Handweaver and 'cellist, married to Prince Charming, mother of three superheros and three superhero-in-loves, and Lola to nine little princes and princesses. Life is a handwoven treasure, filled with hidden melodies.
I can make an ordinary rug. But it’s more exciting to weave something extraordinary. That’s what I like about making rag rugs. I can infuse them with beautiful patterns and colors. Double binding, in particular, gives me a useful framework for my “floor art.”
Double binding is a framework for creating art for the floor.
The thing I like about double binding is the way two consecutive wefts overlap and interchange in the shed. As the blocks change, the weft on top and the weft underneath change places. Most double-binding rugs, including the ones I have made previously, are simple checkerboard designs. The threading pattern you see here has significantly more block changes than usual. What began as a “what if?” has opened up a new dimension of rag-rug weaving for me! This opens the door to extraordinary.
Each row has two interchanging wefts.Red stripe is the mid point for this double-binding rag rug bath mat.
God made you for purpose. It’s no accident that you are endowed with certain skills. When our skills and desires merge in meaningful ways, we enjoy a sense of purpose. Whether it’s weaving, singing, or growing seeds, do what you were made to do. And let all you do point to the glory of your Maker. When he made you, he had extraordinary in mind!
May you live out the purpose for which you were made.
I am not fiddling with the weft fabric strips. Instead of making the right side of the fabric always show on top, I am letting the fabric strips fall as they may. The resulting variance in the weft gives the rug a vintage-like appearance. Also, I am using print fabric for some of the the light color of the double binding that purposely obscures the contrast of dark and light in some places. This is to give the rug a softer, more playful appearance.
Some of the red fabric for the rug’s hem has a wrong side that is much lighter than its right side. I am letting some of that lighter fabric show on top. Besides giving the rug a vintage-like appearance, this variance also makes the rug more reversible. The front and back side of the rug will be similar to each other, instead of one dark side and one light side.Glimåkra Ideal, with the beginning of a burst-of-color short rug to be used as a bath mat.
Home is where we make our true expression. The textiles from our hands speak without saying a word.
On the Road Again was a special challenge issued to members of the San Antonio Handweavers Guild last fall: Pair up (by random selection) with another guild member. Learn where that individual would like to travel and make a handwoven bag that suits her or his needs. I learned that my On-the-Road-Again partner, Donna, is a world traveler and uses small makeup bags to organize her carry-ons. Likewise, I informed Donna that I like small bags that I can use to hold my travel weaving when Steve and I go camping in our Casita travel trailer. Our guild met last week and we got to unveil our special gifts to each other. I had the smart idea to present the bags nested inside each other. Imagine my surprise when I found that Donna had the same smart idea. What fun!
My contribution for Donna is three small zippered bags, and a linen washcloth to take with her on her travels.
Donna’s thoughtful exchange couldn’t be more perfect – three small zippered bags, and a drawstring bag to hold them all together. I have my band-weaving supplies in the bags, ready for my camping trip with Steve in a few days!
Rag rugs are up next on the Glimåkra Standard. I’m filled with anticipation. Oh, to have the momentum of this hanging beater at my fingertips again. I’m drawn to the simple power of the hanging beater, which is perfect for rug weaving. I already have a place for these rugs in my home once they are woven. So, let’s get going!
First of three bouts. Brick and Bittersweet are wound together, and Unbleached and Umber (a dark green that is almost black) are wound together.I secure the end by pulling a loop up under the wound threads, so I can count the ends of the last group in this bout.Finished winding the third bout. Before cutting off and tying the final pair of ends, I did a visual check of the counted ends at the cross.
The draft is “Den Vackraste” from Älskade Trasmattor, by Hallgren and Hallén, p.87, to which I added some width. I plan to start with a short sample rug to test wefts and check for size. I am winding the 12/6 cotton warp in three bouts. These long, heavy warp chains tell me I’m now on an unstoppable trek that will result in rugs on the floor!
As each bout is wound, I place it in order through the beater, with the tied cross on the other side of the beater.Anticipation!
Until I wind the warp, the rag rugs I’d like to see are merely good intentions. Warp chains placed in order through the beater, though, are a picture of expectation. I have put enough warps on the loom to know with confidence that the rag rugs I anticipate will, indeed, become reality. Faith has that kind of expectation. Faith activates your prayer. The simple power of faith is in believing that the Lord Jesus hears your prayer and that he is able to do what is right for you.
Some things are easier done than said. I said to myself that it’s too much trouble to tie retaining cords on the shafts. I am weaving almost full width on the Glimåkra Julia. I know that heddlescan slip off the ends of shafts. Still, I tell myself I can keep an eye on it. It won’t be a problem, right? Wrong.
Juila’s wide warp. So far, so good. I’ll pay attention and everything will be just fine. Famous last words.Oops. I took this picture after I had fixed most of the mess created by dangling heddles. When heddles slip off shafts they must be put back on thread by thread to maintain correct warp order. These were tangled enough that it took me a few tries to get it right.
Tie Retaining Cords on Shafts
Purpose: Keep Texsolv heddles secure on their shaft bars, especially when weaving a wide warp.
Supplies
Tape measure
12/6 cotton seine twine
Scissors
12/6 cotton seine twine (rug warp) to the rescue!
1 Measure shaft bar from hole to hole. (Julia shaft bar is 70 cm) 2 Figure additional length (about 40 cm) for tying two knots. (70 + 40 = 110 cm) 3 Cut seine twine to measured length for each upper and lower shaft bar. (Heddles can slip off lower shaft bars, too.)
4 Insert one of the seine twine cords through the hole on one end of a shaft bar. Tie. (I use the half-bow slip knot as described in Learning to Warp Your Loom, by Joanne Hall, p.38.)
Tie retaining cord to one end of the shaft bar. Any knot will do, but I like this half-bow slip knot because I can untie it simply by pulling the end of the cord.
5 Insert the other end of the cord through the hole at other end of the shaft bar. Tie.
Thread the cord through the hole at the end of the bar.Tie a simple knot and tighten it.Tie another simple knot, leaving a fold in the end of the cord.Pull the loop to tighten the knot.
6 Repeat steps 4 and 5 for each remaining upper and lower shaft bar.
All tied up and ready to go! When this project is finished I will wind up these retaining cords on an empty tube and re-use them for the next wide warp on the Julia.
Continue weaving with one less thing to think about.
45 minutes: Time it took to reposition heddles that had slipped off a few shafts and were in a mess because I didn’t notice it immediately. Less than 10 minutes:Time it took to cut string and tie retaining cords on 4 upper shaft bars and 4 lower shaft bars.
‘Nuff said.
May you take the time to do what needs to be done.
