Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Why Weave Cloth by Hand?

I understand Randy spoke about it in his Convergence workshop in 2002; we've seen him speak about it on the Craft in America video. (Did he smirk when he said "run of the mill"?) But he didn't touch the subject in our workshop a year ago.

It's one of the those questions that haunt me from time to time, this time over at Curious Weaver's blog. It's too bad Kelly did not leave a link to her blog or web site if she has any. It would have been interesting to read her thought further as well.

2 comments:

  1. I will think on this, yet again, as I weave the Vibrant Warp. At the moment I believe I weave the fabrics because: 1. I can't locate what I would like in the stores. 2. Handwoven has the unique, some times unexpected, 'perfections that make the fabric mine. 3. The viewer realizes that the fabric is handwoven and reacts in a different manner than if it were mass produced. 4. I like a challenge and this shows with my finished pieces.

    Mind you it is 5 in the morning and I am about to go back to my loom. Maybe its just the desire to create?

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  2. 5AM and going back to the loom? Good grief, you're tough.

    Many weavers I know have 'bread and butter' stuff - easy pieces they repeat to generate an income. Mine are the tiny cashmere scarves, but they don't generate income to speak of, for me; just enough to buy more yarns.

    When I was teaching myself to weave, I went to a lot of marketing courses for small businesses, so I can list a few marketing-style answers, e.g. a handwoven piece is unique; if bought as a gift, it conveys special thought/occasion to the recipient, etc., etc., etc. They are all from the perspective of the buyer/consumer, not mine.

    Looking at what I weave, I don't have an easy answer as to the intrinsic value/attraction of each piece I weave, rather, in most cases the reason I wove has been, "I wanted to make it, and I did!"

    Not a very considered answer...

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