I am using graph paper and colored pencils again to design double-binding rag rugs. Twilldouble-binding rag rugs this time. The draft comes from Swedish Rag Rugs 35 New Designs, by Lillemor Johansson. The graph paper squares are great for playing out my own ideas. I am not aiming for specific color combinations with this exercise. And I don’t strictly follow my colored design when I weave, but instead use it as a guide that suggests a design pathway. This allows me to improvise at the loom as I see the cloth taking shape.
Graph paper for playing with design ideas, using Prismacolor pencils.Experiments with wide and thin blocks of color, unevenly spaced.Putting design experiments to the test. The twill structure gives more substance to the rug than plain weave, as well as adding to the textural appearance in the design.
Will these long floats do what I hope they will do? I have puckered scarves in mind. Soft 8/2 cotton in shades of green. We do not often know, really know, how things will turn out. With weaving, I can sample first. That little piece of trial and error is not wasted threads. It enables me to weave the remainder with confidence. Without a sample, especially with a new technique, or an untested idea, my hope for a good outcome is guesswork, with no real substance.
How will this sample behave through the washer and dryer? Will I get the results I’m after?Yes, looks like a puckered scarf to me. It feels soft, too.
In some ways, my faith is like that sample. Faith is strength through storms; and I’m facing one of those storms today. I don’t know how things will turn out, but because of the One who has gone before me, my hope has substance. It’s as if my Lord has woven a sample for me to see, to trust in His care.
Sample piece gives a preview of what the end result will be like. The cloth on the loom looks and feels rigid and unbending, but the finished sample cloth reveals a surprising texture that has the feel of movement and freedom.
My soul is preserved through faith, taking me to the front line in the battle, with courage. And so, I continue weaving with hope, having an imperfect glimpse of what the finished fabric will be.
This band was giving me fits! First, the 12/6 cotton (rug warp) is a little heavy for a band. Secondly, I created tension problems by adding two green stripes of 22/2 cottolin. Thirdly, a wider band like this is unwieldy to weave with my small hands. Fourth, I goofed in the threading. And, lastly, I couldn’t see the goof in my threading because I was pulling the weft too tight. Nothing was going right.
Cut it off and throw the whole thing away. It’s only three yards. Hold on… I don’t want to give up that easily. Yes, cut off the woven mess. But why not correct the threading and at least try weaving a little bit? As it turns out, the threading error had contributed to most of the problems. Times like this remind me to carefully examine what I am doing.
After making threading corrections, adjusting my beat and how tightly to pull the weft, the true pattern emerges. At 1 3/4″ / 4.5cm, it will be the right width for a nice sturdy strap–a shoulder strap for a bag, or a guitar strap, perhaps.
Examine everything. Hold on to what is good; and abandon evil. We need to practice the good, even when the good seems difficult and we want to take the easy way out. Repeat the good; don’t let the good slip away. And you will find yourself making progress in the right direction.
May you not give up too easily.
P.S. Many of you have shared my Twisting Fringe on the Loom tutorial video! Thank you!!
In answer to your requests about my finishing process for the wool blanket, including the fringe, look for a series of short videos in my Quiet Friday post at the end of this week!
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This is exactly what I had hoped for! Wet finishing made textured textiles out of flat fabric. One look at these pot holders and you know they have been through the washer and dryer. The rag weave table runner tells the same story. It’s true, wet finishing made positive permanent changes.
Rag weave table runner on the loom. M’s and O’s, with Cottolin warp, and narrow cotton fabric strips for weft.Time to celebrate cutting the pot holders and table runner from the loom.Textured textiles, after wet finishing and hemming. Twisted cording was added to pot holders for hanging loops.Creative treadling for two pot holders produced design variations.
Christmas is a true story. Love came down. You have heard the story: Jesus came as a baby, grew up, and gave up his life to save us, all in the name of love. When this Jesus story is written on our hearts it changes everything. This love story is the wet finishing we need. It is the only thing that can truly complete us. Your life already tells a story. It is an open book that people read. When we let the Christmas story of God’s love shape us, the fabric of our life becomes characterized by the texture of love.
May your loved ones enjoy reading “your” book.
(Shoppes at Fleece ‘N Flax in Eureka Springs, Arkansas is carrying a few of my rugs. If you are near the area, drop by the shop and say Hi to Debbie!)
This is a simple way to make a rag weave table runner. The M’s and O’s weave structure provides a great framework. What I like about narrow fabric strips is that you can wind them on quills, just like yarn, and weave with a boat shuttle. It is fast weaving that breezes right along.
Boat shuttle holds quill with narrow fabric strips to weave table runner. In view below the table runner are pot holders that were woven using unbleached cotton multi-strand yarn.
I could use a small ski shuttle for this, as if I were weaving rag rugs. Or, I could even place the weft across by hand on this narrow-width warp. The most efficient way is the boat shuttle, and the main thing is to get the weft across so weaving can happen. In life and relationships, it is love that needs to get across.
Patience and kindness are universal expressions of love. Love never fails. It started with the patience and kindness of God. As we draw toward Christmas, consider the meaning of the holiday–that God so loved the world. His patience and kindness toward humanity meant sending His son to our world. And that baby, named Jesus, became God’s way of taking love across the gap between heaven and earth.
