CENTERING WITH FIBER

My SAORI weaving challange : day 19

2012-02-16T14:20:00.000-08:00

Remember back on Jan. 29th I started a challenge for my self, one yard a day for 30 days. I want to have enough yradage to make and design clothing for the santa cruz open studios tour web sight cutural council council of santa cruz county in october so 30 yards. should be a good start.
so far I have wound warps, threaded and dressed the loom and woven 21 and 3/4 yards. Time for another wind the warp and thread day.
Here is my latest woven yardage.. I call this one "horn rimed glasses"

Time to twist fringes, and wash then press .It awaits its metamorphosis into clothing.

Peace in weaving
Jill Nickolene Sanderswww.saorisantacruz.com

A visit from a prominent weaver

2012-02-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

Monday February 13th Denise, a friend and student and artist brought Bonnie Tarses to Saori Santa Cruz studio.
Bonnie had asked if she was close enough to my studio to come for a visit as she was giving a weaving work shop to Denise's weaving guild .
Bonnie is well known for her color horoscope classes and technique. her website and her easy ikat weaving. They enjoyed themselves, and we had a wonderful, COLORFUL visit.
Bonnie loved the saori looms and is contemplating plans for perhaps putting one in a gallery in montana for all to participate in weaving while visiting.

Bonnie Tarses

BONNIE TARSES at the saori sx60 loom

Denise wearing a nice saori mobius cowl she swapped with another member in my ravelry saori weaving group : ravelry weaving in the saori way group she looks so cute.

BONNIE showing her color horoscope cashmere stole she wove that she "up cycled " from old cashmere sweaters more info here bonnies gallery

PEACEFUL WEAVING

Jill Nickolene Sanders

www.saorisantacruz.com

My yearly Saori weaving challenge

2012-02-07T17:53:00.000-08:00

This is my second annual Saori weaving challange. I challange my self around this time of year to warp and weave a yard a day, and I decided Again this year to do it. So far 10 days 10 yards .

First ten yards of my first 10 days off the loom!

This cloth I will make into clothing that I will design and sew in the next few months. I will then photograph them to be used in my entry application for the cultural council of santa cruz county open studio's show in October.

peaceful weaving

jill nickolene

www.saorisantacruz.com

A students Saori loom woven valentine vest

2012-02-07T08:32:00.000-08:00

One of my students , Linda , dropped by the studio yesterday to show me just some of her latest weavings!

including a perfect vest for valentines day!

and some more absolutely wonderful yardage she wove in the last few weeks with her Saori yarns and on her Saori sx60 loom.

peaceful weaving
jill nickolene
www.saorisantacruz.com

A new Saori weaver and her scarf

2012-02-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

After her initial introductory class my new student decided to weave a scarf for her husband. He loved her sample so we scheduled 2 ,4 hour classes and look at this beautiful scarf she wove for her husband!

Just starting a new woven scarf

first few inches

a design emerges

Taking a break to surf the net on my ipad.

ta da! the scarf come off the saori loom

times to twist fringes

She will weave in the end at home and wash it. I think her husband will love his new scarf.

peaceful weaving
jill nickolene

www.saorisantacruz.com

Sewing a Saori vest

2012-01-18T15:59:00.000-08:00

Linda emailed me this photos of her "river " scarf

Less than 2 months ago a new student came to learn to weave and wind a warp. The second class she bought a saori SX60 loom, and since then ..... well i will let you see.
This is the grouping of all the fun scarves she has made, some were all ready given away as gifts before she took this photo so there were even more..

I am truly amazed at the joy this has given Linda and now she is weaving yards of fabric for clothing. See her vest below.

This is the yaradage she wove on her saori loom for her vest.

Peaceful Weaving
Jill Nickolene Sanders
www.saorisantacruz.com

Classes on spinning yarn with a spinning wheel

2012-01-16T23:04:00.000-08:00

Last fall I taught a group drop spindle spinning class, one of the students wanted to move from spinning on her drop spindle to a spinning wheel so she came for a private wheel class.
It was so much fun to see my student be sucessful on a saxony scotch tension wheel, a castle irish bobbin tension wheel, and a double treadle, double drive tensioned wheel. She learned to ply , and to use a niddy noddy to skein off her yarn from the bobbins as well.

peaceful spinning

jill nickolene sanders

www.saorisantacruz.com

A Saori loom and weaving presentation

2012-01-13T07:38:00.000-08:00

My weavers group , santa cruz handweavers guild , asked me last year to give a presentation of Saori weaving and I presented it few days ago to full house with a very receptive enthusiastic guild members.

Thank you Yonat , the guild program chair, for the invitation, and warm introduction

Thank you Linda, Maggie, Robin, Lisa, Jon for coming and sharing your saori experiences as well.

peaceful weaving

Jill Nickolene Sanders

www.saorisantacruz.com

Why should I weave?

2012-01-13T07:11:00.000-08:00

Last week I had a new SAORI student . She is exploring new crafts she might be interested in. One of her questions was ,"after I weave a few pillows what else can I do with the hand woven cloth?"
This was an interesting queston, I explained that many artists are process oriented, not product driven. We do our art because have a need to express and the process is a need , rather than a choice.
She is coming back to weave a scarf . I think working with ones hand is so very vital as a balance to Our mental activites. Saori weaving is meditative and rewarding in it's process alone and at first we may want to weave a gift, a textile for clothing as a goal, but then the loom calls us with no intention at all, just an opportunity for a expressive voice.

PEACEFUL WEAVING

Jill Nickolene
www.saorisantacruz.com

Sewing a Saori flag/banner

2012-01-02T19:11:00.000-08:00

Our local mountain group/guild , Mavens Of The Fiber Forest (c) group in November , wove a collective saori cloth using predominately hand spun weft yarn spun by the group .

This week I got around to cutting and sewing the the flag. Next week we will embellish it and felt our name on . We meet for saint distaff's day, or also know as roc day. roc day info we always have a celebration doing something fibery .

I wanted to remember my mothers passing in 2010 around this time of year.
I inherited her singer featherweight sewing maching so instead of using any of my other sewing machines I brought it up to the studio near the wood stove to sew the banner . She bought it in the 1960's I was with her when she did. She was a very good seamstress and made ends meet by sewing and doing alterations for others in our small rural town when I was a child. When I recieved the box with the machine in it I pulled it out and the pice of cloth under the presser foot was the cloth of the last dress she sewed on it, a dress for me. It had been untouched for more that 40 yrs. Memories flooded through me.
I had it serviced but they told me it was virtually like new, only a new belt and oiling etc. was needed and a bobbin winder repair.

The hum of the motor, the smell of the oil was very comforting.

So untill we add beads ,ribbons etc. and I add one more piece of pipe to plant the banner, this is how it looks so far. So thank you mom .Your legacy of sewing lives on.

