Stacey Harvey-Brown

Creative Dimensions in Weaving explains many techniques weavers can use to incorporate visual and physical depth in their woven fabric. It first looks at many familiar weave structures and transforms them into dimensional surfaces, before exploring the sculptural potential in multi-layer weaves. Aimed at weavers of all abilities, it introduces the principles and topics clearly for the novice, but provides advanced ideas and challenges for those with more experience. Richly illustrated, this thorough book encourages and inspires all weavers with four or more shafts to experiment and to understand the possibilities of adapting techniques to make ever more creative and unique work. The textural surface of cloth is often overlooked. Touching fabrics from birth, most people have an instinct for texture but would not necessarily know how to create tactile surfaces in cloth. Creative Dimensions in Weaving opens the door to various techniques that ally materials with weave structures so that many different three-dimensional surfaces can be made. Some are subtle, some more extreme but all are aimed at moving the fabric beyond the _at plane. The book shows methods, explains the reasoning behind decision-making, and gives many options for the reader to explore and incorporate in their weaving vocabulary, with examples of drafts, cloth and inspirational work from many weavers. For weavers with four shafts and more, the book offers possibilities for any level of expertise, with a particular focus for eight-shaft looms. Single cloth, double cloth with several adaptations, and multiple layers are included.

Woven Optical Illusions explores a variety of optical effects through the medium of weaving. Suitable for weavers of all experience levels, it explains the basic principles behind the illusions and shows how to create the effects in selected weave structures to give a wide range of examples and possibilities. Projects are taken from concept through weave design and development to a woven result. With over 500 illustrations, including detailed drafts and images, this fascinating book is designed to whet the appetite of anyone who is interested in optical play. Includes Clear step-by-step explanations of the complete design process and describes the science behind the optical effects and some of the history of their discoveries. It also incorporates inspirational images from other weavers working in optical effects and projects range from plain weave through to advancing twills, featuring tied weaves such as summer and winter, taqueté and beiderwand, double cloth, colour-and-weave, shadow weave, and deflected double weave.

Weaving the shape, not just shaping the cloth! Now, for the first time, handweavers have the tools and techniques to allow them to weave the 3-D shapes they want, on their own looms. Three new techniques are at the core of this exploration: weaving expanded areas, weaving dense areas, and weaving with infinite tensioning. By showing the benefits of challenging every aspect of the weaving process and breaking some of the old rules, Eyring helps handweavers free their skills to design the shapes they want to create, and then weave them. Start by understanding the terms invented to explain the processes, and the instructions for building the innovative weaving tools that make 3-D weaving possible. Instructions for using the new techniques offer clear details, options, and tips for making challenges work for you. With a minimum of new tools to build or loom modifications to make, three fast and easy projects allow you to try the techniques on a four- or eight- shaft loom—and to make an actual project rather than just a sample. Finally, a photo gallery of spectacular expert-level creations serves as a resource to inspire your next designs. If you dream in 3-D, why not learn to weave in 3-D?