It is November 2019… The New Year is upon us… and a brand new journey has begun for me… I have been waiting for several weeks to share more about this journey… It’s really really exciting… At least for me it is… Are you ready for more info… (smile)… Since the end of September, shortly into the Autumn season, I have been learning how to make my very own fabrics… with my very own chosen designs… I am doing this through the process of hand weaving using various kinds of looms, albeit I completed my first project on a floor loom… The first 2-3 weeks of my class were focused on how to accurately dress a floor loom in order to get the pattern and designs for my woven piece correct… This indeed is quite a detail oriented process requiring much focus and skill… I found this out in greater depth at the start of my initial project… Our instructor suggested we all begin our projects by using a plain stitch (one of the simplest stitches in woven designs, shown below, bottom section of fabric)… Only a few or more completed rows into what would become my fabric, fabric that initially started as just thin strings of cotton threads, there appeared some unfamiliar stitching… Subsequent to noticing the incorrect stitches, I was made aware by my instructor… I had a few of my threads misplaced within a heddle and the reed… We worked together to correct the anomalies… Doing so was its own process… It does in truth benefit one to pay close attention to each threading placement during the initial steps of dressing a loom…

Why am I so so excited about this new journey… How can I not feel enthusiastic about learning how to create my very own woven fabrics… decorated with my very own chosen designs… When I first began my quest to find, pick out and buy the most sustainable, versatile, chic, stylish, fashionable and so on… fabrics to make clothing that would become part of my debut signature collection, I didn’t consider that my own hand woven fabrics would, so early on, accompany the beautiful fabrics I had gotten from others elsewhere… This year… I am just beginning to more publicly showcase some of my own (made by me) hand knit creations… and within this initial year of having a signature fashion collection, my very own brand of clothing and accessories, I have 3 yards of hand woven fabric that I can actually say, I created… I learned how to create my very own woven fabric (SMILE)… I know how to make woven fabrics now… (BIGGER SMILE)…

When I came to the end of my first hand woven project… when its time on the floor loom was complete, and one end of my piece was hemmed… and the fabric itself was cut loose from the rods and beams that tightly held the sections of threads… I finally got to hold my first woven fabric creation in my hands and view it in its entirety… I was so deeply inspired by my creation… and by the process used to make it… Several months before this time, while visiting the Manchester Historical Society, I was brought into the presence of the actual floor looms that had been used to create Cheney Mill’s 100% silk fabrics. I even got to see the original fine silk threads that were used… Silk threads that were manufactured by the Cheney family for their renowned silk clothing, home interior pieces and more… As amazing as it was for me to see first hand… what simple fibers turned into thread could become through the mechanics of a loom, a manual machine created by man, specifically for the purpose of binding threads together, I had no idea how elevated I would feel sitting in front of a loom myself… and using my own hands to make fabric simply beginning with strings of thread…

A twill stitch is shown in the two sections below…

I am so grateful for the Manchester Historical Society and for the Hartford Artisan (Weaving) Center for offering weaving classes to individuals like me, who honestly have an interest in creating one-of-a-kind works of art… using as our medium… thread… When I visited the Artisan Center a year or so ago and was taken on a tour inside of their classrooms, I learned that there are no real requirements for learning how to weave… and how to weave an exceptional piece… particularly on a loom, other than one’s own willingness to accept him/herself as an artist… an individual who assiduously utilizes the skills of thoughtfulness, imagination and creativity… There’s something quite magical about the freedom we give ourselves to be artists—formally or informally… As an artist, art for me is just optimistic expression manifested in time… and in some form… whether or not we can actually taste or touch the thing, the creation, that we are able to perhaps smell, hear and/or see…

The loom I think is like a canvas… a canvas that gives us an opportunity to make use of all our senses while creating… With the creation of fabric… there is music… tones, colors and rhythms… being made… rhythms… melodies and harmonies being heard and felt… There is a painting… or a drawing… that comes into form… becoming visible through patterns and designs… The strings of threads and their forthcoming fabric have their own unique smells… and if we are curious enough… perhaps we’ll find that our creations taste good too… I don’t think we would actually use our mouths to learn the flavors of our threads, but creating with good taste in mind surely adds to the quality of our artistic endeavors and works… I am positive that I was led to the loom, for there were indeed blessings in store for me through the use of this tool… I know this to be the same for countless others who’ve also been brought into the presence of a loom… The loom is such a treasure… it is a remarkable gift… that not only gives us the freedom to make art we call fabric… or art that can be made into fashion… it gives us the freedom to create art as one’s very own life… a life beautifully woven together… regardless of its simplicities or seeming complexities… regardless of the types, textures and colors of the threads we’ve chosen… yet, with the knowing that each thread chosen made for a perfect choice… and for a perfect piece… How do we know that each thread chosen was the perfect choice, because of the delight we feel flowing throughout within as we witness the forthcoming of something new… Maybe the loom is really just a metaphor for life… both life and the loom give us the freedom to create art… and/or create ourselves… to create something or someone new… BIG SMILE…

Shown below and in the first image above is my very first hand woven project made with various colors of 100% cotton threads and by using both plain and twill stitches… This piece represents another new beginning… a new adventure in creating my very own woven fabrics… There’s much more of my own hand woven fabrics to come… Stay tuned… BIGGER SMILE…

We have the capacity and potential to always be a blessing in our own lives, in the lives of others and in this magical and magnificent world of ours…

To view more of my current clothing and accessory selections and styles from each of my signature collections… visit the Unif(eyed) Colors Campaign page at: windinc.org …. danarondel.com … partnersingoodwill.com …

Images photographed, created and/or designed by Partners In Goodwill: Publications & Media…partnersingoodwill.com …

Learn more about The Gathering of Daughters at windinc.org or by selecting the link for The Gathering of Daughters in the main menu…

Learn more about the Annual International Celebration of Dance at windinc.org or by selecting the link for Annual International Celebration of Dance in the main menu…

biashedo™ ~ My Universe Is Friendly… Inside and Out… And So Is Yours… The Macro… and The Micro… Grace… Love… Prosperity… Always sending forth light and love… :o)

Learn more about biashedo™ at windinc.org… Select the link for the Healthy Lives Campaign in the main menu… I have also written a more detailed blog on biashedo™ posted on January 6, 2016… Check it out too… danarondel.com …

Learn more about Unif(eyed) Colors Campaign at windinc.org … Select the link for Unif(eyed) Colors Campaign in the main menu…