HAPPY NEW 2012.
peaceful weaving

Jill Nickolene
saorisantacruz.com

A suprise solstice/christmas Saori weaving day gift

2011-12-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

A memeber of our fiber group Lea suprised her future mother in law to a afternoon of Saori weaving a scarf for a christmas gift. It was an adventure because Jeanette did not know what kind of adventure she was being driven too. She and Lea walked into the studio and I said ,"welcome to saori santa cruz weaving studio you will be weaving a scarf this afternoon as a christmas gift from lea".

chosing any yarns they want for there scarves.

and starting to weave

AMAZING WOVEN SCARVES, THEY ARE SOOOOOO HAPPY.

Did they have fun? jeanette said" i can not believe how great this has been,this is the best christmas that I have ever had!" It was so fun!!!
I almost cried, that is a huge staement to how Saori weaving touches every one regardless of age, and ablity.

Have a wondrous winter solstice, and merry christmas

peace in weaving
jill nickolene

www.saorisantacruz.com

wow new saori weaver does stunning pieces

2011-12-23T11:59:00.000-08:00

Even though a few weeks ago was a brand new weaver's first class she has woven some spectacular pieces for her 2nd 3rd and 4th item in just a few weeks.

a very nice mobius cowl

and a darling hat!!

bravo !!!!
happy winter solstice
peaceful weaving

jill nickolene

www.saorisantacruz.com

Winter solstice and Saori woven gifts

2011-12-23T09:01:00.000-08:00

Some last minute gifts needed to be woven. I had a bit of warp left on my saori loom so I wove two small hangings as gifts this week.

some gathered lichen covered twigs from the property I incorporated into my weavings.

Deodar cedar cone (rose)

both hangings before I cut them apart

THIS HANGING WENT TO MY NEIGHBOR

NEEDLE FELTED WOOL ON THE WOVEN HANGING

THIS HANGING WENT TO MY POSTAL CARRIER RICK

HAPPY WINTER SOLSTICE and MORE LIGHT......

PEACEFUL WEAVING

JILL NICKOLENE

www.saorisantacruz

Lets wind a SAORI warp

2011-12-06T13:46:00.001-08:00

When new students arrive to wind a warp for a first time it is because I have asked them many questions and balanced out if they are ready to do so, or I could pre warp a loom for them to see if they want to try weaving right away..
My new student was really ready to learn the basics because she had woven back in the 70's and was familiar with some of the methods.
She was amazingly fast and thorough and in the first class she wound a warp , sleyed the read, threaded the heddles and beamed on for a scarf! inventive unique Saori equipment makes warping fun.

First stop many yarn choices to chose from for her own unique scarf .

next winding her warps learning were to make the cross so that the headle threading goes smoothly, with out tangles. the SAORI warping frame is a true delight to use. I have owned dozens of warping reels/boards but this one is adjustable, has slanted pegs so that the warps do not slip off, as a otpional stand for free standing, cone holders, and a unique system were you can wind up to 5 threads at one using only your thumb not needing warping paddles and spool racks.

And this little beauty is the SAORI cross holder, no lease sticks ! lay your cross in easily then have your cross ready and quickly reachable for getting the yarns in the correct sucession.

sleying the reed, then she threaded her heddles.

beamined on now tensioning the warps and trying on the rod.

love her beautiful yarn color choices.

packed warps, now she is all ready to start weaving next week.

peaceful weaving and gratefulness to have the power finely on!

JILL

www.saorisantacruz.com

A SAORI hand woven jacket

2011-12-06T13:31:00.001-08:00

Hand sewing the saori style jacket, not a problem , but electricity still was not back on or else we would have used a sewing machine.

oooooo trying it on

A fantastic creation unique , and snugly .

Looking back at a SAORI week of emersion into weaving, loom logistics and directions, learning to spin, design and sewing. there is a sense beauty and acomplishmnet in the students.

PEACE IN WEAVING
JILL

www.saorisantacruz.com

A family saori weaving adventure.

2011-12-06T12:49:00.001-08:00

several months ago I received a email about a WEAVER who wanted to visit Saori santa cruz. She wanted to bring some family members too.
she was visiting here in California and wanted To introduce her family to weaving by way of the Saori philosophy . What a warm fun experience and fantastic results with new weavers and knowledgable weavers alike.

As the sun moves behind the mountains every one finished up and removed there weavings from there looms.

The time came for the 6 yards to come off the saori loom ready for sewing, but wait, no eletricity! oh no!. we went ahead and sewed by hand .The pinned sleevless jacket went back to her room for the midnight oil hand sewing matharon! ( see the next blog post for finished photos of the hand woven jacket)

5 1/2 yards was perfect. out on the deck where we still had some light to pin and piece.

absolutely wondeful weaving yardage

the light is fading in late afternoon at the studio

but outside we see the warm yarn colors that were chosen and how textural and fun!

HAPPY , VERY HAPPY WEAVERS!

PEACE IN WEAVING

JILL

www.saorisantacruz.com

Exceptional saori students!

2011-12-06T12:17:00.001-08:00

As last week progressed more fantastic creativity abounded . Thursday we had a wind storm that took our power out for 5 days, no genterator. we hand fun any way, no power needed with a wood stove and Saori weaving.

Here is the amazing baskets of off the loom saori weavings she created and brought to share.

DID I FORGET HOW TO SPIN? no I did not I can still spin, yay!

Robin learned to wind a warp using the saori warping frame.

sleying her reed using the threading holder.

ok the weaving stride hit and the goal 6 yards so that that she can recreate the sleevless hooded jacket she addored. with her own wool weaving.

with the reed sleyed robin moved on to threading her heddles, comfortably away from the loom in a chair. the enitire package will be taken home to her loom, harness hung then beamed on.

peaceful weaving
jill
www.saorisantacruz.com

A glimps into Saori Santa Cruz fiber arts studio the first few days of this week

2011-12-06T11:23:00.001-08:00

How much fun and new saori learning weaving experiences abounded this week in the studio. I will break it up into a few days at a time .
from winding warps, to sewing , weaving, and learning to spin .We, shared , and had fabulous fun.
my frist student works with non profits and has many disabled clients. she wanted to see how the shuttle shelf worked and also since she has a saori loom with 4 inside sets, which allows her to use one loom for 5 clients. By removing the the current warp with out re threading any thing , we put on a new inside set quickly, it is good to pratice that procedure.

The shuttle shelf above that allows a student with limited hand movement to throw the shuttle with out it falling to the ground.

the shuttle shelf come off and on easily and quickly.

preparing to exchange the "saori inside set"

I have a ritual I do every day, I have a basket of folded quotes that I have printed out and I have my students choose one with out looking.
This was one, extreamly appropriate .

learning to spin is a craft I love to teach but this week I called my friend maggie in to help so that I could concertrate on other students weaving. What a wonderful fun time was had. joyful fiber!!!! thank you maggie.

wheel #1 was balking at spinning art yarn so we switched to the majacraft aura, and away she went, giggling with delight!

first skein of art yarn, her requect, done and niddy noddy-ed off

A gift from my student, a pastel drawn from one of her disabled students.

4 harness weaving

over night a spindle was lent so that spinning could be praticed.

