What’s the first thing you wove on a loom? I’m going to guess for many it is a scarf.
I feel like for new weavers and seasoned ones too… it can sometimes be really difficult to figure out what to make out of the material we weave. This is especially true if you are using hand spun yarn, art yarn, or weaving with texture, like Saori weaving which I have been doing lately.
I have a stash of scarves. Scarves that I will never wear because I am just not the type of person who is stylish and can pull off wearing accessories without looking clumsy. Or spilling coffee on them.
When I’m looking for inspiration for projects other than scarves, I usually jump on YouTube, Pinterest, or even Google and I see these beautiful, expertly crafted garments that I don’t have the skill or patience to make. Alternatively, I see people with very simple looking garments and no instructions!
I’m currently weaving with a Saori loom and I know there are books I can get to help create garments from Saori woven fabrics but alas, when inspiration strikes for me, I don’t have the patience to wait for them to ship to me. I am also really keen to try some of Get Weaving with Sarah’s patterns, but wanted to start with something a little easier.
I ended up with almost 4 metres of fabric after it was washed and dried, so I decided to invent my own version of a “Kimono jacket meets Bog Jacket” by cutting the fabric into three even pieces and piecing them together using a similar sewing style to the Bog Jacket.
It sounds complicated, but it really wasn’t that bad. I’m not including my measurements because that is completely going to vary based on your loom and body size, but here is a rough diagram of what I did.
Step 1:
Cut fabric into 3 even pieces that were roughly the width of my outstretched arms from wrist to wrist. I stitched the edges with a zig zag stitch to prevent it from unravelling.
Step 2:
Pin together the top of two of the panels and sew each side, leaving a neck opening. (I used a long basting stitch first because I didn’t really know what size of a head opening I would need and then sewed it again with a smaller stitch).
Step 3:
This part was the hardest and messiest part. I laid the third piece inside the other pieces I had sewed together (seams were still on the outside) and stitched a section in the middle to attach the third panel. I then flipped it down and turned the whole thing right side facing out, and tried it on again. I wrapped the remaining edges of the bottom panel around my waist to see if it would all fit. It was close!
Step 4:
I flipped it back inside out, sewed the bottom of the arms and then (gulp) cut up the front middle of the top panels so that it would be open like a jacket. I zig zag stitched where I cut to prevent unravelling.
Step 5:
I pinned together everything that was still needing to be attached… basically the section from the back of the lower panel that I had already sewn, around to the front where the opening was I had just cut. It mostly worked but I did have to hand stitch a small spot because I didn’t trust my machine sewing in the corners.
Step 6:
I used bias tape around all the edges to lock in my weaving and hide any mistakes I had made and voila….
It worked wayyyy better than I thought it would. One sleeve is slightly longer than the other, but it looks great and it really shows off the weaving well.
I have a couple YouTube shorts that show the back as well and I think I’m going to do another one with a full instruction video now that I know a little more about what I’m doing.
I know it’s scary to cut into your fabric and it is a terrible feeling when you make something you don’t like or will never wear… so tackling your fears is going to be the only way to move past your artist’s block here. Find or invent something you feel safe enough to try. Use scraps or even other fabric you don’t need to test it out if that feels safer.
In my humble opinion, it is way worse to tuck away your beautiful handwoven fabric in case you want to wear it as a scarf one day than to make a mistake when sewing it into something you will wear proudly… mistakes and all.
This project actually inspired me to work towards a fully handmade and thrifted wardrobe this year. I hate synthetic fabrics and they are everywhere. I would love to fill up my dresser with things I have made and now I have a bit of courage to try more complex patterns.