This new proposal for BEGINNER backstrap weavers is used as the ''stepping stone'' to the intermediate level double weave tutorial.
It is a double-woven narrow band using only one weft and is a very good weave for making belts or straps for guitars, shoulder bags etc.


The INTERMEDIATE level tutorial combines double weave with plain weave and uses two wefts and, having a good understanding of this one-weft method, will prepare you well for the next level.


There is an introduction to the pattern chart for this weave with lessons on how to read the chart and a link to a site that Caroline has provided where you can print your own blank charts and make your own designs.
We start out with simple shapes so that you can concentrate on learning the double weave technique without having to struggle with counting pattern squares (or in this case diamonds) to form more complex designs.


I advise you to work your way through the first two beginner tutorials as well as the instructions for basic backstrap weaving in my WeaveZine article      weavezine.com/content/backstrap-basics      before attempting this one.


Laverne Waddington

 

 

 

Comments

jeannine (not verified)

hi Laverne,nice blog on llama .you are right about them living everywhere nowadays; Even here in Belgium they are kept,some for wool other just for showing off  by keeping  an exotic animal. I have bough some Llamawool on a natural fibres fair.that reminds me  I  have a lot of spinning to do. the pattern charts are lovely .perhaps I must think  of weaving them in  natural colours . oh dear so much ideas and so litle time  I will  have difficulties to decide what to weave next..

kind regards

jeannine

bolivian warmi

I just wove up the llama motif from my bookmark blog post in 4/2 merc crochet cotton (24wpi) just to see how it came out as I had never done double weave with this weight yarn. The band is 1 9/10'' wide and, of course, is way too thick for a bookmark. This is the perfect thickness for a guitar strap, belt or bag strap.

historicstitcher (not verified)

Love it!  I keep hanging around in this thread, looking at all the lovely patterns, and still unable to set up the crosses on my first striped piece.  I had to start over.

 

I'll get there - I just need to re-read your tutorial! It's a failing of the student, in this case, not the teacher.

bolivian warmi

Well, remember there's no need to struggle on in silence. We are all here to help ;-)

Keep us posted! Glad you like the designs.

Laverne

Hrist (not verified)

I'm half-way done your llama bookmark pattern.  A few mistakes as I remembered how double-weave works, but it's going pretty smoothly so far.  I do wish now that I'd gotten mercerized cotton, my heddles are getting bunged up with fluff.  Oh well.  Here's a picture, with my helper:

 

And a close-up:

bolivian warmi

Hi Hrist!

I woke up this morning to find you on my blog with this great news. This is going really well. okay, you're getting some pilling in the heddles but your design is staying clean so that's good. I have put your blog on my blogroll. Using a bed to tie up to is grea, isn't it? As you get closer to the end you can just extend your legs under the bed. For me it's just perfect.

Hope to see all 4 llamas when you are done. Your helper seems quite taken with it! Thanks for posting here. :-)

Laverne

bolivian warmi

My two weft double weave project is growing with some one-weft doube weave additions. I coudn't resit trying out this motif in my 12 wpi cotton to make a hot pad-although it is quite large and is more like a small rug for my cat!! and a mug rug which uses the center portion of the motif. I will weave more mug rus to make a set of four and may even make some placemats to complete this table set.

My blog post today has videos of me weaving one of the Mexican mug rugs using the one-weft doube weave technique. They are meant to supplement the instructions here at Weavolution rather than stand alone as a teaching tool. There is also video of weavers in Tarabuco and Candelaria and information and stories about coca leave and woven chuspas.

Check it out here...........

backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/

Laverne

rose Goldielocks (not verified)

I got my butterfly mug rug done... finially!

bolivian warmi

Excellent! It has come out nice and square. I love your butterfly charts!

 

bolivian warmi

Here is my Abba Yohanni motif piece. Originally planned as a table runner, I think this is now going to become a wall hanging. So here it is finished...

Alexis here at Weavolution contacted me with some interesting background information about this motif which I included in my blog post today.

http://backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/

Laverne

klhow74 (not verified)

Hi everyone.  I am new to this group and weavolution.  I am working through this tutorial and after a false start I think I've finally got the gyst of it.  I decided to lash the beginning of my band onto the waist bar and now I am wondering how do I finish this off once I am done weaving.  I want the far end to have fringe and the beginning to be a hopefully neat selvedge.  Hope this makes sense.  Here is what I have done so far.

bolivian warmi

Lovely lovely! That is looking great. I would lash a bit closer to the band so you don;t get that bending going on. So you are going to have a nice smooth start to your band. When you find that there just isn't room to weave anymore, that is, it is too awkward to open the sheds and pick up the warps, you can just stop and cut the warp off the loom leaving as much fringe as you like. You ca braid the fringe which will stop he weaving from unravelling, or if you want to keep the fringe, just sew with a matching color sewing thread over the edge so that you lock the final weft into place. If you have  sewing machine that can handle it even better-I don't so I just hand sew up through the eed of the weaving, between the fringe and in the back. I pretty much make it up as go-as long a it is not visible it is fine by me.

bolivian warmi

The above deleted discussion topic was moved to the public Weaving forum.

Laverne

Helvetican (not verified)

I stumbled into your great site because I have been backstrap weaving for a long time (as well as other types of weaving)and was doing a search on the subject.  Although I haven't been weaving along with the tutorial, I thought that some of you might find this helpful.  I have always solved elongation of a pattern, which is particularly problematic with a thick warp thread, simply by using a thinner weft thread.  The reverse is also true, if you WANT  to elongate a pattern, use a thicker thread in the weft.  I have done some patterns on an inkle loom, where I have wound two shuttles, one with thick and one with thin weft, to create an interesting design element.  This wouldn't be suitable for a charted design, but it has its uses.

I hope this information may help someone.

bolivian warmi

Hi and thanks for the tips. What kinds of things do you weave on your backstrap loom? Do you have any photos to share?

Helvetican (not verified)

I don't know if I made it clear that both of these illustrations are shown from the side of the doorway away from the direction you are facing - in other words you are in the other room.

 

jordanj (not verified)

Thanks for sharing this - I think the system with the chair would come in handy if you are away from home. And the non-slip pad is a useful aid.

 

bolivian warmi

Thank you! There is a FAQ thread about this and I will copy and paste this information there so it is easier to find in the future.

Karren K. Brito

Great ideas.  This may  give me more places to work!

tobytottle (not verified)

Hello again!

I've just recently pulled my loom out of hibernation now that I have more time to give to it.

I've conquered the float warp pattern, simple designs anyway! I feel confident using that technique now, so I moved onto this one, the one weft double weave - at first it really threw me, I couldn't get my head around it! Now I think I'm getting there, but my attempts thus far don't look right. I haven't even tried patterning yet, just getting used to the technique.

I can see far too much weft through the top layer of warp, no matter how hard I tension the weft to try to pull the warps together. I'll try to post a photo when I can. It looks like a real mess at the moment! Any thoughts in the meantime as to what could be the cause?

Thanks!

Toby.

bolivian warmi

Hi Toby! Nice to see you back here. Please post photos. If you are using a really chunky yarn, it is harder to cover the wefts although I do recommend using a chunky yarn to get the hang of handling and picking up the warps so  Let's see what it looks like first. It is also a bit harder to hide the weft right at the edges as the weft bends around to weave the lower layer.

Laverne

tobytottle (not verified)

Eureka! Seems that once again I just wasn't pulling the warps tightly enough together! I think I've got the hang of it now, photos to follow soon!

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