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In this post, Christine shares her approach for managing frequent color changes at the selvedge, and changing selvedge thread colors when changing weft colors.
When we first learn Color-and-Weave, we also learn how to carry inactive wefts up the selvedge when colors change every few picks. But when there is a long run of a pick sequence with one color, then a short, but not that short, sequence with a different color, we often cut and tuck the ends in. This is a great strategy, but can really slow down our weaving if the cloth has an all-over, ever-changing pattern like the Modernist Towels. In this particular project, each weft color was also a selvedge color, and each color had a pick sequence with an even number of ends, allowing me to “bury” the inactive wefts in their same-color selvedges and avoid cutting and tucking.
Begin each weft on the same side as its selvedge color. When that color is inactive, position the shuttle toward the back of the loom (on the castle of a floor loom or beside the heddles of a table loom), allowing the weft to be parallel to the cloth. If your loom does not have a castle, placing the shuttle next to you on your bench works just as well.
Treat the inactive weft as an additional floating selvedge, wrapping it with the active weft.
Keep a bit of tension on the inactive weft to prevent loops from developing at the edge of the cloth.
Some projects, like the Modern Flour Sack Towels, change weft color from one piece to the next. As we know, a selvedge that is the same color as the weft can hide a lot of selvedge sins. To change out the floating selvedges to match your new weft color, pull the existing floating selvedge through the reed toward the fell line and cut it to a 6” length.
Pull the new selvedge through the reed toward the fell line.
Tie the old and new floating selvedges together with a square knot at the middle of the scrap yarn divider and weight the new floating selvedge at the back of the loom. Make sure the knot is sturdy and will hold when weighted. If you need to secure it further, wind the ends around the neck of a T-pin and attach to the cloth.
Happy weaving!
In addition to being Gist Yarn’s Director of Content and Customer Experience, Christine Jablonski is a weaver and exhibiting fiber artist whose work has been shown in New England galleries and is held in corporate and private collections across the country. She is a frequent contributor to Little Looms and Handwoven magazines, and the author of SoulSpace Notes, a monthly column mostly on weaving, sometimes art, dogs, and snacks.
