Weaving Hacks : 3 Handy items for the weaving studio.
Learn about three easy to find and affordable items to make your weaving and warping life easier.
Which version of A Handweaver’s Pattern Book should I buy: Green, orange, or brown?
A Handweaver’s Pattern Book by Marguerite Davison is VERY popular; many weavers consider it a must-have, especially for folks with four shaft looms. Known as the “Green Book” for its green, hardback cover, it’s one of the best references and draft collections available for four shafts, containing hundreds of drafts in all kinds of different structures, as well as some basic theory related to those structures.
Make it Work Moments
Sometimes, the best ideas come at the last minute. Deciding that Janet, Carly, and Dawn would join everyone in the “Weaving for the Winter Holidays” weave-along was one of those brilliant, last-minute inspirations. We would weave along with you!
Figuring out EPI from an irregular sleying pattern
When you’re sleying every dent in the reed with the same number of ends, it’s pretty easy to tell how many ends per inch you’ll get: you just multiply the number of ends per dent by the number of dents per inch and presto, there’s your answer. For example: 1 end per dent x 12 […]
How to fix a loop at the selvage
Have you ever been weaving along and realized that your weft thread caught on something a while back and you’ve got a big loop hanging out the side of your fabric? Or noticed that several inches back you didn’t set the weft quite right at the selvage and you’ve got a tiny loop sticking out? […]
What toppings do you like on your tie-up pizza?
A tie-up is like a pizza: the bigger it is, the more slices you can chop it into. A tie-up is also like a pizza in that you can put different toppings on each slice. (I know that sounds like a stretch, but bear with me.) In the What is Twill? course, we discussed that […]
1 + 1 = 1? How weaving defies mathematics
Here is a little bit of weaving trivia for you; when does one plus one equal one? This seems impossible, based on what we’re taught in grade school. However, one plus one DOES equal one when you are talking about warps and tying a new warp onto an old one. There are many reasons to […]
How to walk your treadles, and why you might want to
Have you ever heard someone say “I walked the treadles”, or “I use a walking treadle order”? This may sound strange or confusing, but it’s actually a very practical method for making treadling easier. A “walking treadle order” is a treadling pattern where the weaver uses their feet in an alternating fashion, as if they […]
How to choose the best reed (and sleying order) when the perfect reed is not available
Many weavers have a limited number of reeds available to them. If you have a 12 dent reed, and the project you are working on has a 24 epi Sett, you simply sley 2 ends in each dent. Easy peasy! What happens if you DON’T have the perfect reed available? Example 1: Anne Hiemstra ran […]
Fix a wrong sett – WITHOUT resleying
As you probably know, sett is critical to getting your project right: if it’s too open, the weft beats in too much and covers the warp. If it’s too close, the fabric can wind up stiff and unsuitable for its purpose. When working with a new yarn or a new structure, we usually make a […]
