Double cloth weave with block stripes to create tubes that are filled with roasted coffee
beans.

Culture & Context

I have been working as a part time barista for the past 18 months while also pursuing
my textiles career. In this time, I have fallen in love with the process of making coffee
however there is a huge amount of waste that comes with it. Through this project I
wanted to see how many ways I could utilise waste from the coffee industry and turn it
into a new/ experimental material or process.

This sample was inspired by the large bags that the green beans arrive in before the
beans are roasted. The green yarn chosen is to symbolise the green coffee beans
before they are roasted and the tubes woven filled with the roasted beans are to
symbolise the sacks. The tubes filled with roasted beans add a sensory element to
this sample with added weight, noise and texture. It also leaves the sample smelling
like coffee interacting with yet another sense.

Process & Production

The process of this material was firstly setting up the loom. When that was complete I
started weaving. This sample focused on using the blocks in this set up ensuring that
Block A was cream front facing and Block B was coffee front facing. There were two
weft yarns used for this piece, first the green merino wool from Bart and Francis and
then the second was the 1py cream Galway wool. Weaving these two weft yarns
alternating them each time forms these tubes and pockets in each block. After
weaving my sample to its desired length, I then stuffed the green tubes with roasted
coffee beans leaving the cream tubes empty to try and create surface texture and
manipulations. Once the green tubes were filled I then wove a couple of inches of
plain weave to secure them.

Recipe Details

Loom Set Up :
Double Cloth set up using 16 shafts on a 24 shaft shaft ARM Touch 60 Loom.
Warp 1 & 2 : Galway Wool 1ply – length 4 yards, one dyed with waste coffee grounds
the other was left plain.
Weight : 232g for both.
24epi, 336 ends in total
Width : 14”
Straight draft in blocks AABAABAABAABAA

Material Sample :
A stripe of plain weave using the 1ply Galway wool as the weft across both warps.
Keeping Block A as cream front facing and Block B coffee front facing I wove the two
cloths with alternating weft yarns. Weft yarn 1 was the green merino wool yarn
naturally dyed by Bart and Francis and weft yarn 2 was the 1ply cream Galway wool.
By alternating these two weft yarns and ensuring they do not crossover each other
(with the double weave block structure) they start to weave tubes/ pockets.
Once I wove the desired length of the material I lifted all the shafts which had the
cream wool warp on them opening the green tubes and I stuffed them with roasted
coffee beans.
I then lowered these shafts and wove a couple of inches of plain weave across both
warps to secure the coffee beans in the green tube.