Important Draft Info

6 1/4 yds warp length
18” in the reed
Approximated shrinkage to 15” or so (though in actuality, it was 16” for the most part)

Total Ends
432

Length of Napkins on Loom:

Total length 19.25
Hem length 1.125”

Stripes - white edge 2.25”
Stripes - wm edge 0.5”
Stripes - blue stripe 1.25”

Center white area 11.25”

Picks
Stripes - white edge 54
Stripes - wm edge 12
Stripes - blue stripe 30

Trying to get even #s as the repeats are 8 or 12 picks
may need to adjust

Length Difference On Loom vs Off:
5-7% with 8/2 cotton
7-10% with Sugar’n Creme

Shrinkage with Washing:
10-13% with 8/2 cotton
15-19% with Sugar’n Creme

Design

Looked at a lot of drafts & also projects in the same thread on Ravelry.

Actually, found the pattern I liked through the Facebook 4-Shaft Weaving group. Someone wove napkins in 2 shades of purple 8/2 cotton from “Davison p20, German Bird’s Eye”. The German Bird’s eye is page 19 in the orange book I have. I have heard the green & orange book are different.

Was thinking 20 epi, but she used 24. And some of the drafts in a twill or such were 24. As well as the twill # for 8/2 cotton. So I figured it should work well.

Aiming for 15” wide. Polled some friends and 15” wide napkins seem to be used by most of the people who use cloth napkins. So I am aiming for that. Though I realized it may shrink more or less. Actually shrank less in width. Came out at 16” (so only about 12%)

After looking at projects with a similar weave structure & fiber content, I figured 18” in the reed made the most sense.

Spent a lot of time in Excel & Photoshop to try to figure out the width of the color stripes.

Finally decided:
2” / 48 threads - white
1/2” / 12 threads watermelon
1” / 24 threads navy
1/2” / 12 threads watermelon
10” / 120 threads white for center
1/2” / 12 threads watermelon
1” / 24 threads navy
1/2” / 12 threads watermelon
2” / 48 threads - white

Spent a lot of time with project calculators. Also looking at typical shrinkage of unmercerized cotton.

Ultimately, I took a lot for Keep Me Warm Towels from Handwoven September/October 2018. The structure says Spot-weave variations. But it is regularly space, not lace. And it had a similar structure. Also looked as some other twills/rosepath/etc..

I know, I know. Sample is what I should do. I know… But sampling is even more of a nightmare than swatching! laugh

Patterns/Drafts Used

From the orange “A Handweaver’s Pattern Book” by Marguerite Davison

The German Bird’s eye from page 19

Napkins 1 -
Draft 2
Looks like a chevron to me

Napkins 2 -
Draft 5

Placemats 1 -
Draft 4

Placemats 2 -
Draft 1 - Rib Weave Repeat

I think napkins 1 & placemats 2 have a more modern feel & pair well. Napkins 2 & placemats 1 have a more decorative feel & go well together. But with the color scheme & all, they can be a setting of 4.

Winding the Warp

Wound into two warp chains. I really struggled with getting this wound! Wasted a ton of thread. Weighed it. Wasted 1 5/8 oz / 48 gms! That is a lot of waste. But it kept popping off while I was winding. And I missed a peg while wind it & not discover it for a few wraps. Then would discover it. Try to get it off without tangles. But didn’t happen very often

Also, I wound on too much! The 2nd chain, I made a mistake in the brain. Counted 48 at the cross for the final white stripe at the edge. Yeah. Should have been 24 at the top! Pulled it off. Tried to do it slowly. But ultimately, I was just done! Took it off. Called it a loss & moved on with my life!

Spent at least 5 hours total just winding the warp. Some of that was the overdoing the white. But some was just that it takes a long while to wind that long a warp

Warping

Soooo…yeah. I need to remember to check that the lease sticks are correctly in the cross BEFORE I untie the threads. sigh

Somehow I managed to screw it up. And the lease sticks weren’t in one side of the cross. I had already taken off the ties at the cross on one chain before I realized the error. UGH!! Tried to get it straightened out. But not completely successful. sigh

Decided to see how it goes…

Issues with Cross & Too Much Waste

Got it wound onto the back beam with the help of my patient husband. Thank you sweetie!

With the tangles & all, I actually had a lot of waste when I was trying to thread it. Measure one of the longest pieces & it was 27”!! Yikes. Mind you, that was for the end. So it is actually only half of that.

I had padded the loom waste to 40” when actually it is typically 22-24” total. sigh Did the math. 13” short! Ugh.

