Dear Weavers

I hope you all had a wonderful festive season and started the new year relaxed with lots of creative ideas and amazing plans for 2024.

I have used the time between Christmas and New Year to make the move into my new weaving studio complete. We, my husband and I managed to finish two lots of steps/entrances to the doors. One entrance even received a proper porch, little roof and large steps. I already lost track on how many times I have walked up these steps by now. It's wonderful to have this grand entrance!

My office is now also moved into the weaving shed and with it everything regarding BB Yarn Supply, including the correspondence course and 8+. The weaving shed now has everything in one place.

All of BB Yarn Supply with all its yarns and accessories is now here, my three looms are finally all in one room and all the Glui7 materials are here too. By the way this is the first time all three looms are together in one room. I can now jump from one loom to the other quite easily. This is now truly a weaving place only (except for the orchids...). My happy place!

I like to have all the looms occupied with something. I am totally aware, that one can only weave on one loom at a time, but I don't like looking at a "naked" loom. So therefore this was the first thing I worked on, making a warp for each one of them. At the moment the small computerised Mecchia has the t-towels for the shadow weave workshop on it. The large computerised Mecchia has a white warp on it for a fabric to make caps. It is the same kind of fabric like the pullover scarves, but only one layered. The Glimakra is about to have a 10m warp for turned twill t-towels wound on. Whenever a visitor is stepping into the studio, there will be something to see and nobody has to imagined how these looms are suppose to work. I am more than happy to give a quick demo and show someone what these looms can do. Over the festive season I already had two interested visitors in my studio.

My plans for the future, probably not quite this year maybe next, would be to open the studio for weavers to enjoy workshops right here. I have three looms to work on, so I'm thinking to give private workshops for one or two weavers at the time. Not just a day, probably from two day to a week long stay, to have time to concentrate on a topic in great length. A week of weaving in a relaxed and peaceful place for you to enjoy. Weaving from morning until night, no interruptions and chores to do. Only the accommodation has not been solved yet, but this can be sorted in the nearby town of Gin Gin. What do you think? Would you be willing to come here for a weaving retreat?

So what is in my weaving studio apart from the three looms? There is a great large table for designing or cutting fabrics. My newest edition is a brand new vertical warping mill from Toika, 4m circumference for easy and quick warping. Cupboards and shelves full of yarns. Reading corner with lots of magazines. A mannequin for testing a new form of clothing or take perfect photos. A tv for presentations or watching inspiring videos. The studio is airconditioned for hot days. Beautiful view out the windows.

Enough writing, I better go and do some weaving.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Ursula

Dear Weavers

It has been a while! For me it only seems yesterday I wrote the last blog post. But no, it has been 4 months ago!!! And yet so much has happened since.

In May my husband and I made the long journey to Europe and back. We really had the urge to visit our families in Switzerland like so many others after the pandemic. It was absolutely amazing to be able to give them all a big hug, chat for hours and eat lovely swiss food, especially cheese! We indulged in every way or form. It was a very busy holiday, but oh so worth it. Great memories were made. Unfortunately coming home was not so nice. We both got sick the next day we arrived home, most likely Covid and spent the following week in bed. But we were just glad it didn't happen during the holidays and we had beautiful memories to pull from.

Back home we continued with the build of my brand new weaving studio. It is coming along nicely and I will be able to move in soon. Can't wait to finally have my three looms back up and running again. It will be amazing to spread out and have my truly own space surrounded by all my looms and yarns... I think I will call my new studio "BB's weaving shed", as it looks quite similar to a shearing shed. 

In August I had the pleasure to give a workshop to the lovely group of weavers in Hervey Bay. The Hervey Bay Spinners, Weavers & Fibre Artists are a very warm and welcoming group of people. And I feel I made a lot of new friends over these couple of days. I drove to Hervey Bay twice for one day of workshop each time. The topic was "Making rag chenille and weaving it back into a mat", twice woven fabric. On the first day I showed them how to set up the loom to weave the rag chenille. Each one of them went home happily to finish weaving the chenille caterpillars. After two weeks I returned to weave the chenille into a lovely soft bathmat or chair pad. A great way to re-use your old t-shirts, pants or other fabrics instead of throwing them into the bin. A little time consuming, but a great way to help the environment and basically going back to what has been done centuries ago. It was a lot of fun and very colourful. Each mat turned out totally different because of the different fabrics used. Not one was even similar looking. Amazing work and thank you Hervey Bay group for having me.

If your guild or weaving group would like to do something similar, send me an email and require about workshops. Due to the demand and my current situation I have decided to be available again for in person workshops from beginners to advance. Or you can attend the weaving seminar in 2024, where there is going to be another exciting 2 day workshop. Send email to sales@bbyarn.com

Last but not least I would also like to announce that the colour theory and twill drafting courses are now also available in print version. It is a little bit costly but would give you the option of having a piece of paper in your hand, rather than reading it on your computer. Go to www.bbyarn.com or click on one of the links below to get straight to the right page.

Colour Theory 1 + 2 print version $42 each + postage

Colour Theory 1 + 2 to download (PC + Mac version) $24.90 each

Twill drafting 1 + 2 print version $42 each + postage

Twill drafting 1 + 2 to download (PC + Mac version) $19.90

That would be all from me. I hope this blog post was interesting to read and I wish you happy weaving wherever you are and whatever you are doing right now.

