Rug Weaving - Out Side my Box

Since I have been trying to weave with rug wool and rags I thought I might as well go way-way out side my box and comfort zone and do an edge treatment I have never done before. Here I am working on the edge treatment of the Midnight Bathroom Rug. I did a Damascus edge first and now I am doing a 3 strand braid with two ends in each strand.

After the fringe is taken care of, the rug will need to be washed and left to dry. That will tighten up that linen on the edge and keep it from falling apart.

Working On Rug Edge Treatment

First half going right to left. Warp is laid onto web.

Working on my kitchen table, I am going to work a "Damascus Edge" on my Leftover's Rug. Sometimes it's easier to see something done than read words to describe what you are doing. So if you have any kind of weaving book on rugs, I am sure there is a chapter on this edge treatment you can read. And then again, there is usually this info like this on the world wide web too!

Second half going right to left again, with the warp back toward me.

Once I finished the Damascus edge,  I think I will be weaving the warp ends into the rug. This will take a while as I work from right to left then right to left again to complete the treatment.

Ta Da! Crackle Almost Done!!

I have finished the weaving on this handpainted Crackle scarf and am ready to hemstitch.
I went through the treadling repeat three times and had about four inches left to go. Well, I just started treadling away. So this edge will have a nice surprise. Maybe I should call it my "Cracktwilla Scarf". Nah................ ;-)

Overshot Edges

Now most times when you are weaving overshot, you will need to have floating selvages. But with this eight shaft overshot draft you don't. Why? (you ask)... Because I am throwing a pattern+tabby with each pick. (The pattern from one motif + the tabby from the other motif.)

Take a close up look. You can also see how I change the color order to get the motif colors to flip-flop.

Floating Selvage on Weaver Rose

I wasn't able to get the temple to work on this Baby Wolf. The breast beam is not level and the string wouldn't stay where I put it!

My friend, Becky, suggested I try using a floating selvage. I put one on the side I have been having all the trouble with  and it seems to have stopped the breaking threads. Yahoooo!


see floater on right side at the reed



If you look where the clip is, you can see the yellow pin head..... that is where I am now. I have been weaving across the warp by reading the blocks. Some times called "tromp as writ" or "treadle as drawn in" or "on the diagonal". 

Overshot - Fringe Treatment

Hemstitching is but a distant memory. Now onto the next phase - fringe. Some may think this is double work, but I like the way it looks. I almost always hemstitch and twist fringe on the same project.

For the brown runner, I am just twisting the fringe in groups of six ends. This may be all I do for this runner.

Now this purple/red-purple runner is a different story. Because the white fringe seems to much of a distraction from the body of the runner, I am adding some of the purple and red-purple threads in the fringe area.

It's giving me the barber-shop look, but I think it will work. I measure the length I need of both colors, and use a needle to attach it to the hemstitching area. Each braid will have eight ends, four of the white and four of the color threads.

Next step will be to wash, dry, iron and put in the Gift Closet! Let me know if you are on my list. ;-)

Old Gives Way To The New

I have the new warp tied onto the old warp. Next step is to beam it. I give it a little shake when pulling it through the reed and heddles.

While I get that warp on the loom, I take time to twist fringe. It's almost like watching grass grow. Slow and steady gets the job done. A rolling stone gathers no moss. Why did the chicken cross the road? The mind wanders when twisting fringe.......

I am twisting from each edge toward the center so that I can hide the fact that my final fringe will be smaller than the rest. Each twist has six threads, except the center, which will have four. 

  

Twill Re-Visited

I have been finishing up some UFO's. Not the kind from outer space, but in my 'weaving closet'. Finishing work is one thing I really must work on. My daughter always says "it's in the details that makes things pop." So here is the blue twill runner:

 

And this is the edge treatment I came up with: