Beadwrangler Special Feature
May 12, 1998

	Ileana Somerson's Weave World
	May 1998

Piecework
Weaver's
Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot
Handwoven

Piecework, May/June 1998

The most evocative article I've read in a while is "A Gift for Ingrid's Wedding," by Bridget Rorem, in the May/June 1998 Piecework. "With more than 700,000 stitches, a mother knits her loving thoughts, hopes, and memories into an elegant bridal veil."

Using extremely fine Italian merino wool on a 000 circular needle, Mrs. Rorem made this 76" square veil, which weighs about 8 ounces. Each pattern has signifigance, from the Celtic knot center to the birds and trees in the border. A knitwear designer, Mrs. Rorem also gives us a "Lace Alphabet to Knit," with excellent hints.

Practically all the other articles deal with miniatures, of which many are fiber oriented. Many a delightful hour I spent in the Chicago Art Institute taking in the wonderful Thorne miniature rooms in the special display. Here is an article on "Narcissa Thorne's Miniature Career," and it delineates the beginnings and creation of the rooms.

Several years later I was excited to find 16 Thorne miniature rooms at the Phoenix Art Museum, and hope someday to see the nine rooms at the Dulin Gallery of Knoxville, Tennessee.

The historical article is "Northern Comfort: New England's Early Quilts 1780-1850." Galer Britton Barnes describes the 41 quilts from the Old Sturbridge Village collection which are on display until January 3, 1999. Lynne Bassett not only curated the show, but was of great assistance to Barnes. Directions follow for a "Miniature Embroidered Quilt to Stitch."

"Tiny Treasures of Twin Towers," by Jan Marsh, tells of a miniature of a 13-room, circa-1760 mansion furnished with historical accuracy. This stately Georgian mansion stands proudly inside the Toy and Miniature Museum of Kansas City, Missouri. Look at the picture of some of the fiber works by Jim Morman: a knotted Turkish rug made with single strand floss, chairs upholstered in needlepoint on 72-mesh muslin, a tapestry hanging with silk thread.

This is followed by a "Miniature Needlepoint Sampler to Stitch" which Annelle Ferguson makes on 48-count silk gauze. Try it. Frank M. Cooper also gives instructions for a "Miniature Needlepoint Rug to Stitch." He uses 18-count canvas and Persian wool.

Celia Y. Oliver writes about "Helen Bruce, Electra Webb, and their Miniature Vitrines." "The Hat and Fragrance Gallery of the Shelburne Museum, a complex of 32 buildings in Shelburne, Vermont, is home to one of the largest collections of textiles and needlework in the country. In one small room is a series of vitrines (glass showcases) containing miniature versions of late-18th-and early-19th-centure rooms."

If you have any interest in miniatures and live near any of these fabulous museums, visit them. At least, read this wonderful issue of Piecework.

Weaver's, Spring 1998

As if to coordinate with the glorious bridal veil, Weaver's, Spring 1998, gives instructions for "A Wedding Dress," by Hildegarde Wilson with Virginia Tobo. Using ivory 40/2 silk and a 4- or 8-shaft huck threading, they wove a magnificent fabric which can be rolled up to fit in a shoe box. Directions for the silk charmeuse bow are given.

Before my computer ate the reviews I had written, I described every one of the 17 Weaver's Garments. This is almost like a recipe book. This time I am going to mention that most of the authors are weavers we know and love. The main thing is to read the instructive material such as "Sewing with Hand-wovens," by Gwen Dunham and Flavian Geis. They give wonderful suggestions.

"Couture Tips for Handweavers," by Diane Kelly, offers excellent tech-niques for ways to give garments a finished look worthy of woven fabrics.

Tracy Kaestner, in "Sew, You Want to Weave a Garment!," says to "Note how much time and effort you put into weaving a fabric! Give your garment the respect it deserves and put at least as much time and effort into planning, constructing, and finishing it. If you do, you'll be rewarded with a gar-ment you'll be proud to wear for many years to come!"

If you plan to make a garment, read every article in this delightful issue. It has instructions for dresses, vests, trims, coats, jackets, tunics, a child's suit, a communion dress, and the wedding dress. Sharon Alderman gives "A Juror's Statement," which gets you inside the mind of a person judging a show and tells what she looks for.

By all means, do NOT skip over Madelyn's "Hello" column at the beginning. It's priceless!

Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, Spring 1998

Please read Charlene Anderson-Shea's President's Letter at the beginning of Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot, Spring 1998, about volunteers. That is, if you can take your eyes off Helena Hernmarck's tapestry on the cover. The article, by Micala Sidore, says "The Art Is The Cloth." The photos of the tapestries Hernmarck has made are marvelous. A keynote speaker at Convergence, Hernmarck will lead a tour of her work in Atlanta. The Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC will mount a display of her tapestries on June 21, 1999 for the summer.

Following a Gallery of wonderful works, including Laura Militzer Bryant's, Roxanne Brown tells of "Understanding Copyright." This is a well researched piece from a lawyer/weaver, who suggests that any interested person obtain a copy of Circular 40 ("Copyright Registration for Work of the Visual Arts") from the U.S. Copyright Office.

