Placemats

  For those of you who follow our blog, you know that we have a lot of resources at the Center where we weave.  On that shelf behind Polly are copies of Handwoven magazine....these go ALL the way back to the beginning!!!  Lucky us!
  Every once in awhile, I go diving for inspiration.  There is such a wealth of information on those shelves....it's amazing.  Sometimes it's the picture on the front.....sometimes it's the list of what is inside that catches my eye.
  I don't remember what caught my eye the day I took a look at the May/June 1988 issue.  But, inside I found a placemat that I thought was interesting since the title was just Carpet-Warp Placemats.
  And, the folks that know me know that I LOVE 8/4 thread....good ole carpet warp!

 


These are my version of those placemats.  To give them the thickness needed for a placemat, you use doubled ends in each heddle with a 12 dent reed.  I also used a doubled thread for the weft.

  I have plans to make a batch for the Fall sales using a thicker thread instead of the doubled threads for the warp.  But, first, I have to finish these up.

  I'm not sure this little drawdown will help, but it should give you some idea of the pattern.  The highlighted area is the part that is repeated.  Note that there are floating selvedges (the red dots) on either side.
  There isn't a true plain weave (treadle 1 and 4) but you can either hemstitch for fringes, which I did, or weave a hem using 1 strand of 8/4.  I plan on weaving a hem when I do my next batch.
  If you've been looking for something a little different, this might just be the ticket.

  It's a fun weave.....

Happy Weaving!
LouAnn