If you don’t find a needed answer here, please contact me with your question.
- What shipping methods do you use and what are your shipping costs?
- How quickly do you ship?
- What kinds of payment do you accept?
- What is your privacy policy and how will you handle my confidential information?
- What is your return policy?
- What is your guarantee?
- What are your charges for custom weaving?
- How long does it take to weave a scarf?
- What is hand painted yarn?
- What are low-impact, fiber-reactive dyes?
- What are your shipping costs?
- My standard shipping method is the US Postal Service, usually via priority mail. All of my items are insured for loss or damage, and the costs of insurance and shipping are those actually charged by the post office; I do not charge a handling fee.
- Insurance and shipping costs are individually determined based on your order. I will email you with the specifics and will send an updated invoice for the total cost (product, insurance, shipping, and sales tax if shipping within NYS).
- How quickly do you ship?
- In stock items generally ship within two business days. Items that must be woven, including both out-of-stock items and special orders, ship promptly upon their completion. Customers ordering an out-of-stock or custom item will recieve an email from me with this information. Payment will not be required until an item is ready to ship.
- What kinds of payment do you accept?
- PayPal is preferred for items ordered through my website; I will accept all major credit/debit cards if the customer prefers. I also accept Bank or Postal Money Orders. Personal checks are accepted, but items will not be shipped until checks clear the bank, often at least seven days.
- What is your privacy policy and how will you handle my confidential information?
- I consider your privacy a very serious matter, and ALWAYS MAINTAIN YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY. See my Privacy Policy for more information.
- What is your return policy?
- I love happy customers! My return policy is my guarantee – if you are not happy with your handwoven item, I will happily refund your full purchase price (less shipping), within 3 months of purchase.
- What is your guarantee?
- I provide a 3-month unconditional guarantee on my handwoven items. If, during the first three months after purchase, the item does not please you, I will happily provide replacement or refund (less shipping).
- What are your charges for custom weaving?
- The costs for custom weaving is individually determined based on the amount of work involved. I work directly wtih the customer, developing computer mockups of the design using weaving software. We can go through a number of mockups until we have color and weaving pattern correct. I encourage my customers to get sample cards of the yarns they are considering in making their color choices.
- Back to top
- How long does it take to weave a scarf?
- There isn’t a single or a simple answer to this question, since there are many variables – length, width, and fabric being the primary ones. Some yarns, such as 100% tencel yarn, are easier to work with than others, like rayon chenille, with more challenging yarns requiring more time. The size of the yarn has a direct impact, as well; the thicker the yarn, the quicker the weaving process. But regardless of yarn type or size, hand weaving is a slow process. Before throwing the first shuttle I must plan the design, measure the threads to all be exactly the same length, get the yarn on the loom (called beaming the warp), thread each warp thread through two different parts of the loom, and ensure consistent tension throughout the entire process.
- Next I hand-hem (most) items while they are under tension on the loom. Then I can start what most think of as ‘the weaving’ – stepping on treadles, throwing the shuttle, and ‘beating’ the weft into place. I do these 3 processes more than 1,300 time for most of my scarves, then another hand-hem at the end of the scarf.
- After the piece comes off the loom, it’s still not done! Many of my handwoven items are finished with a double-twisted fringe, accomplished by hand, of course. If not fringed, the item is hemmed, generally using a combination of machine and hand sewing. Each woven item is then washed and dried with an appropriate amount of agitation to make the threads shift to their final location. Then a hard press, by hand, is required to ‘lock’ those threads into place so the weave pattern is permanent and stable.
- Throughout the entire process I document my work…making records of colors, fibers, weave patterns, how closely the threads are set in both warp and weft, and how the finished product compared in both form and function to my plan. This ensures that I can reproduce the item as is or make improvements as needed.
- Each of these steps is important to a professional weaver; none can be left out.
- What is hand painted yarn?
- Hand painted yarn is created by starting with either undyed or bleached yarn. I wind that yarn either in warp lengths or skeins, depending on my plans for the finished piece(s). Next I carefully apply permanent dyes in sections along the length of the warp or skein. The color choices are made individually for each batch of yarn, and their combinations and the length of each section of color dictate the finished results of a handwoven scarf. For a bit more info, I’ve written a blog post about hand painted yarn
- What are low-impact, fiber-reactive dyes?
- Although these types of dyes are made from chemicals (instead of plant materials or naturally-occurring minerals), they are easy on the enviroment. Some of them are even more eco-friendly than all-natural dyes. How is this possible? Low-impact, fiber-reactive dyes chemically bond with the fiber very well, requiring much less water than most traditional dying methods. These dyes are manufactured using no heavy metals and meet the often more stringent European standards for safety; almost all made with petrochemicals.