Tip of the Month - March

This month I want to help you keep your selvedges nice and neat and prevent them pulling in.

First of all, after throwing your shuttle, ensure that the weft goes round the edge warp neatly.  Pinch the warp and weft together and gently pull the weft into a 45degree angle.

 The 45degree angle allows a little extra weft which will be able to mould round the warps when it is gently beaten down to it's horizontal position.

If the weft is taken straight across the warps there is no extra weft to mould round the warps, resulting in the edge wefts being pulled in.

To test how much pull-in there will be, hold the weft at the edge of the selvedge and pull up into the 45 degree position and you will find out how many  warp ends will be squeezed over both edges.

Being vigilant over this will ensure nice neat, even selvedges that don't pull in.

Colour and Weave

About a year ago I had a small group of beginner weavers who wanted to move on with their rigid heddle weaving.  One of them was Jane Cowan, who has recently sent me a picture of her lovely rug, woven for her daughter on her rigid heddle loom.
Jane wanted to know it there was a book that could help her design different "patterns" on her rigid heddle.  After seeing this beautiful piece of weaving I suggested "Colour and Weave Design - A practical reference book" by Ann Sutton.  It's out of print now, but there are one or two second hand copies available and worth having in your library if you can get hold of one.