Here is her first spindle spun mini skein .

Trying on various garments I have sewen from saori yaradage is fun.
This one is the homage to 7yr. old weavers vest. she bought this for her daughters 18 birthday!

The amazing hooded sleevless jacket that looks fantastic on everyone!

peace in weaving

jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

SAORI homage to 7 yr old weavers

2011-11-28T16:42:00.001-08:00

Mid September I took three saori looms to the education days at the Santa Cruz county fair.
hundreds of mostly 7 yr olds tried weaving for the first time. I decided to cut up and piece the yardage from there weaving together and I designed a sleeveless vest with a hood, for a" homage to 7 yr old weavers."
In the true spirt of saori I made the design and used saori woven pieces , honest , letting all that new found fun of weaving with out worrying about any mistakes spilling into the garment.
SAORI means no mistakes, so all the learning trials are preverved in this piece.

can you see if you can find the woven bits from the fair photos now in the vest?

cut up and pinned to piece of the saori weaving yardage

made a paper pattern of a simple design

yes it is hard not to obsess about mistakes, loose hanging yarns, etc. but I did let loose and although it is not one of my finely detailed sewing designs I set out to be true to the saori concept and I am happy.

hood back down like a collar it looks really cool on.

I think it will look good with a black turtle neck or jeans.
maybe I will add two front pockets.

update: this hooded vest sold to one of my students for her 18 yr or daughters birthday gift.

peace in weaving

jill
www.saorisantacruz.com

Mavens Saori banner meeting

2011-11-22T15:25:00.001-08:00

Our local mountain guild, MAVENS OF THE FIBER FOREST, met Tuesday at the studio to play , spin, eat share champagne and use our hand spun to weave a banner for the MAVENS Saori style.

MAVEN ROBIN IS CROCHETING NESTING BOWLS

I finished the last half of the banner. awaiting finishing now.

MAVEN BRENDA LOVED MY SAORI WOVEN VEST IT LOOKS SO GREAT ON HER WITH THAT SHIRT!

HAPPY THANKS GIVING EVERY ONE

AND PEACE IN WEAVING

JILL
Saori Santa Cruz

Autumns inspirations for Saori weavings

2011-11-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

Coming home from the dentist I stopped and took some photos that inspired me with my iphone. I immediately thought of Saori weaving's.
Along the road, in the medians in shopping centers etc. inspirations surround us.

I have added a few more things to my esty shop saorisantacruz esty shop

I sell many of the Gilmakra Swedish weaving benches that I use in my saori weaving studio.
yes you can use chairs, and stools BUT I got rid of of them all, they just did not feel right and my students prefer these as well. They are reasonably priced. You can put a cushion on it ,or not ,or a lambs wool fleece. There are 3 positions to raise or lower the seat easily with 2 wing nuts. They work equally well with the saori sx60 folding looms and the 60 looms. Also with any other work shop loom you may have. I use the benches as a convenient clamp for ball winders, swifts, and rigid heddle pegs constantly.

ONE of my favorite of the many saori boxed yarn sets is the rainbow cotton set. 18 cones of 180 grams each cone per set. I try and keep these is stock but they sell out quickly.

first layers

second layer all cotton set

WOOL rainbow set 18 cones first layer 160 grams per cone

second layer wool set

close up of the wonderful quality of the wool set. esty shop link

PEACEFUL WEAVING

jill
www.saorisantacruz.com
jill's email

Visiting Hakone gardens

2011-11-02T01:08:00.000-07:00

Last week the power company did a scheduled mantiance power outage all day so I called my friend maggie and I drove to saratoga to visit Hakone gardens http://www.hakone.com/main.html

Much inspiration. I want to return in the spring when the wisterias is blooming.
Here are some photos I shot.

PEACEFUL WEAVING

JILL

www.saorisantacruz.com

Christmas theme for a SAORI weaving

2011-10-26T15:21:00.000-07:00

A new Saori weaver creates a fun table mat for the Christmas holidays in the studio today.

yikes Solstice is less than 2 months away, what happen to this year!

She chose a theme she had been thinking of and all her own colors.

We will revove the packing yarn in the top rows. then we talked about sewing bells or beads on the fringes.

what I love about Saori is even a new weaver gets inspired and then weaves fantastic pieces , I mean a christmas cloth right from the beginning , such creativity!

Wonderful clasped wefts with frosty sparking white yarn . Next class she wants is wind her own warps and weave a mobius cowl.

peaceful weaving

Jill Nickolene

www.saorisantacruz.com

New drop spindle learn to spin class

2011-10-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Maggie and I taught a beginning spinning class at the Golden Fleece in Santa Cruz. The weather was fantstic, almost 90 degrees and October 23rd! So we went out side and sat under the tree for our class. IT was a wonderful class . We have 4 new spinners, who took home fiber bags, and a simple drop spindle to practice, november 6th we meet again for a spinning wheel class for those who want to learn wheel spinning.

maggie demonstating with Brendas fantastic fiber

\

This student fell in love with maggies trindleman spindle and learned to spin very even yarn

Many spindles were brought by Maggie and I so everyone could find there own favorites.
Each person probably tried 8 spindles. Top whorls, bottoms whorls, turkish,supported spindles. as well as opportunities to card and comb unprocessed fleece, soy silk, alpaca, silk hankies, soy silk, plus learn various breeds of fleece.

This student loved the golding aromatherapy spindle and the Royal Hare supported spindle.

And although she tried them all she loved the golding celtic ring spindle the very best.

Busy at work every one learned to spin and to ply.

BUT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WE HAD FUN TOO!!!

Maggie and some of the fiber stash and the turkish spindle.

We had a customer who is a long time excellent spinner come out to see what we were doing. She was amazed at the array of spindles and just could not resist playing as well. and lured by the Golding ring spindles .They are amazing in quality of workman ship and balance .

Here is the wonderful yarn shop owner Gunilla pleased with the classes out come. It is rare that a knit shop owners support local weavers and spinners and felters too and Gunilla and her staff is so nice .
She has wonderful yarns , next time you are in santa cruz california stop by and visit THE GOLDEN FLEECE and say hi to her.

I love to reach out to the community teaching all fibery skills.
Like I always say" a peaceful life must include fiber" .......Jill Nickolene Sanders

PEACEFUL WEAVING AND SPINNING ........Jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

SAORI weaving is for any age

2011-10-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

The joy of weaving FREE OF RULES the SAORI way is so much fun. all ages from 4yrs and up tottaly love weaving on saori looms. I am very happy to "teach" more like "guide "students to weaving in the SAORI way. The joy is as much mine as my students.

I have been busy since the Open Studios tour ended, making loom , and weaving accessories bags.

A special order was picked up this past sunday .

This loom bag is destined to my Esty shop $145 Esty store saorisantacruz

I love this bag . black with yellow accents

$145

The accessory bags for rigid heddle heddles, reeds, and convient for storing extra harness like for the SAORI inside sets.

inside set ready to be stored in my accessory bag. There is a heavy vinyl clear sleeve for a 3x5 index card to write down any information you may need to remember. a drwa string with a cord stop and a side round black shoulder handle . THESE are sold but they run $45.

