

However, lying in bed, guilt over the original 50.00 cost combined with the wool loss crept in (combined with tenacious tendencies) I pulled it back in at 3 am and commenced rinsing again this morning.

Here are three of the fleeces still waiting to begin the washing process:

and here is Rocky’s fleece after 20+ washes and 2 more rinses this morning:

Notice the fluffy difference? One fleece as opposed to four? It’s the only difference, other than I know it’s lost at least 3 pounds of silt – altho one couldn’t tell. lol Second abatement: fear of felting. This fleece has everything done to it that others say should not be done – and it hasn’t felted – so if it’s not giving up – I guess I won’t either. lol.

Next, I’ll try another New Zealand approach – soaking it in covered plastic bins, outside, for 6+ days. Maybe that will work. Slobo and son are off to Wally world to buy me two plastic garbage bins with lids, which I’ll place a hardware cloth screen in the bottom of before adding the wool. Maybe that will help.

Next up – Plans to build wool combs and lots of hope for at least quilt batting without that farm fresh smell. lol

Suffice it to say – the romance of sheep farming – is coming to an end….. baaahhhhhhh……. Hey – but it WAS a fun, new, experience and they are still very CUTE!

Added May 31, 2010: A very kind fellow fleece flinger sent me a terrific detailed message on how to wash the fleeces. I’ve washed all but the last fleece from Whitman (a chocolate fleece) and will be posting an update soon. A Huge Thank You to the Star Box! Things are going along so much better now!

This one needed a few alterations to fit a bridesmaid attending an out-of-state wedding. The alterations needed were adjusting the hem length through the waist seam, lengthening the spaghetti straps, and taking in side seams above the lower chest. Since it has an invisible zipper through the skirt portion of the back, it became a good candidate for pictures.

If you need a basic tutorial on invisible zipper insertion click that but if you want to see the inner workings of a dress – click the image above to go to my flickr photos.

Thankfully, we got everything moved just in time for the prom/bridal/christening season to pick up full speed. It’s terrific to have everything in one place now and the customers like the new space, almost as much as I do.

Maybe when things slow down I’ll pop a cork on a delicious champagne!

See the new workroom pics on flickr.

Clark Gable is going to be part of a photo shoot today and needed to look his best. The plan was to bathe the lambs but with nights so cold, she postponed it. It doesn’t help that her pasture has been drenched again with the recent rains. FEMA was out yesterday to see if they can do anything to control the flooding from the creek. Clark did get a good brushing tho, a shot (afterward baaa’ing for sympathy from the flock and got it), some corn starch dusting (to whiten him up for his pics) and lots of sympathy. I told him all he needed was some milk and he could be a biscuit. I wish I had a picture of him – but he is so cute! After his brushing, he sported a handsome rounded beard – all he needed was an Amish outfit to go with it.

One of the things I’ve been surprised about is how curious and smart the sheep are. Sandra fed them a couple of scoops of food outside, to keep them from bowling us over with hunger. While she put out more food and hay in the barn and went to get water, I offered to shovel out the barn floor. I noticed six pairs of eyes watching me through the plastic drape on the barn door and as soon as I had cleared a path about two feet wide, they came hurdling in to get to the food and hay. Just like kids, they waited for me to clear a path so they could run in on the newly cleaned floor. Not a job for someone OCD. lol

I had a wonderful time and cannot wait to go back and learn how to clean their hooves and bob the lambs tails. + Sheep shearing time should be here v-e-r-y soon!

Spring has sprung and Indy is now fixed! Yeah… no more female kitties howling on our doorstep. The stud has left the building.

Poor Indy – Still, it was a beautiful day today and 2 more just like it coming! WoooHooo!

You can find more cartoons like this at Readers Digest Online

Right now we have 851 heroes waiting for adoption. Even though new Angels join every day, the reinforcements headed to Afghanistan make for a continuous need. You’ve probably already adopted (if you haven’t yet, please do!), so give someone else the opportunity to enjoy the rewards of supporting a hero: Tell a stranger about Soldiers’ Angels today!

and one of the babies just after nursing…

Nothing like a happy baby!

