ZERO prototype collection

Time for an update on my ZERO capsule collection.

The designs for each garment have been prototyped in quarter, third and half scale, using whatever warps I had on the loom, and a mix of single and double cloth, plain weave and twill. All were woven on a four-shaft loom although I will develop some into 8 or 16 shaft versions to allow for greater patterning and design details such as pockets.

The next stage is to add some design details, but in a way that the whole collection can be woven on just two warps, one single cloth and one double,  and  for a size 10 half-scale model (i.e. the larger of my mannequins).

The garments are as follows:

1. Dress with ruffle neckline and smocked waist, woven as a single rectangle with supplementary warp threads that were pulled in at the waist and used as lacing for the back closure. One back seam, zero waste.
2. V-neck vest woven as a double cloth tube with individual warp threads cut and used as weft to create the neck shaping. No seams, zero waste.
3. Spiral trousers, pattern by zero waste designer Holly McQuillan, woven as a rectangle and then cut into two triangles with cut-outs for the crotch used as pockets. Leg and crotch seams. Zero waste.
4. Jacket using the Viking inspired ‘bog coat’ design, woven as one piece with hemstitched slits for the openings. Just two seams, zero waste.
5. Kilt 1 woven as a 1.5meter rectangle with stitched pleats and buckle closure. Zeros waste although I did not trim the pleats as you would in a traditional hand-stitched kilt.
6. Drapey dress woven as a double cloth tube with openings in various places in the sides and top for neck, waist and arm openings. Zero waste, may add a belt.
7. ‘boob tube’ woven as a rectangle, back closure still to be determined. I may weave it as a tube. Zero waste.
8. Kilt 2 as kilt 1 but at a larger scale.
9. Gilet top, single cloth rectangle with a centre slit to allow the two front pieces to be twisted, 2 side seams, zero waste.

I have a few things to resolve:

• Hemstitching. Hemstitching a double cloth tube at the start of a piece is very tricky! I did manage it on the V neck vest but it was tortuous to do and I did make a mistake which had to be darned. The end is less problematic as I could hemstitch the top layer then cut that layer loose to access the layer beneath.
• Shaping. I’d like to add more shape through loom woven darts, maybe through pulled warp tapestry weaving techniques and/or differential shrinkage and/or irregular denting, I need to experiment.
• Kilt – pleats excess. I have to decide either not to trim the pleats, or use the petal shaped trimmings  for example to make a bag.
• Trousers. I want to explore a different method for trousers, maybe harem pants or Liz Haywood’s trouser design which consists of a rectangle with a diamond shape cut from the centre to form the leg/gusset closure.
• Embellishments and Accessories. Pockets, closures and accessories such as belts, bags and scarves.

Following this work I will be ready to add a colour palette, plan the two warps and weave the half scale collection.

Resources I have consulted:

Liz Haywood:  https://lizhaywood.com.au/

Holly Mcquillan: https://hollymcquillan.com/

Both have authored books, well worth reading.