And a bag with a place for your extra reeds and a shoulder handle. $25

and chenille ovals $145 loom bag.

Jon the fantastic artist who forged and designed the shuttle and wheel signs came up this week and moved the spinning wheel to the opposite wall greeting all who come to Saori Santa Cruz studio.

PEACEFUL WEAVING

jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

MORE ON CULTURAL COUNCIL OF SANTA CRUZ OPEN STUDIO JILL N. SANDERS FIBER ARTIST # 21

2011-10-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

THESE WONDERFUL PHOTOS WERE SHOT BY AMBER OF MY OPEN STUDIOS SHOW

THIS IS MY SECOND POST ON THE SHOW SO GO TO "OLDER" WHEN YOU REACH THE END TO SEE THE FIRST BLOG.

THIS IS ROBIN GRACING THE SHOW WITH HER HARP PLAYING

PEACEFUL WEAVING
JILL
more photos on first blog ( click "older" below)

www.saorisantacruz.com

CULTURAL COUNCIL OPEN STUDIOS THE SAORI WAY

2011-10-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

MY OWN DESIGN OF MY KNITTED FELTED BAGS THIS WAS MY OPEN STUDIOS CALENDAR IMAGE

SAORI weaving goes to the Santa Cruz county fair

2011-09-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

I want to share the happenings of the last two wonderful days introducing hundreds of children to Saori weaving .
Last year I took my saori loom to the Santa Cruz county fair to demo for the first time on education days, but I was not happy having the crowds just observe me weaving. I got up from my loom and asked the lines of children "who would like to try weaving? I was overwhelmed with raised arms and eager faces! So I brought another loom when i returned the second day and I was swamped with thousands of school children eager to learn, SO this year I brought 3 saori looms . I asked my weaving student , and now friend Robin, if she would like to help. We barely got the looms set up in our hand spun hand woven section in the FARMS OF YESTERYEAR part of the fair, when at 9am students arrived with their parents and teachers.
For three hours Robin and I worked non stop till noon, giving eager students opportunities to weave. The plan was to just do one day this year but Robin was so excited with the joy of the children learning to weave she asked if we could come back a second day.
Some of the children sat down and after a short 30 sec. briefing they took off weaving. like they had been doing it all their lives! The ages were around 6 through 10 years. The saori looms were incredible, preformed perfectly, with ease and that helped hundreds of children to weave almost instantaneously. I could see the confidence in themselves growing and it was a blessing to experience.

ROBIN HELPING A NEW WEAVER ^

ROBIN HELPING VERY HAPPY STUDENTS

SECOND DAY WE ARRANGED THE SAORI LOOMS DIFFERENTLY AND ALLOWED MORE ROOM TO ALLOW US TO MOVE AROUND ( but we were still scrunched in )

KEEPING THREE WEAVERS GOING BY MY SELF WAS HECTIC BUT THE CHILDREN LOVED LEARNING TO WEAVE !

CATHY STEPPED IN AND WAS SO HELPFUL , THANK YOU CATHY! ^

The the second day Robin had to leave to go to work early , and there were even more children so it was CRAZY but fun! Cathy Walls , the hard working fabulous fair coordinator for the fiber section, stepped in and saved the day helping me for the remainder of the time.

OH I FORGOT I DID ENTER 4 WEAVINGS TOO!

A SAORI HAT, AND MY SAORI WOVEN SANDAL STRAPS ^

MY BEACH DRESS /HAT/SLEEVES WHICH WON 3RD PLACE ^

AND I RECEIVED A BLUE RIBBON FIRST PLACE ON MY BAG, AND IPAD CASE COMBO

we were all tired, but very excited and walking on air with the joy of introducing so many eager children to learning about weaving, they loved it. Seeing children walk away with sparkling eyes and smiles from weaving was great.

PEACEFUL WEAVING
JILL www.saorisantacruz.com

A year of " scraps" woven on my SAORI loom now sewn into a skirt

2011-09-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

In the past year every scrap of yarn, fleece, almost depleted bobbin wool fiber, some hand spun yarn too., etc. went into my "scraps weaving". My 4 harness Saori 60 loom's cloth beam kept being filled but last week I decided ,even though I had many yards of warp left , I would cut it off and wash it and design and sew something.

view of the scraps weaving.I was recycling all the yarns, fiber, and cut trimmings from the studio with no thought to colors just using them as they were available now washed and line drying

at first I thought I would make some large sturdy tote bags but I started draping and designing and my woven fabric called to become a skirt

I hand basted it on the dress form and cut it to fit.

then off to sew

I did some serging of black cotton as a lining for the skirt back as that section is the most prone to wear and friction from sitting.

sewing the lining to the hand woven fabric.

almost done ,points grace each side then drape done when worn.

the first 7" or 8" of the weaving was a scrap I had left over after cutting, so I twisted the beginning fringe and hemmed it and made the scrap into a pocket sewn onto the right side of the skirt. Inside there is a faced waistband and a drawstring for size adjustment.

the shape of the skirt laid flat

there it is.

I enjoyed seeing my wool sewn and designed "matryoshka "shoulder bag with the scraps skirt . The bag is sewn out of commercial wool yardage lined in cotton with a zip on top. Before I assembled it I needle felted wool fleece to my matryoska design. It looks comfortable with the new skirt.

peaceful weaving
jill
www.saorisantacruz.com

Saori weaving class with rigid heddle looms

2011-09-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

A local knitting shop , The Golden Fleece in Santa Cruz CA., wanted a weaving class with rigid heddle looms. I said sure BUT it will need to have a Saori philosophical flavor, so the owner said fine. First class with the 6 students we warped, covered basic weaving then the students took the looms ho home for 3 weeks to weave and returned yesterday for the the "finishing" techniques class. 1/2 of the class not only finished there scarves , but they warped on there own and wove another scarf! one student wove 4 scarves! These were all new weavers.

one student loves tartans

another lavenders and beige cotton

a lovely textured green scarf.

another student wove purples, amazing and with wonderful drape.

cashmere and some novelty yarns for this lovely lapis shade scarf

amethyst and alpaca greys and lavender and a eye lash yarn too.

and the tartan student , on her own, reached out to more expressive saori-ness

APPLAUDING these first time weavers.

peaceful weaving
jill
www.saorisantacruz.com

the "scraps" Saori weaving is off the loom

2011-08-29T15:51:00.000-07:00

For a year I have had a loom dedicated in the studio for using up almost empty bobbins, scrap yarn that has fallen on the floor, ends I trimmed off fringes etc.
today i finished weaving and I cut that weaving off the saori loom, washed it and hung it on the line to dry. A year of weaving in this piece , a journal with out words.

