Tuesdays with Tara

I wanted to share some of Tara’s weaving with you. Tara has been weaving at SAORI Salt Spring and at home for 4+ years. She takes to heart Misao-sensei’s message of “Weave Every Day”.

We work together at the studio to make warps to keep her weaving – she chooses the most amazing colours…

 

 

And the warps are always so lovely and inspiring…

 

And another …

 

She also uses some of the SAORI pre-wound warps and does beautiful weaving with them too. Here are her most recent pillows made with the blue-speckled warp…

 

A couple more things that she’s woven recently…two shawls…

 

And a belt…

 

And many other things including clothing. You can see more of her work in my previous posts here.

She has some of her SAORI weaving for sale at:

Knotty by Nature in Victoria
Bespoke in Victoria
Bark, Bath & Beyond in Victoria (where she has handwoven dog scarves)
Embellish in Duncan

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

On instagram
On facebook

 

/2 Comments

Tara’s Warp

Making a warp

From a basket of colours….

To a warp wound…

To the loom….

I’m looking forward to seeing the weaving!

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

 

/9 Comments

Tara’s Dress

I spent a wonderful morning with Tara and her mom Eve. Tara had purchased one of the pink pre-wound warps and wove the whole thing – 12 metres of it – washed it and brought it back to sew into a dress. She had seen a picture in the Saori Photo Report book that she wanted to try.

We had to decide whether it would be a dress or a tunic – or a bit of both. It’s long enough to be a dress, but could also be worn as a tunic.

Basically, it’s two long pieces sewn together at the shoulders…

The front and the back are quite different – and it can be worn either way…

We sewed in a side panel for a bit more room – using 1/2 of the width of the fabric and it was too wide. Eve had the great idea to fold it in half again and just sew it down, leaving the bottom the full width as a ‘kick pleat’ for extra room for walking, sitting, etc.

Everyone was pleased with how it turned out.

Now Tara has another 6 or 7 metres of fabric to make something with – or to sell.

It’s always interesting to see how things come together when sewing Saori-style. Each piece of fabric, each garment is different!

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

/10 Comments
,

Year of the Sheep – Creating a SAORI Sheep

Today Tara came to the studio and we planned to make a new warp. As we looked at the calendar she realized that this week is the beginning of the Year of the Sheep, so plans changed as she wanted to make a sheep to celebrate.

So, we found some fabric that she had woven and did just that.

Here is the sheep…both sides…

 

Photos by Alan Bibby.

When we had the SAORI Kai on February 1st, Tara read this:

2015 Year of the SHEEP

“A theme of Sheep year is to express your creative side. Now is the time for art, creativity and cultivation of beauty. If you ever wanted to explore your creative side, this is your year. Do not give up, be pessimistic or become discouraged because Sheep can only move forward! This animal is unable to move backwards or sideways” –http://www.astrology.com

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

/1 Comment

Loomsday – A Day in the Life of Looms 2015

Happy New Year – 2015 – Year of the Sheep!

Meg (in Nelson, New Zealand) has written a blog post on Unravelling asking people to post photos of their looms on New Year’s Day. I thought it would be fun to do and so here are my looms…

In the house I have one of my SAORI looms. I like to have a loom in the house in the winter as the days are short and it’s nice to be in the warm house in the evening rather than wandering out to the studio. It also means I can add a few rows to the weaving anytime I walk by. On this loom is one of the SAORI pre-wound warps. I had started this one a while ago and made some tea towels as a housewarming gift, then the inside set was removed for about 3 months – it is back on now and I’ve started weaving again, not sure where this is going yet.

 

 

 

One of the challenges of weaving in the house is that all my yarns are in the studio. I’ve just gone out to gather more yarns!!

Then, in the studio, I have 4 looms set up.

One is a loom that Tara is working on, making a baby blanket. The warp is so interesting – her amazing colour choices…

 

and it is weaving up beautifully…

 

Another loom still has a Christmas themed warp on it. Not sure what I’ll do with this – whether I’ll weave it now as a Christmas scarf or fabric to be saved for next year, or take the inside set off and set it aside until next year (that doesn’t really seem practical) or weave it with something completely different to see what it might look like with other colours…

 

 

A third studio loom has the end of a black pre-wound warp. It was down to the taped on part. I think it has just enough to make a no-sew hat, so I’m weaving that up in wool…

 

And the fourth is all set for someone to come and try it out.

Of course I have many other inside sets not on the looms – some with black warps for workshops, some with other projects, etc.

So many possibilities.

So, thank you Meg for this thought and challenge.

Now, I’d like to ask anyone reading this to take a picture of whatever is on their loom(s) – or their empty loom(s) even – and send me a photo (or photos) and a sentence or paragraph telling me about your current work on the loom or planned. I will then write a new blog post with everything that people have sent to me so that we can inspire each other. Of course you can also contribute to Meg’s Day in the Life of Looms.

Happy New Year and Happy Weaving!!
Terri

Next workshop in Victoria at Knotty by Nature – Saturday, January 31. Please contact Knotty to register – 3 hours – $75.

Next SAORI Kai in Victoria at Knotty by Nature – Sunday, February 1st 1:00-3:00 pm. All welcome ($5)

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

 

/3 Comments

A commissioned weaving

 

Last fall, Tara was asked to do a commission weaving for a Pentecostal Liturgical Stole. There were some sizes given (width, length, etc.) as well as preferred colours and style and the rest was up to Tara.

Tara worked on this at the studio over many weeks – setting up the warp, choosing colours and doing the intricate weaving. She ended up doing two sections – one for the long sides and another for the back neck piece which was to be narrower. It was wonderful to watch this stole evolve and the results are stunning.

The full stole…

 

A close up…

 

And a detail of the back of the neck. This section is a combination of a cross and a sun done with an inlay and embroidery technique…

 

She and I were able to go together to present it to the recipient – who loved it. She is giving it as a gift to someone who will be graduating from Theological College.

Congratulations Tara!

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

 

 

/3 Comments

SAORI Kai

Last week I hosted a SAORI Kai at Knotty by Nature in Victoria…

 

It has been a long time since we’ve had a kai and it was great to see everyone, share our weaving and be inspired by each other.

I was so excited I forgot to take photos of most of it and so missed many of the lovely pieces!

Here is the ‘firebird’ warp that I made, woven by Tara…being discussed by Eve, with Lynn in the photo in her wonderful boat neck top…

 

An amazing find by Jean – she was at a Thrift shop and found this yellow SAORI dress that we all think must have been made in Japan. I wonder what the story behind it is? It now has a home where it is treasured…

 

Tara’s Cirque de Soleil jacket …

 

Looking at fabric…

 

Marie shared a lot of what she has been working on, including upcycling sweaters, making bags and more. I missed photos of all of her work, but here is a photo of her…

 

She now has an ETSY shop where you can see some of her work – and buy it too!

I love to see what people have been working on and hear the stories behind them. Two new weavers were at the Kai and it was great to hear about their experiences with SAORI weaving. Claudia (Claudia’s images) was also there. Catherine Mick – also known as the Rag Lady – brought some things she has woven from kilts – repurposed into beautiful weaving and clothing.

So much fun and inspiration!

Thanks to all who were able to come. We’ll have another in a couple of months – dates tba.

Back to Salt Spring in the fog. Fulford….

 

Mt. Maxwell…

 

Happy Weaving,
Terri

My website: www.saorisaltspring.com

 

/2 Comments