Tag Archives: Handwoven

Another set of hand-woven and -stitched items from my teenage years…
and I cannot believe I have so far overlooked these very frequently used items in my documentation process!  :O
To the best of my memory, this is probably my very first handwoven project on the big floor loom…  I expect Mum suggested these as a good beginner’s project before moving onto a more complex project; like the serviettes* I featured in the previous post, with an in-woven pattern.

A set of six placemats in the rag-rug style.  Each measures 40cm x 24cm. 
They are woven in a plain weave, with a blue cotton warp.  The weft was made of three different blue cotton fabrics; two plain cottons and one fine-wale corduroy.  These fabrics were cut into thin strips, the ends spliced and lightly hand-tacked together to make a continuous strip.

The tops and bottoms were finished off by hand-stitching a loop around each and every warp thread and into the weaving, the warp trimmed and then the ends folded under twice and stitched into hems.

These have been in solid rotation for twenty-five odd years although we haven’t really used them as much in the past coupla years.  This is not because they are fragile, oh no! the rag-rug is a super long-lifed type of fabric; super tough and hard-wearing and able to withstand a pretty heavy-duty lifestyle!  More just our laziness, not going and getting them out of the linen cupboard as often as we used to, I guess 🙂

*btw, I decided to eliminate rants from my blog a while back, but just quickly: anyone who wishes to anonymously “correct” my Australian English and lecture me on the “proper” words to use when describing my handmade items, how about this:  instead of trolling, maybe you could appreciate that other countries and cultures might sometimes use different words from your own.  As well as broadening your mind, you might just learn something new every once in a while  🙂
Phew! Rant is over and good nature has now been restored!

Every now and again I come across another handmade item in my house that I have not yet documented on my blog here…
This is a set of serviettes, handwoven by me!  Yes, I have dabbled in weaving, in a very very minor way, hehe.
I made these when I was about nineteen, before I was married and when I was still living at home with my family.  My mother had, and still has today actually, a big floor loom on which she made many beautiful things.  I made a few things on it too.  
These serviettes are woven in a plain weave in blue cotton, with decorative rows in white cotton.  These were based on a traditional Scandinavian design, and required some rather complicated setting up, threading and manipulation of the heddles.
I think the reverse is almost as nice as the right side…  I remember dithering for a while on which side I should designate the “right” side  🙂

I remember I made calculations for a set of six, but I must have allowed plenty of room for error since I ended up with a long enough warp to squeeze in one extra, giving me a set of seven.  Each of the seven serviettes was woven to size and then a spacer was inserted before starting the next one.  Once I had taken the woven cloth off the loom, I hand-finished the top and bottom of each serviette by stitching loops around each and every thread of the warp and into the weft, one by one…
Can I just pause for a mo’ and say here…  I have to admit that even I am kinda super impressed at how dedicated and meticulous my teenage self was.  I don’t know if I am even capable of the patience required for this sort of immaculate finishing nowadays….  :S
Finally I cut them apart, then turned under the top and bottom twice and hand-hemmed.  The selvedges at the side I left just as is with no further finishing, since I had gone to so much care to have them looking perfect, ahem.
Each measures 32x30cm.

These were used on a semi-regular basis early in our marriage and even when the kiddies were little but now I keep them for special occasions only  🙂