This is a small change purse I wove for my grandmother’s birthday. The really neat thing about it? There was no sewing involved. The entire purse was woven in doublecloth: for the main body of the piece, the cloth was woven with two seams, one on the right and one on the left, creating a pocket in the center. For the last inch, I switched up the treadling sequence to weave two separate planes of cloth, as seen in the top right photograph. This way, when the cloth is separated, one side can be tucked in and the other folded over as a loose closure, seen top left. What makes this piece cool for me is that it’s a fully functional piece made from one, solid and unbroken piece of cloth. Hand twisted ends, tencel and linen.
This is a slippery slope, you know… Have you seen the picture in Ursula Arn-Grischott’s book of the ruffled shirt made entirely on the loom with no sewing. It is an amazing tour de force, but there is a story of one-up-manship along with it!
I do hope Granny loves her purse.
Wow, that’s pretty incredible. Not to worry though, I’m not much for making functional products as a general rule; this was probably a one-time adventure.