MAFA2021-001

Weaver Notes

I am a novice weaver, and this is my 10th project. I had initially planned this project for 40/2 linen, but I was unable to find colored linen in that grist. Scaled up for 16/2 linen the pattern is more dramatic and the cloth is robust. This wasn’t what I envisioned when I planned the project, but I am satisfied with the outcome. It’s not perfect, but it is perfectly functional. I hope it will provide many years of service.

I wove on a Glimåkra Standard using 8 shafts. A ladder hemstitched section was added after a partial pattern repeat and it was reversed to duplicate the design on the second hem. Both hems are hand sewn with linen thread.

Initial size was 33.5″ x 19.5″; hemmed it was 31″ x 19.5″ and final size after washing and pressing is 29.75″ x 18.5″. I hard pressed with a heavy iron to give the linen a polished appearance.
There are 392 ends in the warp with a partial repeat at one end to have similar left and right sides in the finished towel. This is in the attached WIF. Likewise there is a partial repeat and a reverse in the hems, for the same reason. It’s shown on the beginning of the file only. I sleyed 1 end per dent in a 20 dent reed. I wove with a temple and the weft was wetted on the bobbins to help it beat in well and make a more dense cloth.

I wove this without floating selvages but the pattern would benefit from them. The colors do not alternate 1:1. Because of this, to make sure all the warp ends were caught in each pick, the shuttles had to cross sometimes in one direction, other times the reverse. It made for slower weaving and uneven selvages.

The original source of this color-and-weave design is: Die Färbige Gewebermusturung by Franz Donat, published in 1907. This particular draft is a figure from Master Plate XLVIII No. 6A, Motif 4.