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Weaving for me

kitchen curtains on the loom

The baby wrap bubble is apparently going strong elsewhere, but for me it has burst. Like most things in life, that is both the bad news and the good news. The bad news is that it provided a huge income boost to me for a few years, and that’s over. The good news is that now I have time to weave things I’ve not had a chance to get to, try weave structures and other fiber-y things that call to me.

A while ago I wove curtains for my bedroom. The posts about those curtains talked about the difficulty in making the squares be square.

I thought I’d like to weave similar curtains, in all white, for my kitchen. I thought that when I did I’d do double weave – weaving two separate layers of cloth at the same time – so that my squares were identical. But when I sat down to do the planning, I realized that I didn’t have enough heddles to do so, and I didn’t really want to (a) buy more and (b) wait for them to arrive. (Despite what visitors to my booth think, I am not a patient person.) So I simply planned for the all white curtains and figured I’d again just live with some difference in the squares, knowing that those differences would be less noticeable with everything the same color.

Well, I was surprised that it was substantially easier for me to make those squares be square this time. I don’t attribute it to my experience with the bedroom curtains. Here’s what I think the difference is: I wove the bedroom curtains from (mostly) 16/2 cotton (6,720 yards per pound) sett at 24 ends per inch. I wove the kitchen curtains from (mostly 20/2 cotton (8,400 yards per pound) set at 21 ends per inch. So finer threads sett more loosely.

As you can see from the top photo, I again made myself a little jig to use while I was weaving, but it all worked better, easier for me. Maybe because I’ve woven so much lace in the past. Maybe because I felt no pressure. Maybe because the stars were lined up more auspiciously. If you look closely at that photo you’ll notice that there is a place where I had 3 threads in one dent instead of 2. I decided I didn’t really care.

I wove 6 panels, hemmed and wet finished, and hung them on a tension rod in my bay window in the kitchen.

kitchen curtains in place

I love the way they look. The only thing that’s not exactly what I planned is that somehow I mis-measured before I started. I wanted the curtain rod to be the same height as the ‘joint’ in my double hung windows. But somehow I thought that was 24″ finished length when it should have been 27″ finished length. Oh well. No big deal.

beaming warp for pants

Now I’m getting a warp on the loom to weave fabric for a pair of pants. I so liked the cotton/linen towels I wove in April that I knew I wanted to make myself some pants. I hope I can get the 7+ yards woven in the next few days and get started on the sewing.

starting my pants

7 comments to Weaving for me

  • Alma

    The curtains are gorgediouso, and I love the way the pattern carries through from the bedroom ones. White is great, especially for this season and its breezes.

    If I didn’t already know that the colored fabric is intended for pants for you, I would have told you that it has YOU written all over it – in the colors and in the pattern! Best of luck in the completion of this project. We’ll be looking forward to seeing you in a new outfit soon!

  • DianeOre

    Love the curtains! Huck is perfect, and the squares add nice detail. Looking forward to seeing how the pants come out!

    • Peg Cherre

      Thanks, Diane. I can’t claim design ownership; they’re from Laila Lundell’s Big Book of Weaving. I’ll be sure to post pants progress.

  • Peg Cherre

    Thanks to all for your compliments.

    Theresa – I doubt that I’ll add a border, but you never know. I bought a New Look pattern that looks like it’ll work great…and was cheap, too 😉

    Judy – The breeze makes them even nicer, doesn’t it?

    Mary – Life is too short to make ourselves crazy over the little things that don’t matter anyway. 🙂

  • Mary

    SO nice to be able to weave for yourself without any pressure! I love your curtains and your attitude.

  • Judy T

    I love your new curtains Peg! What a wonderful addition to your new kitchen. And I love your photo with the breeze coming through… what a nice feel that photo has!
    And I can’t wait to see how your pants turn out in that yummy fiber & pattern.

  • Lovely Peg and I can just feel the breeze coming through! If the length bothers you at a later date, you can add a border, either colored, neutral or lace for that bit of extra.
    As to the baby wraps, it may just be a lull summer and all…

    Did you find a pants pattern?

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