I am so excited to meet Emma’s owner, Sandra! She and my family are members of the Sweetwater Camera Club. Slobo scheduled a photo field trip for the club to her and her husband’s farm and I got to tag along and see what her sheep and the farm look like.

Sandra and her husband raise babydoll sheep on their Sweetwater Creek Ranch farm. Babydoll’s are an old-world breed, miniature Southdown sheep, and they are absolutely adorable. Her goal is to increase the population of this rare breed. I am excited at the chance to shadow her so that I can learn more about caring for these sheep and get to know my future wool providers.

With all of the flooding in our counties the past month, unfortunately, her pasture is still a wetland. You can see some of the water in the picture of Emma above. She relayed the panic they felt the night of the heaviest flooding a few weeks ago. Her husband woke her up at midnight to let her know the creek had flooded it’s banks and was quickly engulfing the pasture. She said the water eventually rose to the roof of their barn (They have about a 10 ft tall barn). They were able to rescue most of the sheep, but sadly one was lost in the rising water. The sheep had to be kept in her basement until the water receded from the barn. She is now having to give them round the clock feed until the water can drain from the once lush pasture.

While, I was there, Sandra and I talked about fleeces. She has tried to wash the raw fleeces herself but ran into so many problems from allergies to felting, that she decided to use a fiber mill. With the $300 price tag for processing, it was not worth messing with it (as she says, I don’t knit, spin, or weave – so why do it?). However, being a knitter, spinner, and weaver – I’m jumping at the chance to give it a try! In the spring, when the sheep shearer makes her rounds to the farms, I will be able to purchase the fleeces from her seven sheep at a very good price. From what I have read, the fleeces work into a yarn with the equivalent softness of cashmere and with a gorgeus variety of color. It will be a wonderful opportunity to process, spin, and weave wool that is from sheep which I get to befriend! Yes, I am in sheep nirvana…………………

P.S. I’ve finally woven off the warp from the loom I built, making 4 dishtowels and 2 dishcloths. While the towels were gifted the moment they came off the loom – I do have one cloth that I’ll post a picture about along with plans for building a loom of your own. Coming soon….

In the previous post I mentioned problems encountered with the first weave on the tabletop loom. Now for the pictures and explanation of the latest changes. I share this not only to track my own projects, but for other newbies…

Just as the business end of a spinning wheel is not the wheel but one of it’s smallest parts, the flyer on the mother of all (don’t ya love these names?).. the most important part of the loom is the reed that sits in the beater. How straight and parallel each of these dents (spaces between the reed) are, is a huge factor in how even the weave is.

While the oatley plastic reeds did not work out so good… they ARE fun for kids to build structures using twist ties or pipe cleaners with… so all is not lost.

Here’s a picture of what I mean about the importance of the reeds. Notice the ‘opening’ of the weave? That is where the reeds bowed a little creating a little more open dent in those spaces.

Here is a picture showing the sleyed reeds which reveals where the dent spacing was off on these lines:

So, if you are going to build a loom – plan to either make a reed using the stiffest, thinnest, straightest reeds you can find or better yet – save money on the loom frame by building it out of scrap wood and put your money into the best reed you can afford – carbon or stainless steel.

Purchased reeds I find range from 3 1/2″ – 4 1/2″ in height and the widths are measured at the inside dent spacing – so add an inch or two to the overall length for what will fit inside of your beater. The grooves for the beater frame on my barn loom are 5/8″ wide. I wasn’t able to find that information anywhere else – so just FYI.

The photograph of the cloth on the table is after it had been machine washed and dried and carried around in Slobo’s camera bag as a lens cover for a week. Where the weave is more open (at the arrows) is a 1/4″ weft stripe of aunt lydia’s #10 crochet cotton. The remaining warp is the remains of a putty colored bamboo / nylon blend knitting yarn I had lying around (about 3 times the diameter of the crochet cotton).

