as usual, click on the photo to biggify
Here is a peek at the warp with the natural linen weft. It clearly shows how I deal with hems...in this case it is a straight progression for 3 inches, then start with the body of the towel. At the other end, the progression begins from the other end in order to flow with the pattern. Where one towel ends and the other begins, I have woven in a contrasting colour to serve as a cut line.
Some people like to hem before they wet finish. I prefer to hem after the cloth has been wet finished and given a good hard press. That way the cloth is as flat (thin) as possible. Once hemmed, they get a finishing press to flatten the hem and take out any fold/crease marks from the hemming.
In terms of my approach to designing? If one colour is good, 5 or 6 has to be better! The warp is several shades of a pink through burgundy plus several shades of a warm reddish beige, almost peach, all mixed up together.
The dark pink weft emphasized the reds, the natural linen is a much lighter value and is making the cloth look a lot more pastel.
I quite like it. I hope the customers do, too.
Currently reading The Jannisary Tree by Jason Goodwin
5 comments:
How do you deal with fabrics that will shrink a lot on the first few washes? I currently weave my linen toweling by the 20 yd bolt, wash it several times to shrink and soften (and knock a lot of the lint off), then measure, cut, and hem. This limits me to simple stripes and small all-over patterns, but my towels end up the right size.
I used to do a long length until I got a new washing machine that turned them into 'rope'. :(. Now I cut and serge so that they go into the washing machine as individual pieces. If a cloth needs more than one cycle, then it gets several cycles, pretty much as you are doing. I use the hottest water available for cotton and linen.
Cheers
Laura
I don't get rope too often. I find that sewing the two ends together, so I have a loop, keeps the twisting down, and the twists I DO get undo themselves. Anything I weave in linen or cotton gets washed at least once, in warm/hot. Linen gets three full trips through washer and dryer, with hot water and high heat. I want to make sure it's done shrinking BEFORE someone buys a towel (selling someone something that's going to change drastically the first time they use/wash it feels like a cheat)
Also, frankly, no one would want to buy the linen as it comes off the loom - it feels so much like tent canvas when it's first woven that I panicked the first time I wove it. I cut off the first yard to wash and dry before I continued weaving. SUCH a relief when it came out of the dryer all soft and beautiful!
Magic in the water! ;)
Cheers
Laura
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