Handwoven postcards go Crafty!

Life has been a bit hectic round these parts since September, largely as the result of being asked to write a tutorial for UK craft magazine, Crafty. Keeping the deadline meant various other projects had to be put on hold temporarily, and then (more recently) the catch-up period commenced…  I was very excited about the magazine project, and it was very hard for me not to mention in advance, but I received my contributor’s copy today & it will be in the shops tomorrow (Friday 8th), so I can finally share the news!

I was given carte blanche for a DIY weaving project, and was very happy when the go-ahead was given for my handwoven airmail envelope idea.  The observant amongst you may have noticed my sudden resurgence of interest in the Handwoven Postcard Project, and an unprecedented number of posts where I shared (unbeknownst to you!) my prototypes for the magazine tutorial.

You may or may not have also noticed that my blog posts are usually conspicuously free from pictures of myself (largely because there is no camera in my household), but now that a photo has been published in a national magazine, I decided to break with tradition and share the (actually quite old!) pic I shared with them.  There I am!!! >>>>
Far more interesting to me is the nice job they made of photographing the actual handwoven postcard – much more enticing than my usual flat scan…

By the way, the magazine people very kindly returned my handwoven postcard sample, so I have popped it into the TangleStore for somebody to snap up a little piece of TangleCrafts history!  (Sorry, someone was quick off the mark with this!  Look out instead for limited edition ‘custom’ handwoven postcards, available soon…)

The Crafty feature provides step-by-step instructions to weave your very own postcard-that-looks-like-a-letter.  To complement the project, I have also just added a new TangleClub* freebie – printable airmail stripes and/or background – to make the non-woven airmail border that little bit easier to achieve.  (Of course, you can also use the printable for non-woven mail art projects if you feel so inspired. 🙂 )

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough space in the Crafty article for the extra steps I had prepared for adding the ‘address’ and ‘stamp’ to the weaving/postcard/letter, so I will be working on a new kit/instruction booklet which will include those little finishing touches as well as various other bits & bobs.  Watch this space for availability!

There are lots of other exceedingly cool projects in this month’s issue of Crafty (I especially can’t resist those Clanger-esque needle-felted mice on the front cover by illustrator Gretel Parker) and I notice there is currently a half price subscription offer on the Crafty website, which sounds like a bargain to me!  If you check out the magazine, please stop by and let me know what you think. 🙂

*TangleClub membership available here.

Handwoven faux postage #3

Over the last couple of days, I have been weaving yet more postcards.  Why? I hear you wondering…  Well, partly to try out some different yarns, partly to try out some alternative woven postage ideas, and partly for…another reason.  Where are the postcards going?  What are they for?  Well, this time I’m not sending them to myself, but I won’t say more than that for now – look out for updates!

My postcard from a couple of weeks ago (right) was woven with an aran weight knitting yarn.  The ‘stamp’ was a very basic surface needle-weave which hid the background weaving nicely.  The more recent postcards, however, were woven with a less bulky (dk) yarn – largely because I simply could not find the blues I was looking for in a heavier weight.  (I always find it surprising that despite the vast array of yarns out there, sometimes it’s impossible to find one that matches the colour in my mind’s eye…)

I soon discovered that the same simple needleweaving came nowhere close to covering the background.  I got around this by weaving diagonally (both directions) across the grid that was formed, and this did the trick.

For the sake of experimentation, I also tried weaving the ‘stamp’ as part of the main body of the postcard weaving, rather than as an embroidered addition on top.  I instantly liked the way the splicing together of the envelope & stamp colours gave the appearance of a serrated edge (well, at top & bottom, at least) and will most probably use this method again.

I still also want to experiment further with the matchbox loom, though, and applique a tiny weaving onto the postcard, instead.  Another day, though…!

The Handwoven Postcard Project

Handwoven faux postage #2

In a recent post, I claimed that the stamp woven in the corner of this ‘letter’ was my first handwoven faux postage.  Who knew?  Turns out I was wrong…!  I just re-discovered an old post of mine from 2010 in which I wove a postage stamp on a tiny matchbox loom!