A couple of his clients said they would like to buy some dishtowels made like that – so if they liked that… who knows what the future holds… maybe lots of warp in a new reed?

I leave you with glimpses of the last changes (hopefully) that are needed to the table top loom. I have been making those today and will have pictures soon:

The shed created is too small….

so, I need to move the beater closer to the heddles:

I’ve lengthened the sides to 31 1/2 long x 6″ tall using some old pine dresser drawer fronts I already had, to give more room to create the shed.

I’ve also taken off the top and bottom of the beater frame and am using 2″ wide pieces in order to get the beater a little closer to the castle. The old 6″ wide piece at the top prevented it from getting closer.

Once I have a good loom, whose only hurdle is my skill level, I’ll post the drawn plan so others can build one too.

The table-top loom that I’ve been building, while it wove a few inches in an hour, required alot of babysitting to make a good weave. While perusing Ebay pictures for ideas on changes I could make to my loom, I ran into this ad (you can click the picture to view the link):

I sent the link to Michael. We laughed and said why don’t things like this come up when we have money? I kept drawing out plans. About an hour went by, when he comes in and says, “What’s the chances? The two text link ad companies just sent me my payment two days early and it’s a dollar more than we need to get the loom. Want a loom? Interested in a road trip to TN? WAS I???? DID I????

With baited breath, Michael waited until the last possible moment to bid on the loom. I thought for sure that since our maximum bid was so low that the other person bidding would win it, so I did not get my hopes up. Michael’s maximum outbid the other person by 2.50. He paypal’d the money right away and sent an email asking if we could pick it up the next day.

We heard back from Mrs. Smith the next day around 12pm, that we could come and get it, so we were rushing to pack pb&j sandwiches, milk, and coffee and off we headed to Del Rio, TN. About 6 hours away. We arrived just as it had gotten dark. Del Rio is a small town that you reach by winding roads crossing over rivers. There are alot of abandoned buildings which proclaim the difficult times keenly felt in alot of these small communities.

We met Mrs. Smith at a parking lot and followed her to her home about 12? or was it 20? miles into their small town until we came to rest in the driveway beside the loom. Mr. and Mrs. Smith and ‘Grandma’ were the nicest people one would ever want to meet. It was just like going back to Gauley Bridge, WV to visit family. ‘ Grandma’ was so tiny and looked soooo much like my great-grandma Ward that I just knew Lula Belle was smiling down from heaven at me!

Mrs. Smith gave me a copy of a letter from a lady that helped her in determining what type of loom she had and how best to sell it. She also reminded me again that there was a loom just like it at Red Clay Park. We were definitely going to check it out. We arrived home around midnight.

The boys were total angels on the trip. I was surprised, tho, to hear Michael asking the next day, if I wanted to make one more drive up to TN to see the loom at the park. The boys were excited and said – Yeah – c’mon Mom – let’s go. (They were hoping for a chance to bird watch in TN), lol So again, it was 12 in the afternoon, we packed more sandwiches and headed back up. This time, we made it to the park with 45 minutes to spare before it closed at 4:30pm, thanks to a shortcut up to Cartersville that Michael discovered.

The loom is upstairs in an employees only section, but the lady at the desk was kind enough to allow us to go up and take pictures. Afterwards, we hurriedly walked to each of the buildings, took a few pictures, and then it was back into the truck to see what we could see before dark. There had been an ice storm a few days before. We went to ‘rock city’, stomped on a few snow burms and bought some rock city fudge for a return home treat.

This is the loom that resides at Red Clay park:

There are a great deal more pictures of it and all the other looms, which I will upload in the next few week into my flickr albums and at antique spinning wheels and looms. This loom had some neat features. The rawhide straps used in the castle’s rods, the turquoise blue dyed heddle strings to readily identify the dent spacings and the original reed made from true reeds. It is a beautiful loom! It has a rag rug on it, put there for show. While the reed is sleyed, the heddle strings are not.

