Laurel Cloak Foundation Layer

Now that it's been given, I can share this project. I'm privileged to have had the opportunity to weave and dye the base layer for a dear friend's Laurel Regalia. 

The goal was to have a rectangular brat, with no fringe. This piece would then be dyed with indigo, and passed along to be embellished with the laurel leaves and have tablet woven trim. My part was simple and straight forward, but needed to be a solid foundation. I chose to weave in plain tabby to give the most structure to the fabric and that it would hold up to the applique embroidery. I chose a domestic merino wool, 400 yards/4oz. This was woven at 12 epi and I didn't tie up anything fancy, straight 1-3 and 2-4 footwork. According to my photos, my piece from start to finish took May 30-Jun 15 (there was a bit of down time in there because I waited for a not rainy day to dye)

These next 4 images are of dressing the loom. 

Image 1 is of the warp draped over the loom with the lease sticks inserted through the cross to keep the threads in order.
Step 1: Beam the warp (wind the warp on to the back beam of the loom)
Step 2: Thread the heddles
Step 3: Sleigh the reed

Then it was time to get weaving! I used a thin, contrasting cotton for my header. 

I reached 10 inches beyond the target length to allow for take-up and shrink during the dye process (spoiler alert- it wasn't enough. It still turned out sizeable, but not my target). I am loving the hem stitch process. It is even more zen than the weaving itself. 

It fit me well, and the recipient is quite wee. The goal was a generous, but wearable brat (wrap). 

My next task was to measure and dye yarn appropriate to use to sew on brass spirals and any other pieces we needed. I wound 120 yards of lace weight merino wool, then soaked everything together to prepare for the dye bath.

I prepared the dye vat using my pre-reduced indigo supplies from Prochemical and Dye, one of my favorite suppliers. I did one dip to see how much this wool would take the dye, then grabbed the fabric I knew would be the leaves and checked in with the group. We knew this would rinse lighter. But even though there was variation in the blue, we decided not to go with another dip because we wanted the leaves to really show up. Then I rinsed, and rinsed, and rinsed, and rinsed again. Followed up with a soak in a vinegar solution as the last step to set the dye.

Once it was dry, it was finally time to hem the edges and send it along to the next part of the journey.