Narrow band weaving for a heddle and shuttle pouch

Heddle and Shuttle Pouch.

I made some small pouches to hold a rigid heddle and shuttle. To fasten the bags, I used a narrow woven band. This is looped around the pouch and tucked under. The idea is not mine.  My friend Tamaki made me a beautiful pouch for a heddle and used this simple system for fastening.

The Pouch

Here is the finished pouch. 

The material is handwoven cotton.  I made some cushion covers and overestimated how much material I would need.  The extra material was in my sewing box and I thought that it would be ideal for a pouch.  I lined the pouch with a pink cotton material which I had bought in a sale.

Weaving the narrow band for the ties. 

I wove the band on my Swedish band loom.

My Swedish band loom

 The first length was 4.4 m which was enough for 6 ties. The band is woven using 162 Swedish cotton.

4.4 m of narrow band

There are 33 warp ends using five colours.  The weft is burgundy and the same shade as the selvedge.


Here is the drawdown and warp chart.

Drawdown for the band

Warp chart for the woven band for fastening the bag.

There are 33 warp ends in total.  I used 16/2 cotton in five colours. These colours match the handwoven material for the bag.

The finished pouch.

Heddle and shuttle

A new use for woven bands.

It was my birthday recently and a friend gave me a present which came in a lovely paper carrier bag.

A lovely carrier bag.

It was too good to throw away. The present was lovely as well!

close up of the band

The band is a simple vertical stripe in two colours, white and pink in cotton. Each stripe has 12 warp ends.

close up of the fastenings

The ends of the bands has been finished with plastic tubes.  A very neat way of ending the band.  The plastic tubes  are called aglets and are used for shoe laces.

STOP PRESS!

The Braid Society has my 24 page colour booklet for sale. It is an A4 size.   

Weaving Hearts and Flowers using the double slotted heddle to weave patterned bands with 11 and 13 pattern threads.

This book contains designs for 11 and 13 thread heart patterns, heart meanders, joining motifs and also 11 and 13 thread flower patterns.  To order check the Braid Society web page.

https://thebraidsociety.wildapricot.org/

The Braid Society sells a number of publications on aspects of band-weaving and braid making.  The books all authored by members of the Braid Society are listed below.  They are available for purchase by members and non-members alike and can be dispatched anywhere in the world.  Prices are in British Pounds Sterling (GBP).

The Braid Society does not yet have a full online shop so please email booksales@braidsociety.com  stating:

• Which book(s) you require
• Where in the world the package should be sent
• Whether you will pay by Paypal (preferred) or alternatively by cheque or direct bank transfer.

The Braid Society will respond by email as soon as possible stating the total cost (to cover the book(s), postage and charges) and payment details (usually a PayPal invoice).  Books are normally sent by UK 2nd class Standard post unless otherwise requested.   Books sent abroad will be sent by the lowest International Rate.   The postage is given before payment is requested.

On receipt of payment your book(s) will be dispatched.


Happy Weaving

Susan J Foulkes  July 2019

Designing simple warp faced bands.

I love designing striped bands to use as hanging tags for towels.  Here are two designs for my latest tea towels. For these simple designs, the colour order of the warp ends determines the pattern. There are a number of pattern effects that can be used for warp faced bands like these.

To design a new stripe, I use the PCW weave program from Fiberworks. This enables me to see how the different colours of the warp threads will look when woven as a warp faced band. I keep records of all the bands that I design.  My book The Art of Simple Band Weaving, has over 150 patterns for narrow warp faced bands.  In the first part of the book, 15 simple pattern effects are illustrated and examples show how these patterns can be adapted.  These two red and white bands are based on the bead motif.

Woven with a red weft

The bands are woven in cottolin, the same thread used for the towels.  There are 33 warp ends for each band. They are warp faced so the weft has to be pulled tight to bring the warp ends together.

Woven with a white weft

There are two designs as the towels are woven with different wefts and may be either predominantly red or white. The single red and white warp spots are made with two warp ends together so that they stand out clearly. This is indicated on the top of the diagram by a thicker rectangle. I like this effect.

