Weaving a set of placemats

I am weaving a set of four placemats and a centre mat. The warp is 6/2 cotton in blue and white.  The weft is 3/2 cotton in white. 

Sett: 27 ends per inch.  3 warp ends per dent in a 9 dent reed.

I calculated the shrinkage of the small sample piece I had woven all those years ago.  It is 9% so I increased the measurements accordingly allowing for hems for each mat. 

Number of warp ends: 398 This gives an extra two warp ends at one side to balance the design. The warp is approximately 14.7 inches at the reed which I hope will give the width I need once the material is off the loom and washed. Each pattern group of vertical twill is 11 warp ends. It is a 5/1 twill. 

Here is the cloth on the loom.  I am using a rug shuttle because the weft is relatively thick. I have not used this type of shuttle for some time and it took a while to get used to it. For the hem at each end I used a finer weft, 6/2 cotton and wove ten picks in plain weave. This ensures that the hem will be less bulky than using the thicker weft. 

Close up of weaving on loom

Comparison with sample.

I wove a length of 48 cm on the loom which shrank to 44 cm when removed from the loom. I hemmed the piece and washed it to check the shrinkage. 

I was not satisfied with this sample as the white warp shows through the colour stripes.  The width of the material needs to shrink more so that the blue warp stripes are more pronounced. The weft travels over 9 warp ends on every other pick. This will make the width of the cloth shrink.

Reverse of weave draft showing weft floats

The reverse of the material shows how firmly I was beating the weft. 

Top mat weft beaten lightly. Bottom mat weft beaten firmly.

I tries another sample and I decided to beat less firmly. The ppi is now 16 per inch. I was careful to angle the weft at no more than 2 inches up the opposite side of the warp. The weft goes over 10 warp threads 

I took this sample off the loom, hemmed and washed it. 

Hemming.

Turn over the plain weave picks and iron firmly.

Now turn the raw edge under and press firmly.

Once the hems are pressed, pin the hem. The edges can be hemmed and pressed. 

Hemming the placemat.

Measurements.

Before washing.

Width on loom with  no tension  33 cms

Woven length on loom not under tension ( not including hem) 47.5 cm 

Off loom and hemmed  length:   46.5 cms

After washing

Width  31.5 cm

Length: 44 cms

For this placemat, the warp stripes were more pronounced so I wove the rest of the warp. 

All the placemats are finished.  Here they are.

These placemats are a replacement for the set I wove in 2014.  

https://durhamweaver64.blogspot.com/2014/08/

Susan J Foulkes  May 2022.

Weaving table linen

Tea for two.

I have just completed a set of place mats.

Weave Structure: plain weave and 2/2 twill

Warp: cottolin

Sett: 24 epi                     12 reed with two ends per dent.

Weft: 6/1 Tow linen. I used a light blue to contrast with the bright blue of the warp, 16/2 cotton in the same colour for the hem and 16/2 linen in a contrasting colour for the twill stripes.

Number of warp ends: 312    The last two warp ends at the selvedges are threaded as one to provide a firmer edge to the cloth.

Width at reed: 13 inches (33 cm)

Picks per inch approx: 18

Start and finish each place mat with 10 picks using 16/2 cotton.  This is for the fold under part of the hem. Using a thinner yarn makes the hem less bulky.

The tow linen is a singles yarn and needs to be woven carefully. Here is my suggestion of how to avoid the singles yarn twisting into little loops on the surface of the cloth.

The weaving sequence:

1. Take shuttle through the shed to the right.
2. Hold the weft at left selvedge and tug to ensure that the previous weft is lying flat.
3. Fold the weft and hold at the left side. Pull the weft on the shuttle so that it is straight and lies about 2.5 inches above the fell of the cloth on the right selvedge.
4. Change the shed so that the stretched weft is trapped.
5. Beat firmly.
6. Repeat taking the shuttle through to the left.

You can get a good rhythm with the weaving.  It is important to straighten out the weft and then to change the shed.  This ensures that the weft does not try to twist together and form little loops of yarn on the surface of the cloth.

   

loops of twisted yarn on the surface of the cloth.

 


Here is the cloth showing the loops of twisted yarn on the surface.

A smooth surface with no loops.

Weaving correctly, by pulling the weft taut and trapping it in the shed before beating, ensures that the surface of the weaving is smooth.

         

length of woven cloth

 Off the loom you can see how three to four picks of waste yarn divide the place mats.

I wove four mats.  The design is very simple. There are four picks of 2/2 twill in a contrasting colour.  I used 16/2 linen used double. When weaving twill, it is important to catch the final warp end at each side when weaving twill.

Once off the loom, I cut the table mats and hemmed them.  Then they were washed and pressed.

Dimensions before washing

length after hemming: 15.75 inches (40 cm)                 width:   12.5 inches  (32 cm)

Dimensions after washing.

length:         15.5 inches (39.5 cm)                                width:  12 inches (30.5 cm)



Happy Weaving

Durham Weaver  July 2014