The Joy of Sacks (part 2)

 Weaving these samples is getting addictive. There are other projects which need to be tackled but these are so enjoyable to weave.  Fortunately I am running out of some colours so I feel that I have made some inroads on my stash.  One more white warp should be enough. 

The designs are from the Thrilling Twills by Ingrid Boesel.  I got the CD when I bought my beautiful Megado 32 shaft electronic dobby loom.  Some of the first items I wove were a set of samples on a cotton warp using some of the 32 shaft designs.  

More Rustic Linen Sacks.

I am using these files again for the linen sacks I am weaving.  The Thrilling Twill collection is now available as a free download for either Windows or Mac. http://www.fiberworks-pcw.com/twills.html 

This is a very generous offer. There are 4,000 designs to explore from 5 to 32 shafts. 

I like the circle pattern.  There are a number of different circle patterns in the collection.  I wove the material for several linen sacks using it. I decided to change the pattern slightly. 

Here is the first pattern I wove. It is a 16 shaft pattern.  I added two additional shafts for the plain weave selvedge. This is the pattern with warp circles.  FO62  On the PCW weave program it is easy to change the face of the weaving.  

Here is the same pattern after I changed the face so the circles are formed by the weft. You can see the floats between the circle rows. 

Here is the material. You can see the longer white floats between the circles. 

I revised one of the other patterns. Again, it is on 18 shafts with two shafts for the plain weave selvedge. 

This eliminates the longer floats between the rows of circles by adding an additional pick which goes over two and under two warp ends. 

Here is the finished cloth. 

Here are pieces that I have washed and ironed. 

I like the three colour design.

I have woven the material and made 12 small sacks for the workshop next year.  I will need to make a few more but here is the work so far. 

Here are the sacks tied with a sack knot.  I made the ties from bamboo tape using a lucet. #rusticlinensacks  

One design that I really like is the feather/leaf pattern.  I used this for my peacock scarf which I described in my blog for 1st January 2016.  Here is a shortcut to the post.  https://durhamweaver64.blogspot.com/2016/01/slow-cloth-and-slow-craft-and-peacock.html 

Here is a close up of the scarf.

Here is the drawdown for 16sFO55. I added two additional shafts for the plain weave selvedge. 

I am reorganising my weaving room at present and decorating it at the same time.  This entails moving the shelves, painting then moving the shelves back again.  I have managed two of the four walls so far but the next two have the most equipment along their length so it will be some time before it is finished.  It is not a large room and I have a lot of equipment and books.  I am trying to fit my weaving around the work.

Happy Weaving

 Susan J Foulkes July 2021.

The Joy of Sacks (with acknowledgement to Terry Pratchett)

I have been trying to use up some of my stash.  I bought a selection of tow linen 6 some years ago to weave sauna towels from a pattern by Malin Selander.  However even with a cottolin warp the towels are very rough.  I decided to weave small tow linen sacks to hold my lucet. My design had twill stripes in 16/2 linen used double on a twill background in red tow linen 6.  I started by weaving small samples to check on the sett. 

Sacks for Lucet 

Warp: 6 tow linen in red and 16/2 linen in blue and red used double.

Weft: 6 tow linen in red

Warp order:  8 red 16/2 linen doubled; 16 red  tow; 12 blue 16/2 linen doubled; 16 red tow

12 blue 1/2 doubled; 16 red tow; 8 red 16/2 linen doubled. 

                                  before washing           after washing

20 epi sample width              4  in                        3,68 in

                      length            14.25 in                   13.25 in

18 epi sample  width            4 7/8 in                      4 in

                       length          14.75 in                      14 in

16 epi sample  width            5 3/8 in                       5 in

                       length           14.25 in                     12.5 in 

Here are the three samples side by side.

Here the samples are on top of each other so that you can see the differences in width using the different setts.

Sett: 16 epi made a firm fabric, 18 epi  was better  with a good twill line,   20 was too loose.

Second design using a plain weave background

Three samples later I decided upon the sett but then thought that the twill stripes would look better when contrasted with a plain weave background. 

This time I used natural tow linen and 16/2 blue linen for the stripes. Here are the little sacks. 

I enjoy a challenge and decided to weave more strips of material to make larger sacks to hold equipment for a workshop I will be running next year. 

My loom needed a workout so I chose a pattern using 24 shafts with an additional 2 shafts for the plain weave border. 

Sett: 21 epi  to allow for twill pattern and  plain weave areas.

9 reed threading is 2 2 3

Warp and weft = 6 tow linen.

Warp: natural with two ends of 16/2 linen at selvedge

Weft: 6 tow linen in a variety of colours.

Number of Warp ends = 210 plus 4   ends of 16/2 linen.

The first warp was in natural tow linen. 

Here are three finished bags with hanging tags and ties.

I have definitely experienced the joy of weaving sacks.

I have put on a white warp and wove material for four sacks.  I cut them off and washed the material because I wanted to see how the pattern looked when the material was finished. 

I used four patterns in 16 shaft point twill with two additional shafts for the plain weave border. I reduced the sett to 20 epi which seems fine. the recommended sett for this type of linen is ds12 for lace, 16 for plain weave and 20 for twill.

Here are two patterns on the loom.

Here is a close up of the circles pattern.  As you can see I made a mistake early in the weaving. 

Here is another pattern before finishing.

The measurements were length: 59.5cm and width: 30 cm.

After washing the length was 56cm and the width 28cm. Here is the same diamond pattern after washing. 

The four different designs were interesting to weave. I am looking forward to finishing this warp and trying out new patterns and different coloured wefts. 

If you are not familiar with the works of Terry Pratchett you have a treat in store. Going Postal, chapter five Lost in the Post - in which Stanley experiences the joy of sacks. (page 134).

Happy weaving

Susan J Foulkes             May 2021

#rusticlinensacks