Friday, July 20, 2018

T-shirt Shag?

Surprise!  I am sneaking in a quick post today cause I actually got some weaving in this last week.   I finished the commissioned t-shirt rug a couple of weeks ago, and I had just a little bit of warp left.


Here is the back of the loom, with the new sample in progress.  My in town granddaughter has requested a big rug for her room.  Now that I have Big Bertha, (a 60inch Leclerc) in the studio, the sky is the limit!






The only thing is, she wants a big shag rug made out of t-shirts strips!  I have not done shag before so I told her I would have to sample on this left over warp first to see if we like it.






I chose some colors that I had on hand, white, grey, black, and  several blues.  These were leftovers from previous rugs already cut into strips and ready to go, which means that when I finish this rug sample, I will have a runner for my kitchen floor and an empty scrap basket!








Here is the front of the loom, and you can see that I already have some of the rug done.  This technique is from Weavers Craft Magazine, but she says she got it from Peter Collingwood.  I will go into more detail later if you would like me to.









The threading is such that sections of the warp are raised and you send the fabric through, after 2 throws of fabric you do a tabby throw.  There is a specific color order that I am following, though I changed it a bit from the original which was 7 bright rainbow colors.  The recommended tabby is "Peaches and Cream" which I do not have on hand, but I do have a cone of some unknown thickish type of yarn that seems indestructible and is about the right size.  (I will probably get the "Peaches and Cream" for the real rug.)









After each fabric throw, you pull on the loops that are formed to make  whatever size pile you want.  My granddaughter wants her rug to be really plushy, so that is what I am going for.
After each color section, (12 fabric throws) you stop and cut the loops.  That takes a lot of time, and it is easy to miss a loop or two!  I am thinking about precutting the lengths of weft that I need and slipping them into place for a row or two and see how that goes.  I think that I might get a more even pile and I also wouldn't miss any of the loops playing hide and seek amongst the cut shag.  I measured and I think that 5 inches would be the perfect length to cut my strips.
I haven't gotten much past this point, but I hope that by next week I will have a little more to show you, but I doubt it will be finished.  There is just not enough weaving time right now!

Until next time, Happy Weaving, Tina

2 comments:

Linda said...

That is awesome!!!

LA said...

Maggie used polar fleece...and your t-shirt strips are working nicely, too. Have fun!!!!