Subtle

 

I see so many suggestions about how to create 'perfect' selvedges.  Many of them rely on this 'trick' or that 'secret tip'.

I've been weaving for 50 years, now, and I can assure you I agonized over my selvedges.  I, too, looked for the 'magic' solution, fussed over creating 'perfect' selvedges.

But here's the thing - like everything else about weaving, selvedges are complex.  Not complicated - complex.

There are two 'sets' of threads (usually) - the warp and the weft.  And the way they weave together can change.  It can vary, even within the textile.  There are unseen forces at work that can be quiet during weaving, and suddenly - and rather dramatically - change during wet finishing.

I see people insisting that a selvedge *must* have a plain weave structure.  (No, it doesn't.)

I see people frustrated because they have loops at the selvedge, which they then pluck at and tug, which doesn't actually solve most of the problem.  It, in fact, can cause more.  It depends.  Literally.

In the above photo, you can see the selvedge.  The weave structure is in the twill family.  What may be more difficult to see is that the weave structure builds a 'wave' into the edge of the cloth so it's not exactly 'ruler' straight.  

The twill line changes direction:  /\/\/\/\

As it changes direction, the weave pulls the selvedge 'into' the cloth, or pushes it outwards.

There are 'floats' at the selvedge, but after wet finishing, they resolve and - using a fine enough thread - the length of the floats do not materially affect the cloth.

This structure also causes the selvedge to roll.  In areas where the tie up is 1:3 the cloth will roll upwards, while the areas that are 3;1 will roll downwards.

These are subtle effects that most people don't even notice when they are weaving, or if they do, they want to 'fix' them.

If you are a new weaver, I urge you to watch how experienced and proficient weavers hold and throw their shuttle.  Consider the way I do - and if you don't do it the way I do, you might want to consider changing how you hold and throw the shuttle.

You might want to pay attention to your posture and position at the loom - making sure that your loom bench is tall enough, that you are sitting (perching) on the edge of the loom bench.  I strongly suggest you do NOT sit on an ordinary chair.  Sit upright - back straight, shoulders in 'neutral', not hunched or shrugged.

Hold the shuttle in the cradle of your fingers, pushing shuttle using your index finger and catching it in the cradle of your fingers, give the weft a very slight 'tug', and make sure that the leading edge of the weft is not trapped into the shed without sufficient slack in the weft to begin the curving path through the cloth.

Still having problems?  Check your warp.  Have you beamed using tension?  Have you used a firm warp packing?  Have you tied on using about 1" worth of warp (give or take), not tied tiny bouts, or massive ones?

There are so many more things I could say about selvedges, but honestly?  I've said them over and over again.  But every day I see new weavers asking questions.  I hesitate to answer in groups because everyone gets to practice their weaving the way they want.  But if you are interested, or are trying to help someone else, I have (free) video clips on You Tube

If you are interested in this sort of information in print I tried really hard to think of all of the 'it depends' aspects of weaving in The Intentional Weaver

My online classes continue at School of Sweet Georgia  And at Handwoven/Long Thread Media

And of course I've got all sorts of articles for various magazines, including for the latest magazine, WEFT.

And of course, this blog, where I try to label each one as to content.  All you need to do is scroll down and click on the label to find the posts I've tagged on a topic.

Welcome to the wonderful world of weaving.  :)