Mistakes Will Be Made

One thing I hear frequently from new weavers is the desire to get to the point where they are no longer making mistakes.

A-hem.

I’ve been weaving for 51+ years and yes, I still make mistakes.

Don’t I get frustrated?

Sure. But here’s the thing: mistakes happen. It is what you do next that determines what happens next.

Some mistakes are fixable. Some…take a whole lot more time and effort than I’m willing to invest.

Some mistakes are so subtle that only an experienced eye will notice. If the mistake doesn’t impact the job the textile is to do, how much do I care? Sometimes? Not enough to take the time and effort to ‘fix’ it.

Sometimes it is ok to label them a ‘design feature’ and carry on. Sometimes? It is not.

Which is which?

It depends.

I know you are shocked.

But it is true.

There are levels of ‘standards’, some of them more ‘important’ than others. How do you decide?

That is up to you. And ultimately the end user.

If I am weaving for exhibition, I will fix everything I can see. Or set that cloth aside and try again, paying attention to the mistakes I made and try to ensure I don’t make them again.

If I am weaving for sale, I will fix the ‘obvious’ mistakes, but if the ‘mistake’ is subtle and doesn’t detract from the appearance of the cloth, I might just leave it and let the customer decide if they accept the way the cloth looks. Or not.

For some textiles I will mark them down as ‘seconds’ if the mistake is really obvious, but the cloth will still perform it’s ‘job’.

Some things I will give away to friends with the caveat that they are ‘seconds’, but will still do their job.

And some? Go into the rag bag.

But if I have learned one thing in my life it is that mistakes will be made. Learn how to fix them, or turn them into something else. But don’t beat yourself up about it, because we all make mistakes.

I attended a workshop once upon a time with a very high profile textile designer. The topic was colour in weaving. l wanted very much to take the workshop because I was very unsure about my ability to work effectively with colour and wanted some feedback.

When I arrived I was a bit intimidated by some of the very well known weavers also taking the workshop. I thought they were very good at weaving with colour already. Yet, here they were, looking to learn more. So I found an empty space at a table at the very back of the room, determined to make myself very small.

The person seated in front of me introduced themselves as an art instructor. However, as the day progressed there was a constant stream of extremely negative feedback from themself about their results. And it wasn’t quiet, it was loud enough for me, my table partner, and the others beside and in front of them. It was toxic and it was enveloping all of us with their cloud of self criticism.

At one point I walked by them to use the bobbin winder and another stream of insults and negativity poured out and I stopped and said ‘Excuse me, did you say you were an art teacher?’ The answer was a confused ‘yes’. I looked at them and said ‘do you talk to your students like that?’ ‘what?’ they replied. I looked at them and said ‘then why are you talking to yourself like that?’

They looked at me like a deer in the headlights, and I walked on.

So, get used to the fact that mistakes will happen. And don’t judge yourself for it. Just learn how to fix them and move on. A mistake doesn’t mean that you are ‘less’, or ‘broken’. It just means that something happened and there is a mistake. Fix it. Or don’t. But don’t beat yourself up about it. Take the lesson, learn from it, and grow.