Single shot stripes can be a very effective design tool. They add drama, and sometimes a pop of colour that will draw your eye, and make the design more exciting. They are also a great way to use up small amounts of leftover yarn that is hanging around on bobbins.
Some weavers hesitate to use single shot stripes because there is the question of how to start and end the weft in a visually pleasing way.
I am sharing with you one method that takes a small bit of time and effort, but the results are a very clean looking stripe that I like very much.
The first step is to throw the weft pick and beat it in, leaving a tail of extra length on either side of the warp.
Then pull the weft that you just beat in back, so it comes to the top of the warp an inch or two away from the selvedge.
Split the plies of the yarn in half (in the photos I am using 2/8 cotton, but this works just as well with yarn that have more plies). I do this by rolling the yarn tail between my fingers in the opposite direction of the plying twist until I see the plies start to separate. Once that happens, I hold the tail, and insert a blunt needle, or something similar, between the plies and pull that needle to the end of the tail, resulting in the plies being separated from each other.
Once the plies are separated, take a single ply, and put it in the shed that the weft stripe is in.
Wrap it around he outermost selvedge thread, and bring it back into the same shed, having it come back to the top of the warp in the same place that the unused ply is sticking out.
Snug it up to the selvedge, then beat it in place. Repeat this process on the other side of the warp.
Once it is wet finished, trim the tails of the plies, and you have a perfect single shot stripe, with no overlapping ends that look messy.
Single shot stripes can add a lot of fun to a project, so give this a try!
From the Color Recipes 1: Value and Stripes:
Weft stripes – A quick overview of weft stripes, why you might want to use them, and how they effect a design.
Warp and weft stripes – Some tips to use warp and weft stripes together in your designs, without them becoming chaotic (unless you want that!).
From the Weavers Toolbox:
Keeping track of weft stripes – Some tips to keep track of your stripes, so you can balance them or match them.
