My passion for the lively texture of collapse weave continues. The shawls are woven in plain weave using an overtwist Habu Textiles wool crepe as the fiber that gives the weave its springy liveliness. At 2/48 this is so fine as to be almost invisible in the weft. And with the loosely set warp threads the garment just off the loom is light as air. The overtwist wool crepe creates magic when the shawl is put into water and collapses about 30%; giving the fabric its soft pleats.
black collapse weave shawl. The picture on left is before collapsing in water
weaving fine as air
fushia collapse weave shawl
before shrinking and after
collapse weave shawl
my model being weird
I found this in my Pinterest feed this morning and thought it was quite serendipitous since I had gotten out my copy of Anne Fields – Collapse Weave. I was frustrated as I started looking up her references for overtwist wool. Very little statside. Except, Habu. Is there no one else? Maybe they’re not as expensive as they seem. How do you keep the tension as you warp? Koni
HI Koni
So far I have only used the Habu, and mostly in the weft. As soon as my sectional beam loom is empty I will try some in the warp also. Good luck finding more sources. Angie