Testing, Testing

I took the double weave samples off the loom yesterday. Then I spent the morning trying out a couple of different ways of managing the seams needed to close off the bag.

Here are my results:
The sample on the left is a mini version of the whole bag. I've stitched the sides of the lining and bottom of the bag itself by machine. I hand stitched the edges of the flap together with an overhand stitch.

The top right sample shows the main seam which will attach the lining to the bag flap.

The bottom right sample is another way of finishing the bottom of the bag. The hem stitching isn't as neat as I would like because of the way I tackled it. I can do better hem stitching than that.

I found that hand-stitching with the same yarn I'd used for weaving gave me a better result than using the sewing machine.

I realised that beading the fringe would be tricky because there are going to be nearly 500 warp ends there! And even though the yarn is reasonably fine for weaving, it's definitely not what I would consider fine for beading. So either there would need to be an awful lot of nice little seed beads, or I'd need to use beads big enough to take several thicknesses of my warp yarn. Either way, it would be bottom-heavy, both visually and physically. I could still use some beads just decoratively. I won't make that decision until I've got the whole thing together.

So, my task for today is to make the warp for the real thing and start threading those 500 ends. I'm going to give myself a little more room to sample. I want to test the handle of the cloth if I use the silk yarn I've dyed up. I'd like to make the front of the flap with the silk weft.

I'm going to drop in to the Textile Bazaar at the Guild this morning. Hopefully I'll come home with just a little more fibre for weaving.