Hemming a rag rug may be easier than you think. I have used my classic Bernina sewing machine to hem rag rugs; but now, I hem many of them by hand. It’s easier and faster than I once thought. I plan the rug’s hem into the weaving, using half-width fabric strips for the hem area, and end it off with 1 cm of a warp thread heading. After cutting off the rug, I secure and trim the warp ends. There’s only one thing left to do. Hem the rug! (Start with Tools Day: Rag Rug Finishing Videoif you haven’t seen it yet.)
Hem is woven with fabric strips, doubled, cut 1 cm wide. This rug has a 6 cm hem, plus the warp thread heading, that will be folded under and stitched.
Tools and supplies
Steam iron
Long straight pins
Rug warp to match the rug (mine is Bockens 12/6 cotton seine twine)
Blunt tapestry needle
Kitchen mat is embellished with woven thin stripes that give the impression of rickrack. It makes me think of rickrack-trimmed dresses my mother made for me when I was a little girl. (See Simplest Rag Rug Stripe to learn how the rickrack stripes are made.)
Have you ever drawn blood while winding a bobbin or quill? I have. First you feel the heat, and then, ouch! …the thread makes a little slice. Linen can do that. And wool can give you a little burn. True, my electric bobbin winder is fast, but I have experienced similar ouchies with my good ol’ Swedish hand-turned bobbin winder, too. That’s why I keep a woodcarver’s leather thumb guard at my bobbin winder station. I use it every time. For linen, wool, cotton, everything.
Winding linen with the electric bobbin winder. Leather woodcarvers thumb guard keeps my thumb safe and sound, yet allows maximum mobility.
I first tried a leather golfing glove and found it too bulky; and then I tried a leather quilter’s thumb, but it was too thin and soon wore out. When Steve saw my predicament, he ordered some small leather thumb guards for me–the kind that woodcarvers use. Perfect! Convenient, sturdy, and no more ouchies. (We get the thumb guards HERE. You can also find them on Amazon.com. I have no affiliate links.)
Thumb guard is so comfortable that sometimes I forget to remove it; I’ll find it on my thumb later when I’m at the loom weaving.
Every good bag deserves a good lining, with pockets inside and a zipper on top. This handwoven rag rug bag is no exception. The lining fabric is some of the same fabric that is woven in the bag. The polka dot pocket fabric is a cheery piece from a visit to The Philippines. The completed zippered tote is a perfect fit for my small tapestry frame, and goes with me when I travel. Quiet Friday: Weave a Bag with Handles shows how I made the bag.
How to Add a Custom Zippered Lining to a Bag
Tools
Sewing machine
Zipper foot
Walking foot (recommended, but not required)
Steam iron
Straight pins
Tool for pushing out corners
Needle and sewing thread
Disappearing ink fabric marker
Fabric scissors
Supplies
Fabric for lining. Lay bag on top of folded lining fabric, with bottom of bag aligned with the fold of the lining fabric. Cut the folded fabric a generous 1 1/2″ wider and 1 1/2″ taller than the bag.
Fabric for pocket. Mark two pieces of fabric (or use a folded piece of fabric) the desired pocket size. Add 1/4″ seam allowance. Cut along the marked lines. Stitch, right sides together, leaving an opening for turning. Turn right side out, pushing out corners. Press. Topstitch all four sides.
Fabric for zipper insert pieces. Cut two pieces of fabric 4 1/2″ wide by the length of the zipper plus 1″.
Tabs for ends of zipper tape. Cut from handwoven band or piece of fabric with sides folded under.
Zipper. Regular, non-separating zipper, as long as, or longer than, bag opening
Steps
Sew bottom three sides of pocket onto lining fabric. Stitch a dividing line on pocket.
Stitch sides of lining, right sides together. Fold and stitch box corners.
With lining seated in bag, fold down top edge of lining, so that folded edge fits just inside top edge of bag. Pin folded edge of lining and remove from bag. Set aside.
Bar tack top ends of zipper tape together. Bar tack over end of desired zipper length. Cut off excess. Cut a tab from a woven band, or from fabric with sides folded in, to fold over each end of zipper tape. Use zipper foot to stitch tabs over zipper tape ends.
For zipper insert, cut two pieces of complementary fabric 4 1/2″ wide by the length of the zipper, plus 1″.
Fold each zipper insert piece lengthwise in half, right sides together. Draw stitching line that matches length of zipper.
Stitch both short ends of zipper insert pieces. Clip corners and trim seams.
Turn zipper insert pieces right side out. Push corners out. Press.