Cheers

Ursula

Dear Weavers and lovers of a handwoven product 

How does the Abba song go.... "I have a dream...a song to sing" Well I actually do have a dream and maybe even a song to sing. My dream has been brewing for a long time. This idea (ideas) has been in my head for as long as I can weave. Eventually over the last couple of years I collected all the courage I had and started working on it. My thoughts were that if I don't do this now, I will regret it one day. Even if it doesn't turn out the way I want it, I have at least tried. Courage, courage...

So here I am: I am launching my own designer line, my brand of handwoven products called Glui7. This designer line includes all my functional handwoven articles produced on a production level. I call it "Glui7 Uniquely Handwoven".

It is a collection of articles 100% handmade, unique and produced with love. Each article is made by my hands, the fabric woven on my looms and finished in my own studio in Brisbane. All articles are produced with the highest quality and only available in limited editions. Every product is made out of natural fibres and tested for durability and functionality. That is

My first product available for sale is the messenger bag made out of handwoven cotton fabric. This is a very modern and functional messenger bag. The bag features are:

• Colour stripes on flap with matching coloured straps and lining
• Cable for power bank with USB connection from inside of bag to outside
• Exchangeable flap and straps
• Foam padded for extra strength and form
• Magnetic closures
• 7 inside pockets including zipper pocket for valuables
• And lots more

For more information go to www.glui7.com

So here we are, I've done it!

This is only the first article of hopefully many to come. My head is still full of ideas and I can't wait to put them all together to show you. I am truly delighted to produce these handwoven products for you. I want everyone to see, that real handmade products are still here and "the throw away society" can be avoided. Handweaving is one of the oldest craftsmanship and it is still alive. At the end of the day it is also an art form. With my products you will be using and wearing a piece of art with you every day!

Please visit my new website www.glui7.com and send me your comments. I would love to hear what you think. And of course the Glui7 messenger bag is ready and can be bought straight from the website or give me a call on 0402 973 655.

Please stay safe and happy weaving everyone

Ursula

BB' s News

Dear Weavers

This month I would like to discuss the bamboo yarn. A lot of weavers seem to be rather skeptical about this yarn. I am actually not quite sure why, is it because the yarn is "man-made" or is it because it is hard to believe that it could actually be a real bamboo plant?

BB Yarn Supply sells a 100% bamboo fibre yarn called Bambu7 ^TM. It is truly made out of bamboo! Really. The Bambu trademark from Silk City, USA insists on cultivation from sustainable and environmentally-sound vegetation. Bambu yarn is 100% cellulose and similarly produced like a rayon or viscose yarn. It is called "man-made" because the yarn is not spun from fibre. The bamboo is cut into a pulp and then pressed through a very fine jet to produce the yarn. The Bambu yarn is also free of pesticide and chemical fertilizing.

Bamboo is known for its skin friendly abilities. In the shops you can now buy socks, baby ware, T-shirts and underwear made out of bamboo. It is because bamboo has the ability to be suitable for any skin problems. And this is not all, bamboo is also really easy to look after. It can be washed in the warm washing machine with no problems. It might be stiff when it comes out of the machine, but after drying in the shade, all it needs is a good shake and hot iron. The fabric will be back to its normal softness and shine.

A fabric woven out of bamboo has a beautiful drape and extraordinary softness. I haven't met anybody who didn't go "uhh" and "ahh" when touching the fabric. It is simply stunning. I always tend to explain to customers that bamboo feels to me like something between silk and tencel.

Can you feel me, yes I love bamboo and I have worked with this yarn many, many times and still not enough. It is one of my absolute favourites.

When I started BB Yarn Supply I always said that I only ever going to have natural yarns for sale. No rayon or polyester. Well I think I still do, because the Bambu yarn is still 100% cellulose or bamboo. There is nothing not natural about it. Let's face it, because it is "man-made" it doesn't mean it's artificial. It is just another way of producing a yarn. Yes, there might have been chemicals involved to produce the yarn. But this doesn't mean the chemicals are still in the yarn. How can it be so good for your skin otherwise?

The only thing to be careful with bamboo is the sett for weaving. If you have a too high sett for your project, it can get heavy and you end up with something nice and shiny, but rather heavy. Bamboo yarn has the same feel in weaving like tencel, it is as slippery and flat. There is not much elasticity in the yarn and advise you to loosen your warp, if you not weaving. If you leave a bamboo yarn warp under tension for too long, it will get loose and you end up with tension problems.

My favourite sett for Bambu 7 is 16epi and ppi, a balanced fabric. The yarn comes in 36 stunning colours to choose from. It runs 4247m/kg and a 100g spool goes for $16.90. The yarn is suitable for weaving, knitting and crocheting.

If there is someone out there who is by any chance reading this blog and is not a weaver, maybe a knitter, I would be very interested to hear how the Bambu 7 behaves in other crafts. Let me know at sales@bbyarn.com I would be very happy to have you included into my monthly blog with some productive comments.

Maybe for some weavers this Bambu 7 yarn might be too modern or out of the ordinary. I like to go with the time and try out new things. What is that saying.... if you never, never try, you will never, never know! Have a try and give Bamboo a chance. Click on any Bambu 7 or picture and it will take you straight to the shop.

Happy weaving

Ursula