Red Clay loom from the back

Red Clay loom from the side

I think my favorite is the rawhide straps – such a creative solution that is! I’ve found that barn looms definitely offer the most creative solutions! Also notice the beams’ ratcheting holes with the dowel?

And, now, my new baby…… She and I have come a long way, together, these two weeks.

Loom Front (she has a 6 dent, 22 1/2″ carbon reed that I brushed and sanded most of the rust off of. There is room for a longer one on each side)

Loom Side

Plywood Ratchet and Pawl at warp beam

Ratchet and Pawl at front beam

Lambs and Treadles from the front

Lambs and Treadles from the back

Beater Peg

The loom was still warped with a wool two ply yarn. I made a time capsule of sorts, in a brown paper lunch bag (my momento of our trip to get her) and placed inside it the following fragments which I was able to save when cleaning her up:

one of the apron’s tied sections

two fragments of a broken heddle bar cord (notice loop is tied with sewing thread and not the usual metal clasp) and a section of the warped 2-ply wool yarn

A small section of the fabric woven that was on the cloth beam

and, last but not least, the only intact 11″ heddle string remaining

I will attach this bag to the inside of the loom so that whomever should get her again one day, can glimpse a bit of the life that this old loom has led.

The only item missing from the loom was the very top counterbalance bar, and since two of the heddle bars were made from broomsticks:

I’m continuing the broomstick tradition and have used my own at the top.

She stands as a time capsule in and of herself, a lovely tribute – to all of the creative, loving, and kind people who have tugged at her apron strings to give them comfort when they needed it most and…..

I LOVE HER!

The warp design comes from a set of dishtowels we bought last year from Foxfire’s shop, woven by The Village Weaver, Sharon Grist. They are a simple plain weave. The dent works out to 20 EPI. I love these towels and everything else that the Village Weaver has! Since there were no more available at the store, I decided this pattern was going to be my first weaving lesson.

I ended up making a few changes to the loom after the first warping revealed some functional issues:

1. The two-ended screw and glue for the knobs (table legs) did not work out. If you’ve ever had a curtain rod finial that stripped and spun, you can visualize the problem.

Here is the newest solution:

We ended up cutting the legs down to a 1 1/2″ thickness (to get around the pins) and used 3″ wood screws in predrilled holes directly into the beams. On each beam knob end now is a hasp with metal dowel running through it with a cotter pin to hold it on. This works out good. The pin placements ended up giving really good tension too, so I was happy about that.

2. I first warped from back to front, using the ‘ruler with nails’ raddle and rubber bands to keep the threads down. The problem is the threads overlap eachother when I took the warp off the warping board. I can’t imagine there’s a way to prevent it from happening. I did tie choke ties at each yard center and placed ties on each side of the cross and end peg, made the braid as it came off the warping board, and draped it directly to the beam – trying to be careful not to ‘overly touch’ it. In the future I will weave a folded string between the epi spacings and see if that helps to keep things flattened and in place.

The overlapping and tangling became a nightmare tho as I tried to warp from back to front with lease sticks tied to the back beam. The tension was so tight from the snarls and tangles behind the lease sticks, that I had to have Slobo gradually wind the warp threads all the way back onto the front beam while I used a hair comb and untagled the threads from the back beam as they closed in on the lease sticks. THAT was really tedious and aggravating – so there must be a better way to do that or I did something wrong. By time the warp was all picked up by the front beam, my original end peg loop had slack in alot of spaces on the back apron, which tells me the yarn must have stretched an awful lot in the tangling/detangling. I hope to find a weaver who will share some information about that.

Reed replacement:

The heddle threading and sleying of the reed went well tho after I replaced the reed….

3. The initial reeds that I made the beater reed from had the growth rings from the bamboo on them. Since then, having seen reed beaters up close at a museum, I see they are always straight. Chalk up lesson #1.

The solution was to build another reed. Yes, I could have bought one, but would need to wait at least 3-4 weeks and I’d really like to know what other options would work. Let’s face it, our ancestors didn’t have an internet store to turn to and I don’t have a local reed source.

