I’m weaving a circular warp and the dovetail stick keeps the beginning and the end of the warp together. The thin stick at the top with red silicone bands is a dovetail stick. The beater/sword/machete is used to beat the weft. The heddle rod holds the heddles that lift the lower threads in the shed. These keep the cross in place and helps the weaver find both sheds. The two bars attached together with silicone bands are the rolling bars. The near loom bar is attached to the backstrap around the weaver’s hips and the far loom bar around a tree or post. The building of a Backstrap Loom: On the far ends (which you can’t see) are the near and far loom bars. The weaver builds the loom for every new project. Backstrap weavingīackstrap weaving is an ancient technique where the warp is attached in one end to a weaver and in the other to a solid object like a tree or a post. In this post I share my learning process, my thoughts and my woven projects in the online course in backstrap weaving that I’m taking. The simplicity of the tools together with the complex textiles you can make and the ubiquitous presence and history of textile making all warm my heart. For a skilled weaver this makes no difference in quality and allows her more color choices and opportunities to develop her design skills within the traditional format.For a long time I have been fascinated by the rich textural culture of the Andes. now use manufactured, dye fast cotton as well as wool threads. cannot grow their own cotton or spin their fibers by hand as this would be far too labor intensive and would only add to the cost of purchasing a textile. Contemporary Montagnard Dega weavers in the U.S. Decorative elements such as beads once were made from plant materials that grew in their rice fields. Originally Montagnard Dega weavers grew their own cotton, spun their thread by hand, and used dyes from the indigo plant (Indigofera tinctoria) and other natural sources. Montagnard Weaving: Pick Up Technique gives a brief description of loom technique. If you look at the back side of the weaving you will see that these same threads appear to float on top of the warp or weft. From the front of the weaving these supplementary threads appear to be raised. The intricate patterns that characterize many Montagnard textiles are created by inserting threads into the main weave that form a contrast in color and design. To make each row of the textile tight and uniform the weaver beats down the weft with a sword stick.Īs the weaving progresses the woven textile is rolled around the breast beam, which is two pieces of wood that clamp together. The weaver alternates the raising of the heddle rod and the shed stick which creates an opening for passing a spool or shuttle with the weft thread back and forth. Tension is adjusted by the weaver pressing her feet more firmly up against the warp beam or shifting her weight backwards while pushing her feet up against a foot brace. The breast beam is held in place by tying a rope from each side around the weaver’s waist. In traditional Montagnard weaving, the warp threads form a continuous loop or continuous warp around the breast beam (which sits close to the weaver’s lap) and the warp beam (which is either pressed taught by the weaver’s feet or is above the weaver's feet and attached to a heavy structure such as a table or two vertical posts).
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