Making Art with Moiré

I’ve been intrigued about moiré for many years. I ran across some samples and when I picked them up and saw light behind, I immediately saw wonderful moire patterns. Voila! These double weave tubes produced moire if seen backlit but only then. This photo shows that two layers superimposed can or cannot make moire, depending on the set up. I put a card behind a portion of the piece to show how it looked lying on a table and hanging with light behind it.


Here is the same piece as a little hanging.  Art!


Another little moire piece I discovered and made into a little hanging.


A third scrap turned into a hanging just by hanging it up.


Here is one of my original pieces where I discovered moire.


Moire sometimes isn’t desirable. This is part of an illustration in my book Weaving for Beginners in the Rigid Heddle chapter. Again, 2 layers superimposed can cause the moire effect. Perhaps you’ve seen in when 2 screens are next to each other.


This photo is from my go-to book for textile definitions. For moire it said, “see Watered”. The definition: “Term used to describe textiles in which a rippled or watered effect is produced by pressing certain ribbed fabrics in such a way as to flatten parts of the ribs and leave the rest in relief. The flattened and unflattened parts reflect the light differently. Synonym: moire”. From Warp & Weft A Dictionary of Textile Terms. Dorothy K. Burnham. Royal Ontario Museum, 1981. Now that I think of it, I think I had some fabrics like that from Uzbekestan, and we went to see the big callerending machine that pressed the ridges.


4 thoughts on “Making Art with Moiré”

  1. There is something about these pieces — especially the first few — that makes them seem very old, like textiles dug up from an archaeological site. I find that so beautiful; it’s an effect I’m always after in my own weaving and stitching, but one I so rarely achieve. These are truly lovely.

    Reply
    • Thanks so much. If you are interested I can send you some of my stash for the fine warp thread. It’s collapses when wet, too.
      Peggy

      Reply

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