Biased
So, I had a warp I was not sure what to do with.
By September, I had an Aha! moment and decided to use the warp for tea towels (and extra fabric with which to make a top). Normally, tea towels are a default decision, but as this warp was approximately 32" wide on the loom, these would be woven with seams along the side, rather than both ends. Because this would have looked odd, I decided to trim all four sides of each towel in bias tape.
Excellent idea in theory, but I did not find any commercial bias tape that suited my fancy.
Undeterred, I researched how to make bias tape from the fabrics of my choice.
Last month, I spent two days making bias tape...yards and yards of bias tape. This is actually what remains:
On the third day, I was well and done with bias tape, although I did manage to do a quick sample of a waste bit of material, as well as on one of the towels.
The results were good, just not outstanding due to my limited sewing skills.
Plus, I was tired of the project and wanted to move on to something a bit more fun.
Thus, I needed to be in a better (and fresher) frame of mind to tackle these again.
Well, this past weekend was that time.
The younger daughter and husband had plans, and the dogs and I were home alone for the entire weekend!
On Thursday evening, the serger and sewing machine came down from a closet and by Friday afternoon, I had everything set up. As it was near the end of the day, and I had experienced four consecutive days of migraines, I did nothing that evening, absolutely nothing more than petting the dogs.
Saturday morning, I woke with a clear head and actually began the day with making a pair of mittens with handwoven fabric I had had in the back of my mind for a good long while.
I literally had no pattern or instructions to work from. At most, I cut out a paper pattern from which I did a quick mock-up with cotton flannel. This ended up being too small width-wise and too long length-wise. I increased the pattern by half an inch along the sides and top, while cutting off three inches in length.
This pair took half a day to complete.
I have several more yards with which to make more, but I need to rethink the assembly. There was a good bit of hand sewing involved with the thumb hole. As such, I am percolating on that. When I make another pair or two, I will be sure to take photos for a tutorial, in case anyone is interested.
However, flush with the relative success of the mittens, I was finally in a good frame of mind to tackle the six remaining towels.
And, I did them all, but mostly on Sunday.
This one is my personal favorite with the asymmetrical bands of color:
I was obviously on a red kick when I wove these.
The results were delightful!
My usual sett with tea towels is anything between 20 and 24; however, after visiting Yarnorama in Paige, Texas, where Susan had samples with a sett of 16 and a glorious hand to them, I decided to copy her.
The towels are so soft with lots of body.
I actually do not know how absorbent or durable they will be with this looser set, but they are lovely.
The question remains whether I will actually warp for towels to be woven width-wise, rather than length-wise again.
On the upside, each towel takes half the time to weave.
Also, I love being able to add the stripes to the weft, which really dresses up a plain solid color warp.
However, omitting the time it takes to make the bias tape (which is a HUGE time suck), trimming each one does take quite a bit more time than simple hemming along the two narrowing ends.
Having stated that, the end result is well worth it.
This will not be my go-to method for tea towels, but it is a fabulous option for extra-special projects.
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