Mitering Corners on Handwoven Lace

A weaver recently asked me how I miter corners.  Photos are so much better than words, or really help the words, and anyone that has read my blog knows that is what I do best.  It is a long post, but here is the end result, all ready for tea.

When I first started to weave, I took a nine month long class called Weaver's Boot Camp.  This particular class assignment was to design a two-block lace pattern and weave 4 place-mats. Woven lace is a loom generated fabric that has holes in it. I chose Swedish Lace with lattice hem-stitching and made table napkins, instead of place-mats because my yarn was pretty fine. I have included my finishing technique for mitering corners with these step-by-step instructions and photos.  Feel free to borrow, but please include a link back to this post.  Thank you.

Wet finish the piece and steam press before starting so the weaving yarn is set.  Turn edge in 1/4" and press.

A chalk line is marked diagonally on the corner from hem crease line to crease line.  

If you are trying this without the hem-stitching, you will need to determine how deep your hem will be.  From the finished photo above, you can see that mine is a fairly deep hem, folding up to the first edge of the first hem-stitching row.  You may want to chalk mark that also.

Fold corner, hems and right sides together. Stitch on chalk line, from hem fold (not the edge) to diagonal fold. Use a fairly small stitch. Back stitch both ends.

Note that the stitching only goes to the hem fold, not the edge.  Trim the seam to 1/4". The hem is not turned down while trimming.

At this point, if your fabric ravels easily, you could carefully treat the cut edge with Dritz Fray Check.  It is a permanent treatment, and is a bit stiff, so make sure it doesn't  soak through to any area that will be on the outside.

Turn the pressed 1/4" edge hem on both sides.

Dampen corner and finger press diagonal seam open.  Raveling can be a problem, so use care.

Carefully turn the corner, gently working the point out with a blunt object.  I used a medium sized crochet hook.  

Fold hem and pin in place. Repeat for the other 3 corners.

Hand or machine stitch hem. I like to finish mine on the sewing machine. I set the zigzag so it will catch one thread of the hem...

and then one stitch into the hemstitching space.  Adjust the stitch length to try and avoid hitting the hem-stitching threads.  If your thread matches the fabric, you will be unable to tell that it is machine stitched unless you examine it very closely.

If you are doing mitered hems without the hemstitching, the machine stitching can be a straight stitch.

Done and ready for pressing!

Productive Evening

After coming home from work today, I headed out to the studio and got quite a bit accomplished.  The rug I started on Fanny is now finished and ready for the next one.  And I cleaned up all my trimmed bits and pieces and fabric strips that were littering the floor.

I sat down in my rocker to give my back a rest and worked on a few draw-downs for my next rug on my Weaver's Delight.  I decided to try one of the other cam  set-ups, but wasn't sure which one I wanted to use, so I drew out the Kersey twill, the Birdseye and the Union weave structures.  With the stripes, I thought I would like the Kersey twill the best.

After settling that, I had a big chore to tackle.  While weaving my last rug on the WD, I had one cam that was hanging up and wouldn't rotate, so every fourth pick, I was having to poke at the cam to make it move.  I thought if I took the cams off and back on in a different order that it might help.  After putting on 8, 7, 9, and 10 and readjusting the key that holds them in place, I was still having the same problem.  Then I fiddled around with the cast iron part "A", scooting it a bit closer to "B".  I found a pretty loose bolt at the bottom of "B" and tightened that.  Hurrah!!  It finally worked as it should!

Once I knew that it was going to work correctly, I straightened out my warp threads and tied them back on the front rod.  I had a canister half full of heavy yarn that I used to spread the warp and get the temple adjusted.  The fly shuttle is working fine, so now it is all ready to go.  I just have to get some fabric strips cut.

This is a close-up of the Kersey twill weave structure.  The loom is threaded 1-2-3-4, with alternating navy and tan, and the rust threads are doubled to make them stand out a bit better.  They are threaded 12 ends per inch.  The color order reverses in each navy/tan stripe.

I may have to have a couple grandsons over soon to help me make a rug!

Autumn Leaves Towels Are Completed

Last October, I made a long warp for towels.  My inspiration was the beautiful fall colors on the trees in Michigan and was why I named the towels Autumn Leaves.  I was able to finish four of the towels before Christmas and they became Christmas gifts for my daughters.

I put the warp on my Leclerc Jano table loom, and after the first towel, I removed the two outermost stripes.  It was just too wide for the loom.  The next three towels wove a little better.

After cutting the first four towels off the loom, I retied the warp and started what I hoped would be five or six more towels.  As the warp decreased on the loom, it became easier to weave.  I cut a few more towels off and continued to weave the rest of the warp.  Each batch got easier.  I'm not sure if it was because of less warp on the loom, or I just got into a routine with the weaving.

