{"id":8091,"date":"2025-03-02T09:44:06","date_gmt":"2025-03-02T17:44:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/handweavingacademy.com\/?p=8091"},"modified":"2025-03-02T09:48:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-02T17:48:38","slug":"how-to-design-pillows-with-color-gamps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/handweavingacademy.com\/how-to-design-pillows-with-color-gamps\/","title":{"rendered":"How to design pillows with color gamps"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For this week\u2019s blog, one of our members, Beth, shares how she used the lessons in the Academy to design and weave a final project destined for a small art gallery.<\/em>

I am a maker at heart. When the Color Gamp Course was released, I went to work trying to figure out what I could make using a gamp besides just a sample.

I like how most of the Academy courses start with a draft or recipe to begin with. Here are some of the first color gamps I designed:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First Attempt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Second Attempt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Third Attempt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Final Design<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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I picked the colors from my stash (Working with Stash Yarns) using the yarn I had leftover from a previous WAL (Angles and Unduls Weave-Along). \u00a0I use this 8\/4 cotton often to make baby blankets and throws, so I know it is a very strong yarn. \u00a0Pillows came to mind, and now I had a finished project to plan for.

First I needed to calculate how many ends to make my warp, how long it needed to be, and then determine if I had enough yarn in my stash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0I used Academy courses, The Ashenhurst Calculator to Determine Sett and Crunching the Numbers to find these calculations. Ultimately, I had 8 cones in my stash that had enough yarn, plus other yarns I wanted to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I measured out about a 7-yard warp using my warping board. My beaming method has changed since I watched the Live at the Loom videos with Janet, and my warp seems to have fewer tension issues now that I have switched my raddle to the front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class Sampling: A New Approach helped me determine that using the same 8\/4 cotton as the weft would not work as well for this project; it would not pack down close enough, and the floats were too long. Changing to 8\/2 cotton weft made all the difference. Once I wet finished the sample, I learned I had a pretty sturdy cloth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I like to make my pillows with a sewn-in flap, the precise length doesn\u2019t matter as much as a pillow with a zipper, so I ended up weaving them all different lengths. I also used different weft colors and fibers for each pillow, including alpaca and hand-painted merino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When I finished weaving, I cut off the warp, secured the ends, and put the whole lot into the washer (gently) & then in the dryer.  The all-cotton pillow shrunk about an inch in all directions, but the alpaca\/merino weft felted about 2 inches in width\/length. So, I purchased two different pillow inserts of different sizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I prefer to twist the fringe before I sew my pillows together (less yarn to get in the way). The pillows were sewn together like an envelope with squares matched on the sides to give them a more cohesive look. After sewing and stuffing with the pillow inserts, I finally sewed on the buttons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, they were ready to display at my local gallery with my other projects.
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And that’s how to weave pillows from a color gamp project! Thank you, Beth, for sharing your process. It’s great example of how how the courses work together into a final design.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Join the Academy to gain access to more in-depth content<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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From the Course Catalog<\/a><\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Working with stash yarns<\/a><\/em> – Learn to handle the challenges of stash yarns and design with confidence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Color Gamps<\/a><\/em> – explore color mixing with different yarns, drafts, and colors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n

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