With blissful thoughts that there must be something else around that would work and allow drilling of holes to be threaded onto rods, Slobo discovers Plastic Hanger Strapping in the plumbing dept.

While I think it would have been more accurate to use craft sticks (the non-rounded end ones from Walmart) and just tie them to two sticks at each end with some glue when done, for some strange reason I was determined to find a replacement that would work with the washers. lol

The strapping brand is Oatley and it’s gray plastic. One roll of 3/4″ x 100 feet was 9.00. It comes in plastic, steel, copper, and galvanized. The metals have sharper edges, so I opted for the plastic which has a small beveled edge. The plastic allows the threads to slide very nicely in the dent spaces (mined are doubled up in the dent).

Here you can see the difference between the reed made from actual reeds and the reed made from the plastic strapping. The reeds would have worked if they were all as even as the ones to the right. The plastic made a better solution.

It comes with predrilled holes, but they are too small to thread onto a rod and are not lined up exactly, so you must drill new holes. Because it is on a roll, it has to be flattened.

This is how to flatten them:

1. Cut 6″ strips (this will end up as a 5 1/2″ tall beater reed after threading. Kitchen scissors will do this easily.
2. Lay the strips out on a foil covered cookie sheet (abt 24-30 will fit per cookie sheet). Put another cookie sheet on top of the strips and place the heaviest pots you have (Slobo used three cast iron pots).
3. Bake at 250′ F oven for 12-14 minutes.
4. The key to flattening out perfectly straight is to quickly cool the strips in a freezer. Remove them from the cookie sheets and place in freezer for about 15-20 minutes until cooled completely thru.

The oven is not hot enough to melt the strips, but will be hot enough to soften the plastic so that it will lie flat. If you don’t cool them quickly, they will still bow tho as they contract. So freezing is key.

Once they have cooled, you can take them out and drill the hole for the threaded rod to pass through at the top and bottom of each one. I made a little jig to hold stacks of 12 that had been taped together tightly using masking tape. See, when you drill plastic, little burrs will from around the holes and ‘lift’ each strip up pushing the next one. The best way to deal with this is to tape them together tightly at each end and in the middle, then the burrs will only be on the first and last one (sometimes in the middle, but not many).

Finally, a razor blade will slice any burrs off easily when held level with the strip to cut.

The placement on the threaded rods went:

1. #10 bolt.
2. A 6″ joist tie plate (galvanize plate where joist hangars are sold) drilled at each end for the rod. Drilling this plate is really easy as the metal is fairly soft but doesn’t easily bend.
3. Washer then strip. The #10 washers gave a 10-12 dent spacing.
4. Finish with another 6″ joist tie plate.
5. Bolt on the end of the top and bottom rods.

Finally, after having little tools all over to keep track of, a tool tray was needed. I built it from 1/4″ thick poplar and used joist hangers again to attach it high enough on the castle to clear the handle.

Once I get the tensions evened out on the warp strings it should be ready to go. While I’ll keep you posted on how it goes, Slobo bought me a new ‘old’ primitive floor loom from a lady in Del Rio, TN that I cannot wait to post about! There was a similar loom at Red Clay State Park in TN that a lady was kind enough to let us photograph and see up close. I’m working on gathering pics and info for it now and will post soon…

Until then…. May your life be filled with many firsts.

It only took 45 minutes to convert the balls to tangle-free easy-store bobbins. Just remove the cardboard tube from the center of crochet thread balls by squishing it down and locate the center-pull string (on the squared balls).

Using parts from my very first sewing machine and some scrap wood, I made an electric bobbin winder. It was really – really easy to make. Give it a try! You’ll be delighted with it! Here’s a video of it being used for the first time – Thanks to my slobo!

After getting much faster on the second bobbin, a leather glove was necessary to prevent finger burn from the thread. I borrowed our 8 yr. old’s leather workman glove.

