A Love Affair with Sarongs

Back in my late teens or early twenties, I acquired a rectangular piece of light fabric as a beach coverup. This was when Ocean Pacific had shops in malls selling nothing but swimwear and tees. 

There must have been a display featuring the wraps, and I snagged one. 

A couple of years later, a friend and I were in New Orleans for a weekend. Down at the French Market, there was a vendor peddling sarongs. He was a delightful older man who flirted with me because he said I had “Tina Turner” legs. His wares were $15 each,  but for a smile, he said he would sell me three for $25. I agreed.

Here is a cotton/rayon sarong a good friend brought back from Hawaii for me that is reminiscent of the ones from NOLA:

You will have to forgive me, I did not iron these. I show them just as I use them, low maintenance and unpressed. At most, I wash them on cold/handwash in my machine and hang them up to dry. 

From there, I began wearing them around the house, almost daily. Tied at my waist over a t-shirt and pair of panties, they were the epitome of comfort and ease.

I married and had a child. 

When she was five, I folded one in half lengthwise and tied it around her for a mini version. When the husband returned home from work that day, he took one look at us and retreated to the bedroom to change, as was his routine, but when he returned, he sported a sarong tied over his tee, too, much to our delight.

When I step out of the shower in the morning, as I hang my towel, I reach for a sarong to pull around me to do hair and makeup, as well as have breakfast, before I dress in earnest.

On the days I have no plans to leave the house and it is hot as Hades outside, I tie one over a t-shirt.

Next to my favorite pair of jeans, sarongs are the first thing I pack when preparing for a trip. They have served as a light blanket for the kids in the car and on plane rides, they are perfect to throw over a sundress on breezy evenings, and they give comfort in unfamiliar rooms when wrapped around the scratchy linens of the hotel pillow.

A few years ago, I spied an ad featuring loosely woven cotton pieces of cloth to be used as a towel, blanket, and beach coverup. 

I checked the dimensions and compared them to the cotton and cotton/rayon sarongs I had. 

They were similar in size. 

Curious, I ordered one.

It was fantastic!

Wonderfully soft and supple, I immediately preferred it to my traditional sarongs. 

As a weaver, I wanted to replicate it.

The first run was ninety-eight percent of the original. I used 10/2 cotton for the warp and weft with a sett of 20.

For this one, I used a 4-shaft draft, the one on the top far right of this image from Pinterest:

The only difference between that batch and the original was a slightly softer fabric to the original. 

I took both to my friend and weaving guru Susan Fricks of Yarnorama in Paige, Texas. 

She felt both and compared them. She said the original was done with 20/2 cotton. 

I did not have any 20/2 cotton at that time. 

The second batch was a disappointment. I used 10/2 for warp and weft again; however, instead of emulating the loose design of the pattern as I did in the first set, I used a draft I liked. 

That was a mistake. The fabric was akin to plain weave and lost a great deal of its suppleness. 

I used 20/2 cotton for a 50.5-yard warp for the third run and 10/2 for the weft, along with a light beat. 

Before these came off that loom, I beamed another 25-yards in 10/2 cotton for a fourth run.

Because of the thread size and drafts I chose, these turned out beautifully!

So, I learned there is very little difference between the 10/2 and 20/2 for warp, but 10/2 weft works much better than 8/2 weft. 

The thread size makes far less of a difference in the texture of the fabric than the pattern draft. 

I gave all but two of the sarongs from the third and fourth runs away as gifts. 

I am continuing to receive feedback on them, which thrills me. 

A sweet friend and work colleague took hers to Italy in March and sent me a photo of it in her lap on the plane.

Several other friends told me they wear it daily following morning showers. 

Yay!

The current plan is for another 50.5-yard run of more sarong fabric in 20/2 cotton because a single sarong is never enough.

I am thinking about this draft (from Pinterest):

But I may use this one again because I know it creates a luxurious fabric:

As pulling from spools is smoother for me than from cones when I use the warping square, I have loaded each of 40 spools with 2,050 yards of 20/2.

For those counting, this rack represents 82,000 yards of 20/2 cotton.

The sett is 40 threads per inch; however, I shall pull two ends per heddle.

Just as soon as this 13-yard warp of towels is done, I shall load the warp.

Each sarong shall be woven 40-inches wide and between 75- and 80-inches long.

I am flirting with doing a Hemstitch on each one with a bit of fringe, instead of machine hemming the ends.

We shall see.