Well, we've been busy making sample bands and bits and pieces on the weave alongs.
What is your favorite method for finishing a band or other piece and can you teach us here how you do it?

Laverne

 


Comments

Thu, 09/10/2009 - 15:39

bolivian warmi

I like to finish bands and wall hangings with 4-strand braids.

The photo above shows two versions of the same braid. The only difference is that each has a different strand order. On the left, the strand order is ABBA (shown in the step-by-step instructions below). On the right the method is the same but the strand order is ABAB.

           

                              (1)                                                                     (2)                                                                 (3)

 

           

                              (4)                                                                         (5)                                                               (6)

(1) Start with 4 strands-strand order A B B A.    A=white, B=orange

(2) Cross left strand B over right strand B.

(3)  Left strand B crosses over the top of right strand A.

(4) Right strand B passes under left strand A.

(5) The two A strands are now in the center. Right strand A crosses over left strand A.

(6) The A strand that is now on the left crosses over the top of the neighboring B strand while the A strand that is now on the right passes under its neighboring B strand.

The two B strands are once again in the center and you can start again at step (1).

I like to seal the ends of the braids with white glue and then cut them rather than tie knots at the ends. This, of course only works with things that won't end up in the washer. I don't like ''stop fray'' products as they tend to leave a wet stain. Cut braid ends seen below on this bookmark.

Mon, 09/07/2009 - 17:48

debmcclintock

 Hello Ms. B....may I post a link to this thread in the scarf finish forum?  I am trying to put good links into a forum for finishes for scarves so the idea is easier to find without being a member of the group.  Is that ok.....?  thank you so much for thinking about it!  Deb

 

ps, congrats on your activity on your weave along, you guys are a great group.  You make me want to sit down and slap a backstrap on....Deb

Mon, 09/07/2009 - 18:15

bolivian warmi

Hi Deb,

You are most welcome to post the link. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you again here!

Laverne

Thu, 09/10/2009 - 15:45

bolivian warmi

I have photos on my Flikr page which shows the way that I was taught the same braid shown above by my weaving teacher in Potosi, Bolivia. It is a very fast and fun way to do it using end loops but only works well for short braids. Here is the link..........

www.flickr.com/photos/39560980@N05/sets/72157622329301036/

This is how it starts..............................

Mon, 11/30/2009 - 23:51

rose Goldielocks (not verified)

ha! I first learned this braid with flat lanyard lacing at age 10 at summer camp. I still chant Under 2 over 1 while I braid.

I found the same braid in a kumohimo book to use on a maridi (japanse braiding) and now I use the maridi meathd. The movements for the maridi are the same as the loop manipulation, except you use a weighted bobbin of some sort.

Tue, 12/01/2009 - 00:00

bolivian warmi

That's cool. I shall have to try your chant!

I don't remember where exactly I learned this braid but my teacher in Potosi here in Bolivia wanted to teach it to me. I told her I already knew it and she looked at me in total disbelief and asked me to show her. When I showed her how I did it she and her sister fell about laughing! Then she showed me the finger loop way........

I have taught it to many weavers in Ecuador. Strangely they didn't know it there.

Got any others for us Sharon?

Laverne

 

 

Tue, 12/01/2009 - 00:24

rose Goldielocks (not verified)

no.. no other chants... I just know that if you are braiding longer than 1 arm length (about 25 inches), it is easier to do bobins. It is important to hold the end down with some meathod. I put a brick/book/ water bottle/ comvient heavy weight on the weaving if I am braiding fringe. If I am braiding a single rope, I use the same stuff, except I add tie-on  something heavy... my toes, a post, a friend..... 

The same braid is used in the orient on male's hair, as a fighting que.... some males that think a "3 strand flat pigtale" braid is too 'sissy' will accept the 4 strand round braid.  of couse it looks best if the male in question has dark colored hair... the blond nordic types look better in the 3 strand 'viking' braids.

 

 

 

Sat, 03/06/2010 - 03:41

siseltikva (not verified)

Hello! 

I need to finish a band without fringe or anything like that. I'm planning on just turning the edge under, but was wondering what I should do before that? I know I could sew it with a zig zag stitch on the sewing machine, but our only sewing machine that does that is broken at the moment. Is there anything I could do by hand or with a straight stitch sewing machine to finish it before I turn it under?

Thanks!
Tara

Sat, 03/06/2010 - 14:12

bolivian warmi

Oh Tara, I do hope someone comes along and answers this for you as I am the LAST person to ask about sewing! All my sewing is done by hand as I don't have a machine and I tend to go for the, (ahem) "decorative " look-that is, big chunky stitches that become part of the design. I know that this is probably not what you want.

Let's hope someone answers and I can learn something too!

Laverne 

Sat, 03/06/2010 - 14:43

francorios (not verified)

Tara,

I've seen that some people will finish with two lines of straight machine stitch instead of zigzag before turning the hem under.

Have a good day!

