Category: Fiber Arts

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Custom Show Halter


I’ve probably mentioned it before but my first love has been horses.  I’ve been in love with them since I was 2.  So when I found the alpaca I’ve been thinking of how I can incorporate their fiber with my first passion.

I’ve been braiding custom reins for customers for quite a while which brought me my newest project; a custom show halter for a Moriesian ready in time for her inspection later this year.  This request introduced me to a new method of working with alpaca fiber, card weaving.  Also known as tablet weaving this method involves the use of cards with 4 holes punched in each corner.  Depending on how you manipulate the cards you can create intricate patterns. I’ll get into more about card weaving and how to warp a loom and simple patterns in another post series.

As for the halter, I’ve weaved a 1” wide strap made from a 3 ply sport weight alpaca/wool blend yarn.  I hand sewed the strap to halter hardware and will eventually ad the “bling” trim.  The trim is a metallic blue/gold color to match the colors of the customer’s farm.   Photos are of the halter crown and with the trim laid out over the crown to get an idea of the finished product.  

 

Stay tuned for more posts as I continue on with this project and to see the end result.

As always be sure to check out Alpaca Farm Girl’s Fiber Arts Friday for other projects.

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Custom Braided Alpaca Reins

No they aren’t reins for the alpaca but for your horse!  I’ve made several reins for folks and my latest pair is probably my favorite.

Colors are brown and cream though the lighting in the picture took away the true look of the colors.  These reins were my first order for a flat braid instead of a round and boy are they comfy.  Great choice if you ask me and I like the pattern the braid gave.  The reins look like a classic horse hair braid but are baby soft instead of course and itchy. 

I left the fringe on this pair when I back braided it.  With use it should fuzz out and make a nifty accent.  The cool thing is if you decide to don’t like the fringe all you have to do it cut it off and dap with fray stop and you have a finished look.

As always don’t forget to check out AlpacaFarmGirl!

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1/22/10
I am awaiting the arrival of my new cord making machine so I can make the following without taking hours and hours to make just one!
– alpaca mecatet
-alpaca reins
– alpaca leashes
– alpaca show lead ropes for both horses and alpacas
– alpaca dog collars and more
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Tablet Weaving

I’ve always enjoyed braiding and have made many items out of alpaca by spinning the yarn into cord and then using different types of braids to make rope, leads, collars, reins, etc.  What I love about braiding is the speed.  In about an hour I can have a finished product.  The drawback is the ability to have patterns. I’m confined to solid colors, a random color insertion or stripes.

Always thinking about other ways to use my alpaca I came across tablet weaving.  The tablet weave has been around for 100’s of years and is the basic form of weaving.  You can use any type of fiber like, silk, cotton, wool and yes alpaca.  What I like about tablet weaving is the ability to insert patterns and more colors into your work that braiding can’t do.  I’m currently learning how to make a simple checker pattern as you can see from the photos. 

Tablet weaving is a slower process.  With the pattern I’m currently working on the most time consuming part constantly having to untie and take out the twist that forms in the tail.  I think I’ll be working on a better board with some swivels that will take out the twist as I weave.  Other patterns involve a forward and back movement of the cards so a twist never builds up making the weave faster.

To learn more about tablet weaving here are the 2 sites where I learned the most.

http://www.stringpage.com/tw/basictw.html
http://www.lindahendrickson.com/

UPDATE! Visit our Warping Your Mini Loom Post

Don’t forget to visit Alpaca Farm Girl’s Fiber Arts Friday!

  

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Alpaca Fiber Halter Tube

Welcome Fiber Arts Friday Followers

I might be new to alpacas but have lived and breathed horses since I as 2 years old.  Now that I have these fuzzy creatures in my left I’m constantly thinking of ways to use their fiber for my equine love.  So far I’ve made lead ropes and reins but it was a minor injury to one of the horses that inspired my next project.  A custom felted tube for a halter crown.

One of the horses managed to get in a bit of a pickle and received a rope burn under the halter. (So much for having a breakaway halter when it doesn’t break!)  Long story short she’s hairless and a little sore behind her ears.  I thought about buying a sheepskin halter tube but thought, why do that, I bet I could felt some alpaca around the area and make a nice soft padding.

The results speak for themselves!  Perfecto!  Even though this is felt it is just as soft and squishy as if it were sheepskin.  Viva Alpaca!

 

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Poor Man’s Skirting Table

***NEW-Click Here for recent post for PVC Skirting Table with Supply List***

I spent Sunday afternoon skirting alpaca fiber.  Like the majority of new alpaca owners I’m broke after purchasing my foundation herd.  I feel like the blue collar redneck alpaca owner sometimes but honestly, I wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for anything.  It is hard work but very satisfying.

So what is skirting fiber you ask? Once the animal is sheared and the prime, 2nd and 3rd cuts are sorted in their baggies the hard work actually begins.  Each fleece has to be laid out and picked through to remove any short cuts and vegetation before it’s ready to send to the mill for processing.  A skirting table is what you lay the fiber out on.  This special table has holes in it so when you shake the fiber dirt, debris, and short cuts fall through while the fleece rests on top.  They even make fiber tumbling drums which rotate and toss the fiber around and let the crud fall through to the floor.  Tables or tumbles usually cost between $2-400.  That’s $ I don’t have laying around at the moment.

I’ve got 36 lbs of fiber to skirt and no table which is a problem.  So I started digging around the barn trying to think of what I could do to put together something at 0 cost to me. 

The solution?

–          (2) 4×4 approx 5 feet long

–          Chicken wire 24” x 5’

–          Some staples 

Tada, I give you poor man’s skirting table!  I was afraid the chicken wire would catch the fiber but it didn’t, the fiber rested on tope nicely.  The hole size in the wire was good too an anything shorter than 1.5 inches fell through.  I was surprised to see the amount of dirt and dust that fell out of the fiber. 

I’m happy with my little skirting table until I can afford to build a better one. So far I’ve managed to skirt all the prime fiber and will start on the 2nds next weekend.

Here’s a photo of my “table.”  I apologize for the photo quality, it was taken with my cell phone.