More Q & A

Jill asked what nifty software I use for the jacquard. Since I'm working with pixels, the best solution is Photoshop. Photoshop "fill patterns" are used to place weaves (which I designed) into the image. One weave per color (or value). The weave is how I bring the right weft color (or black warp) to the surface of the cloth in the right place to accurately reproduce the image.

The max number of wefts I've used is 4. The problem is that more wefts, thrown in rotation, means more space between each occurance of a given color. So it's harder to achieve an area of solid color. The way to reduce that gap is to choose a set of weaves with longer floats, which allows the wefts to pack in tighter. Then you risk ending up with sleazy cloth in which wefts wiggle around and distort their path because they aren't tied down frequently enough.

Like all of life, it's a balancing act. You make choices, then you have to either accept the results or try over again with a different set of choices. Because jacquard weaving tends to be even slower than shaft loom weaving, I hate to reweave the same image over again - life is too short. Therefore, I accept the challenge of designing with a limited palette of colors, because I can trust the cloth that results from those limitations.