8-Shaft Twill & Plain Weave Woven Shibori Bag by Nancy Rodrigues, WGB #4058, Westport, MA The design for this fabric came from notes taken in a woven shibori workshop with Catharine Ellis in 2001 and from her book (Ellis, 2005). The pattern used for the bag is from Ericson (2004, #201). Nancy adapted a variation of purse “C” to the size bag that she liked. Because the black fabric discharged to a rust color, red seemed like a nice complement to work with the rust and the black. 1 2 3 Threading Draft. A shibori pattern thread used for pulling (shown in red) is thrown after every four picks of plain weave. After discharging and dyeing, these threads are removed to leave a patterned plain weave fabric. Three pulling thread patterns are shown top to bottom: 1) Diamond Twill; 2) Stripes; and 3) Ws (point in The warp and weft are black 10/2 cotton, sett at 24 epi (2 epd in a 12-dpi reed). The cloth was woven at 30 ppi, 24 in the plain weave ground plus six shibori patterning threads. After taking the fabric off the loom, the embroidery floss pattern threads were knotted and pulled very tight to form the resist. Next, the piece was soaked in a 1:3 bleach and water solution for a couple of minutes to remove the color. The fabric was rinsed, treated with Anti-Chlor to stop the chlorine action of the bleach, and then over-dyed with reactive dyes to color the bleached areas. After rinsing and washing out the excess dye, the pattern threads were removed; the fabric was pressed, and ready for sewing. In the process there was a 12% dimensional change in the weft. The bag measures 11" x 12" x 2". Nancy has been weaving, or at least around weaving, since the 1970s when her grandmother, Isabel Boan, bought herself an 8" Structo loom and started taking lessons. Nancy learned to weave primarily from her grandmother, guild workshops, and many years of attending the New England Weavers Seminar. She writes, “I have no special focus on a particular kind of weaving, I just wait and see what crosses my path and interests me. Woven shibori is a nice combination that answers the question, ‘Do I want to weave something about pattern and structure, or about color and texture?’ ” A 10-shaft 32" Macomber loom was used to weave this piece. the warp and straight twill in the weft). Combinations of Structures WGB 90th Anniversary 175