Pin folded edge of zipper insert fabric to right side of zipper tape, centered lengthwise, 1/8″ away from zipper teeth. Open zipper partway. With zipper foot, starting at top end of zipper, topstitch close to folded edge. After stitching a third of the way, with needle down, close zipper, and then continue topstitching to bottom of zipper. Repeat for other side of zipper insert. Press.
With zipper opened, and zipper tab down (picture shows zipper tab up, after having pinned both sides), center and pin one side of zipper insert under one side of folded top edge of lining, so that lining overlaps insert 1/2″. Repeat with other side of zipper insert and lining.
Insert lining into bag, matching side seams and mid points on bag and lining, with top folded edge of lining 1/4″ below top edge of bag. (Edge of zipper insert is sandwiched between lining fold and bag.) Make sure bag handles are up and out of the way of stitching. From inside of bag, use walking foot to stitch 1/8″ from lining fold, all the way around top of lining, keeping zipper insert up and out of the way of stitching. (Walking foot helps ensure even feed of fabric layers.)
Fold zipper inserts down into bag. Press. Stitch across zipper inserts 1/2″ below top of lining on inside of bag. Press again.
Give your new bag a special purpose.
May your lining on the inside be as attractive as your handbag on the outside.
Linen is special. This is nothing new. Even in biblical history, linen is mentioned as fabric for sacred purposes. But weaving with linen requires attentiveness. The inelasticity of linen means extra care is needed in every stage of dressing the loom and weaving. Of first importance is an even warp tension.
Tying on linen in small 1-inch/2.5 cm increments is one thing that helps contribute to an even warp tension.
This method of tying on* is perfect for weaving rag rugs. The 12/6 cotton rug warp stays snugly in place. Not so with linen. The even warp tension that I have been so careful to maintain can be lost in a moment. The sneaky linen is smooth and slick enough to tie on easily, and then loosen up just as easily. So I take the double precaution of tying an additional overhand knot, AND moistening that knot with a dab of water which helps the linen grip itself. I never have to worry about these knots slipping loose.
Additional overhand knot, with a dab of water, secures the tie-on threads. I am using sample space to try weft colors and work on getting optimum weft density.
What do you worry about? I have bigger things I worry about, too. But my heavenly Father assures me that He has secured all the knots that concern me. “Don’t worry,” he tells me. “Your Father knows your needs.” Be attentive to keep first things first. Put yourself in the Father’s care, and find that he takes care of you. Special you.
This is how a weaver enjoys a long haul flight. I keep my hands busy. A direct flight from Houston to Tokyo takes about fourteen hours. And then five more hours to Manila. Add layover time, and you have almost a full day of travel. I have been wanting to try the exercises in Kathe Todd-Hooker‘s Tapestry 101. So that is how I spent my travel time to and from The Philippines on our recent visit there. I followed advice I received from Teresa Loveless when I was at Weaving Southwest in New Mexico, to warp my little tapestry loom at a sett of 8 epi, using rug wool for weft. The coarse sett made the weaving easy to see and work with, even in the dim lighting of the airplane. (This is in contrast to last year’s travel tapestry using embroidery floss.) I kept the samplers small, so I could finish by the end of the trip. I ended up with two mini samplers.
Ready to travel with all tapestry weaving supplies in a soft bag that is easy to slip into my flight carry on bag.
Tools:
– Travel-size tapestry loom (with tensioning device, and counter sunk rare earth magnets for holding tapestry needle)
– Warp thread (12/6 cotton seine twine), wound on a couple five-inch quills
– Wool rug yarn assortment (Jason Collingwood Rug Wool, and Borgs 25/1 Mattgarn), wound on five-inch quills
– Blunt tapestry needles (have extras in case you drop one in the dark)
– Travel snips (make sure they meet TSA regulations) on a neck strap (hand woven, of course)
– Clip-on book light (with paper napkin or thin cloth to diffuse the light, and extra batteries)
– Tape measure
– Small clips (you never know when you might need one, like to clip a napkin over the book light)
– Sewing thread and sewing needle (for stitching slits, which I did not do)
– Tapestry resource book (like Tapestry 101, by Kathe Todd-Hooker)
– Bag to hold everything (and a couple small pouches within to keep things organized)
First mini sampler was almost finished by the time we arrived in Manila.Green tea cake roll was a yummy snack at Narita International Airport in Tokyo on the trip home. Maybe this should be a future color scheme for a weaving project?Weaving in the dark. The Starbucks napkin that I saved from Houston came in handy as a light diffuser around the too-bright reading light when other passengers were sleeping.Second mini sampler was almost finished by the time we arrived back home in Houston.Mini tapestry samplers show a compact view of the passage of time.