Though I realize that I can split it. 6.75”. If I divide it by 4, that would mean 3 1/2” shorter… (3.375 but trying to work with even #s.) Was planning on weaving 25” with hopes of getting 20” off the loom. Going down to 21.625”. If I do, it comes to about 19”… sigh Guess not that bad. But not sure… Gonna have to think about it & decide.

4-28-2019 - Threading

Started Sunday. Really thought I could get it all done in a day. Nope. 2-3 hours and half way through. sigh

4-29-2019 - More Threading

Got about another hour+ of threading done Monday morning. But only got another 4-5” done! sigh Did some more Monday night but not complete.

4-30-2019 - Yet More Threading

Finished up the threading Tuesday night. Thank heavens!

5-1-2019 - Sleyed the Reed & Starting to Weave

Happily, sleying the reed was much quicker. About an hour & all set. Tying on to the front & I can ACTUALLY START WEAVING AT LONG LAST!

5-11-2019 - THE BIG DAY!

Sooo… yeah. Didn’t finish on time! laugh I did finish weaving the napkins. But with the issues with the lease sticks & extra waste, I really didn’t want to cut it off the loom as it would mean more waste.

I enclosed a pic the napkins along with a note to the bride & groom. Figured this way they could decide if they wanted placemats, more napkins or a table runner. Figure it was a nice option so they can decide what would make them happy!

5-30-2019 - The Answer Is Placemats!

Asked the newlyweds (or at least the bride) and they decided on placemats.

After a lot of math & staring at numbers, I think I should be able to do a little shy of the original size placemats I intended.

Two things saved me.

I built in 40” of loom waste, figuring that would allow me to cut the napkins off & rethread if I wanted. That way I could finish the napkins & give them to the happy couple on the big day with the note more to come.

Also, I needed 6.027 for the warp. I decided to go with 6 1/4 yards as a bit more wouldn’t hurt.

Between these two things, I figured it would allow some wiggle room!

I think I actually would be okay if I stuck with the original length of 25” on the loom. But just in case, I cut it to 24”. Really don’t want to get to the end of the fourth placemat to discover I need to wind another warp!

6-1-2019 - Choice of Thread/Yarn

I polled the 4-Shaft Weaving FB group for some thoughts on placemats. Most agreed heavier was better for placemats.

I sampled some different threads/yarns:
5/2 Perle cotton
3/2 Perle cotton
Fingering SW wool
Sugar’n Cream (someone on the FB group said she uses Peaches & Creme for placemats)

In a perfect world, I think I like the 3/2 Perle cotton best. Think the shine would be nicer. But I also liked the other yarn choices. Also, I don’t have any 3/2 Perle cotton in navy. So it would mean ordering & waiting for it to arrive. Not my fav choice.

So I decide to check out the local Joann’s to see if they had any navy Sugar’n Cream. They did! Hooray!

I decided that the majority of the placemats will be navy with a stripe of white at each side. I decided not to use any of the pink/watermelon color. I tested it but doubling & tripling it didn’t work.

Decided to use the 8/2 cotton for the hems. I have seen the suggestion that it is good to use thread or something thinner to make less bulky hems.

My intention was to go to 1 1/8” for the hem. But decided to end on 2 draft repeats on the 1st set of placemats (12 x 2 = 24 picks). It’s close to 1 3/8” or so. I adjusted by measuring paper accordingly.

Since placemat 1 was a draft of 8 picks, I did that for the white.

The funny thing was since placemat 2 was closer to a plain weave than #1, I did 8 draft repeats for 16 picks for the ends. The different weave structures worked out differently in terms of how tight I needed to beat them.

Yes…if I were a good weaver, I would have measured my picks per inch…a whole lot. But….

6-28-2019 - Finished Weaving & Finishing the Pieces

Finally finished weaving! Hooray!

Not that it was slow. Just had a busy weekend last weekend & didn’t get around to it.

Wanted to be able to hand them off to the newlyweds at a party tomorrow! So wanted to finish them & get them washed.

So… FIRST TIME CUTTING MY WEAVING!!

gulp

I read a lot on how different people handle finish the pieces. Most people suggested using a zigzag along the edges of each piece before you cut. Most suggestions were for the Gutermann 100% quilting cotton thread. Said it would shrink in a similar way to the finished pieces. So went & got that.

Tried a few stitches. The traditional zig zag didn’t seem like it was wide enough even playing with the width of the stitches. Tried a few others too.