For the end of the prong, I just used the pulley from the motor. It has a tiny set screw that you can use to position it along the shaft. Something similar for the other end would work too. Another rubber stopper would work just as well.

If you want one that you can use any size/type bobbin in, I imagine the ends of plumb bobs with a sliding bookend dealie-thing-a-ma-bob would work well too, The bore shaft will fit a McDonald’s drinking straw too, if you want to make your own bobbins with cardboard disks.

I did need to put a layer of masking tape on the shaft end of the motor, to fit the bore’s female end on more snugly center. I’m talking one or two wraps with the masking tape tho.

For the curious, I just have it clamped to my drawing board. Rubber banded to the drawing board behind it is the string heddle jig so I could prop up in bed watching old movies while I tied 300 heddle strings. The shaft is a bit off-center because I did not take the time to find exact center on my rubber stopper. Finding center is a good thing.

Addendum: Added pictures of the parts 07/01/2010 – Oops!
You can click on the picture below for a larger view.

I parted out an old singer sewing machine I had and used the motor (left the motor bracket mount, light, and male adapter wiring on it). I used a piece of 3/4″ thick pine scrap for the base (about 8 x 12 inches or so?), added a couple of blocks (a 2×4 and 3/4″ thick scrap) at the end where I wanted to mount the motor. Put a piece of scrap natural rubber (just had it on hand) under the motor for vibration control, then mounted the motor bracket – just screwing into the block assemblage I had previously screwed the base piece of 3/4″ thick pine. Screwing on the bracket that held the light as well to the other side of the motor on the same block.

The key was finding the Irwin bore extension. I purchased mine at Home Depot. I don’t remember now what it cost, but it was really cheap, I’m thinking abt. 10-15$? Okay – watched my own video and it was 9$ for the bore and 2$ for the rubber stopper. lol It is for installing on your drill, only it is put on backwards here.

The sewing machine has a small pulley on the end of the extension shaft on the original sewing motor assembly. It is attached via a flat head set screw. I took that pulley off, wrapped two wraps of masking tape to increase the diameter of the original pulley shaft a hair, and put the female end of the bore extension on the motor shaft. The bore attaches with two set screws, however only the first set screw is able to be set on the original motor shaft. The other is just shy of meeting the end of the shaft, however, that one set screw has held up with no problems.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the bore, I used the original motor pulley to hold my cardboard tubes on when it gets spinning. The tubes are just 1/2 of a pants hangar (you know, the post-it sticky type that hold your dress slacks. I like the tacky as it gets the thread started, turning nicely.).

The cardboard tubes I use don’t fill the entire bore shaft from end-to-end, so I put a rubber stopper at the far end to keep it snug horizontally. The rubber stopper has a drilled hole in the center (well almost center), but you may be able to find a stopper with the hole already in it (sci-lab equipment suppliers would have these). Heck, even silly putty would work – anything to keep things on an even keel without flying off the end.

The rubber stopper doesn’t slide easily on the shaft, hence the reason I use the pulley at the other end. This setup just requires keeping a screwdriver handy to undo the set screw when I change tubes. I just use a small rubber band on the base to keep it handy when I need it.

—-

With visions of a mini-lathe and electric spinning fly wheels – I leave you with confidence that if I can pull this off – so can you!

Want to see more Slobo videos?
Here is one of my favorite Slobo videos of a day we spent in the mountains with the kids – puddle jumping.

I made the loom using different ideas from patterns found here and here and here. The last link being the one I used the most before finding the other two. Since my woodworking skills nor weaving knowledge are sufficient to try a 4+ harness loom, I made a two harness counterbalance for a first go.

I started out thinking I had all the scrap wood to make it, but alas, it cost another 150.00 for things like metal heddle rods, knobs, pins, cotter pins, bolts and wing nuts, screws, and all the other doo-dads necessary to finish the project. I must say, I was shocked to find out what a couple of bolts cost these days. Still if you have any of the parts hanging around, maybe there’s something here that will inspire you. All – in – all tho, if she works – I would have saved 400.00 and can chalk it up to tuition costs. If nothing else, I’ve learned the names of most of the parts doing this.

