For today’s weaving Wednesday Lo Meets Loom episode, we’re going to talk about the thing I have just cut off the loom… my Halvdräll Towel weaving project!
I’ve just completed a series of dish towels, or tea towels, that are based off of the design by Arianna Funk. She’s a Swedish designer who designed this project for Gist Yarns a couple of years ago, where there was also a weave-along that took place around it. (Which, there are tons of inspiring photos you can find on Instagram for this project!) Join me at today’s vlog where I talk more about the process of this handwoven project.
I’d love for you to leave me a comment and let me know if you’ve tried this Halvdräll technique before – or if you have made this same pattern, what was your experience like? Did you enjoy it? What colours did you use? I would love to hear! And also if you have any tips about how you finish cotton towels, I’d love for you to share what process you use!
IN THIS EPISODE
- what I mention in today’s vlog: Here are the links for what was talked about in today’s video…
- The project I show in the video is the Halvdräll Towels weaving pattern, designed by Arianna Funk for Gist Yarns.
- The warp for the project is Venne Organic 8/2 Cotton in Brass, Burnt Orange, Raspberry and White. Weft yarn is Gist Duet in Currant and Cerise plus Maurice Brassard 8/2 in Bleu Pâle and Mauve Foncé.
- The other tea towels shown are the Four Looks Towel, designed by Liz Gipson
I WILL try your Swedish Weave towels. They are truly beautiful and I love the feeling of being free to experiment. I have only one question. Your selvages are perfect. Do you typically use a temple? I find it extremely difficult to prevent draw-in without one (except for repp weave, which produces a heavy fabric) or rug weaving. I use a 12-harness Jack loom from LeClerc. I’m curious if I just need far more practice at getting neat edges that don’t draw in, or if you typically use a temple but didn’t include that in your video for clearer viewing. Thank you!
Virginia
Oh thank you so much Virginia! I don’t typically use a temple, but perhaps I should… I did use a floating selvedge for these. In terms of draw in and nice selvedges, I’ve been using the classic Leclerc boat shuttles and working on maintaining a nice 45 degree angle to the weft. I beat on an open shed as well and try to keep my warp tension good — not too loose and not to tight, so that the sides don’t draw in too much. The towels were fun to weave for sure and I use my towels everyday in my kitchen too. I hope you enjoy them.
Thank you Felicia! I will definitely practice. And I will!
Not ever having woven with linen before, I am curious how your towels came out after wet finishing, since you used some cotton/linen blend as well as pure cotton. Would you be willing to put up a comment or picture after the wet-finishing is done? Thank you!
May I ask one more question? In drafting your towel with the narrow stripes (or one fairly similar), I am not seeing the V-formation that is clearly shown in your towels in the video. Am I doing something wrong, or does this only show up in the woven cloth, not the draft? If you have an email you wish to provide me, I could send you an image.
Virginia
I think I managed to answer my own question. Because of the vertical floats going across and between pairs of 4 horizontal floats, they would tend to gather the horizontal ones together in the middle and flare them at the edges, giving a V-shape. I would not have thought of using floats to distort the fabric in this way. It’s quite beautiful, and no, would not show up in a draft.