Peaceful weaving

jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

Lisa takes her first scarf off the saori loom

2011-08-29T15:34:00.000-07:00

I will let the photos speak for themselves. Lisa finished weaving today. She took her Saori scarf home to weave in ends and twist fringes, and hand wash her lovely scarf.

peaceful weaving

jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

I love how Saori weaving affects new weavers

2011-08-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Ok I will not say much but just take a look at these new students Saori weavings from this week at Saori Santa Cruz Studio. They are so alive and fresh.
Robin's raidbows

Lisa's textures

Robins lovely embroidery on her hand woven second scarf

Robins fun piece.

Robin using the SAORI threading holder to thread and sley her new Saori ready made warp.

And then there is me.

one night this week I could not get back to sleep so i stayed up and I sewed 4 more SAORI sx60 loom bags

for sale.

2 have sold already, this one below with squares and another I mailed off today.

SOLD

oval's $155

blue chenille $140

So here is a sneak peek of a sleeved stole for open studios studio tour one month away. I am using my plie' weave that I thought up, and my husband Lee named because of the shapes that look like the bent knees of the ballet position.

new warp for some woven accessories.

PEACEFUL

WEAVING

jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

sewing saori fabric for the county fair, and apple juice

2011-08-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Our gravenstien apples have been in multiple baskets on the studio floor for over a week , so this week end I prepped the kitchen to make raw apple juice. In the past years I have dried apples, made apple sauce but this year I just wanted juice. OMG it tastes so good. thanks to you lee for helping with the clean up
the fastest I could process was 2 quarts a hour, not including set up and clean up. That was a huge help.

my favorite very old carbon steel knife helped a lot.

and our 37 year old Norwalk juicer, the first thing my husband and I bought together new when we were first dating, it is still going strong.

just some of the juice cooling before the deep freeze.

This week the is the dead line for turning in my weaving for the Santa Cruz county fair so I have been busy sewing my saori yardage.

making covered buttons for the bag

another piece of saori fabric cut out for another bag.

peaceful weaving
jill
www.saorisantacruz.com

Lisa's Saori weaving progresses

2011-08-15T16:58:00.000-07:00

lisa's weaving is progressing so nicely. she learned more today, like saori weft as warp as weft.
the weather was so nice we got to to weave out on the deck. I am loving her textures and colors!

here you can see on the left the "stair steps" it is a kind of inlay technique.

peaceful weaving jill www.saorisantacruz.com

Beginning weavers classes

2011-08-15T07:38:00.000-07:00

A local Yarn store in Santa Cruz ,The Golden Fleece, has a wonderful new owner as of June this year.
Her name is Gunilla, she was born and raised in Sweden lived here about 15 years and is the nicest person, a talented fiberest , an incredible knitting "doctor" and much more. We talked and she was excited to introduce knitters to weaving with a new class I would teach . She advertised the class 2 weeks ago and I had 5 Emilia rigid heddle looms, and she had one so we offered the class to 6 students. It was sold out in 3 days.
Yesterday was the class. The Golden Fleece is an adorable shop but has limited floor space, so I brought any and every thing that would fit in the forester to hold looms and warping pegs. It was a good thing I did because the students were sprinkled all throughout the lovely shop doing our warping and threading in little pods!
What a lovely mix of fun students, eager to learn, catching on fast, and choosing fantastic colors and textures of yarn to there individual tastes.
The students will take there looms home and finish there and be back in 3 weeks for a finishing class so I will take more photos of there lovely scarves..... stay tuned.

peaceful weaving jill www.saorisantacruz.com

Lisa is weaving in the SAORI way

2011-08-09T01:36:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I posted my new hand wrought shuttle sign that was made by Jon Bailif. I commissioned him to fabricate another , this time a spinning wheel. It is really fantastic, all hand forged and cut from raw steel. jon is vary talented.

My husband lee bolted the spinning wheel sign up this past week end to greet all who come to the studio. thank you Lee.

I am very pleased with Lisa's progress as her threading and beaming the warp on was finished. This week she starts to weave on her saori scarf .
She has specific colors in mind and knew just what cones and balls she wanted from the studio's shelves to wind and fill bobbins with .
I would like to mention here how easy the saori looms are to treadle. Lisa has some major physical disabilities and finds the saori loom easy to thread and weave on. Not only is she an intelligent loving mother of two, and a wife, sister and daughter in a wonderful family, she has an amazing sense of color and is very creative. She is so happy and positive and independent. I feel like I gain as much or even more through our saori weaving classes.
peaceful weaving..........jill

clasped weft

very very nice lisa.

jill@saorisantacruz.com
www.saorisantacruz.com

Robin assembles her new Saori sx60 loom and a busy week in the studio

2011-08-06T23:23:00.000-07:00

This was a very busy week at the Saori Santa Cruz studio I have been weaving practically 7 hours a day getting ready for
Open Studios what is open studios? look HERE
So here are some messy studio photos of my weaving week.............

Robin was a teacher and is an accomplished harpist . She has been weaving on frame looms for about a year and fell in love with the saori loom. She came to the studio and a less than than a hour she assembled and was weaving on her new saori sx60 loom . Robin is going to play harp at my open studio's both days! I am thrilled and honored. How fun it will be for the the customers too.

Robin just sent me this photos of her first woven wool scarf from her saori loom below.
I think she is going to be a fantastic Saori weaver. I just love it!

Monday Lisa came back and threaded her heddles, and dressed the saori loom in her 2nd class. her first class she wound a warp and sleyed her reed.

SHE was astounded how easy and user friendly Saori looms and equipment are to use. She left happy and satisfied with a beautiful warp awaiting her on her 3 class to weave.

below first photo is a beautiful scarf ikat dyed and woven by Lisa she brought for me to see. she wove it in a class she took last year . She said that the warping for this scarf took days not hours and how much easier the saori threading holder and looms were to use.

above: lisa's beautiful indigo scarf she wove in a college class last year.

ok back to my work, besides weaving, dyeing , spinning, sewing, I also knit and felt here are some my own designed knitted and felted bags for open studio I LOVE THESE BAGS AND THEY ALWAYS MAKE ME SMILE AND OTHERS TOO!........... It is not uncommon for strangers to follow me around working up the nerve to ask me about my purse while i am shopping. I am totally delighted . So this is my featured photo on the open studio calendar. See below last photo "purse playground". (because who wants to carry around the same old drab leather purses with zippers and snaps that wear out and catch when you can have fun with on one of of these.) ART YOU CARRY....... functional art with a distinct attitude. saori -ness ..........

PEACEFUL WEAVING

JILL

www.saorisantacruz.com

MAVENS OF THE FIBER FOREST beach day and SAORI weaving

2011-07-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

The mavens met at the beach friday for a fiber day. Our official 2nd annual maven fiber beach day.

I brought my book charka and the piccolo Saori loom. I got to weave about 10 mins. the rest of the day passers by and children flocked to try weaving..... so I spun cotton on my charka, because once I showed one or two how to weave and advance the warp they all kept teaching each other! i stayed close by for minor requests like, "can I change the color bobbin?"
I supplied a bag of pre wound bobbins in many colors for them to chose from,

Jenny on left has been blind from birth. jon on the right is my student from years past who I taught to spin weave knit felt......