Exquisite baskets are the theme in Debra Paulson's "Leon Niehues: Comfortable Perfection." Using fine white oak from his own land along with old basket techniques, Niehues developed an individuality in his basket-making. His works are included in many museums as well as the First Per-manent White House Craft Collection.

Dianne Totten approaches one of my favorite topics,"And in Closing." She says,"Make a statement with the finishing of your beautiful handwoven garment. Choose closures that echo the design elements of your creation and adorn your work with the perfect treasure or technique. Be inventive and clever in selecting these final touches."

What a wonderful adjunct to the previous magazines! She gives instruc-tions for covering snaps,too.

There's another finishing need: "Treasured Buttons: Beautiful Accents," by Kathryn Dannerbeck, who owns "Beads & Beyond,Inc.," in Bellevue, WA. Read this and discover why Czech glass buttons are desirable for handwovens.

If you think the other magazines had a lot of fiber places to visit, con-sider the "Mission Mill Museum: Preserving Our Textile Heritage," by Widney Moore. Located in Salem, Oregon, it preserves the textile heritage of the Willamette Valley. Moore tells of the Handwoven Curtain Project. They look lovely, but so do the handwoven curtains in our Fiber Arts House.

The history of "The Society of Arts & Crafts...Setting the Standard Through a Century," by Verna Suit, gives a fascinating place to visit in Boston. An offshoot of that society in 1922 was the Weavers Guild of Boston, and that, in turn, became the inspiration for the formation of guilds around the country.

"On the Road to Convergence," by Lee A. Lawrence, tells of many, many places to visit in Virginia, Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. All of these are concerned with fibers, and there are so many that sound like something worth visiting.

Handwoven, May/June 1998

The new Handwoven, May/June 1998, has arrived, too. This one contains a special multishaft bonus section. Weavers used to think that this magazine was geared to 4-shaft looms. This issue concentrates on Summer Wearables, Tapestry, and Living with Handwovens.

I can't skip the book reviews, since two of my old Philadelphia friends have books there. Joyce Harter, along with Lucy Brusic, has published the fine-sounding Weaving for Worship. Sigrid Wortmann Weltge has completed her study of Bauhaus Textiles. My first workshop was with Else Regensteiner, and Sadye Tune Wilson has just released her biography. The fourth book reviewed, Weaving Contemporary Rag Rugs, by Heather L. Allen, sounds great, too. What a collection!

William Ralph polled almost 300 subscribers on an Internet weaving list and produced a random sample in "Why We Weave." It is easy to identify with most of them.

The best idea I picked from "Tricks of the Trade" was to use a hand-held mini sewing machine to sew the next strip on in weaving a rag rug.

For inspiration, read Kathleen Thompson's "Dyeing and Weaving into Their Nineties," a wonderful story of three weavers who continued their craft.

Another inspiring article is "In the Hamlet of O: Cattails to Backpacks," by Jacqueling Ruyak, who lived in Japan and writes of this Japanese craft.

Another inspiration is the Story Cloth "Doll With an Attitude," about an eleven-year-old girl who made a double weave doll. Fancy that!

Now for the Living with Hand-wovens--The Personal Touch, for which there are directions. Deborah Tedder made the "Bright Pockets Afghan" with squares of Ultrasuede tucked into double woven pockets. Our teacher Betsy Blumenthal dyed and wove a gorgeous fabric in "Overshot Upholstery for a Footstool." Marina O'Connor wove her "Thousand Flower Towels" on four shafts.

Anita Luvera Mayer needed "Guest Towels" in her new home, and designed some with a cotton chenille warp and sewing thread weft.

For Summer Wearables, Clara Rose Thomas made a "White Light Jacket, defining rectangles with a space-dyed yarn. Ann Whitpenn used some space-dyed yarn for a special effect in her "Turquoise Blouse." Karen Freitag-Engstrom made her first piece--a "Silk Twill Vest." Alyson Denette used silk for her "Lattice Plaid Scarf." Barbara Meier used bright inlays of pearl cotton in her "Summer & Winter Vest Fabric."

Christine Hemp has a beautiful write-up of the "Tapestry Artists at Weaving/Southwest."

Susan Martin Marrei writes a wonderfully illustrated article on "Mounting Small Tapestries." For a really professional look, read this.

Concept to Cloth features Kathleen Moore Farling's "A Summer & Winter Sampler." Here's a wonderful way to start multi-shaft weaving while learning about an interesting weave.

The special bonus section is actually about going beyond 8 shafts, although some are on 8. Jacque Hart writes "Weaving Damask on a Draw-loom." Dawn Hamilton takes up "Com-puters and Dobby Looms." Lillian Whipple's "Snail's Trails and Cat's Tracks in Polychrome Summer & Winter" says it has an 8-shaft profile draft, but in S&W, that means ten shafts.

Betty Lou Whaley tells of "Exploring Bronson Lace." Her study group used 10- and 12-shaft looms to effect this. And, on 24 shafts, they're iridescent.

Now Sharon Alderman asks, "My New Loom is Here, Now What?" If you have more than 8 shafts, read this.

The next two designs are 16-shaft patterns, and beautiful. Go for it, if you have the equipment.

Let Handwoven know if you like it.

 ..........Ileana Somerson, May, 1998