Ok, so maybe this post should have been in January. That is when everyone does their resolutions, right? Well, January for me was more of a recovery from 2023. Plus, we can make resolutions to improve our weaving at any point, and really we should! We should continue to reevaluate our weavings goals throughout the year as new things pop up in our lives, we discover new techniques or materials, or really any time we just feel like it.
There is never a bad time to improve.
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Weave more (think less)
When you are weaving, you have to make a lot of decisions. The type of weaving you do might require these decisions at different times, before you weave, during, or after, but those decisions are always there.
Now, I am not saying to not plan your weaving. Not at all, because planning is essential for a weavings success. You can learn more about planning your weaving here.
While it can be a really interesting experiment to not do a lot of planning at the start to see what becomes of your weaving, what I am really talking about is trusting yourself to make decisions without overthinking while you are weaving.
Overthinking as you weave will cause you to second guess yourself. Instead, you need to trust in yourself and the process. Try to be intuitive in your weaving and not only will it be more enjoyable, but it will also move along faster.
And really, what do you have to lose? If you don’t like it, you can always unweave and try again!
The act of unweaving may seem defeating, but really it is an opportunity to create exactly what you want. The fact that you can unweave so easily and without destroying your artwork is one of the things that makes weaving so wonderful. Everything is easy to fix.
So in order to weave more, you need to think less. Trust yourself and see what you create.
Think more (and weave more)
Ok, now you probably think I have lost it.
I stand by what I said above, that we could all stand to think a bit less when we are weaving. We could also stand to think a bit more. It really just depends on when we are thinking and maybe what we are thinking about.
As I said above, thinking before we start weaving during the planning process is greatly beneficial to the overall weaving. Spending a little extra time thinking about our colors, materials, techniques, etc. can save us from having to unweave and reweave so. many. times. It can also help to ensure the final product is exactly what we want it to be and functions the way we want it too as well.
Your practice may be completely different from mine, but the materials I use are incredibly important to the meaning of each piece. Each decision you make is a part of your final product. I am always thinking about the materials that I use and what they mean for my work.
For example, my tapestries never contain animal fibers even though wool is the most common weft for tapestry. (Learn more about tapestry here). Instead, I use all cellulose fibers like cotton, linen, and hemp. Since my tapestries are inspired by natural patterns found in rocks, trees, lichen etc. it just doesn’t make sense to me to use wool or alpaca for my weft.
This may not be the same for you but I invite you to think about what you are using and what it means.
Enjoy the process
Sometimes we get so caught up in making that we forget the reason why we make in the first place.
You probably got into weaving because you thought it would be interesting and you wanted to have a specific end result. Hopefully, you also think that it is fun!
If you are weaving just to weave then you are missing out on the magic of the art. This can happen a lot if you start a weaving business or you are creating a lot for presents. Really any time you are weaving a lot that is not for yourself.
Make sure that through all of this you are still making things that you want to create. If you have lost the spark then you might need a challenge or to experiment. Check out this post on breaking your weaving block.
I know that even with this site where I am constantly talking about weaving, it can be really easy for me to not weave for myself. The amount of weavings I create for classes compared to what I create for my own studio is vastly unproportional.
Due to this I am trying to make sure that I am weaving, at least a little bit, almost every day. What is working for me right now is weaving smaller pieces that I can take with me anywhere. The image above shows just some of the embroidery weavings and fabric weaving that I have been doing on a small scale.
Of course, I always have multiple weavings going at once. So there is always a larger piece sitting on the loom for when I can dedicate the full time to it.
Enjoying the process also means only weaving what you want to weave and not what you think you should. I weave small most of the time because I like to weave small. I do this for me. Make sure you are doing it for you.
Always be learning
It is 2024. There is no end to the amount of knowledge that is out in the world about literally everything. Weaving is no exception.
Even if you love exactly what you are weaving you can always be learning new techniques, weaving history, about new materials, etc. All of these things can be helpful to add to your own practice. Learning more about weaving can never hurt your weaving practice.
As someone who runs a weaving business, teaches weaving classes, and likes to think I have a lot of weaving knowledge – I also benefit from taking classes, reading books, and learning from other weavers.
Considering weaving has been around for over 10,000 years, it is safe to say that no one person knows everything. There are so many different types of weaving, different materials, techniques, and tools. Weaving has been done all over the world and has different origins and uses.
There are now 2 ways to take it – either purchase the whole course at once for a discount or “create your own” course by purchasing just the parts you want! Either way, get 10% off for being a member of the Warped Community!
You never know when learning something new will spark a moment of inspiration that you can apply to your weavings. This can also help you to keep things interesting and continue to enjoy the weaving process.
No matter what your goals are for this year, I highly recommend you make some plans to change things up. Even if your goal is just to weave more, the act of weaving can sometimes be inspiration in and of itself. As you practice and gain more control over your weaving then you can gain more confidence in what you are doing. Confidence allows you to take chances without overthinking things.
Let me know what you are going to try this year!
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