I had completely forgotten about this, but really need to try it again – it would totally be possible to embroider a little detail onto the surface of this tiny weaving…  

Ironically, this miniature weaving probably took as long to complete as the handwoven postcards I have talked about recently, due to the fine embroidery threads used instead of bulkier knitting wools.  It would be possible to weave a quicker stamp using a bulkier yarn or thread, though – it would just afford less opportunity for adding finer detail.

See the original post for further details.

Spot the Difference #2

You’ve got to be impressed by Derby’s mail service!  HP#2 arrived home safely yesterday, and you really would be hard-pushed to spot any signs of  damage due to it’s journey through the postal system (compare the pic above to the earlier pic in this post – I defy you to spot the difference!  I assure you, they are different pics, taken days apart).  The only evidence can be found in the slightly disappointing hand-scribbled cancellation of the postage stamp.  Otherwise, it is entirely unscarred, and might just as well have not travelled anywhere at all!

I suspect I am not challenging my handwoven postcards sufficiently, by sending them on such a short, local journey.  Perhaps Derby is especially (unusually?) mail art-friendly?  But HP#3 (& possibly HP#4) will test out the services slightly further afield.  I’ve not had chance for any further weaving yet, but should be underway in the next few days…

On the plus side, the results of my experiments so far must surely be encouraging to anybody who is worried about the damage that might befall their artwork should they free it into the postal system.  Personally, I’m a bit disappointed – I was hoping for some scars and more obvious signs of transit…   But on the evidence to date, it seems quite likely that your missives will survive entirely in tact and unharmed, so now that excuse is by the wayside – get creative! 🙂

The Handwoven Postcard Project

Spot the difference!

Can you spot the difference?  The weaving of Handwoven Postcard #1 appears remarkably unscathed & not at all traumatised by its little jaunt through the Royal Mail.

The address side bears an unfranked stamp, and a couple of very minor scars – if not for the postal ‘barcode’ overlapping the address box, it could easily be believed it had never left my hands or home (but it did!).  I’m very impressed by its survival skills & can’t wait to see if Postcard #2 fares quite so well…!

The Handwoven Postcard Project

A handwoven letter

I’m hoping that my first handwoven postcard trial will arrive while I’m out today.  In the meantime, I’ve been making up for lost time & have completed Handwoven Postcard #2.  Yes, it’s all a bit meta this time – a weaving that looks like a letter, except that it’s a postcard… 😉

I initially wove it plain, just with the airmail border but it looked very boring.  The addition of embroidered ‘address’ and needle-woven ‘stamp’ (my first handwoven faux postage!) really finish it off.  I’m slightly concerned, though, that the extra detail is more likely to endanger the weaving while it’s on its travels (more little bits to get caught up in machinery)…but we shall soon see!

Find out more about the Handwoven Postcard Project...

A confession (& TangleClub freebie)

One of my most enduring projects, dating almost from the inception of TangleCrafts, is the Handwoven Postcard Project.  It started life in a now-retired zine, has been through various incarnations, and is currently available both as a part of the Postcard Recycling Kit, and the DIY Weaving Handbook.  Much as I love the idea of it, and despite a couple of (very welcome!) contributions, the Handwoven Postcard Project never caught the imagination of my followers in the same way as either Going Postal or Friends & Faux.  But I’ve kept the project open anyway, because I like it.

Okay, time for the confession…: I never actually wove and/or sent a handwoven postcard myself!  Yes, I hang my head in shame; but it’s true.  Shame on me!

Well, I can confess only because I am about to rectify the error of my ways.  Who wants to guess what I did with my day off today?  Anybody?  Yeah, not a tough one, really: I spent today weaving a postcard.  And here it is!  A very simple plain weave in pretty heathery colours (lovely Noro Kureyon).  Tomorrow, I will be adding a stamp to the reverse side (2nd class rather than 1st class only because the colour will match better; Corey rolls his eyes at me for this, which I think a little unfair…), and posting it to myself, so I can see first hand how it survives its journey through the postal system.  It won’t have far to travel – will that make any difference?  A woven postcard from Hawaii survived its journey far better than one from Manchester (see link above). so it’s definitely a tough one to predict.  I will of course update with the results once it arrives home.

Here’s something else you won’t be expecting, given my recent wanderings of attention.  I’ve added a brand new, step-by-step Handwoven Postcard Tutorial to the TangleClub Archive, so that my long-neglected TangleClub members need feel neglected no more.