I finished the last towels a few days ago.  The were wet finished, dried, pressed and hemmed, and then they were posed for a photo.  All of the towels were woven as checks with a single color except for the last one.  I had a little fun playing around with the block sizes, and I used all eight colors instead of just one.  I think I like that one the best!  It was a good way to empty all the bobbins of the yarn left on them.

Now, I am back out in the studio weaving a rug, and thinking about more rugs to follow.

I started with the intention of doing a rug with dark cloth strips in a twill pattern, but couldn't find the fabrics I wanted to use, so I went back to doubled threads in an almost tabby.  I am using up more polyester doubleknit strips I had sitting around in a box from an old braided rug attempt from many years ago.  Yea stash reduction!  This one is going quickly, but is not on my Weaver's Delight, so it is a little harder on my arms and shoulders.  I should have it done in a few days.

Hopefully, by the time this rug is complete, I will come up with fabrics to try my other design plan.  The way this is threaded, I can weave x's and diamonds, and they show up especially well in the white stripes.  I think it will make a distinctive rug.

T12, the Leftover Bear

 While putting things away in my studio, I came across the left-over fabrics from last year's bears that I made.  A couple others in the family wanted one, so I got out the pattern pieces to see what I could come up with.  I actually got enough pieces drawn onto the fabric to make three more bears.

I decided not to push myself this year because of the arthritis in my hands, but was able to get one done for a Christmas gift. 

This is T12 with his joints installed and ready for stuffing. 

Fortunately, I had the parts sewn and the seams pressed when our power went out three days before Christmas.  The bear ended up being one of the projects I worked on for the three days without electricity.

He was stuffed and I got his arms and legs stitched closed, but by the time I got his head on, the sun was starting to fade.

 Once he got his mouth, he told me he wanted to be an artist.  He does look a bit artsy with the patchwork of many colors. 

Here he is by candlelight, holding his ears.  While counting up the fabrics for this patchwork bear, I realized that I didn't have all eleven of the other bears represented.  I switched out one of the sewn ears for the other two fabrics that I needed.

I had Bob hold a flashlight so I could sew that ear on the sewing machine by turning the handwheel.  It's a good thing it was just a small part, or my hand would have been super sore!

We were quite the pioneers.  I finished the stitching of his mouth, claws and ears by candlelight. He now represents all eleven of the other Griswold bears

Here he is at breakfast the next morning with ears attached.  We shared a bowl of Mama Bears Porridge.

Later in the day, I took him to Petoskey so he could meet some of the other Griswold bears.  Cheeka, Ben, Othar, and T12 had fun playing a video game.

T12 wanted to make a watercolor painting to take to his adopted dad, so Emily got out the supplies and helped him get started.  He decided to do a picture of Peter Rabbit.

Since Emily and T12 are both artists, they got along very well together.  They did a little experimenting, since neither of them had done watercolors before.

 While they were working, Becky (Emily's mom) made a beret for T12.  He certainly looks like an artist now!  The watercolor was finished and set aside to dry and the table cleared for a party.

Davey, Emily, and Bobby joined in along with Othar, Ben, and Cheeka.  Becky fed them homemade honey wheat bread with homemade butter, and of course there was lots of honey on the slices too.










After the party, T12 had to be packed so he could go to his new home in Spokane, Washington.

He had a long arduous journey that was very nerve wracking on my end, since FedEx decided not to track shipments that week.  He finally arrived by January 2nd, and was very happy to get unpacked!

His adopted dad Nick was very happy with him.  They are going to get along famously.  T12 has a new name, but it is quite similar to his old name.  Nick is calling him Tiz, because that is what the tag that came with him looked like. 

Tiz is looking forward to art lessons from Nick, who is an artist.  It will be fun to see what kind of art work they come up with.

Sett Solutions and Binding a Denim Rag Rug

After correcting the two threading errors on my second warp on the Weaver's Delight, I planned on weaving a denim rug next.

The loom was warped at 12 epi and set up to weave plain weave.  That was no problem at all with the rug at the left.  The fabric used for the weft was a polyester double-knit, so I didn't have any problems with the weft packing in tightly.

It took several attempts with the denim to get an acceptable rug.  Twelve ends per inch would not work with denim, or at least not with the plain weave I was attempting.  I had done a sample before on the tail end of a previous warp with strips cut 3/4" wide. It worked out great, so I wasn't anticipating problems. 