Went with #18 on my Brother SQ9050. So actually looking at the manual, that is a smocking stitch. But it didn’t pucker. I think to have that happen, I would have to have gathered it before sewing.

Secured the edges and then cut.

Had planned on using a ruler & the rotary cutter. But can’t find my rotary cutter!! Used my sewing scissors which are excellent.

Cut and guess what?! It held together! A thread here & there came out. But not much & it was awesome!

I MADE CLOTH!!!

For the placemats hems -
I used stitch #2 (triple stretch stitch) to further secure the fabric. Then folded it in half & used #2 again to secure it. Folded it once more and used a straight stitch for the final seam.

For the napkins hems -
I didn’t want the hem to end up too stiff. So skipped folding it over once and stitching it down. So used #2 when flat & then folded the seam & used a standard straight stitch.

Was definitely looking forward to seeing what washing does to them. Hoped it all went well.

Unwashed Measurements

Napkins 1 - Chevron
Unhemmed 18 1/2” x 16 3/4”
Hemmed 15 3/4”

Napkins 2 -
Unhemmed 18” x 15 1/4”
(think 15 1/4 should be 16 1/4 but may be wrong - was reading off numbers to DH who kindly wrote them donw while I was at the sewing machine & measuring)
Hemmed 15 3/4”

Placemats 1 -
Unhemmed 22” x 16 3/4”
Hemmed 20”

Placemats 2 - Rib Weave
Unhemmed 21 1/2” x 17”
Hemmed 19 1/2”

Washed Measurements

Napkins 1 - Chevron
16” x 14 1/4”

Napkins 2 -
16” x 13 3/4”

Placemats 1 -
16” x 16 1/4”

Placemats 2 - Rib Weave
16 1/2” x 16 1/2”

Still stunned by how much the placemats lost in length!! They were rectangles but pretty much square when done. Wow.

Calculations in Difference Between On Loom vs Unwashed vs Washed

WOW! After doing the math, I realize that difference btw on the loom to washed & finished was almost 67% for the placemats & 73% and 71% for the napkins.

On vs. Off Loom Draw In
Napkins 1 - Chevron - 95%
Napkins 2 - 92%
Placemats 1 - 92%
Placemats 2 - Rib Weave - 90%

Washing Shrinkage
Napkins 1 - Chevron - 90%
Napkins 2 - 87%
Placemats 1 - 81%
Placemats 2 - Rib Weave - 85%

Total Difference from On Loom to Washed & Hemmed
Napkins 1 - Chevron - 73%
Napkins 2 - 71%
Placemats 1 - 68%
Placemats 2 - Rib Weave - 69%

The placemats had a lot of shrinkage. Where as the napkins weren’t as much. The Sugar’N Cream definitely pulled in a lot when washed & dried!

Things to Note for Future Projects

The rib weave draft 1 is closer to a plain weave. So it pulled in less than the more ornate Draft 4. Though I am sure there is too much drawn in according to the folks on the FB group! But I think it looks good.

The edges are a bit wonky. Some of that was helped by a wash. But not all. I definitely think using a temple will help. Need to try the clip ones I have seen on a few groups. But also just need to be careful about the edges as sometimes it is simply about the thread/yarn being too loopy or too tight.

Ironing definitely helps. I had thought it best not to iron them as I don’t think the newlyweds will do that. But they really needed it. Helped smooth out the pattern & edges.

Need to take some pics & edit them together to compare on the loom/unwashed/washed/ironed!

Placemat design 2 has a really funky pattern was created with washing & drying. It is interesting. Not bad. But definitely unexpected!

End Thoughts & Reaction

In the end, I love the project. I think it came out amazingly well. I have learned a lot & think I did well with it overall.

Perhaps I shouldn’t try to create a pattern from scratch given my knowledge & not having worked with the materials before. But still glad I did! I tend to learn by doing!

Really wish I had added more length for the platemats. Not thrilled they were nearly square after washing them. But that was a miscalculation. I only cut back an inch from each. The Sugar’n Cream shrunk more than I thought it would & really changed the dimension. Interesting. A bit disappointing but they still look good overall. So I don’t think it is bad. Just not what I wanted.

There were some loops at the edge of the napkins. Should have overstitched them had I been thinking clearly when sewing them at 11pm the day before giving them to the couple!

The newlyweds seemed to love them. So ultimately, that is what matters most! I wish I had thought to take some pics of their reaction. smile So I am thrilled with that.

All in all, a great experience. Learned a ton. Happy with the finished product. A few flaws. But honestly, it actually went pretty well. And the finished product looks good. Hope the happy couple gets many years of use from them!