Fabric: The 'Maria' plaid
The ‘Maria’ plaid.
Many years ago, I had accumulated a pile of leftover cones of 2 ply wool in a myriad of different colours. There was not enough of any one colour to made an economical length or fabric or a set of shawls. (When one is a production weaver, one does not very often set a loom up for only one of something as it takes nearly the same number of hours to set a loom up for several ‘somethings’ as it does for one ‘something’, so it is most cost-effective to set up for as many items as possible on a single warp). So, I thought a multi-coloured, non-symmetrical plaid could look really good using all the leftover cones of merino. The fabric was made and it looked fabulous. I kept enough to have a basic straight, knee length skirt made for myself and I still love it. Even now 25+ years later, I wear it to work and always get complimented on it.
The original skirt inspiration for Maria’s plaid.
One day, I was wearing it to work and a friend and colleague, Maria, saw it and loved it. She asked me if I could make her some similar fabric as it reminded her of her native culture and the fabrics used in clothing for special festivals. She would have a dress made for her cultural festivities (Filipino). I was happy to oblige.
The fibre my skirt was made from was merino wool but unfortunately, I no longer had such a broad range of colours available, and the wool supplier I used 20 years ago had long since shut up shop. Maria and I decided cotton would be an acceptable substitute, so we went shopping together to select the colours.
Selected cottons and preparing the warp.
We selected a range of colours that we felt would work together and somewhat replicate the woollen version and I got to weaving. Unfortunately, the cotton was a little thicker than the wool and I felt the resulting fabric was quite heavy, but Maria loved it anyway. She had it made up into a dress and says it was perfect.
Tying the colourful plaid warp onto the loom.
Winding the warp onto the loom.
Ready to weave….
Nearly finished and ready to cut off.
Washed and drying.
Finished and ready for the dress maker.
