The colour is a little on the yellow side in this picture - not sure why. Anyway, I wasn't completely thrilled with Plan B - it was a tad busy. It was okay enough that I wove 6 towels, but after I simplified the tie up for Plan C, I was much happier with the more dramatic effect of the bolder lines.
So I carried on with the same tie up and treadling as Plan C but used the doubled 24's for weft. I'll go ahead and finish off the rest of the warp in this design.
And here is a close up of the selvedges. No, the weft thread is not catching the warps in anything close to a plain weave structure. I wouldn't actually want it to because plain weave takes up at a much different rate than twill. Many new weavers have found to their consternation that when they get an 8 shaft loom, weave a 4 shaft twill textile and thread a plain weave selvedge thinking that they have solved their selvedge issues, that they have no end of trouble with the difference in take up.
If someone wants to thread a special selvedge, it's best to choose a selvedge structure that will more closely approximate the take up of the main body of the textile.
For this towel warp, the main pattern was threaded on 12 shafts, and then 16 selvedge threads were threaded on the other four shafts. But they are being woven in the same twill tie up as the main body of the fabric. I also used the same four shafts to isolate the pattern in the centre of the cloth. If you look at the over view photo you can see where that happens quite clearly.
As mentioned previously, I want to be consistent. The selvedge should be straight, or if it isn't, it should curve consistently. (See the article in WeaveZine - Saucy Scallops - http://weavezine.com and check the archive)
It should have structural integrity. It is the boundary of the cloth you are weaving. If the cloth is going to be used intact i.e. with the selvedge as part of it, then the selvedge needs to keep the threads in their place.
But the selvedges are only one part of the textile. The entire cloth must have integrity. The entire cloth must perform its function, and hopefully do that with beauty and grace.
So I try not to get too focused on just one aspect of my fabric but see it as a whole.
5 comments:
Here's the direct link to your Saucy Scallops article.
I'm just now catching up on my blog reading after the holiday. Funny to read this, I've been working on a similar post about improvising on the loom.
It's one of the most important lessons I've learned in weaving: you don't have to stop designing just because the warp is on the loom.
A warp is just a set of potentials. :) Changes happen when the tie-up, treadling and weft change. It's one of the things that keeps me ever intrigued with weaving - when I start wondering what would happen if.....
cheers,
Laura
Plan B is the unofficial name of my curling team. We play on once-in-awhile groomed natural ice, so the original plan is always subject to amendment.
Whatever would we do without a Plan B in our lives?!
Hi Brenda, I expect we'd gnash our teeth a lot. What I've learned is that sometimes Plan B (or C or D) is even better than the original thought. :)
Cheers,
Laura
Post a Comment