Birthday

20 years and a bit ago, Ben and I built a static website for MegWeaves, which in a sporadic manner was many years in the making.

The first impediment was what to call myself, i.e. the "business". The name "MegWeaves" sprang after I came to the conclusion I was thinking too much, attending too many art group meetings and small business courses, looking at other weavers' websites, but not getting enough weaving done. It was a directive to myself.

The second naturally followed I needed to weave enough pieces to be able to show what the website was about. I was still in the big transition from being a word person to... whatever visual/craft/art/making person I was trying to become, and thinking/reading/communicating was always easier than sitting at my loom. 

The third was what to put in the website. Looking at other weavers' websites and talking to weavers, I  learned unless I taught or wrote articles/books, there wasn't to be much selling from a website. Back then, there were no moving parts or sounds on (most?) websites, just pages with text, pictures and links. My memory is fuzzy, but I probably had a profile/bio, contact info, and a handful of photos. The server was under Ben's desk in the study; and he told me the next step was to write "News" items on a regular basis so we have repeat visitors, although we weren't sure for what purpose, if weavings did not sell online. 

About the same time I learned from my high school girlfriend Liz about this thing called "blog", and she must have been on Blogger because I only I investigated Blogger. Well, blow me away, it was simple enough for me to start one right away. I wanted to use "MegWeaves" for my Blogger domain name, but back then it was taken, so "Unravelling" it was. I don't regret it, though, because life turned out to be one long series of unravelling the complexities of life, and the older I get, the more I appreciate it. Not to mention, aging unravels us physically and mentally, but this took a little longer.

I published my first post and Ben added a "News" link on the website on April 30, 2006. Not long after, I copied the contents from the static website to here, Ben did the redirect thing so www.MegWeaves.co.nz pointed to this blog, and the original site was gone. I also got my first digital camera in August, which I still use sometimes. 

For this great-starter-but-never-a-finisher, I take some pride I kept the blog for  20 years, in spite of its many guises; from the long "shouting in an empty cathedral" stage; to the heyday of blogging, camaraderie, and all kinds of Internetty shenanigans; to the dispersing of our community due to the decline of blogs, (though it's back now, isn't it, while Facebook has declined considerably, and I never had Instagram,) and some quitting weaving altogether. For more than a decade, my blog for me has become part therapy, part a record of what I did, and a big part crazy old lady screaming into the wind. This coincides with the changes in my life; preferring my own company; folks, including my parents, departing this realm or my becoming estranged from friends and family, and so forth. It reflect the general changes in my life, and my waning/different interest/intent/manner in/of weaving. 

I like my current life well enough. Having shed a lot of "shoulds", and losing some "would have been nice to have kepts", it's smaller and self-contained, giving me better control. Pension has given it some financial stability after 20+ years of virtually no income. And luckily, dire events in our lives have been, by world standards, non-events. 

For a couple of months I had hoped to have some weaving content for this birthday, especially since 20th is the big birthday in Japan, not 21st. I started one on the rigid heddle after a conversation with Sally about this bag, but it isn't going well. I have another small commitment, but I've had no good plan in spite of weeks of thinking. My three looms are still occupied with technically fiddly warps I haven't been bothered to return to thus far, but I keep telling myself I will soon. On the other hand I've been interested in things happening on paper, drawing, collages and bookbinding, as you know, and I'm learning.

So here I am, coming in short of my own expectations, again, a little embarrassed, but not too much. I understand better how Mom faced her challenges in her last decade or so; if an old lady made the effort to show up, that should be good enough. I have been learning to count the act of showing up is a win.  

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Here are some of my memorable pieces.  

Tapa I, 2007, my first of only two Pacific-inspired project, purchased by Mrs Woods, one half of my parents' best friends since their Minneapolis days in the 1960s.

The skinny cotton series, 2008, referred to as "Rococo" by then-Suter Shop manager Andrea. This style is never too far from my mind. 

"Pillars", 2012. 

II of Fine Grey grey series, 2015, and the only piece I ever felt I would buy if I didn't weave it. 

"Elephants", 2019, a gift from Ben's colleague to another colleague's new baby. 

"Indulgence", 2020; the warp that waited 10 years on the loom to be woven. 

I hope there will be a few more memorable pieces off my looms in the coming years. Thanks for your company. 

Binding Commitments Part 3 of 3

Practice Books Style 3: Stylish Pattern Binding Outside the Spine 

This was technically the most difficult one, and it was with great trepidation I punched holes on the spine, (made of two layers of thicker-than-before cotton and two of stiff fusible interfacing,) but it worked, at least for now. I was helped greatly by the lovely weather today, with the sun coming through the window until I was done sewing. (Unlike all recent previous occasions when all the lights in the living room didn't give me enough light.) 

Three signatures are independently sewn on to the spine. I can glue the first/last pages of the signatures to the cover, or attach them by way of proper end papers, or just leave them. I haven't decided yet. Again, A5, with 110g sketchpad paper inside.   

The stitch pattern looked like wheat shaft or lavender flower to me, and I thought of using those colors, but in the end I chose a green closest to one of the greens in print. After the first green middle row, I thought I'd like the other two rows to be in red, kind of like a skinny bottle brush, but now I'm not sure. The green is hardly visible in real life; I might make them all green. 

That's the end of the three styles of practice books I intended to make. Now I'm going to debrief and make two not-practice versions; they won't be too different from these, but I'm thinking of varying the inside paper/size/shape. I would also very much like to make a collage notebook in A4.

Oh, I've got all sorts of problems with this one, too, some because I don't have the right material/tools, some because I'm too lazy to find out "how it's done". (Though I didn't cut the corner too close this time, I still need some emergency glue.) Suffice it to say, I had bloody giddy fun making these, and I don't think I'm ready to stop yet. Except now I have to go fill the pages, too, don't I? 

