I want to weave some fabric for a casual top, hopefully using up some of my stash - I seem to have alot of 8/2 cotton and 10/2 mercerized cotton. So far I've uncovered the following ideas, but am unsure of how well the following will drape:
1. 10/2 mercerized cotton, EPI 20. A nice top on the back cover of Handwoven Design Collection 17, "Jackets and Pullovers".
2. 5/2 mercerized cotton, EPI 20, on page 17 of Handwoven Design Collection 20, "Weekend Weaving Projects". It looks nice in the photo - but wouldn't this be like wearing a heavy placemat?
3. 8/2 cotton. In "A Handwoven Treasury", page 126, there is a shirt made of 22/2 cottolin, EPI 20. 8/2 cotton seems the same weight. Would it be a good substitute for the cottolin? Sett the same?
4. 8/2 cotton, and 10/2 cotton, EPI 20. In "A Handweaver's Notebook" by Sharon Alderman, page 70, there is a nice fabric with those yarns as warp, and the weft as singles silk noil @4200 yd/lb. (I hate to think of the cost). She points out that the silk weft makes the fabric softer and more supple. I notice that nearly all her shirt fabric samples are made with 20/2 mercerized cotton.
So: I didn't really want to go too fine, and I didn't want to spend much money (although I will, if I have to, to get the necessary result). BUT I don't want really thick fabric. Any ideas?
Frances Gualtieri
Vankoughnet, Ontario, Canada