Category Archives: Garden

Silk Worms

June 22, 2016Fiber, Garden, Thread and Yarn, UncategorizedCocoon, kozo, Mulberry, silk, threadNathan S

This past weekend I visited with my wonderful friend Cassie Dickson. Cassie lives in Western North Carolina and is an exceptional spinner and weaver. She focuses on the weaving of traditional overshot coverlets, but she also grows her own flax for spinning and weaving and raises silk worms each year. This batch of silk worms hatched late and as such Cassie had already collected cocoons and eggs from most of her silkworms. She offered to give me this box of 20 worms to take home. They have happily been eating mulberry leaves from the yard for the last several days

Indigo Plants

June 8, 2016Garden, My WorkIndigo, Japan, JapaneseNathan S

A small bed of Japanese Indigo plants I started from seed.

Brown Cotton from the Garden

August 30, 2015Cotton, Fiber, Garden, My Workbrown, Cotton, momen, naturalNathan S

Brown cotton grown in the garden this year. It has a beautiful light color, short staple, and light soft texture.

Strip Woven Project using Hand Spun Cotton

August 23, 2015Cotton, Fiber, Garden, My Work, Textiles, Thread and YarnAfrican, Cotton, Hand Spun, Hand Woven, Home Grown, mali, momen, strip woven, thread, weavingNathan S

I have been inspired recently by African strip woven cotton fabrics, many of which are dyed with indigo. I used my own hand spun cotton to weave a strip 20′ long by 8″ wide. After the strip was woven It was dyed in old indigo to leave an inconsistent pattern on the fabric. The strip was cut into shorter sections and then sewn together with hand spun thread before being over dyed with a strong indigo dye to darken the fabric. The over dying left the fabric with a beautiful mottled color that matches well with the inconsistencies of the hand spun thread.

New Weaving Project: Cotton and Kudzu

October 6, 2014Bast fibers, Cotton, Fiber, Garden, My Work, Textiles, Thread and YarnCotton, Hand Spun, Hand Woven, Indigo, kudzu, kuzu, momen, new, project, thread, weaving, yarnNathan S

I started a new project a few days ago. I used a natural linen for the warp with hand spun indigo dyed cotton and kudzu for the warp. I am pleased with how it is coming along.

Growing Ramie

September 21, 2014Bast fibers, Garden, Textiles, Thread and Yarnasa, bast, fiber, jofu, ramieNathan S

This summer I planted a few ramie plants in the hopes of being able to harvest some ramie fiber next year. Ramie is a member of the nettle family and has been used throughout Asia to create a beautiful and strong fabric similar to linen or hemp.

Here are some examples of ramie fabric from a small komebukuro. Komebukuro are small patchwork bags used for giving gifts of rice and beans to friends, family, or a temple. The fabric was woven using a double ikat technique and may have originated from the Ryukyu Islands located at the southern end of the Japanese archipelago. Here is a short Japanese video about how ramie plants are processed into beautiful fabric. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIGscKahEqY

Kudzu fiber

September 21, 2014Bast fibers, Fiber, Garden, My Work, Thread and Yarnbast, fiber, kudzu, kuzuNathan S

Over the last month I have been trying to get better at taking fiber from kudzu vines. This was my last attempt and I’m pleased with the results. I gathered the vines from the forest floor where it was easy for me to find vines that were straight and were growing with almost no leaves. I boiled the vines for one hour and then allowed them to rot under a piece of old roofing tin for about 4 or 5 days before stripping the fiber from the vines and washing it with warm water and castile soap. The fiber is a very light golden color and the remaining bark is easily removed.

Kudzu fiber can be purchased from my web shop here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/204322779/raw-kudzu-kuzu-fiber?ref=shop_home_active_1

Raw Materials: Wisteria Fiber and Wood Ash

September 3, 2014Bast fibers, Fiber, Garden, My Work, Thread and Yarnbast, fiber, fujifu, Hand Spun, Hand Woven, kudzu, spin, textiles, thread, wisteriaNathan S

I recently taught a class in Richmond, VA about making thread from wisteria and kudzu fibers. Here are some photos of my preparations. Wisteria bark fiber and hardwood ash.

First Cotton Of The Year

September 11, 2013Cotton, Fiber, Garden, My WorkCotton, fiber, grow, growing, momenNathan S

This is some of my first cotton of the year. I have been waiting all summer to see if my cotton plants would produce anything.

My Hand Spun Cotton Thread

September 1, 2013Cotton, Fiber, Garden, My Work, Thread and YarnCotton, Hand Spun, Indigo, momen, spin, thread, weaving, yarnNathan S

I’ve been spinning cotton for about 3 years now. I started by using a drop spindle and then moved to a spinning wheel and charkha. I have experimented spinning short staple, long staple upland and naturally colored cotton. Its really rewarding to dye upland cotton thread with indigo. Because of the luster in upland cotton the resulting color is bright and picks up different levels of color due to how much oxidation occurs. The process of spinning my own thread has allowed me understand the huge amount of patience and talent held by spinners dyers and weavers in the past.