Binding Commitments Part 2 of 3

Practice Books Style 2: Paper Tape Binding Inside the Spine

This was a triumph-ish of my understanding of geometry, not skill; and not having proper prescribed bookbinding material, time spent thinking about  material on hand and how to use them. The result is Meh-ish as a book, but a bespoke sentimental sketchbook for me. (That reason at the end of the post.) 

This is how the spine looked before the cover went on. 

I used a piece of cotton, iron-on fusible interfacing, and back-of-sketchpad cardboard for the cover.

The fabric is spotless and well-pressed, but the blotches are some of the glue coming through. I haven't got a handle on how to prevent this, because I am spreading the glue as evenly as possible, but obviously not doing a good job. I could investigate types of glue, also. (EDIT: I had vague hopes that when the glue dries completely, they will disappear, but alas, not the case.) 

I cut the cotton too close to the corner, not considering the thickness of the cardboard, making the corners fray. I put a whole lot of glue on the corners, which I hope will help. I also intended to glue the book block closer to the spine so the pages... stay inside the cover. I can't remember what went wrong there.   

This is my homemade spine. This was the biggest challenge, and the result is a little delicate. It's good enough for my sketchbook, but I must try to not to handle too roughly.  

Decades ago when I started to read up on bookbinding, I found the exactitude required overwhelming, I never tried anything challenging. Of course having proper material/tool helps in obtaining better results, but if I'm only making fun sketchbooks for myself, there is a kind of thrill? in making them with material I have, and thinking/making up methods that's... original/quirky/unconventional/dangerous!      

This fabric swatch is old. Possibly while I still lived at home, I bought two cotton fabric to make summer skirts, one in blue and natural stripe, one similar but a little bit of red added. Mom looked at the two stripes I took out of the bag, and exclaimed, "Oh, just that little bit of red raises the temperature of the colours so much!" And somehow, immediately, I liked the blue and beige so much better than this one with the red. The skirts are long gone, as is leftover from the blue and natural, but this narrow strip stayed with me as a lesson of sorts.

I have one more style of book I want to make. 

Binding Commitments Part I of 3

Mary Ann Moss/Dispatch from LA has been offering her paid online courses for free for a limited time since late last year. I've been a fan for I-can't-remember-how-long, but only took one course, Sketchbookery, in Jan 2022. I didn't go back for more because I didn't finish it, as this course was heavy on drawing/painting, and I wasn't happy with what I was doing. (Although... I wonder if drawing the Bard's face 500+ times for the remainder of that year was my achievement as a result.) Anyhoo, having enjoyed her videos for the first two classes recently, I eagerly signed up for the third on creating our own sketchbooks.

Seriously, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this one so much, nor planning to make any sketchbooks. I was in it for the delightfully creative, encouraging, and entertaining videos, and I enjoy watching folks bind books or work in their sketchbooks. But, oh, my! 

Before I get into the nitty gritty of my recent projects, I have to tell you: the course was first offered in 2012ish. It reflects the shabby chic, mixed-it-all-up style of the time. And the written instructions PDF are gone. So even though I watched and rewatched the vids to my greatest delight, I didn't remember the instructions as much as I thought I did. So I rewatched some more, took notes, and rewatched some more. I also began to understand some steps depended on what I wanted to do or how I wanted my sketchbook to look, if all I wanted to do was to make sketchbooks for myself. 

The course introduces four projects, but I was interested in the first three. All reuse existing book/photo album, with or without spines, of which I have only a couple. I decided to improvise the practice books by making my own covers using cardboard at the back of sketchpads, which made the process much slower but more fun. 

After the first round of vid watching, I cut paper for six books, two for each style I wanted to practice. All are size A5; the inside paper is 110g sketchpad paper. I also mistook the instructions, so I had three folios/sheets in each signature, and three signatures for each book. (Turned out I misheard the instructions.) I've also renamed the binding styles, so they're easier for me to remember. My language is jumbled as I'm still learning.  

Practice Books, Style 1: Exposed Cloth Tape Binding

The binding can be seen at the top of the first pic above. The instructions said to glue the signatures to each other (before stitching) to make one book block, and the first and last pages of the book block to the covers; I forgot both. Because it's a tiny book with only three small signatures, I decided I could ignore the gluing of signatures, but I did glue the book block to the covers to stabilize the sketchbooks. 

For the cover, I painted the cardboard with acrylic paint. Although the pictures don't show it well, I am particularly pleased with the very dark navy I mixed. The tape is a pale olive green grosgrain ribbon. Both books were bound with three pieces of ribbon, but on the left, I hid the middle one, while on the right, I only shoed the middle one. In the book on the left, the inside paper look wider than the cover; this is not the case but due to inexact gluing by less than 1mm. 

I have always been messy with glue, and it's always a source of disappointment. On the left the extra came right through the ribbon, while on the right it's escaped from under tape.  

For liquid PVA glue, thicker end paper absorbs the glue and stays tidier. 

* * * * * 

Each book takes so long to make, not only because I lack the experience, not only because I have to watch the videos multiple times to take notes and make sure the notes aren't missing anything important, but it appears every choice of paper/tape/fabric feel so important to me it is taking forever to make these tiny sketchbooks. (Not to mention, I've uncovered oh-so-much leftover scrap fabric as well as ribbons.) 

* * * * * 

MAM offered the class in this blog post; I hope it's not too late, but if interested, say so in the comment and make sure she can get in touch. Here's a little more about the course. I think she first offered it in 2012; the instructions PDFs are no longer available.