I got a new 20 inch Schacht Flip Rigid Heddle Loom! I have been wanting to design some color and weave tea towels for the rigid heddle loom. The 16 inch looms I own (an Ashford RH and a LeClerc Bergere) wouldn’t cut it for the size towel I wanted. As much as I love my little 10 inch Cricket looms (another well made Schacht product), I think the Flip is the best rh loom on the market when you want something a little bigger. Yesterday I put the loom together in about five minutes, and then finished designing and calculating the yarn needs for my project.I’m using two colors of 8/2 cotton in the warp and weft I decided to direct warp the project. I put enough warp length on for two towels plus a little extra for sampling. Keeping the spools of yarn separated at the back of the loom on the floor keeps them from twisting around each other as I warp. Using 8/2 cotton will keep the towels from being too bulky and the great thing about the 8/2 Cotton is that two threads and each slot in hole of a 10 dent heddle works perfect at 20 e.p.i. for plain weave. I just direct warp, filling both the slots and the holes with one loop of thread following my color sequence for the pattern. (Using the IWeaveit app’s threading tracker made that a breeze).
To make direct warping easier for such a wide project, I did two things. I put my loom on a stand that was high enough so that I didn’t need to bend over as I was threading the heddle. Ergonomics in weaving are very important. And rather than direct warping to one central peg, I used a small warping board clamped flat to a small table and used three pegs with a third of the warp to each peg. (See the first picture above). That will keep each warp end closer to the same length. If I had using only one centrally placed peg, the warp ends would be longer at the outside edges of the warp than in the center of the warp since they would have a longer distance to travel. The warp only took about an hour and a half to measure and thread 360 ends (180 slots and holes). Since the holes are already threaded, when I wind on and tie onto the apron rod, I am ready to weave.
I did make one miscalculation while warping. I assumed my heddle was 20 inches wide since I bought a 20 inch wide weaving width loom. Since my warp was going to be 18 inches wide, I started threading one inch in from the edge of the heddle to center my warp (there should have been only one inch left un-threaded on the other side). As you can see, it’s not centered. The heddle is actually 20 and 5/8 inches. If I had checked before warping, I could’ve added another repeat of the color sequence and still not be weaving the full width of my loom. I think weaving from edge to edge the full width invites problems, so I like to leave at least two slots empty on either side of the warp. I will have to remember that tidbit for the next wide project I make. Now off to wind shuttles!
How did this weave up? My sis-in-law wants these very colors (they are not my fave).
They turned out great. The colors are Brassard cotton peacock and natural.
No offense meant, of course. On the pic, I could have sworn a simple Kelly green and yellow. Your colors sound lovely.
It’s more of a teal blue than a kelly green. The photos were taken at night so the lighting wasn’t great. I’ll try to post another one taken in better light. I don’t have the towels right now since they’re on display at the weavers guild. And I didn’t get a great picture in natural light before I turned them in for the exhibit. I have a bit of the sample left at home.
How to do finish the weave for a towel so it does not have tassels?
Sorry, I haven’t been getting notifications regarding comments. Just saw this. You turn a hem and sew it on the machine. I used some fusible thread for the first couple of picks and ironed it (with parchment underneath) to secure the edge. Then turn the hem twice and sew by hand or on a machine.
Hi! I’m a beginner Weaver and I would like to weave some dish towels. The heddle I have is great for worsted weight yarns, but I’d like to weave finer fabrics (I’m not quite ready to invest
in a second heddle). I found your post and I am very curious about how you wove it because I only saw one heddle. What kind of weave did you use? Aka, 1 up 1 down; 2 up 2 down, etc.
Hope this makes sense! Thank you!
Sorry I just saw your comment, for some reason I haven’t been getting the comment notifications. I used 8/2 cotton and threaded each slot and hole leaving 2 ends in each in one 10 dent heddle. This makes 20 epi in a basketweave. If you have an 8 dent heddle you could use 5/2 cotton the same way and get 16 epi. It is treated as plain weave when weaving.
Could I use a 7.5 heddle( I have an Ashford rigid heddle loom) with 8/2 cotton to warp and weft to make towels?Do I need to warp with 2 threads in each slot and hole?
8/2 cotton doubled would not work well for towels in a 7.5 heddle. That would be too loose a sett. 5/2 cotton or 6/2 cotton would be a better choice and would both be doubled in the warp. (Pull a loop through each slot and a loop through each hole) for a basketweave fabric. You could weave with the weft doubled or singly (for half basketweave) depending on the look of the pattern you are making and the drape you want in your fabric. If you are going for a balanced weave, color and weave effect, you would double the weft by winding off a center pull ball and pulling from both the inside and outside to wind the shuttle. Put a little extra on and make a sample of doubled and of single weft and decide which you like better after its cut off and washed. The retie and weave away.