What do you look for in a handwoven rag rug? How do you detect quality of craftsmanship? I look at the selvedges. First thing. I look for selvedges that are nice and tight, and that have a uniform twist at the edge. A few simple steps, consistently practiced, produce the kind of quality you can see and feel. It’s one more reason I find delight in weaving rag rugs.
Beater swings forward to beat in the weft with its just-formed firm and tidy selvedge.Set up for filming the short tutorial. My husband does the filming and proves his patience through several retakes.
Watch this Quick Tip video for a short demonstration.
May the quality of your work be the first thing noticed.
This is the kind of weaving results that makes me giggle like a child. Waffle weave is one of those things I have been intrigued about for some time, and have wanted to give it a try. Will it really buckle up into waffled wrinkles? Will linen do that? Will it be even better than I expect? Yes, yes, and YES. Talk about transformation!
Taken from thrums, each length of thread is added with a square knot, which makes for slow quill winding. And slow weaving, as I untie each knot that comes along, and overlap weft tails in the shed.Shaggy thick blue linen weft tails cover the surface.
Everything in these waffle weave washcloths is linen that has been leftover from previous projects. The tail end of linen tubes, quills that didn’t quite get used up, thrums, and threading missteps that gave me skinny warp chains of several meters. The warp is 16/2 linen, but the weft is everything from fine linen threads, to bundles of threads, to coarse linen rug warp. I discovered, as you will see, that the thicker the weft, the more pronounced the wrinkles. The thickest wefts have given me delightful accordion pleats.
Wet-finished linen waffle weave has a surprisingly soft hand. After hemming, I am trimming the weft tails to 1/4″, leaving a hint that this is made of leftovers.
Please enjoy this process video of the making of leftover linen waffle weave washcloths! Watch to the end to see the squishiness of this unusual cloth.
Don’t think that this is the end of waffle weave. I am already thinking of all the interesting possibilities…
It is exciting when Maverick walks by. Although he never comes in my drawloom studio, he does stop for a moment to look my way. You’ll see him in the slideshow video below. But what happens inside the studio is even more exciting, especially when it’s time for cutting off!
Drawloom, set up with sixteen pattern shafts. I graph out the designs in Excel on my computer. Then, I print out the gridded pattern to use at the loom. I keep my place in the pattern with a magnet and magnet board made for cross-stitch embroidery.
This is Tuna wool, so I expect some shrinkage, but how much? I take careful measurements before and after wet finishing. Besides the main piece of fabric that I’m using for a garment, I have two sample pieces. I can experiment with the samples before wet finishing my garment fabric.
Here are my findings: Sample 1. Hand wash and air dry.
10% shrinkage in width; 13% shrinkage in length.
Sample 2. Machine wash (3 minutes agitation on a gentle cycle, with a short spin) and machine dry (low setting) till damp, finish with air drying.
13% shrinkage in width; 14% shrinkage in length.
~How to do the shrinkage calculations~ First measurement (on the loom) minus the second measurement (after washing and drying) equals the difference. The difference divided by the first measurement equals the percentage difference. For example, 50 cm – 43.5 cm = 6.5; 6.5 / 50 = 0.13; 13% shrinkage.
The first sample fabric is softer than the unwashed fabric, but not as soft as I’d like. The second sample fabric is beautifully soft, like a nice warm sweater. So, with confidence, I wet finish the garment fabric—with great results. It’s perfect for the fall/winter vest that I’ll soon be wearing, made from this fabric!
Like a sweater, this soft fabric will be comfortable to wear.Muslin pattern for a simple vest. First, I’ll make a vest out of a wool throw, woven on my rigid heddle loom ages ago. Then, I will cut into the new drawloom fabric, with confidence about the fit.
It took me seven years of study, practice, and mistakes to complete this rigorous Swedish weaving curriculum! You have been with me through much of it right here. I’m talking about The Big Book of Weaving, by Laila Lundell. I made it through the book, sequentially, page by page, warp by warp. 43 warps in all! Remember the blue 12-shaftdouble-weave blanket I had on the loom in June? That is the final project in the book.
Double-weave wool fabric is ready for wet finishing, where it will be transformed into a soft, cozy blanket.
In the short video below, each completed project is presented in order in our Texas hill country home. Watch to the end to see the blue blanket in all its finished glory.
For nitty-gritty details, check out The Big Book of Weaving tab at the top of the page.
Getting lost and absorbed in the whole process of weaving.
V. Favorite project: Old-Fashioned Weaving / Monksbelt (at 4:46 in the video)
Are we determined students of heavenly things? Oh, to know God’s will! Study what’s written, don’t lose heart, eyes on the prize, no option besides completion through Jesus Christ. One life dedicated to know him. Day by day, warp by warp, the Grand Weaver teaches us. We can know God’s will.
Adding draw cords. I stand on the foot beam to reach up to the top of the draw frame to pull cords through the holes.Draw cords are added in order.
Adding all these draw cords and handles is a big job. It involves a cord threader and scissors and time—reaching, going back and forth, measuring, cutting, tying. Over and over. It’s not hard, but it seems endless. Yet for some strange reason this job is entirely enjoyable. I feel like an architect and builder, a dreamer and investor. It’s incredible to step back and see the structure that this effort has produced. And this is merely the set up. Can you imagine the weaving prospects?!
This is how we build good structures in our lives. Intentional, persistent, focused. Listen well. Over and over. The way we speak makes a difference in the way we listen. When we speak with grace, seasoned for the hearer, we ready ourselves to listen. Our cord threader is our unselfish attentiveness to pull someone else’s thoughts and questions toward our understanding. With this beautiful structure we are ready for anything. Accomplished through the grace of God, the sky’s the limit!
Drawloom with fifty draw handles, a sight to behold.