I wove the bands on my Swedish band loom. The warp was 63 inches in length which made a band of 43 inches.  There is always some loom waste at the beginning and end of the band.  There would be less loom waste if woven on an inkle loom.

 Here are the finished bands.

Band width: approx 0.5 inches (15 mm)

The red and white tea towels.

The two tea towels are woven in plain weave in cottolin, sett at 20 epi.  Two colours alternate for the warp.
Weave structure: Plain weave
Warp ends: 482
Reed: 10  with  2 ends per dent
Sett: 20 epi

all white weft

2 red then 2 white weft

Dimensions before washing.

Length after hemming:  27 inches (69 cm)                 width: 22.75 inches (58 cm)

Dimensions after washing.

Length after hemming:  25.5 inches (65 cm)              width: 21.25 inches (54 cm)


And here are the tea towels.

Red and white tea towels with contrasting tags.


Happy weaving!

Durham Weaver
June 2014

A Pattern for Tea Towels

Here is a pattern for blue and white checked tea towels woven in cottolin or nialin. This pattern for tea towels is very popular with my friends.  The yarn is a blend of cotton and linen.  It makes a hard wearing and absorbent tea towel. You can use 8/2 cotton instead.

Weave structure: plain weave
Warp sett: 20 ends per inch
Weft sett: 20 ends per inch.
Number of warp ends: 494 (12 blocks of 40 ends plus 14 ends white on one side and an extra 4 ends on the other).

Make the warp.

Alternate 10 ends of white, then 10 mid blue then 10 dark blue then 10 mid blue.  This is one pattern block of 40 warp ends. Warp 12 blocks for the towel. Finish with another block of white ends to balance the pattern.  I always increase the number of white ends at each side to 14 ends instead of 10. The selvedges of the towel always pull in slightly so this makes the stripe a similar width as the rest of the pattern after washing the towel.

The weave draft

To weave.

Weaving the towels on my loom.

1. Weave 12 picks with 16/2 cotton in white.  This is for the turn under part of the hem.  Weaving in a thinner cotton makes the hem less bulky.
2. Using three shuttles and weave as drawn in.  This means weave ten picks white, ten picks mid blue, ten picks dark blue and then ten picks mid blue.  This is one pattern block.  Weave 15 pattern blocks and finish with an extra 10 white picks. The weft is the same as the warp yarn.
3. Weave 12 picks with 16/2 cotton for the turn under part of the hem.
4. The woven towel will be about 32 inches in length.

Finishing the towel.  

Turn under the 16/2 cotton stripe and then turn the first white stripe.  This makes the hem.  I use a zig-zag stitch to sew the hem securely.

Make the hanging tags.

I have woven another four tea towels in this design and needed to weave a narrow warp faced band for the hanging tags.  I use my Swedish band loom which can take very long warps.

narrow warp faced band for hanging tags.

I found that I had woven a band of 133 inches.  Only about 3.5 inches is need for a hanging tag, so now I have plenty in stock when I weave some more towels using this pattern.

Cut lengths for the tags.

Sewing the tags.

I always hem my towels then add the woven hanging tag.

Cut about 3.5 inches of the narrow band and iron flat.  Turn over each end and place on the centre of the towel hem. Iron again so that the tag lays flat. The tag should rest on the hem of the towel.

To ensure that the towel tag does not slip when sewing it, you can tack it into place.  If you feel confident about sewing. just pin it and sew.

Sewing the tag onto the towel.

I usually sew the band onto the towel using my sewing machine but you can hand sew on to the hem.

After sewing the tag, the towels are then washed and ironed.

Dimensions before washing.

length after hemming:  30 inches (76.5 cm)                 width:  23.5 inches (59.5 cm)

Dimensions after washing.

length:   29.25 inches (74 cm)                                      width:  22.75 inches (56.5 cm)

Happy weaving.


Durham Weaver June 2014