Is there any place where I can find a clear explanation of how to add tabby to a weaving draft (for hems and/or side borders)? The CM loom I use most has 10s/10t, but I also have a Macomber 10s/16t. I can figure out 4 shaft straight and rosepath threadings no problem, but I have my heart set on a particular advancing point twill draft done on 10 shafts. I have a sneaky suspicion the answer might lie in tying more than 3 shafts to one of a pair of tabby treadles. Could this be it?

Comments

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 09:09

kerstinfroberg

Tabby/plain weave means every other warp goes up while the rest go down - the next shed is the opposite of the first. Thus, the trick is to find a way to tie "every other end" - .

 

You write "advancing point twill on 10 shafts". The chance is high that every other end is threaded on an even shaft (and thus the rest are on an odd shaft) - then it would work to tie all even shafts to one treadle, all odd to another. When using 10 shafts that would mean 5 shafts tied to each tabby treadle. (It would also mean two extra treadles - or, if you just want tabby for the hems, you could re-tie two treadles for the hems)

 

Adding a border would take minimum two extra shafts. These shafts need to be tied to all the pattern treadles, and you would not get a "clean cut" between the border and the pattern. (That goes for the hems, too.)

Here is an example (just 8 shafts for the pattern, because I happened to have this draft done and saved...)

 

However, adding plain weave to a twill may not be the best idea - the plain weave will have a different draw-in and take-up than the twill. This may cause tension problems when weaving (the borders become tighter), and bubbling selvages when wet finished (the twill will shrink more than the plain weave.

 

Plain weave hems will be wider than the rest of the piece. (How much? it depends... you may like the result, or not.) The Swedish tradition is to always use the "same" (or maybe the "opposite") structure for hems, which I understand is often not seen as "proper" over in the US :-)

(By "opposite" I mean treadled so that the hem, when folded, will match the pattern on the hem side)

 

There are threadings where true plain weave is impossible to achieve.

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 14:01

Jeannie (not verified)

Kerstin, thanks a million! I get it now, I think. I hadn't considered the take-up and shrinkage issues. I had a laugh when I saw what you had used as an example. It is the very draft I had in mind! I read 'Kerstin's Extras' regularly. I want to weave some really nice towels as thank-you presents and your draft definitely fits the bill.

Mon, 03/24/2014 - 16:25

kerstinfroberg

And here is the opposite hem: if folded between the red and the blue picks (and once more, of course), pressing well and paying close attenion, the hem will match the other side exactly!

(trick: use one pick, in any shed, in a contrasting colour to use as a folding guide. When folded, take out the extra pick)

Fri, 03/28/2014 - 14:03

Jeannie (not verified)

Weavers are such nice people, helpful and generous. :-)