I treated my handspun linen with starch as per a suggestion by someone here on site (apologies I can't remember off the cuff who it was) - this pre-treatment I think has made an enormous contribution to the success of the weaving to date. One thing that seems to happen - and it could simply be my inexperience with spinning linen - is that it gets a bit fuzzy - the starch helps prevent snags but you still have to keep an eye out for the occasional fluff-catching-fluff on the back side of the heddle.
I started out using two heddles and quickly realised that this was not going to work - I'm not entirely sure why yet. I have noticed that using two heddles does not work with every fibre. I was able to quickly assess that this was going to be the case - and re threaded the heddle with two threads in each hole & slot. This combined with the single weft thread has made for a really nice texture.
I'm about 3/4 finished weaving - once its off the loom I'm planning to try to make a bag using the single strap pattern.
Assuming all goes well the next thing will be to play with dyeing, and using some string heddle patterning.
***Update*** 28 Mar 10
finished. I had to sit and carefully look at the diagram for the pattern I was using (which is very clear by the way) to be sure that I got the "inside" in and the "outside" out - for things like finishing edges.
A quick zig zag stitch along the ends of the piece allowed me to clip off the "fringe" and give it a nice folded edge. If it were wider I might have tried a french roll but since a nice "hard" edge is good for a bag I went for a basic folded seam.
I'm really pleased with the end result. It was purely experimental and I worked on a learning curve to be sure but the end product is attractive and functional - what more could you ask for (grin).
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