The guest speaker at the April meeting was Kommaly Chanthavong. Her daughter Bobby acted as her interpreter.

Kommaly learned the traditional techniques of Lao weaving and the use of natural dyes in her home town in the north of Laos which is known for its weft ikat, warp ikat, complex continuous supplementary weft, tapestry weaving, plain weaving and discontinuous supplementary weft. The Vietnam war forced her to move from her home in 1960 and she later trained in Thailand as a nurse. But in 1976 she started a weaving group in her home in Vientiane with 10 desperately poor women who had been displaced by the war. Thereafter she became director of a handicrafts cooperative and in 1993 established a model farm in silk production and cattle raising on 40 hectares of land in her mountainous northern province.

In 2005 Kommaly was nominated among 1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize for artistic excellence and her contribution in strengthening the social and economic position of Lao women and their families. Many of the techniques she uses are of her own invention. She demonstrated her way of reeling silk from cocoons.

Kommaly set up a pot containing 60 silk cocoons on a small stove. After boiling them she separated one strand from each using a tool similar to a small straw broom. These were then taken over some reels and wound by hand onto a bobbin.

The silk cocoon has three layers, each layer has a different texture. The outer layer has a rough texture and is used for warp. Inner layers are used for weft.

Kommaly started her silk farm with the idea of using everything with no waste. Mulberry leaves can be used for making tea, mulberry fruit can be used as a dye, the cooked worms are eaten as a source of protein or fed to chickens and fish, the silk fibre is used to make goods for sale. Funds from these products go back into buying cattle for the farm and other supplies for the villages. 3000 people from 200 villages benefit.

The silk worm cycle takes 45 days and the Lao silk comes in two colours. To produce knitting yarn 10 groups of 60 threads are twisted together. They harvest silk a minimum of six times per year. Some villagers raise the worms, some dye and others weave. Each part of the process is performed by different people. Traditional Lao silk worms are more disease resistant than the imported hybrids. Hybrid crops need to be raised in a more controlled environment.

Posted by Prue Hill at 10:15 AM | Permalink

Helen Frostell, in association with the Journeymen, has been experimenting recently with weaving using remaindered threads. By knotting together thrums left over from other weaving projects and then dyeing them, she has used them as weft with warps of thin cotton. The knots are left showing and become an important textural feature.

The Japanese who used to work in this tradition, known as zanshi and now largely fallen into disuse with the dominance of machine-made cloth, would sometimes deliberately downplay the appearance of using recycled material. They would try instead to create weaving that looked as 'new' as possible, at least superficially and from a distance. Much attention was paid to concealing the knots and creating very regular stripes and checks.

Some contemporary American weavers working in this tradition weave with wool and experiment with recycled fibre in both warp and weft. The free-weaving aspect of zanshi resonates with the modern Japanese hand-weaving tradition of saori, where wefts are introduced at random in a "liberated", serendipitous way.

Helen has been inspired by the Japanese tradition of zanshi, weaving using recycled fibre, and the elegant simplicity of the finished cloth accords with her admiration for the formal intensity of the Scandinavian weaving tradition. Her weaving in the saki-ori or Japanese rag weaving tradition, using recycled obi fabric, appeared in Weave, recently published by Murdoch Books.

The Guild's Japan Style Study Group, a new group devoted to Japanese textiles and interior décor, has informal sessions planned for 2008 devoted to needlework (temari, sashiko, kogin and shishu.) Later we will cover paper (orikata, origami, kamiko, shifu and bookbinding), weaving (sakiori, zanshi), dyeing (kakishibu, indigo) and fabric printing (katazome, yuzen).

Posted by Prue Hill at 10:13 AM | Permalink

Part 3 of the series written by G Gohl for the HW&SG Journals in 1979/80 concerning progress of the 'Manufactory' at Parramatta.

Governor Hunter wrote to the Duke of Portland in April 1800:

"Your Grace may be assured that I do not neglect such means as may be in my power for trying what may be done to establish the weaving of cloth. The specimens sent by this conveyance, although prepared under many disadvantages, may serve to show what may be expected as soon as we have abundance of raw materials in our power. The sheep thrive exceedingly and the specimens of woollen cloth will in some degree show the quality of fleece; the breed of sheep which produced the wool is between the Cape ram and the Bengal ewe.

"The web of linen is our first attempt and is from the wild flax of this country, which will no doubt improve from cultivation. At one end of this web it is crossed by a thread spun from the bark of a tree, and a web from that bark is crossed at one end with a thread of wool. These specimens will, I hope, satisfy your Grace that much may be done here in due time."

However, when Governor King took over from Hunter, he also wrote to the Duke of Portland in September 1800:

"No further progress has been made in the manufacture of cloth and linen than the samples which I understand Governor Hunter took home with him. It appears that this necessary work has been hindered by want of flax seed and manufacturers. Some good workmen are among the Irish convicts lately brought here, which will in some measure make up for the loss of the Master Weaver who was drowned on the passage out - four men, two flax-dressers and two weavers, convicts for life, have been selected to conduct the manufacture and I have made their eventual emancipation the reward for bringing that manufacture to perfection. I hope that when the Orphan House is established a number of spinners and other useful hands will be procured. As the introduction of a breed of Spanish sheep into the flocks of individuals so much improved the fleeces that there is a promising appearance of a great quantity of wool being produced in a few years. Do, pray, send out some wool cards as it is impossible to get them made here."

Posted by Prue Hill at 10:10 AM | Permalink

Now is the time to start designing and making your more time consuming articles for shows and exhibitions in 2009.

There are some worthwhile prizes to win available within NSW and interstate. The Guild sponsored the Sydney Easter Show for $450 worth of prizes this year - you could take out some of this prize money next year if you start NOW!

For spinning classes at Shows the major prizes (and thus the 'prestige') usually go to the winners of the hand spun garment or article classes. These larger pieces involve a lot of spinning and making up time quite apart from time to select the best fleece available, seriously selecting the garment/article design and ensuring that best practice techniques can be used for seams, edges, dyeing etc.

So...

1. Decide which shows you wish to enter and in what general type of classes
2. Think about the design of the finished article
3. Fleece - find some fleece which says to you "spin me NOW" which you will really enjoy spinning
4. Plan the article/garment design, plan colours and sequencing so that you have sufficient time - be realistic
5. Spin all the yarn necessary (do some most days - forget the housework!)
6. and so on... and so on...

Make it fun and achievable

Posted by Prue Hill at 10:07 AM | Permalink

The University of Wisconsin has a digital collection of books available for free download that may be of interest to Guild members.

This digital collection includes millinery, dressmaking, clothing and costume books from the UW-Madison collections. These books from the first half of the 20th century (1907 - 1940's) include the history of clothing, styles of dress, fashion drawing, and design and construction of hats, clothing and costumes. Items in this collection will appeal to vintage clothing collectors, those studying costume design, fashion, and women's history, and those who just enjoy reminiscing about days gone by.

All Sewn Up: Millinery, Dressmaking, Clothing and Costume — University of Wisconsin Digital Collection

Posted by Red Wolf at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)