Jon has been teaching jenny for the last 1 1/2 years to spin. she is now selling her yarn and not having to fold pizza boxes like she did for years for money which she hated.

cathy spinning

maggie and brenda . maggie made drop spindles to give to children and adults who wanted to keep spinning. Brenda donated some fiber to go with them.

park and draft spinning new students

Then scarlet 5 yrs old wanted to go on to the saori loom for weaving

Logan fell in love with weaving.

Jenny with her assistant kristen plying

Brendan LOVES orange he wove till the shuttle was empty.

A magical day many will never forget.

peaceful weaving

jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

Winding a warp, and threading the Saori way

2011-07-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

Lisa came to the studio yesterday. She has woven at a community college class, has a table loom and wanted something more user friendly so she wanted to start with warping and weave a scarf in the Saori way.
Day one of four classes. In about 2 hours she wound a warp for a scarf in colors she choose. Look at her plaid blouse , she loves those summery colors so those are the colors Lisa chose for her scarf.

So all 100 ends, 95" long warp wound on the saori board and reed sleyed.
" I can not believe how much i got done two hours" lisa said. She told me it was very long DAYS during her college classes last year to get the same amount done, "and it was easy with the saori warping , not hard on my back."
The new saori warping board can adjust so even if you want to sit down to warp you can. The pegs angled out so to keep the warps on the pegs effortlessly. Not to mention the option, which we did not use this time, of placing the cones mounted right on the warping board holders and threading the warp through the eye hooks mounted on the board as well, to facilitate warping up to 5 threads at a time using just your thumb, not a warping paddle, spool racks etc. LET ME REPEAT THAT. warp 5 individual threads with the crosses individual too, at one time with just your thumb, a fabulous technique.
Next class time is threading the heddles and beaming on the warp on the saori loom. So more to come.
to be continued........

www.saorisantacruz.com

peaceful weaving
jill

Leila learns to weave at Saori Santa Cruz

2011-07-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Leila always wanted to learn to weave so she scheduled a introductory weaving class at the studio.
she lived in New Mexico before moving to Santa cruz and loves aqua and browns.
she picked out her colors and wound her bobbins.

Leila studied Japanese and lived in Osaka for a year. She did not know saori headquarters are in Osaka!

I am always fascinated by the color of yarn choices students make on there own. I lived in Arizona for 14 yrs. I was transported back to then and thoughts of native turquoise jewelry , high dessert flora, and clay pottery from her color choices. It is wonderful to be transported back in time and fond memories just from the influence of colors.

Leila studies dancing, I think she has many artistic hidden talents........

Wow look at this, and LEILA never wove before!

" I will be back to weave some more, this was GREAT"

peaceful weaving

Jill

www.saorisantacruz.com

Debra dives into Saori weaving

2011-07-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

RAISE your hand if you LOVE YELLOW. I do I do with my arm strained towards the ceiling! Okay look at these lovely Saori weaving with yellows then. Debora is weaving some amazing things for her first 10 days or so on her saori loom......

YES Debra really dove into the pool of creativity and wove through all of her warp while using amazing add-ins . Being new to weaving and I am inspired by her foraging skill in her garden and her scrap baskets. Look at these ad-ins to her weavings.......

dried flowers

silk fabric strips beaten hard

silk fabric strips not beaten

wish the sparkle in the yarns translated more in this photo because it is lovely.

YELLOW pages!!!!

off to the far upper left in the shadows lies a weaving she made and wanted to complement with her new weavings . In the foreground is what she did.

CHRISTMAS IN JULY? Debra is thinking of christmas, i am too busy so it far from my thoughts right now, so at home she wove and added some charm to her christmas theme weavings . She broke up the red and green with cedar, dried rose buds, ribbons,holly and fabric strips. We are trying to figure out to keep fir or cedar from shedding and drying out. I guess if we figure that out we will be nominated for huge grants for all sorts of scientific research.

And threading a new warp? well it is very easy on your body and fun to thread your harnesses and sley the reed comfortably on a table with the saori threading holder. Then take it to over to easily hang and place it on the loom. Debra said, " you can actually carry on a conversation and thread this way at the same time and be comfortable with out messing up". I agree .

more info here

my web sight

Two new Saori-esque scarves

2011-06-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

I am preparing to teach a ridged heddle loom class at a local knitting store. I went by the store to pick out some yarns for weaving two scarf samples using some the yarn stores inventory.
I really tried hard to weave more conventional scarves as I realize that theses students are not familiar with Saori, or weaving. I got about 3" to 4" into weaving a scarf and realized that I could not stand weaving in the "conventional way" any more! I take the scarves to the shop tomorrow .I figure if the store owner does not "get " it then I will just bring the scarves home. TO LATE, I AM A CONVERT TO SAORI WEAVING AND THERE IS NO GOING BACK!

The first scarf is called "otters in Monterey bay"

If you look carefully you can see some dark brown furry bits mommy otter and some lighter tan furry bits, the baby sea otter, amongst the" blue ocean yarn", (click on the photos to enlarge).

A baby otter was just born this week in the monterey bay aquarium .

here is a video of another otter and another

baby sea otter here

The other scarf is called"Lavender in Provence"

this was as "conventional" as could handle"

New Saori loom owner

2011-06-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

Debra has been weaving on a ridged heddle loom. I found out she and her husband were from Ohio originally , my husband and I were Buckeye's too. she home schooled her children, we did too.

She came to the studio wanting a better weaving experience, classes, loom. What does that mean? well when you know you know. Saori is so much fun and the equipment is so well designed it is a joy to experience. I felt the same way when I first used a saori loom, I fell in love with it, and the appreciation just continues every time I use it. I have had/owned over 15 looms in my weaving life so I have comparisons for sure .
She liked the portability of the Saori SX60 folding loom.
We got it out of the box and put it together and were weaving in about an hour.

Debra's new loom all put together, warp tied on and ready for weaving. Thank you Debra , nice to meet you and here about your lovely family too.

can you see the yarn in Debra's braid she inserted? very nice.

looking very good

Her original weaving she brought. She wants to continue the theme.

I think she has started to weave a very nice complementary new piece.

"I had so very much fun today" was Debra's response as we loaded her loom in her vehicle and she was on her way.She will be back with some friends in 2 weeks . I will take photos again and report back on her progress! Very exciting Debra.

more saori woven sandal straps

2011-06-22T13:32:00.000-07:00

I needed to weave a second pair of straps for my Sseko sandals, narrower , and I got to use my aglet crimper.
I wove two simultaneously on my saori loom . finished width 1/2' but you could weave these on a ridged heddle loom , they are 85" long.

the multi color cotton 8/2, is my hand dyed warp I dyed.

