Weaving with colour - a weavers experience creating collections of bright handwoven scarves and snoods

Creating a collection of handwoven designer scarves and snoods goes beyond the skill of weaving on the loom. As a weaver, one of the most important design choices I make is not just the fabric design itself, but the choice of colours. This blog discusses a recent project weaving a collection of bright scarves and snoods and details some previous issues when weaving with colour.

If you wish to shop by colour, my website has just the page: Choose by colour here.

My Weaving Journey: Learning from Disasters

I have had some disastrous weaving experiences! When I started weaving, I found choosing colours really difficult. I was never sure which colours would look good together. My temptation was to weave colours that were similar, perhaps different shades of blue. While I was happy with the results, I recognised that having contrast in a woven fabric creates an area of interest.

Now, I introduce what I call a 'colour pop' into my weaving. I recognise that the eye is often drawn to an area of a weave where the colour is different, creating a focus of interest within the weave.

Over the years, I have experienced some pretty disastrous weaving results. I realise that choosing colours that complement each other isn't always easy. On occasions, I have selected yarns that were individually beautiful, but when woven together, they lost their flair. Some colours became drowned out by their neighbours. Sometimes, the colour mixing, which occurs when the eye looks at the warp and weft yarns together in the final fabric, isn't as nice as I had hoped given the individual yarn colours.

Now, I do lots of sample weaving. You can read about this in a previous blog: Sample weaving is important..

As I sell my handwoven scarves and snoods, I try to consider what colours others may like. However, I also hope that if I weave in colours that I love, then hopefully others will feel the same. Over time, I have become bolder and more confident with my use of colour. If I don't like the colour combination, I don't weave it, even if I think that others might like it. This might be a little short-sighted of me, but weaving is my hobby. There are only so many weaving hours in the day, so I predominantly weave in colours that bring me joy!

A Self-Indulgent Weave: My Latest Creation

I am often drawn to pink and blue colours. Recently, I purchased a cone of merino lambswool in bright shocking pink and a lime yarn to complement a range of blue and navy yarns that I already had. I decided to weave a 20-inch wide warp to create a couple of wide, generous scarves, triangle scarves, and snoods. I chose to mix the colours and weave approximately 1-inch widths of each colour.

I experimented a little with the weft colours. At my husband's suggestion, I added some orange weft rows. I don't usually take much notice of his ideas, as he doesn't usually have great taste 😉 when it comes to yarn. But, on this occasion, I will concede that he made a great suggestion. The orange with the pink and lime looked fabulous.

I have learnt to become bolder with my choice of colours from teaching others to weave too. As half of TabbyandTweed, I teach others to learn to weave on a rigid heddle loom. When people book onto our workshops, they choose three yarn colours for the warping of their loom.

When we first ran workshops, we provided the weavers with yarn in the colours of their warp to weave with. On our second workshop, a participant asked if she could choose other colours to weave with. Our response was to say, "Of course, it's your scarf, so weave with whatever colours you wish." The result was amazing! Since then, we have encouraged participants on our weaving courses to weave with whatever colours they like. Some people stay within a narrow range of colours, while others use the day to experiment. The results of these workshops have been amazing, and I have gained lots of joy from seeing the beautiful weaving created by our workshop participants.

Will Others Love My Bright Handwoven Accessories?

My latest weave created a stunning collection of scarves and snoods, as shown below.

The scarves and snoods are now available for sale in my website shop, so we will see if anyone loves them as much as I do! As we approach Christmas gifting time, I hope that they will be purchased and given as unique gifts.

Handwoven scarves and snoods make thoughtful luxury gifts that stand out from mass-produced accessories. Their unique designs and quality craftsmanship offer a personal touch. Gifting a handwoven piece is not just about the item itself; it’s about sharing a story and an experience.

My handwoven scarves, snoods, and accessories are available for purchase in my website shop for UK delivery.

Join the Weaving Community

Interested in learning to weave? My workshop page has all the details. Click here for details of scarf weaving workshops.

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