I could not get the denim to pack in tightly.  Then I remembered that my sample was set at 12 ends per inch, but it was a twill variation (Chicken Tracks), which essentially changes the ends per inch on each pick to six instead of twelve.  That allowed a nice tight weave.

Rather than re-thread, I changed the cams on the loom to the twill set-up.  It is just a simple 2-2 twill, and it made all the difference to how the denim packs down.  The 3/4" wide strips were just right.  An alternative could have been woven with plain weave with doubled ends set at six ends per inch.  I wouldn't attempt a rug with regular rug warp at only 6 epi.  It needs to be doubled to be strong enough for a sturdy rug.

Because I started over so many times before getting something that I liked, I neglected to start over again to give a proper header for a hem at the beginning.  To solve that problem, I looked in my Rag Rug Handbook for instructions for binding a rug.

I tied off my warp before removing it from the loom.  This photo is the start of the rug.  If I had been thinking ahead, I would have just glued the header and let it dry, thus avoiding the need for all the knots.  That is what I did at the end of the rug.

On the cutting table, I trimmed the warp close to the knots.

I used denim for the binding at both ends of the rug.  I wanted the binding to be about 1" wide when finished, so I cut two strips about 3 3/4" wide and a little longer than the width of the rug.

With the right side of the binding against the rug and even with the edge, I stitch through the two layers at the first denim pick.

This is not a project for an ordinary home sewing machine.  I am using my industrial upholstery machine.

Fold the hem ends as shown in the photo and stitch the ends even with the edge of the rug.

I didn't like how the hard warp knots felt under my feet, so I put some glue on the header, let it dry, and then cut through the knots to remove them. 

The hem ends were trimmed to reduce the bulk and then turned right side out.

The hem is turned up to the first line of stitching and then top-stitched.  I am sewing through four layers of denim on the main part of the binding plus the rug, and on the ends, eight layers of denim.

I don't think this would be my first choice for a hem, but I was glad I had the option.

I wish I had taken a better photo of the finished rug, but it's gone now, with no chance for a do-over. I gave it to our daughter Carolyn and her husband Eric for a Christmas gift.  The finished size is approximately 30" x 50".

A Happy Customer

A friend and co-worker requested that I make a rayon chenille scarf in specific colors.  I don't usually do custom work, but I thought I would take some yarn I already had in my stash and try over-dyeing it.  The yarn I used is 1300 ypp light blue rayon chenille.

I wanted random color, so I didn't wind the warp before dyeing.  I made it into a 6 oz. skein, tied it off in four spots, and then washed it.

After washing, I soaked it in water and soda ash for about half an hour, while I mixed my dye.  I used Dylon fabric dye for all the colors- a couple purples, pink, turquoise, a couple greens and a blue.

I used a mix of the blue and purples to dye another skein (about 3 oz.) for the weft.  The color ended up sort of variegated, but in a subtle way.

The soaked and squeezed out skeins were arranged in a circle in a couple plastic dish pans. Dye was drawn up into a hypodermic syringe, and squirted into the yarn in short sections.  I wrapped the skeins in plastic, and put it in the oven with the light on (heat off) overnight.  By the time I got home from work the next night, the yarn was ready to rinse in cold water.  After rinsing most of the stray dye out, I washed the yarn with Dawn dish soap to remove more stray dye.

The skeins were put in the washing machine to spin out as much moisture as possible, and were then air dried over a heat register before measuring into warp and wound onto bobbins.

If I was going to dye more skeins, I would dye about 7-8 oz., so the scarf could be longer, and would make the weft skein about 4 oz.

Heather was very happy modeling her new scarf!

I removed two rugs off the looms today.  One was on Fanny, and the other on the Weaver's Delight.  Both were woven with the same fabrics.  I started cleaning out the old fabric stash, and found some polyester double-knit, that I already had cut into strips.  The rug on the left was woven first, on Fanny.  I had leftover strips after completing the first one, so evaluated how many strips I had left, and started designing the next rug.

The rug at right was woven on the Weaver's Delight.  I decided not to unweave and fix the two sleying errors.  I like how different the rugs can be with different colored warp and weave structure.  The above rug was threaded in a twill, and the one on the right was plain weave, threaded in a log cabin rug pattern.  I doubled the warp threads in the rust colored stripes, but the rest are threaded 12 epi.

I prepare for hemming my rugs in a couple different ways.  When I finished weaving the rug on Fanny, I spread some Tacky Glue on the last 2-3 rows of weft, and let it dry.  If you click on the photo, you can probably see it.  After the glue is dry, I can cut the rug off without worrying about it unraveling.  If I am going to immediately start weaving the next rug, I wouldn't use the glue, and would just weave a few extra rows of hem, to allow for unraveling.

