Dots of Sunshine at the Selvedges

This double-weave cotton baby blanket has sunshine yellow for the bottom layer, and aquamarine for the upper layer. The selvedges are delightfully dotted with specks of the sunshine yellow as the two wefts interlock at the sides.

Double weave cotton baby blanket on the loom.
Second baby blanket on this warp. First blanket used aquamarine weft for the bottom layer. This blanket has aquamarine weft for the top layer.

Weaving with two shuttles always requires extra attention to know which shuttle goes where. And with double weave, especially, I need to know where to set a shuttle down, which shuttle goes across first, which thread goes over or under the other thread, etc. Consistency matters because the proper arrangement of weft threads at the selvedge will appropriately “stitch” the two layers closed. And the final result here is a cohesive baby blanket with decorative edges. Besides looking pretty, the carefully-placed weft threads hold the edges together.

Cotton double weave baby blankets on the loom.
View of cloth under the breast beam reveals the bottom layer of this two-layer cloth.
Sunshine yellow weft thread decorates the selvedge.
Sunshine yellow weft thread creates a decorative stitch at the selvedge.

Love is like that, too. Love holds people together. It stitches our loose edges into a cohesive fabric. It makes us into something that can work together instead of going our own way as separate pieces. Love from you refreshes the hearts of others and puts a delightful decorative edge on all your relationships.

May all those who encounter you know what it is like to be loved.

Love,
Karen

10 thoughts on “Dots of Sunshine at the Selvedges

    1. Hi Beth, I’m glad this speaks to you. The yellow stitches were a pleasant surprise for me. Maybe our love to others can be like that in our messy world.

      Love,
      Karen

    1. Hi Alison, I’m glad you like it. I’m in the process of washing, drying, pressing, and hemming. I think I may use the yellow thread for the hem, and purposely let it show.

      I’ll post the two blankets when they are finished.

      Thanks,
      Karen

    1. Hi Tobie, I am still in the process of hemming these baby blankets. I hope to post pictures and explanation next week. The short answer is that I am turning the ends under to the inside, and then I am using a contrasting thread to whipstitch the edges together. Stay tuned…

      Thanks!
      Karen

  1. I’m getting ready to start a blanket for a Christmas present. Question for you: did you need a temple for the project?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *