My insightful takeaways from the 2018-2019 annual exhibition - Part 2

 In this blog, I am going to be writing about my tryst with weaving.

 Weaving is a method in which strands of yarn are interlaced in an up-down pattern to form a piece of cloth. In order to weave, we make looms (which can be made from any object, we just have to use our creativity) and in some cases, warp thread around them and then start weaving. According to the desired end product, we can make the loom accordingly and use different colours.

 On Day 2, we started weaving with yarn. My first project was Finger weaving, a very simple method where our fingers are the loom!! I made a few necklaces as well as bracelets using this technique. Then I learnt how to do CD Weaving. This uses a CD as it's loom. We warp the thread from the centre to the edges and start weaving through them. This was a bit time consuming and though I could make only one, it was a beautiful decorative piece.

On Day 3, I learnt how to make a Keethu, which is a roof made out of palm leaves. This did not require a loom as we weaved in between the palm leaves itself. It did not require support as the branch holding the leaves was very strong. This took a long time as it had to be woven from the bottom, the left and the right side. I made a Paper mat as well by placing strips of paper horizontally and taking another set of paper strips and weaved through them. After stapling them together, making sure it does not fall apart, it was a neat and a amazing one.

On Day 4, we went on a field trip to Kalakshetra, in Chennai. Kalakshetra, which is a famed school that teaches different arts, are one of the biggest creators of hand woven-sarees as well. I was astonished at the way the workers were making sarees. They were working on humongous looms and had to use both their legs as well as both their hands in perfect synchronization!! I then understood the amount of expertize and practise they had to work so well. In a different room, they were printing shawls using blocks. They dipped the blocks onto a black paste and pressed it hard onto the shawl and the prints would appear. After this wonderful field trip, we went back to school. Over there, I made a palm leaf mat using the exact same method as I used for making the paper mat.

Apart from this, I made two rope mats using a small table as a loom and used the jute rope for weaving. The mats are extremely comfortable and serve as excellent seats. I weaved with basket wire and made my own mini sensory wall by weaving yarn, basket wire, satin ribbon and pipe cleaners!!

In conclusion, I would say that weaving was my favourite part in the entire exhibition and I absolutely loved it. In the next post, I will be blogging on my experience with basketry and bags as well as the exhibition day. Please make sure to read the next blog😃