I did that with the other rug, and then ran it through the serger to secure the last 2-3 weft rows.

I don't worry about the little bit of glue that gets folded into the hem.  It is water soluble, so will eventually wash out.

I fold the second part of the hem so it partially covers the first fabric pick.

I don't use sewing pins.  I have been poked too many times, so I switched to clothes pins.  Avoid buying them from the dollar store, because the spring isn't strong enough.  I found mine in my local grocery store.

Five clothes pins on each hem is plenty.  I start my hem by closing up the end, turn and stitch the hem, then close the other end.  It helps to stretch the hem while stitching.  I don't use a home machine for the hems, because I own an industrial upholstery machine.  If you have to use a home sewing machine, follow my tips to avoid breaking needles while sewing heavy fabric.  It was published on my blog on 10-20-11.

I took a little time last night and this morning to fix the sleying errors, using one of my current favorite tools.  It is a slick little sleying hook that I picked up this past spring while on my trip to go get my Weaver's Delight loom.  The blade is super thin, but strong.  I have caught myself with the hook a few times, when I wasn't being careful, and it can draw blood!

The reed hook is available from The Woolgatherers, in Wisconsin.  I'm glad that Sara, the owner, suggested it. 

Various Projects in Progress and Finished

UFOs.  Those unfinished objects that get set aside and never get finished.  I think it is a rare crafts person that never has any.  I came across one the other day, and decided it was too nice to not be finished.  This was a project that I think I saw in the Weaver's Craft magazine.  The yarns are fairly heavy, but a good weight for a bag.  The warp is a turquoise 3/2 pearl cotton, and the tabby weft is a heavier yarn, similar in weight to Sugar and Cream in a bluish green color. 
The weave structure is called Monk's Belt.  The weft used to weave the pattern is actually a thin, loosely woven plaid fabric, cut into bias strips about 3/8" wide.

I had the outer part of the bag done, and this photo shows how I formed the bottom of the bag.  The seams are on the sides.  With the bag inside out, I stitched across a triangle at each side.  When the bag is turned right side out, the triangle seams are at each end on the bottom. 

After a couple years on the shelf, I got it out and decided what still needed to be done to make it usable.

First of all, I needed handles, so I dug around in my yarns to find what I used for the tabby.  I threaded up a narrow warp on my floor loom and wove a strip long enough for two handles.  Then, I had to search my fabric stash to find the fabric I used, so I could cut the lining.  After sewing the lining on the regular sewing machine, I did all the finishing on my heavy industrial machine.  It was too thick to get under the presser foot on the regular machine.  I sure am glad I have that heavy old machine.
Click on the photos for more detail.

This rayon chenille scarf was completed in a few days, between other things I was working on.  The warp is a variegated reddish orange, and the weft is a dark red.  The weight is 1300-1400 yards per pound.  I used a 10 dent reed, and originally sleyed it at 20 epi, but that was too dense.  I resleyed at 17 epi (1-2-2) and that was just right. 

 The scarf is plain weave, but I did a short sample using 2-2 twill that also looks nice.

I am still working on my Autumn Leaves warp, and have four towels completed, and the fifth one is almost done.  I think I would like weaving it a bit better if it was on one of the larger looms.  I warped it the full width of my table loom, and ended up taking out one stripe on each edge. 

I am using eight colors in the warp, so I wound a warp long enough to make eight towels.  It was a bit too long for the loom, and I had trouble weaving the first couple.

The current towel is woven with light orange.

This rug is the first one on my second warp on the Weaver's Delight.  I set it up to weave log cabin using the plain weave cams.  My first attempt was weaving denim, but I couldn't get them tight enough with the plain weave, so I unwove it and tried the remainder of the polyester double-knit that I had cut.

That took some trial and error also, but I finally got something that I liked.  After I wove about a foot, I realized the error I saw earlier, but couldn't figure out what I did wrong, was very noticeable on the dark section.  I finally had to work the mechanism till all the warp threads were at one level, and then could see that I had sleyed two threads in a couple dents.  It's a good thing this rug is for me, or I would have unwoven everything again.  I can live with it.  Once this rug is done, I will cut it off and resley the reed to correct the errors.

I weighted my last four threads on each selvedge with 2 pound weights, because I think it helps me get an even edge, and the last rugs were nice and flat on the floor.  I do fiddle with the edges, because I don't like big fabric loops at each edge.  I get them snugged in tight to the selvedge by pulling on them. 

I have one more section of the dark to sew together and weave, and the last light section and the hem and this rug will be done.  Maybe I will complete it after work tomorrow.  Now it's time for bed.