Sat, 03/06/2010 - 14:52

siseltikva (not verified)

Okay, thank you! I think I can make that work. If my sewing machine will behave :)

I've been looking more online, and there was one suggestion of doing a zig-zag stitch by hand. (Duh, don't know why I didn't think of that! lol) 

And I've also read about the "hem-stitch" that a lot of weavers use, looks like on looms like table or floor looms. But I wasn't quite sure if it work work for warp-faced weaving. Maybe some other weavers will have insight. It looks kind of like you do a half-hitch knot (like the ones we use for string heddles, I think) around a group of warps, and then sew back into the weaving itself. I also didn't know if it was safe to trim the warp close to the stitch line after you do this type of finish.

Here's a link to a hem-stitch diagram, if anybody wants to have a look: www.weaving.cc/leasesticks/aug08tip.html

Oh, and a video: www.youtube.com/watch

Thanks for your help! I kind of want to try the hemstitch and see what it does... :) I'll let you know if I do! 

Sat, 03/06/2010 - 16:51

bolivian warmi

Tara,

Hemstitching works beautifully on warp faced pieces. Hah! that's one bit of sewing I can manage! but I doubt that it would be secure enough to allow you to then trim back the fringe to the sewing line. I think the little hitches would just slip off.??

Anyone brave enough to test this?

Thanks for puting the links in. We have a link to a video that Franco provided on the twill thread but this is where it belongs.

Laverne

 

 

Sat, 03/06/2010 - 16:55

siseltikva (not verified)

I am gearing up to try it on some of my first bands that I wove that I never finished. I'll let you know! 

Sat, 03/06/2010 - 22:22

jeanne (not verified)

Tara,

I think you may have  time of it working a hemstitch into a piece where the warps are no longer under tension. If you try it, you might waht to use a fine thread to avoid adding thickness to the band. Franco's idea- two rows of straight stitch-- sounds like the best one to me. You will be able to gather the sides in a bit so that the edge warps will not show out the sides when you do your hem. Good luck!

Jeanne (who has finally gotten as far as starting the backstrap project, after battling with several sets of "seized" heddles! That snap of the shed changing is so nice!)
 

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 01:14

siseltikva (not verified)

Yeah, I was definitely realizing that! It didn't turn out very pretty :) I did try to do the hem stitch with some finer yarn, and it worked a little better. But still not great. I will probably just sew it with a straight stitch. And next time I know that I can do the hem stitch while whatever weaving is still on the loom.

Thanks!
Tara

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 13:36

rose Goldielocks (not verified)

One trick that my guild taught me is to weave the last 1" with a much, much finer thread than the body of the work, then turn that under. By useing the fine thread at the end, you avoid the 'bulkyness" of a hem where there are 3 layers of fibers.

 If you weave an extra single colored thread about 6" longer than the width of your weaving in 2 picks,  it makes a great guideline of where you turn the fabric, and then when you are done sewing, you tug the colored thread out of your weaving.

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 14:06

bolivian warmi

Wonderful idea! I have heard of something like this before but I always forget to do it!

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 15:24

jeanne (not verified)

I had a couple of ideas last night about hemming a band that's off the loom.

If you are going to sew with a straight stitch, begin and end your stitching in the middle of the band. this way you can draw in the warps at the sides a bit, and you won't have a mess of threads at the selvedge.

If you try this on a machine and you have loose fringe, the fringe is going to splay out and/or get chomped up by the feed dogs of the machine. You can straighten the fringes and tape them to a piece of card or heavy paper before sewing to keep them from flying about.

Once you've managed to get a seam with the edge warps drawn in a bit, you can cut the fringes close to the seam. This always scares me a bit. A rotary cutter or really really sharp scissors work best, and sometimes a bit of fray-check-type stuff is helpful to stop any unravelling. You can also saturate the cutting line with it and let it dry before cutting.

Where you have a warp-faced band, much of the bulk is the warp itself, so you just have to deal with it. There's an old tailor's trick: you can flatten the end with a hammer (really!) and hope that the flattening will not splay out the edges again. Haven't done this myself, but it's probably worth a try. I'd draw the hem in really tight and use lots of fray check!

When weaving a narrow piece with fringe, I've found that weaving the first weft into the second shed, and sewing the last weft back into the previous shed seems to be enough to stabilize the ends, if you're making something like a bookmark with fine threads. Anything more heavy-duty I end up sewing on the machine afterwards. That's not pretty though. There's a book called "A Compendium of finishing techniques," by Naomi McEnnely, which has many ideas (especially a bound fringe!) that look interesting. Must plan ahead to try these while the band is still on the loom!

 

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 16:33

bolivian warmi

Thank you Jeanne. Now this thread is filling up with great ideas!

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 17:55

jeanne (not verified)

LaVerne,

I'm looking at the current "Shuttle. Spindle and Dyepot", and there's a picture of  a woman weaving a tubular backstrap band onto the edge of a backstrap-woven cloth. Perhaps she's joining two pieces together. The band has a protective "eye" pattern and it's lovely. Have you seen anyone in your travels weaving on a band like this? The picture was taken in Chinchero.