EMPTY AGLET

aglet crimp pliers

cool

makes lacing my Sseko sandals really easy

my feet are all set for hot weather now.

www.saorisantacruz.com

Saori woven straps, popsicles & laundry

2011-06-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

Time for the toes to emerge from my clogs and shoes. So to celebrate toe summer solstice coming in two days I started weaving Saori straps on my saori loom for my two new pair of sandals.

Mohop low sandals with stock black strap and my new saori woven strap. Sseko's flat sandals made in Africa

My Sskeo's before with plain brown cotton straps , bottom photo, MORE HERE they practice responsible consumerism to support sustainable economic development and are made in Africa
Above are my mohop's clog/wood cherry low sandal with stock tie and new woven strap MORE HERE they come is 3 or four different cute heights of heel, mine are conservative lows as I twist my ankles and break bones too easily.
Annie started mohop in Chicago by making custom made shoes/clogs 4 yrs ago. Now recently some are made in china making them more affordable and accessible to others, but you can still order the custom made ones made in the USA too.

Yes the eternal HIPPIE

Going to weave more straps, monochromatic color, but I truly love the randomness of these too.

The summer solstice is in two day I have hung out the laundry for that fantastic fresh warm smell, I have not used regular detergent for years, only unscented, biodegradable kind so the fresh scent is honest and real.

laundry hung.view from the outside studio/ weaving deck

my good friend Maggie told me about these great popsicle makers, ZOKU.

look here

The first zoku pops I made were "MOTHERS LITTLE HELPER" Mimosa fresh orange juice, fresh strawberries, and Champagne .

I made 9 pops with one freezing. These are saori style , no two alike for sure.

you see there is only 6 here I ate 3 over 3 days. yummy.

The grand kids, 5 under 5 years old, will have a blast making there own out of different kinds of non sweetened juice too.

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE

my web sight

www.saorisantacruz.com

Grand reopening of The Golden Fleece

2011-06-06T04:37:00.000-07:00

Almost a decade ago I left the Golden Fleece , new owner ship, and the fact that it was becoming another knit shop , not the spinning, dyeing felting weaving, doll making, and knitting shop I had worked at for almost 8 years. One of the customers then , new to the country from Sweden , was Gunilla. She is know around the area's knitting shops now as "the knitting doctor" . Well last month Gunilla bought the golden fleece and is bringing back weaving and spinning and will be adding other crafts as well as knitting. She invited local dyers, spinners and and me to come and demonstrate for two days. Santa Cruz is having record breaking low temperatures and crazy winer like rain falls in june, but despite the wind and rain customers flocked to the Golden Fleece this past week end to welcome and check out the NEW Golden Fleece.

Katrina 8 yrs old really took to to weaving and sat and wove, {with a short cup cake break,} for about 12".

maggie teaching drop spindle spinning

I met so many nice new people and some I have not seen for years. I was to busy to take many photos but the shop was very cheerful and warm and buzzing with excitment. Gunilla's lovely teen age daughter Lynnessa sat down and tried weaving for the first time before i packed up { she was busy helping to ring up customers and stock shelves for both days,and fell in love with it. }

I introduced many to SAORI weaving and we will be having weaving workshops at the store soon with introductions to weaving on ridged heddle looms in the cozy class room area .
Sunday our power went out and our road was closed by fallen power lines and trees so I had to drive 27 miles a back roads to make it to the store, power was still not on, nor roads open so I drove home the extra distance again, power just came on about 1:00 AM this morning.I am so glad I made it out. It was a very very fun week end surrounded by many wonderful fiber people and worth making the crazy curvy and narrow back road route detour !

Student's weaving and sewing

2011-06-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

Sheila's second shell

This week Sheila my fiber arts student made number two lined classic shell. when you find something that works it is so fun to make many in all kinds of fabrics. We have a little more tweaking on the pattern to get it to fit just right. we are 95% there though.

The first blue silk one was a featured in the blog HERE . This new one is Japanese cotton with a silk lining . I love her Fabric color choices. She can see fabrics that I would just past by. A great eye and great taste too.

Weaving a summer scarf on the Emila ridiged hedle loom.

At sheila's home I left a ridged heddle loom for her to learn weaving on. She is weaving a gauzy random warp sumer scarf. I can't wait to see the finished weaving! It is turning out very nicely .......so in a few weeks I will show the progression and off the loom photos next.

SUN HAT FROM SAORI WOVEN SCRAPS

2011-05-29T17:59:00.000-07:00

Today I made a hat with no top with left over woven fabric scraps from my beach saori cloth. I
took two hats that I like, but usually can not wear because I wear my hair up and used them as a pattern.
I took photos of my creating process from measuring the brims and crowns of my hats to sewing the the brim-less hat more photos here: PROCESS PHOTOS

ok I will probably never wear the hat with the dress but they do display nicely together

velcro to adjust the back

back closed

It was fun to use up the the scraps and now I have a hat to protect me from the sun and go around my pony tail, or up do.

and I can roll it up and put it in my purse .

http://www.saorisantacruz.com

New Saori top for the dress/jumper

2011-05-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning up from sewing my dress/jumper yesterday and saw that I had quite a bit of yardage left I did not use, almost 2 1/2 yards .

http://saorisantacruz.com

So I made sleeves! A boat neck slip over top that changes the dress into yet another look and when the fog comes in I can slip it on easily and take the chill off. I love layers and this top feels so good over the dress it is hard to believe it was an afterthought. MORE HERE

the top

worn over the dress

changes the dress/jumper to another layered look. I love SAORI!

" I am confident that through saori weaving , which encourages the generous exchange of ideas, methods of expression, and teaching, we will be able to feel more at one with each other and our world, and build a huge network of friendship and love."

Misa Jo the founder of Saori

clothing and Saori weaving

2011-05-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

February was gloomy and I wove this fabric I named "beach" dreaming of the warm sunny sand . I though to design maybe a summer tunic.

Over the last several weeks I have been draping and drawing and considering designs for my 11+ yards of cotton , rayon, linen fabric. ALTHOUGH I liked many styles , I may use them for other pieces, I was convinced that they would just hang around and never be worn or rarely if that.

Even the skirt and top I draped, when I tried them on they still felt fussy, heavy.
So now I was at the" less is more" stage. I asked my self what do i love and want? I love jumpers, you can wear knit shirts, or shells under them, and leggings , or to cover up a bathing suit .So I went to sketch something I would actually wear to in teach in and enjoy wearing to the summer farmers market.

I had two frayed, faded summer dresses I had made several year ago . I took things from each of them that I liked. I like front and back seams, more options to add a little fit. keeping the lines simple but a nice style for the saori woven design patterns to emerge with out screaming look at this. type of thing.

So I cut out from old cotton fabric scrapes my new design. added some center front pleats for bodice definition basted and fit it then used that as muslin for my pattern.

