The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Crafts => Topic started by: RUSTYME on January 10, 2013, 09:20:53 pm
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I have no idea of the cost of natural yarn .
I know there are loads of different types , and that there is no easy answer but, i need a very basic idea , if possible .
Firstly i want to weave a fabric suitable to make trousers in cotton and also in linen .
I don't know what weight of yarn to look for ?
The same applies to fabric suitable to make shirts .
Then say a wool yarn suitable to make something like a tweed jacket .
Looking more like i may get the big loom , so until i produce my own yarn , i need to know how much it costs !
A rough guide is near enough , ie £5 per kilo or £5 per cone etc .
I have very limited web access via mobile phone , so can't download huge catalogues .
Thanks in advance , if anyone can help .
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More like £5 + per 100gms. The cheapest way is to buy cones and these often appear in charity shops.
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Yes i knew it would be more than £5 a kilo mate , and there is no way i would buy in 100gm amounts . Cones only .
I have no way of getting to charity shops , plus i want certain colours etc.
However , if it is THAT dear i shan't bother , i will wait till i get my own .
My aim , is to produce my own fabric , from my own cotton , linen , hemp and wool . Then to make my own clothes from that fabric , my mum was a seemstress and i grew up being able to use a sewing machine .
Up till i was about 20
, i made nearly all my own clothes , although i used fabric ready made .
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It sounds so exciting with the loom :fc:
I know the difficulties of moving those monsters. The carding unit I had in Denmark was an industrial one and I was offered looms as well. I just didn't have room for one. They went for scrap - what a tragedy.
As to fibre. Your challenge on that type of loom will be having a strong warp thread so it is best to buy that. Stay away from linen as a starter as that needs the right moisture to keep it's strength. ( Sorry my weaving language is Danish)
As to weft, homespun wool would be fine. With weaving you have the advantage that single ply works well as the threads go from left to right then back again so the "bias " gets evened out.
I can sometimes cadge stuff from Bradford when I go to order carded tops . I will see if I can cadge some thin woolen yarn suitable for the warp thread. But that will not be until May.
When I wove clothing type material I span both the warp and the weft single and wove in the grease. Did not weave it tightly then I fulled the cloth. I was not good at it , the finish product was pretty thisk but great for "lumberjack" type shirts.
If I were to do it again, I would spin the weft from 50% wool, 50% tencel, the most environmentally friendly constructed fibre on the market at the moment. It is made from eucalyptus, can be spun very thin and is so strong
Following yours adventures with the loom with great interest,
Yours sincerely Renee.
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Many thanks Renee .
The reason for me making my own fabric is i am stepping off the system , almost completely (long story). Never really been 'on it ' if truth be told .
Anyway , once i am off , i will have even less money than i do now , £20-40 per week atm .
So buying any yarn will be out of the question then .
The main question in the title of the post , was just to see if i could afford some yarn later in the year , to get me going if ?, i get the loom .
Any fabric produced , doesn't need to be perfect , just good enough for purpose .
If i don't get the loom , i will make one anyway .
A floor standing 4 shaft (if that's the right terminology ?) seems the most likely .
Plans are very flexible on all of this . Not least because i will have to build a shed to house the big loom and bobbin winder . Plus i can only get it on my land in summer .
If i make a loom , it can be made in situation at any time of year .
I will post any new information as and when it happens .
Thanks again , Russ