Santa Cruz Cap and Waistcoat - Part 2 of 2

Project Dates:  3/2020 - 7/2020

On to weaving!  The project required about three yards of fabric at twenty-four inches wide.  I wanted to do this on the twenty-four-inch rigid heddle loom, as my thirty-six-inch floor loom was not yet fully into commission.  Four ounces of roving spun into three-ply 12WPI yarn made about 140 yards of yarn which was about half of the project requirement.  

I designed the warp layout using the handspun as accent stripes.  The remainder of the warp thread came out of my stash.  It was a green worsted wool tweed that came from a now extinct New England mill in Massachusetts over thirty years ago.  Who says stashes don’t age like good wine!  The tweed was a wonderful counterpoint to the handspun Santa Cruz velvet!

As I was winding the warp onto the rigid heddle I noticed a distinct difference between the two yarns.  The handspun was very springy and stretchy compared to the milled wool tweed.  I ended up having to keep the different yarns in their own little lark’s head tie groups.  This allowed me to tighten up the Santa Cruz warp more evenly and tensioned closer to the worsted wool tension.

After a bit of color testing for the warp thread, using initially an electric blue mohair, I quickly realized this would not show off the handspun.  I had in the same new England stash a beautiful dark charcoal silk and wool which highlighted the handspun.  I tried different weft setts and finally settled on a slightly more warp faced weave which allowed the handspun to stand out.

On an interesting side note, I left the first inch of blue, and after wet finishing the fabric, really liked the combination of that blue and black which gave a bit of three-dimensional quality to the cloth.  Note to self for a future combination!

   

On to transforming the white silk into a compatible lining color using Shibori and the same colors as the warp handspun!  That was a very fun technique.  The silk was pole wrapped and I applied the dye using droppers to spot soaked various areas.  I then stood the pole which was only about twelve inches one end into the yellow dye, and the other end into the red dye.  The fabric around the pole looked overdyed.  After rinsing, heat setting, and drying, there was a very beautiful red and yellow patterning, but way too much white, and not enough green.  So, I added all of residual green and yellow dye together and overdyed the fabric!  The result was a very beautiful mottled Kelly green that blended nicely with the woven fabric.

The last step…sewing!  I had to overcome some internal obstacles to put scissor to fabric!  After making and fitting muslin patterns, I cut both the woven fabric and the dyed lining into their corresponding pattern pieces.  The fabric was enough to create a waistcoat and matching cap.  The construction using hand woven fabric was interesting and another learning curve.  All of the edges were sewn first to lock the woven threads after cutting the patterns.  I used the lining to create contrasting welts on the front pockets of the waistcoat.

The overall result and experience were absolutely thrilling and fun!  Though this project uses the required four ounces of endangered species, I am not sure if it technically falls within the Shave ‘Em 2 Save ‘Em guidelines.  However, the prize is not my end goal.  The inspiration and support of endangered species is.  So regardless, I owe this inspiration to and thanks to The Livestock Conservancy.

I felt like the mad scientist working on an alchemical elixir. It pushed my boundaries in a lot of areas.  Research on the web was a key factor.  I can’t imagine doing this thirty years ago without the fingertip access to knowledge and information.  What took me four months as a hobby would like have taken very much longer without ready access to information.  Thank you, internet, and the wonderful world of fiber artists willing to share!