The warping board is made with lap joints, bolts, wing nuts, 1/4″ x 1″ x 3″ pine, 1″ poplar dowels (plus 1″ dowels cut from an old maple curtain rod). The specs for it came from Howard Ruttan’s plans for a warping board he made for his wife. I don’t have anywhere near his skill set – but mine’s stable and doesn’t torque, lol. Major accomplishment I tell ya’.

Loom and warping board:

Heddles and Raddle: The Raddle is just a home depot yardstick cut down with finishing nails which I gorilla glued in the holes and the Heddles are (two colors, one for each harness) made from no. 3 Aunt Lydia’s crochet thread in a jig I built from bobscrafts:

Side View (you can see the aprons, apron strings, and other schtuff):

The side view shows the extra holes drilled on the side frame so the castle can move up and down. A feature I read others desired. Most of what you see here, with the exception of the ratcheting system, is made from scraps of wood I had around including maple doweling for the counterbalance portion – came from the kid’s old fabric playhouse.

Closeup of beam ratcheting system:

(octagonal pine table legs, metal pins, and a cotter pin for the hole)

For the first attempt, I tried cutting plywood – that was next to near impossible for me without the right tools, second were wooden wheels from my kids’ wood stash with holes drilled – pin placed – from bobscrafts’ suggestions. This method doesn’t work – unless you are an expert at drilling the holes around a circle as equal distances – something I couldn’t do. Lastly, Michael came up with the idea for the legs and pins after I showed him the old style ratcheting system on colonial looms. It works really good but I need to add vinyl tips because I continue to lean my wrist into the ends of the pins.

Aprons:

Made from 10oz. canvas. One yard, cut into two 18″ x 22″ pieces. These have a double fold hem, 1/2″ then 3″ then topstitched with a double row of stitching. I nailed them to the beams with upholstery tacks every couple of inches. I made 2″ long buttonholes every inch. There are dowels in the 3″ hem, notched every inch, with extra heddle strings slip-knotted onto the notched ends, with a dab of craft glue in the notch to assure they don’t move. The heddles created a nice even length string to attach the ‘outer?’ apron rod to. I used steel rods for these and just slipped them into the heddle eyes..

The beams come from a 1 1/2″ thick walnut curtain rod cut to length, to which I nailed strips of screen door lathing with copper weatherstripping nails. It seemed the addition of the lathe would aid in tensioning, ie… going for that octaganol look.

Beater and Reeds:

For the reeds, I first tried to use the craft stick idea from bobscrafts, but I couldn’t drill the holes necessary for the threaded rod to pass through without the sticks shattering. I had made a jig to stack them, used the dremel in a drill press, but alas, it wouldn’t work. So, having an old reed window shade, I took it apart to see what it was like to weave with a reed beater before spending money on steel reeds. They are tied between square dowels with no. 3 cotton string. I tried using some old waterproof powedered resin from paper mould making days, but alas, the 32 yr. old bucket of resin died on the shelf. So, after brushing away gobs of unset resin, I ran a bead of gorilla glue in it’s place on both sides of the reed, top and bottom. That seems to have worked out well. The reed spacing ended up at 10. That will work for the dish towels I want to make. In the future, still having the craft sticks, washers, and threaded rods, I’ll just use the same method rather than trying to drill.

Of course, the loom needs tools -

10 spool thread stand and old shuttle and pirn from the local antique store: (The stand is made from 6″ dowels, a cabinet door handle, scrap 1×2 for the top, more maple dowels for the sides from the old playhouse, and a 15 1/2″ old bookshelf shelf).

Weft sticks and a reed hook from a craft stick. I’ve since read that plastic lids make good reed hooks, so if this one doesn’t work out good, I’ll make one from a coffee tub lid.

The entire kit and kaboodle has been stained (where blue) and waxed. As soon as the glue dries on the thread stand, I’m looking forward to having a warped weekend!

Wish me luck!