This draft was fun to weave and I love the texture of the finished towel (machine washed and dried). I wove some on this warp with 8/4 cotton as well, the squares were bigger, but they were nice as well.
MAFA2025-3901
Initial cut at 8-shaft Ms & Os.
Enjoyed the color play of the variegated warp against the dark weft.
Hand – hemmed, 398 ends.
MAFA2025-3897
This was a project for our annual guild challenge – to take some donated alpaca fiber and make something from it, spinning the fiber. I used grey and white alpaca fiber, washed it, drumcarded it, and then spun it into a two ply yarn. I wove it using clasped weft. Once off the loom, I washed and lightly fulled the fabric and made it into a lined tote bag with leather handles.
MAFA2025-3889
Based on Arts & Crafts coloration and patterning.
19.5″ wide x 42.5″ long
802 working ends, so 1604 warp threads.
2 ends per heddle. The beat was 5 double picks/” on the loom, 4.5/” finished. I used relatively loose warp tension and beat hard with a shed stick in the upcoming shed. The thick weft was twisted at the selvedge. Thin wefts were treated as if for an inkle band, by leaving a weft loop, beating and then pulling the far side loopy weft snug against the selvedge. 20/2 used for hem.
Colors used:
UKI Special Turquoise, UKI Light Turquoise, UKI Light Orange, UKI Dark Gold, Lunatic Fringe Butter Yellow, UKI Duck, Lunatic Fringe Kelp
MAFA2025-3880
I had designed a 16 block rep weave for a tote bag that resembled vertical entwined ribbons. I took this lift plan and used it with a 32 block rep weave threading. After tweaking, the design result was a lattice.
My thread stash included purple and a raspberry thread. I do not usually weave with these colors. I decided to expand my color choices and used these two threads with a gray 10/2 to design the warp colors.
MAFA2025-3876
Based on the fall coloration of raspberry leaves.
Repp playing off inkle band design.
20 1/2 ” x 13″
514 working ends, so 1028 warp threads.
Each 10/2 end, despite working as double threads, was threaded separately to organize the color mixing in each 2 end weaving unit. The beat was 5 double picks/” on the loom, 4.5/” finished. I used relatively loose warp tension and beat hard with a shed stick in the upcoming shed. The thick weft was twisted at the selvedge. Thin wefts were treated as if for an inkle band, by leaving a weft loop, beating and then pulling the far side loopy weft snug against the selvedge.
Colors used: UKI navy & purple, purple passion, pacific blue, deep turquoise, Lunatic Fringe copper, kelp, forest, 5 red-purple
MAFA2025-3871
At MAFA 2023, I created a shirt pattern in my class with Cal Patch. I wanted to use that pattern again, but for a different style of shirt. I plan to make this new shirt more like a tunic and possibly with a square neck. The front and back will be three pieces with two bird’s eye pieces on the front with one plain piece. The back will be the opposite.
In October 2024, our guild did some indigo dyeing. I decided to dye a warp at this event for my shirt. I found a commercial shirt pattern that helped me figure out what I wanted to do with my own shirt. This pattern involved two different fabrics – which I could create on one warp.
I made a six yard warp that has 1056 ends set at 24 epi. Half the warp was woven in a Bird’s Eye pattern beat at about 16 ppi. I used some 10/2 cotton that I had dyed at a different workshop for my weft. It was also dyed with indigo. The second half of the warp is plain weave woven with a mill end light blue cotton.
I did attempt some space dyeing on my warp, but I did not allow enough dye to get into the plain weave half of the warp. So the whole warp looks somewhat space dyed. I also should have been more patient and let my warp sit in the dye bath longer. I would have liked for the blue to be deeper.
The beat for this fabric was challenging for me. I like a firm beat. I usually match my epi and ppi. This was a good exercise for me. The fabric is loose and should be a good summer weight.
MAFA2025-3806
This is the fourth project I have done with this draft. I have enjoyed the interplay between the colors.
The weave is designated to be ten pattern repeats – I have done eight at a time, except in the persimmon weft – then I did four.
My hems are thinner yarn – 20/2 cotton. There is no plain weave with this draft so I used 2,4 alternating with 1,3 for the hems. This is as close as you can get to plain weave.
As always, washing this fabric makes all the difference.
MAFA2025-3749
This towel is based on Erica de Ruiter’s Shadow Towels. I have added 12 warps ends on each side to improve the selvedges. Veronique Perrot and Lisa Hill have also been valuable for information for this project.
This can be woven on a 2 shaft or rigid heddle loom.
When weaving, use the outer two threads as a floating selvedge. The 12 ends are used double as 6 working ends in the heddles and reed. You will weave as many as three picks in the same shed and you will need to rely on the outer threads.
I used white 8/2 Brassard cottolin for one of the yarns. The 22/2 Bockens cottolin was from Vastuga in 8 different colors that I had in my stash.
MAFA2023-044
The threading is called huck variation by Russell E. Groff. I experimented with twill tie ups, but treadled as drawn, 121, 343, 121, 565, 787, 565.
Weaving in the reed was 20.5, “ and the shrinkage was 15%.
Total warp ends: 414 plus 1 floating selvage on each side.
Towel was hand hemmed.