March 20th, 2012

Tuesday’s Weaving Tip – Sampling

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This week’s weaving tip comes from Barbara Elkins via Daryl Lancaster who will be teaching at WEBS in April, Garment Construction & Finshing Techniques and Exercises & Inspiration for the Color Challenged.


Daryl Lancaster in her studio

Many weavers don’t want to put a separate warp on the loom to check sett and finishing and lots of times we trip up. Here’s a way around it.

On a wide warp, wind a half-yard more than you expect to need and weave 12”. Cut the piece off, stay stitch around the edges and divide the fabric in thirds. For a scarf warp, add a yard and a quarter to the length of the warp and weave off a yard and divide it into three pieces.

Don’t do anything with one piece. Hand wash and air dry one piece. Put the third piece in a mesh laundry bag and throw it in the washer and dryer with the rest of your laundry. Compare the pieces and you’ll be able to tweak the sett and/or finishing of the final fabric.

Do you ever take the time to weave a sample before starting your project?

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Dena

Ecommerce Marketing Manager at WEBS - America’s Yarn Store
Dena started working at WEBS in 2006, shortly after she learned to knit. She also dabbles in crochet and weaving. She finds knitting complements her marathon and triathlon training really well.
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2012 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Tips & Techniques. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1244880760 Cassandra Nancy Lea

    I have learned the hard way to sample, sample, sample!!!!  I am blessed with a couple of table looms I can use for this, one of them a unique “Structo” with 16 shafts.  Sampling seems like a lot of trouble, but it can save you more trouble down the line.  The only stuff I put on a loom without it are the “tried and true” stuff I weave repeatedly, so, I guess the “sampling” is ‘way back there somewhere.  ANY time it’s something new, SAMPLE!!!!!

  • Gnlmutti

    I confess I rarely sample if you mean setting up a sample warp before doing a project.  But I always add extra yardage to play with and sometimes I might cut it off before proceeding with the project so I guess I sometimes do sample!  I always called it having fun with the warp.