Ondulé Textiles

Weaving involves straight, parallel, and gridlike lines, but as Norma Smayda shows, ondulé—weaving with curving warp threads—offers new directions. This is the first book on ondulé textiles, and includes clear information on every aspect, from instructions to design tips to a comprehensive history of the fan reed, the tool that makes ondulé possible. Smayda shares the details of her own learning experiences with numerous ondulé warps in a variety of fibers. More than 180 color photos also feature stunningly beautiful work by five other contemporary and two twentieth-century weavers, plus intriguing historic Japanese textiles. Also included are sections on weft ondulé, designing a fan or hybrid reed, and the thought processes behind twenty-one of the featured projects, including drafts. This reference will serve as foundation and inspiration for your ondulé weaving.

About the Author:

Norma Smayda is a master weaver, teacher, and author. She established the Saunderstown Weaving School in 1974. She learned to weave in Norway, and Scandinavian design, colors, and weave structures continue to be an important focus of her work. She also specializes in the contributions of William Henry Harrison Rose and of Bertha Gray Hayes, and is the coauthor of Weaving Designs by Bertha Gray Hayes: Miniature Overshot Patterns. More recently Smayda has immersed herself in weaving with fan reeds, and in designing and exhibiting her ondulé textiles. She has received the New England Weavers Seminar Weaver of Distinction Award, and she is a past president of the Handweavers Guild of America.

Gretchen White is a weaver, knitter, and quilter, with a particular interest in the structure of textiles and knitted fabrics and in the geometric forms they can produce. She likes good cloth and honest materials.

Nat Rea, a Rhode Island photographer, specializes in portraits and in interior and exterior photography for designers, architects, and magazines.