However anybody, yes anybody is welcome to join the Handwoven Postcard Project, so if you are inspired, please get weaving and send your postcards my way.  All pics will be shared, and you will have taken part in one of the most exclusive mail art projects out there! 😉

The (temporary) return of TangleCrafts

Has it really been 3 months since I last posted?  Guess so!  Well, after a much appreciated summer break, my muse has returned with the autumn weather.  There are new items in both the TangleCrafts and E.T.Printworks Etsy Stores, including zine bundles, mini notecards, a return to TangleCrafts’ roots (sort of) with the WeaveWorld Mini Manual of Weaving (for Novice Weavers with Imperial Aspirations), and possibly my favourite addition which is currently only in the E.T.Printworks store, the Light of my Life Matchbox.

Why is this only a temporary return?  Well, guess what?  TangleCrafts is moving house, yet again!  (Hence the Random Craft Clearout which has appeared in the TangleStore.)  Not until the first months of the New Year, so I will be around until Christmas; but then there will be another hiatus for a couple of months while everything (and we have a lot of stuff!) gets packed, unpacked, and settled in again.  At least this time it will have been 2 years since the last move, and please join me in  hoping that this time we have found somewhere we can actually settle!

Clubland updates

After more paper/printer/alignment issues than anticipated, yesterday the last ever TangleClub Deluxe edition of the Mulberry Digest was finally printed, enveloped & stamped.  The first batch will be posted today with the next to follow on Monday, so TangleClub Deluxe members will be receiving their final Mulberry Digest very shortly.  In the next week or so, I will be adding some new, completely different TangleClub options to the TangleStore.  I’m just finalising all the details, at the moment. 🙂

In the meantime, I have re-launched the DIY Weaving Club!  I added an old/new zine to the TangleStore yesterday – a reprint of the DIY Weaving Club Handbook, now condensed into an 8 page, A6 fold-out zine.  Although I have not done much weaving of late (DIY or otherwise) I decided it was a shame that my old projects were languishing unloved and out of print.  I’m really loving the simplicity of this fold-out format for framing single, focused ideas; so my plan is to use this format to re-issue selected features & projects from my very first zine series, Telaic Fantasy (which have not seen light of day for over a year!).  realistically, though, it is unlikely that any more in the series will be released until the New Year.

Although I have some new projects underway that will hopefully be completed in the near-ish future, I will otherwise be taking a break from ‘creation’, while I focus on fulfilling orders, preparing stock for craft fairs and generally trying to keep on top of everything between now and Christmas.    Wish me luck! 😉

Handwoven faux postage!

Well, it could be.  I’ve been meaning to make a matchbox weaving loom ever since writing my Borrowers zine, and today, I finally got around to it, and I even remembered to scan each step of the way:

Cut down to basics, all you need to do is:

• Snip notches at approx. 3mm intervals along the short edges of a 32ct matchbox tray.  (My advice: mark it out first!  I ended up with 7 notches, but an even number will work better when it comes to ‘finishing’/removing from loom.)
• Warp loom.  I warped all the way from one end to the other, around the back of the loom and back to starting point.  See finishing tips below for how the way you warp will affect your options.
• Use matches woven under and over alternate threads to adjust tension, as required.  I removed the matchsticks as the weaving grew, so that I could weave all the way to the top of the loom.
• Weave!  I used a (hand-dyed) variegated perle 5 cotton to get a stripy effect without having to change threads too often.  Using a needle will help you when weaving.  I used the needle I use for bookbinding, because it happened to be to-hand; but the book-binding needle is a sharp, and a blunt-ended tapestry needle would be far better advised!  Visit my weaving freebies page for basic/additional weaving instructions.
• Removing your weaving from the loom will depend on how you have warped:

1. If you have an even number of warps and warped all around the outside of the matchbox tray, snip across the threads in the centre of the matchbox reverse.  Tie off warp threads in pairs, and trim to preferred length of fringe.
2. If you warped your loom back and forth around notches (across front of loom only), carefully nudge loops off notches and thread onto matchsticks for a miniature wall-hanging.

Well, it entertained me, so hope you will enjoy this little (no pun intended 😉 ) project, too.  Let me know if you try this out – would love to see pictures!