Jeanne

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 22:02

Karren K. Brito

One solution does not work for everything situtation but here is a finish on a warp faced cloth that I made into a case for my iPhone:

  1. apply Fray check and let dry

  2. cut--I managed to cut between wefts

  3. cover edge with buttohole stitch(also known as blanket stitch), using the same thread as warp and weft.  Go deep into the cloth to avoid pulling out the wefts.

  4. used the bars of the buttonhole stitch as warps and needle wove and edge on the visible side

you can see the result The front looks like it has a woven braid trim and the back only has the bars from the blanket stitch. It has worn well. the whole project is here.  Hope you find a solution you like.  Laverne's triple cross knit looping finish might work, I think it often used to cover edges.

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 22:42

bolivian warmi

Hi Jeanne,

My chuspa and book bag that i wove in Potosi are edged with  tubular bands although they are simple ones. Hilda taught me this in Potosi. I wonder if this is the "eye' design that you mean..It is woven and sewn to the bag edge using the weft as the sewing thread. The band on the right below is the tubular one. The edging on the left is the cross knit looping that i recently blogged about.

Here is one that is attached to chuspa that I got in Potosi and the other is from Peru.

are these anything like the ones in the magazine? What is the article about?

 

Sun, 03/07/2010 - 22:47

bolivian warmi

Oh yes, I was admiring that edging when you first posted this project-lovely! Stop Fray is my friend too although you need to test it if it is not going to be covered over-some brands leave a wet mark.

Thanks for posting this! I am so pleased this page is filling up like this! It was pretty forlorn for some time.

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 00:33

jeanne (not verified)

LaVerne,

Yes, that is it! The "eye" design is supposed to have protective properties.

It's a really lovely finish.

The article in SS&D is "The center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco,Peru," and it it written by Sandra Swarbrick..  I'm not sure if you can access it on the HGA website. It's a general article about the center, but that picture grabbed my eye.

 

Jeanne

 

 

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 02:38

bolivian warmi

That's good to know. I had never heard of the protective properties.

One of the pre-Columbian fragments I have is a piece of tapestry weave with eyes all over it. It is actually quite creepy. I wonder if it was meant to protect the wearer.

 

 

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 12:05

claudia (not verified)

Hi Laverne,

I love the strap with the "eye" in the middle.  Did you post directions for doing that on Weavolution?  I would love to learn how to do that to add to some of my purses.

Claudia

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 13:36

bolivian warmi

It is not here yet, Claudia but you can expect to see it in the near future! There are many versions of that tubular braid. Some are very complex with many colors. The one that I learned with Hilda is quite simple with three colors.

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 15:56

Bonnie Datta (not verified)

For a really interesting presentation about protective devices in textiles visit

Saul Barodofsky on “Nazarlik”

This is the latest presentation in a long series that are done in Washington DC and are very generously shared through the efforts of R. John Howe.  The entire series can be accessed at:

http://rjohnhowe.wordpress.com/

You can sign up to get an email alert when a new one is posted.  I so look forward to these.

Bonnie.

 


 

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 17:11

bolivian warmi

Thanks Bonnie,

I must sign up for these too. A link to one about color was posted on another thread and I really enjoyed it. I'll check it out.

Laverne

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 21:51

rose Goldielocks (not verified)

Thanks so much! I enjoyed reading about all the different designs

This allows me to 'visit' musuems that I normally would not get to, and because the photographer is sensitive to textile artists, they give usefull closeup pictures. (the parts that I might want to see!)

 

Sharon

Fri, 03/12/2010 - 15:54

bolivian warmi

I show a couple of edge finishes and braids on my blog this week-no tutorials on these techniques yet-just a sneak peek at what is yet to come!

A 24-strand braid used to make Andean slings.

A 2-color edging on the cradle of a sling braid.

backstrapweaving.wordpress.com/

Laverne

Sun, 03/14/2010 - 22:57

siseltikva (not verified)

Hi! I just thought I'd update you with what I ended up finishing my pencil pouch warp with. I ended up using a button-hole stitch, I think, even though I was trying to do the hem-stitch :P I then trimmed the fringe to about 1/4 of an inch, and turned the edge under and secured it with a backstitch. It seems pretty solid, so I'm hoping it'll hold.

I posted these on my project page, but I'll post them here too.

Awkward button-hold stitch.

I ran out of my teal warp, so I had to switch to using the white cotton :)

Backstitch  The underside

Backstitch & underside of the backstitch/hemstitch.

Mon, 03/15/2010 - 00:19

rose Goldielocks (not verified)

your stiching looks great! I like the contrast of the white/teal. Pretty much, as long as you use the same thread as in your project, you can sew with any color thread and it looks 'right'.

and if you gave it the old 'tug' test while you were sewing to make sure the sewing was put in tight, it should last the life of the pouch. If the white thread truely bothers you,  there is the "Pretty Women movie "solution  to white thread on black shoes.. sharpie magic marker (they now come in amazing colors!) but please don't. .

Mon, 03/15/2010 - 00:26

siseltikva (not verified)

Thank you! Hehe I loved your idea about the sharpie marker :) too funny. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out, so I think I'll keep the white thread ;)