Another Weaving Project

Saturday morning,  I decided to put a warp on my rigid heddle loom.  I had wound the warp onto the back beam and started pulling the threads thru the holes in the heddle. Then I decided to show you part of the process.

This is called a direct wound warp.  That means that I started by pulling the threads through the slots in the heddle.  This creates two threads in each slot.  One thread is left in the slot and one is pulled through the adjacent hole.

Th thread at the bottom center will stay in the slot. The thread pulled up will go through the hole to its left. Which side you go to is a matter of personal preference- but once you start you have to be consistent on that warp.

This shows better the two thread in each slot. 

You may notice that as I pull the threads through, I pull those pairs to one side to get them out of my way.  You may also see the numbers on the bottom of my heddle.  Those are marked from the center out in one inch increments. This makes it easier to choose where to start pulling the threads through initially.  The center is marked with a straight line.

Once all the holes are threaded, the warp ends are tied onto the front apron rod.

I start in the middle and work my way outward.  First I tie a surgeon's knot. Just like the first part of tying your shoe but you warp the end around an extra time.  Then when they are all tied you go back, give a little tug and make a bow on each bundle.

Of course it is good to see that you have threads in each slot and hole and that the "shed" opens cleanly.  *shed - the opening between the upper and lower threads - this is where you pass the weft thread.

If there is a skipped slot or hole now is the time to either rethread it or decide that you can live with an alternate design.  Good news, all of mine were threaded correctly.

Now I can start weaving.  The first few "picks"  I do without beating in the cloth. Then I beat them all together.  This evens out the tied end of the warp.  (*pick - putting the thread through the shed.  *beating - using the heddle to compress the weft threads against each other.)

You can see that it suddenly gets evened out a few picks in.  Those first picks can be removed when you take the cloth off the loom if desired.

There are several types of shuttle that can be used with a rigid heddle loom.  The red one shown above is my choice when I have a bobbin winder available.  Otherwise a stick shuttle can be used.

There are advantages/disadvantages to both.

After a bit of weaving here are two pictures of my cloth so far.

I have done a few interesting techniques to add patterning and interest to the cloth.  I have shown one of these on a video I did a few years ago.  I have not added any cloth bits to this one yet.  But perhaps I should.

Until Next Time,  

Stay Creative 

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