There is something very satisfying about finishing an overambitious task. In hindsight, I was a fool to contemplate 46 hours weaving (4cm per hour) for this dress. However the desire to create this luxurious textile was too great for common sense to intervene.

I selected hand dyed chenilles from a previous project. Also gold and iridescent glitter yarns, lurex and mercerized cottons for extra sheen. Turquoise will be the accent colour.

The weft-faced fabric is going to be much heavier than usual dress weight materials and the chunky seams will be problematic. For the neckline I will create a decorative trim from glitter piping to disguise the bulge.

Cutting the weave is my biggest concern as it unravels instantly. However, stitching two rows of zig-zag on these samples is sufficient reinforcement.

Like the fabric, my time on the loom for this project was luxurious. I managed to free myself from my usual daily distractions for 75% of the weaving process. This enabled me to loose myself in the repetitive process and let the design flow instinctively. I repeated the pattern in reverse from the centre point to leave the option of matching the dress front and back.

Long, intense sessions in the studio have left me with an achy back and almost 2m of exquisite cloth to transform into my shift dress….