Draw In

 

top layer hem is 20/2 cotton, bottom layer is 2/8 cotton

Using up as much of my stash as I can, sometimes I run into issues that I need to make adjustments for.

In the case of the 'mystery' yarn I'm weaving on this 2/8 cotton warp, I needed to weave a sample to test for how the hems would react.

The mystery yarn is a tad thicker than 2/8 cotton so I decided the best approach would be to weave in plain weave hems.  The fabric would be thinner and once hemmed, the hems would not be super thick.  But I needed to test a couple different yarns to see how they would play with the mystery yarn.

Since I was weaving samples for an article I'm researching on the front end of this warp, it was easy to weave a test piece to check which yarn was going to work 'best' as hem weft.

I wove one hem with 2/8 cotton (one of the colours from the warp) - about 3 inches, which is what I tend to allow for hems - wove about 12 or so inches of the towel body, then wove the second hem with some 20/2 white cotton I got from the same person who had the mystery yarn.

In the loom the 2/8 didn't look like it would be too 'off', while the 20/2 looked like it was going to draw in more - although that wasn't a deal breaker.

It was after wet finishing that the true picture emerged.  The 2/8 cotton did not draw in nearly as much as the towel body.  The 20/2 drew in the exact amount needed to keep the hem the same width as the towel.

Once I had the sample wet finished, including a hard press and complete drying, I was able to work backwards to determine how long to weave in the loom to get the size of towel I wanted.  Then I edited the treadling to reflect this information and began weaving.

I found it interesting to note that both the 2/8 and the 20/2 yarns tracked in the plain weave, but I don't consider tracking any kind of 'flaw'.  Besides, once the hem has been folded up and sewn down, I doubt anyone will notice.

I have two gigantic cones of the mystery yarn, and two kilo cones (I think - maybe just two pounds) of the 20/2 white.  Since both need to be weft (imho) it looks like there will be more of these at some point.

Today I need to inventory my tea towels, clean up my my ko-fi shop and get ready for the sale next month.  Stay tuned!