One of the things I love about weaving, is that there is always something new to learn!

I was looking at one of my books the other day, Volume 16 of the Master Weaver Library.   The subtitle of this volume is LIttle Know Weaves Worth Knowing Better.  The first weave discussed is lappet weave - "true embroidery weave."   This is on pages 9 and 10.  They describe how to make a lappet needle, and that is pretty straight forward, but when they talk about how to use it, it doesn't make sense to me.  I don't understand, from their description, how the pattern yarn lays with relationship to the shed.   The needle itself is just a needle that you can wrap yarn around, and that hangs from above with a little weight so that you can let go of it and it will still hang there.

They only used one paragraph to explain how to use it:

"Now we open a tabby shed, push the needle through the warp near the batten, so that its lower point penetrates belonw the shed, and throw the shuttle.  Then lift the needle (which should remain suspended above the batten) open the other tabby shed, insert the needle again not too far from the first place, lift the needle and beat.   We shall have now a float nearly horizontal.   Its length and position depends entirely on where the needle has been inserted, and its angle - on the number of shots of the ground made between two 'stitches'."

So, do you end up with loops on the back side of the fabric, kind of like using a rug punch but using is while you weave?   Also, it seems like the floats are not going to be exactly perpendicular to the warp, right?

If you have this book, does their description make sense to you?  Have you ever used a lappet needle?

 

Comments

Sun, 03/09/2014 - 23:24

mneligh

I have never used a lappet needle, nor do I have that book, but one day I wore a blouse from Afghanistan to textile history & technique class and the professor, Ed Rossbach, told me the patterning on it had been done with a lappet needle.  On the back it bore no resemblance to rug punching, but was flat.  It was much like "inlay" patterns done with supplemental wefts.  When a color no longer needed to be carried along a row, it travelled along the back until it was needed again.  In other words it was a lot like embroidered satin stitch, but it was done as the cloth was woven, not after the fact.

He had me roll up the blouse as well as I could without exposing myself so the rest of the class could see the reverse side.

Maybe someone else will have more information.

Sun, 03/09/2014 - 23:43

SallyE (not verified)

Wow - you had Ed Rossbach as a professor!   How cool is that!   You are very lucky.

 

Mon, 03/10/2014 - 00:49

mneligh

Due to my education background I know about obscure techniques and was taught to approach weaving as an art form.  However, between that and subsequent coursework in both anthropology and weaving, my background on the craft of weaving was neglected.  I'm constantly working to improve my basic techniques like how to throw a shuttle or to get the perfect beat, even though I can draft complex structures or tell you the region and period of origin of a piece pretty much at a glance.

That said, Ed Rossbach was a very  sensitive, kind, creative, generous, and knowlegeble guy.  I wish I could have taken more courses with him.  He had a profound effect on almost all his students.  One morning he digressed about lappet weaving because of what a student wore to class.