Tag: Inkle loom

SeiZenn – Brocade

Hi

For Christmas, I received “The weaver’s Inkle Pattern Directory” by Anne Dixon. In this great book, she presents lot of different technics.

Many patterns from this book can be reproduced with SeiZenn. One of the last add is krokbragd button :

Some technics would be very difficult to add to SeiZenn, and for, I think, a limited benefit. For example fringes (page 154) or pleating (page 130).

I thought it could be interesting to add an inlay mode to create brocade (page 138).

 

With this mode selected, you just click on the pattern to draw brocade pattern

 

It comes with a few tools :

 

 

 

SeiZenn – Krokbragd, right clic and threading notes

Hi

A few improvement for the SeiZenn inkle tool.

Right click

I was asked about the possibility of adding a thread inside a pattern. Until now it was only possible to add new threads to the right of the pattern with “width” parameter

So we had to play with the buttons

to be able to add the thread in the right place.

It is now possible to right-click to add or remove one or two threads where you want in the pattern.

This function takes into account the “symetry” option.

Turned Krokbragd

Joan Sheridan explains in this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtAxaL0S8BU)  how to do turned Krokbragd on the inkle loom.

That kind of pattern can be done in SeiZenn with duals

I added some functions to make it easier to create this type of pattern. From a pattern,   

 

add a double color on the bottom row with “dual half threads” button

we obtain (it uses the selected color for all the duals) :

You must then indicate that you use the double color every other row. Rather than doing it by hand by clicking on the lines concerned, you can use

We obtain

You can then adjust dual colors as you like

 

Threading notes

I slightly improved the function for generating a threading document which was accessible with the button “create instruction note” in the “load, save, export” menu  

Now this button generates a PDF document.

 

(in this example, you need to verify the grid start and end values to be able to see the grid view)

Jeff

A few improvements for this new year

Hi

For this new year I present to you some small improvements for Seizenn.

Lists of patterns

When you save a pattern, it is by default visible for everyone in the public list. It’s now possible to make it private using the “restrict” button in you private list.

Loom colors

You can have colors in your «loom palette» that are not used in your pattern. Now those colors are bordered with brown like this :

Rigid heddle pattern

In loom editor you can load default pattern for some popular rigid heddle

You then get

New tools

Seizenn was first designed for plain weave or baltik bands. I then added a grid tool. I recently wanted to explore some other weaving technics.

Now you have two new tools.

The first one to draw heddle loom patterns

https://www.raktres.net/seizenn/#/heddle

A second one to draw tablet patterns

https://www.raktres.net/seizenn/#/tablet

Those tools are very simple, I mainly created them to undestand how those kinds of pattern work. They reuse main principles of seizenn, and I just added a few new things like right-click menu in tablet tool.

I could improve them if they would be useful for someone.

Jeff

Extract colors from a picture

Hi

In Celebration of plain weave (page 27) Annie MacHale explains how to extract colors from a picture to create a color palette.

I tried to add a basic function like this in Seizenn. (https://www.raktres.net/seizenn/).

Open the Palette tool and go down the page to

You first need to load a picture. You can get a random picture from unsplash.com with  or load your own picture with . If you use Seizenn on a smartphone, you can get access to your camera !

For example, with a random picture, you can get :

Then Seizen use two different algorithms to extract colors from this picture :

With the first button, you take all those colors to create a new main palette

But it could be tricky to find yarns with the wanted colors. So instead of getting all the colors in a new color palette, use the second button.

Imagine that you use this main palette (the default one) and that you have all those colors at home

When you click on the “filter” button, Seizenn will try to find de nearest colors in your main palette that will fit the colors from the picture. You then get

(Sometimes, if main palette quite poor, it chooses colors that doesn’t seem to be very relevant)

Clic on “Add colors…” to get those colors in your loom palette and remove colors you don’t want to use.

You are now ready to design a pattern inspired by your picture

Link to the pattern : https://www.raktres.net/seizenn/?sc=Fa8

Maybe not the perfect tool, but a first try to see if it would be useful for someone.

Jeff

 

Buy a loom or build it?

What I like in weaving is that the idea is very simple but ways to achieve it are countless. Even for something as simple as band weaving.

A great subject for handyman.

First you can weave with almost nothing as in backstage weaving. Incredible how much intelligence could fit in a few sticks. At no cost.

Rigid heddle is a bit less rustic.

With two heddles and a pulley you get an African loom, really fast.

Inkle loom need some more materials.

Even if it is just a piece of wood with a few pegs, it is far more complex than backstrap. Some technical difficulties appear such as the tension that bends wood (needed to add additional pieces of wood). And different shapes could be tested.

And so many ways I didn’t explored yet (or explored but with not enough success to take a picture).

You can of course buy a loom. A good looking tool, well designed, nice to use, easy to start with.

But not the pleasure to face the challenge to create your own tools.

A new version of the pattern editor for test

Hi

Annie sent me a copy of her book https://www.etsy.com/shop/ASpinnerWeaver. I’m very happy that the pattern editor could have helped her to write such a great book.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/ASpinnerWeaver

 

I then decided to update and simplify the seizenn editor. You can found a test version on http://www.raktres.net/seizenn/v2/editor.html, I need some feedbacks before I could replace the present version.

inkle wave pattern editor - raktres.net

Some improvements :

  • new look
  • drag and drop for colors
  • a “value” button, to view a pattern in black and white (page 8 of Annie’s book)
  • a button to load a pattern from a short code
  • and few other things

Fell free to send comments if you find bugs or if something doesn’t work the way you would like to.

Hope you will like it.

Jeff

 

 

Bedouin al’ouerjan pattern

Hi

You can find nice examples of bedouin patterns on http://www.einesaite.com/al-sadu/ and https://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/tutorials/tutorial-warping-the-bedouin-alouerjan-pattern/.

Lets see some simple patterns designed on the pattern editor. Continue reading “Bedouin al’ouerjan pattern”