I felt that release of okay that's it, "go for it"

My hand woven saori fabric ended up about 18" wide. I needed to piece the lower dress skirt for the flair so I cut the fabric into smaller sections and sewed the width in those areas that need them . Arranging the weaving patterns in a way i though would be attractive with the cut of the jumper .

more construction details here

my old faded and stained favorite summer dresses

I wanted a combination of these two styles I made several years ago

i want to mention although i have two very good sergers I do not use them for saori hand woven. The textured yarns and uneven weave tends to throw off the cutting blade deflecting the the stitching and then the edges do not get caught and are cut off. I use the zig zag stitch which stabilizes the fraying nicely. I do not get two hung up on covering seams or linings unless I am entering a show.

I used commercial seam binding as facings . Sewed them down by hand to give the neck line and and arm openings strength and integrity.

The bit of fabric with the fringe in tact I saved then I appliqued over another scrap and left the edges raw with a straight stitch to keep them from further raveling. This became a set of double pockets placed asymmetrically on the dress.

I was about to sew the hem when i realized I wanted a unstructured hem and to pick up on the frayed pocket theme I decided to leave the hem RAW and sew a single line just to keep the fabric from future fraying.

It was late afternoon..... no time to drive to the beach today but hear are photos I took last evening till I get to the beach with my saori beach warp dress and camera in tow.

http://saorisantacruz.com

Meet Thomas , weaving on his Saori loom

2011-05-09T04:05:00.000-07:00

I received these photos from Cheryl yesterday evening of her 6 year old grand son Thomas weaving on his new saori loom. She shared these special comments.

( SORRY THESE PHOTOS WERE REMOVED AS THE FORMAT WAS NOT COMPATABLE)

"Thomas split Mother's Day, spending the morning with his mom (my daughter Kris) and the afternoon with' Granma', in the studio trying out his new Saori loom. One of the best Mother's Days ever.

Thanks, Jill"

wow fantastic colors Thomas.

It is so very important to introduce children at an early age to the opportunity of successfully expressing emotions. Sharing "inside" thoughts, communicating with options other than with words has a lasting a life long benifit . Weaving with the whole body/mind , coordinating right brain left brain , lower body as well as upper body is very healthy. Allowing Independent creativity with good tools and equipment is magical. although I have taught children with pot holder, frame, cardboard looms, I have never had the natural success and joy and ease of teaching children as with the saori looms. I always have used what ever I could afford loom wise for years to teach with. I still think it is wonderful to use simple hand held looms espically to supplement the the over under rhythm IF children respond to it. .
Saori is the only loom manufacture that makes floor looms the correct sizes for the wee size children. they take to the treadles very naturally. Children with special needs espically respond to the ease of use of saori floor looms , many other type of looms restrict there abilities.
Saori has two sizes of folding looms great for children/adults the piccolo from age 4 to adult, and the sx60, [this is what Thomas has here], can work for age 6/7 to adult. Having a loom with the correct height and pedal reach, ease of use with clear wide sheds comfortable for shuttles and hands to reach is even more imperative with children.

"Today was the first day that Thomas sat and worked/played at the SAORI loom. He had a wonderful time and is planning to come by the studio after school tomorrow afternoon. I'm pleased at how quickly he grasped what he needed to do. I had a blast watching his project take shape." Thomas wove for 40 mins.

He looks so happy and proud with his first weaving. Thank you for sharing your joy and passing on your craft to Thomas Cheryl !

Saori woven scarf to blouse

2011-04-24T01:37:00.000-07:00

I am about to to start cutting into my saori woven yardage and make clothing and accessories.
I will take some photos as i do this but first I want to share a past students weaving from scarf to blouse.

Last fall I had a student who wanted a top and we discussed it then she wove a scarf and we turned it into a top ! So this is a photo journal of most of the steps.

washed woven scarf

I start out using a muslin in which i get an idea of the shape and cut and fit , then use the muslin as a pattern.

The weaving needs to to be pieced first then sewn together, then pressed and then using the muslin pattern cut it out then pin and sew it together on the machine.fitting muslin

cutting up scarf and piecing

sewn pieced weaving ready to cut

checking if placement is attractive

cut ready to sew

checking fit

pressing

front finished top

back

short post

2011-04-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

One of my sewing students had her basket of pin cushions on her sewing table when I arrived at her home last week. they looked so sweet.

I am teaching her weaving on a ridged heddle loom as well but did not take photos, yet.

busy filling out applications to open studio's for October, DEADLINE in 4 days.

Elaine and her family learn saori weaving

2011-04-13T14:57:00.000-07:00

How special Elaine brought her mother Iris and her son Morgan , 13yrs, to Saori Santa Cruz Wednesday.

It was Elaine's choice and she decided to bring many bags of yarns to weave with. This was there first loom weaving experience. Here is iris Elaine's mom who quilts and crochets. choosing some yarns they brought.

there quotes for the weaving session {they were randomly chosen }

Iris picked up weaving very quickly

Elaine chose happy color yarns and did a wonderful fun weaving.

Iris and Elaine tying off the fringe

morgan's nice weaving

ELAINE'S WEAVING

This is IRIS'S LOVELY WEAVING

Morgan's fun weaving

Elaine brought bags and bags and more bags of some of her "stash" yarns to play with!
I have weavers choose, with out looking, random quotes from a basket of quote's I love and I have collected. Weavers can contemplate them ,if they want, while they weave.
They had a fun day, even morgan! They drove back home by way of hwy 1, the lovely costal route.
peaceful weaving!!
jill

Saori studio..... getting ready for warmer weather

2011-04-11T16:42:00.000-07:00

I love to have weaving, spinning and dyeing classes out on the deck during the warmer weather so this week end the weather warmer enough for lee and I to prepared the deck for fiber arts classes. I moved 4 of the 7 looms at saori santa cruz studio around for a group coming on Wednesday. Saori looms are so easy to move out to the deck, and it is fun to warp and weave while listing to the birds the woodpeckers the creek, and the fragrance of spring in the air! BUT alas showers expected weds. So we will weave inside looking out to the redwoods.

Hand wrought weavery shuttle sign

2011-04-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

An extremely talented artist and friend Jon Bailiff designed and made a hand wrought shuttle sign I commissioned him to create for Saori Santa Cruz. I loved it so much I asked him to design and make a spinning wheel sign and a door knocker as well. It is already getting oh's and aha's at the studio! Jon is my former weaving and spinning student, he teaches spinning now along with practicing his drawing, painting, weaving, felting, knitting............

Tina and Maggie weave a saori cowl

2011-04-07T22:48:00.000-07:00

Tina's ocean colors warp

Tina's weaving

tmaggie winding her warp

maggie using the saori cross holder to sley the reed with the saori thread holder which allows for threading the heddles as well away from the loom any where.

all done but twisting the fringe and washing

I had two day workshop for a saori cowl scarf which the warp becomes weft . First class 4 hours winding the warp and threading and dressing the loom.
2nd day weaving the cowl.
Tina and Maggie did a fantastic palate of exciting yarn colors and textures for there summer weight neck adornments. They need to twist their fringe and wash them but i think they turned out fabulous .
"That was so so so much fun!" Tina said, as we cut the scarf off the loom.
I had fun too! great students and fun day !

Tina and Maggie's finished cowls !