Perfect

latest towels on the loom - notice the nice straight selvedge

after wet finishing, selvedges develop a 'scallop'

Sometimes things turn out the way you want and sometimes...you get a surprise.

So the latest warp is turning out quite nicely.  The colours in the photo aren't quite accurate - there is also a turquoise blue in there which isn't showing much in the photo.  The other side of the cloth shows less black and more of the turquoise blue so I haven't yet decided which side will be the 'right' side.

The weave is the same as the red/black that I'm currently hemming.  Due to the weave structure, during wet finishing as the threads move to areas of least resistance, the selvedge has shifted to create a soft waving line instead of the ruler straight line on the loom.

Am I bothered about this?  Nope.  Not at all.  It is, after all, consistent.

And I wonder, who sets the standard for 'perfection'?  When did a perfectly straight selvedge become the default?  And why do we work so hard to make the selvedge 'perfect' when during wet finishing the threads will do what they will, move, shift, create curves?

We need to understand the dynamic of all of our design choices when creating a cloth, not just the arbitrary 'perfect' that we think means perfection.

Over the years I have had the chance to examine a number of historic textiles.  Not all of them would stand up to our present day standard of 'perfection'.  Not that we shouldn't be aware of the 'ideal' and work towards that.  But sometimes that standard doesn't have much meaning when it comes to mundane uses.  (Mundane as in 'of this world' or 'routine' definition.)

I have seen cloth that was creative and expressive, but would not stand up to any kind of daily use.  I have seen cloth that pushed the parameters of what we normally think of as cloth.  Cloth that made an artistic or political statement.  Cloth that wrapped the human form in ways that comforted, physically or emotionally.  

Some cloth makes a political  or economic or religious statement (look up sumptuary laws).

In many of those fabrics, the selvedge was no longer even there, having been cut away.  In others, the waving selvedge became a design feature of its own (differential shrinkage effects).

So while I always strive to do the best work I can, I also recognize that sometimes my cloth will not fit into the definition of 'perfect' according to some. 

These tea towels are fairly sturdy, have a slight texture, and should provide service for quite a long time.  They have a decorative edge courtesy of the loom and the wet finishing goddesses.

And the colours of the current warp appeal to me and makes my heart a wee bit happy when I sit at the loom.  

What could be more perfect than that?

If you can't be perfect, be consistent...