Weaving Class Tote, part 1

The more one weaves, the more one feels comfortable with the whole process. And the more one views videos on line, reads blog posts, and shares with fellow weavers, the more one incorporates new and better ways of doing things. This project is an example of that process.

8/2 cotton, doubled for warp and weft

While idly watching a YT video on weaving towels, I noticed the weaver did two things that I've added to my repertoire: attach the back warping stick to the heddle to keep them steady and use multiple "pegs" when warping.

Steady as she goes

Repurposed coat rack

After a few false starts with warping, I thought (rather smugly) I was well on my way. But then I discovered I was reading the warping chart incorrectly. Could I just forge ahead? No, the stripes on the bag would look all wrong. So I removed those errant warp threads and started over.

Then, while winding the warp onto the back beam, I found two broken warps. WTH?!? Fortunately, they both were at one edge, so I just knotted them together and hoped they would be hidden when the sides were joined.

I use different methods for tying onto the front beam. This one usually gives me the best tension all the way across the warp.

Once the warping was done, the weaving went fairly smoothly. I attached a measuring tape to keep track of my progress.

After I finished weaving the straps on my inkle loom, both the straps and the fabric went into the washing machine for a good dunking, then into the dryer. This "sets" the weave of the cotton yarn well.

The fabric and straps sat for quite a while after this, while I got up the gumption to actually sew the bag. What motivated me was an upcoming weaving guild program on making bags and purses with handwoven. See part 2.